JULY, 1986 Vol 10 No 6 ISSN 0314 - 0598 A publication of the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust

A New Perspective on the Presley Legend

ARE YOU LONESOME TONIGHT? by Alan Bleasdale Directed by Robin Lefevre Designed by Voytek Lighting designed by John Swaine Musical direction by Frank Esler-Smith Cast: Martin Shaw, David Franklin, Peta Toppano, Marcia Hines, John Derum, Lynda Stoner, Mervyn Drake, Ron Hackett and Jennifer West Her Majesty's Theatre

heap of foil-wrapped Cadillac bon­ A nets (or is it crushed Cadillacs) form a stage upon a stage to set the mood for ARE YOU LONESOME TONIGHT?, Alan Bleasdale's play with songs about the life and death of Elvis Presley. On the lower stage, Gracelands, the garish pink Presley mansion with its outrageous chandeliers, is portrayed. Here, on the last day of his life, is "The King", now ageing, bloated, pill-popping and wear­ ing a purple jumpsuit and sunglasses. He watches his old movies and fumes because one of his trusted "aides" is ex­ posing his secrets to a newspaperman. In a series of flashbacks, Elvis relives his earlier experiences, the death of the twin brother whom he believes was his alter ego and stronger half, the death of his mother while he was a GI in Ger­ many, and the adulation poured on him as the lean, sexy king of rock. HiS manager, Colonel Tom Parker, is por­ trayed as his manipulator, holding a Presley dummy and gloating over the Martin Shaw as the ageing Presley in ARE profits. LONESOME TONIGHT? and (inset) as himself Author Bleasdale wrote the play to achieve a personal vindication of Presley, London critics were not always kind of $9.00 per ticket). At other perfor­ for whom he had great admiration, about it, but the audiences have been mances Monday to Thursday and Satur­ following the publication of Albert packing out the theatre for the past day matinee, a $5.00 discount applies. Goldman's unfavourable biography. twelve months. Its director, Robin Details of pre-theatre dinner on August Like Marilyn Monroe, Presley was the Lefevre, will also direct the Australian 26 in August Trust News. subject of endless speculation and myth, production. much of it unfounded, and Bleasdale set Martin Shaw, who played the older BOOKING INFORMATION out to counter it, to find " ... some kind Presley in London, will play the part in Aug 23 to Sep 20 of balanced understanding of the man Australia. David Franklin, who is to play Mon to Sat at 8 p.m. behind the myth", to quote the Sunday the younger Presley, has a long list of Sat mat at 2 p.m. Express' Hirschhorn. Highlights of the credits to his name in the theatre, tele­ AETT $18.90 (Aug 26), $22.90 (Mon to show are the sixteen hip-swinging, pelvis­ vision and films. Thu), $19.90 (Sat mat) G.P. $27.90 gyrating Elvis songs which brought ARE YOU LONESOME TONIGHT? will open at Her Majesty's Theatre on Pens/Stud $18.90 (Mon to Thu), $16.90 overseas audiences to their feet. (Sat mat) ARE YOU LONESOME TONIGHT? August 23. Members are invited to pur­ Two AETT tickets per member won the West End Theatre Managers' chase as many tickets as they wish at (except Aug 26) Award for the Best Musical of 1985. The $18.90 on Tuesday, August 26 (a saving 2

Samuel Beckett Award. The play is a previous credits include PALACE OF Dance Theatre Piece modern day Romeo and Juliet story DREAMS for ABC TV, has written about Irish lasses from Belfast and two DAGS on just this theme. It has already he April season of The One Extra British Army Regulars who get caught up been presented in Adelaide, Canberra T Company's dance theatre work, THE in the Irish Conflict. The play was and Melbourne and now a new produc­ SHREW, was all too short, so it's good mounted by the Melbourne Theatre tion is to be mounted by Sydney's Toe news to hear that this fascinating piece is Company last year and The Australian Truck Theatre. One of Sydney's leading to be presented in Sydney throughout described the playas intensely human theatre-in-education teams, they July at the Wharf Studio. Devised by and intensely moving. presented the popular DANCING IN artistic director, Kai Tai Chan, THE The final four plays in the series are a THE STREETS last year. Designed SHREW fuses Shakespeare's sixteenth­ selection from the eight plays which make specifically for young people, DAGS has century THE TAMING OF THE up Alan Ayckbourn's INTIMATE the distinction of finding enthusiastic SHREW with traditional nineteenth­ EXCHANGES. If you saw THE NOR­ acceptance among teenagers and elders century China (when women's feet were MAN CONQUESTS then you'll know alike. General public performances of bound) and Australia's "liberated" 1986. how fascinating it is to have a series of DAGS can be seen at the Seymour Centre At its 1986 Adelaide Festival Fringe plays exploring different aspects of a this month. premiere, THE SHREW won the Adver­ common theme . In INTIMATE tiser Critics' Fringe Award for EXCHANGES Alan Ayckbourn starts BOOKING INFORMATION Wed Jul 23 to Sat Aug 16 Excellence. The company has just com­ from the same point but five seconds pleted a tour of The Netherlands, Wed to Sat at 8 p.m. later one character makes a choice which AETT discount $1.00 Belgium and West Germany presenting divides the plot into two different plays. THE SHREW, MY FATHER'S HOUSE Similar decisions later in the plot cause and AH Q GOES WEST. A two-week further subdivisions so that finally there John Romeril Play season in Auckland follows the Sydney are sixteen different endings from the season. same source. But, you will say, there are THE FLOATING WORLD by John BOOKING INFORMATION only eight plays. Ha, Ha, I say, but two Romeril AETT discount $2.00 endings to each play are performed at Directed by Richard Wherrett and Bookings on 250 1777 each session. Even the author describes Wayne Harrison the whole series as "a piece of theatrical Set design by Geoffrey Gifford lunacy" but it sounds like fascinating Costume design by Terry Ryan lunacy at that. Cast includes Ron Haddrick, GalY Members who wish to subscribe to the McDonald and Melissa laffer season should do so on the enclosed Drama Theatre, S. D.H. brochure. Alternatively single perfor­ mance purchases for the first play are ohn Romeril belongs to the group of now available. And don't forget the Pier Jdistinguished Australian writers who Restaurant at the Ensemble; it serves pre­ worked out of the tiny La Mama Theatre theatre buffet dinners in a delightful in Carlton in the '60s and '70s. And of his harbourside setting. contemporaries he stands out as the one most concerned to present the Australian BOOKING INFORMATION not just in his immediate environment NEVER IN MY LIFETIME but as a social and political animal in a Mon to Sat at 8 p.m. world context. THE FLOATING Mats Thu at 11 a .m. and Sat at 5 p.m. WORLD is a study of Australia's cultural AETT $14.00 (Tue to Fri), $16.00 (Sat isolation, aggressive racism and its Ne\v Ensemble Season evg), $11.00 (mats) "populate or perish" mentality. G.P. $15 .00 (Tue to Fri), $17.00 (Sat NEVER IN MY LIFETIME by Shirley evg), $12.00 (mats) . Pens/Stud $11.00 (Tue to Fri), $9.00 Gee (mats) Directed by Sandra Bates Two AETT tickets per member Designed by Derrick Cox Cast includes: Leigh Morgan, David Mackennall, Kate Raison, Felicity Soper, Gavin Stagg and Carol Willesee Ensemble Theatre Teenage Heartache he Ensemble Theatre's new subscrip­ T tion season starts off with NEVER t isn't easy being a teenager and feeling IN MY LIFETIME, a play set among the I you're ugly or being the kid that turmoil and anguish of Northern Ireland. everyone does nasty things to. But Written by Shirley Gee originally for perhaps it helps to know it happens to .radio, its stage adaptation won the other people too. Debra Oswald, whose 3

Superficially, THE FLOATING A first-generation Australian, Anne­ WORLD might be a parody of any Marie Mykyta knows the heartache of organised cruise (in this case a Women's not belonging, of a childhood moving Weekly Cherry Blossom Cruise) but from one country school to another, of underneath the comedy is a portrait of continually being rejected. And in this, disintegration as the world of Les Har­ her first play, she writes in semi­ ding breaks up. An ex-prisoner of war of autobiographical style of the migrants' the Japanese, he still maintains his belief anguish. Members and their· friends are that the British betrayed the Australian invited to attend a Trust Members' night troops and still smarts under the on Wednesday, July 16 when a $3.00 dis­ superiority of British social manners. The count applies. play was first presented in 1974 by the BOOKING INFORMATION Australian Performing Group in Sun Jul13 to Sun Aug 17 Melbourne with Bruce Spence in the lead Wed to Sat at 8.15 p.m. role of Les Harding. It is ten years since Sat & Sun at 5 p.m. the play was seen in Sydney and the AETT $1 J.(X), $9.00 (Jul 16) Sydney Theatre Company consider it G.P. $12.00 timely that such an important work Pens/ Stud $8.00 Two AETT tickets/ member except Jul 16 should be remounted. BOOKING INFORMATION Thu Jul 24 to Sat Aug 16 Man to Sat at 8 p.m. Ne\v Murphy Work Sat mat at 2 p.m. Janel Vernon in NEARL Y BELOVED AETT $21.00 (except Fri and Sat evg) NEARLY BELOVED choreographed by G.P. $23.00 Graeme Murphy Hollywood style gangster movie, when Pens/Stud $18.00 Commissioned music score by Graeme the on-stage characters literally "go to Two AETT tickets per member Koehne the movies" in the opening sequence. Set design by Stephen Curtis No Man's Land Costume design by Anthony Jones BOOKING INFORMATION Drama Theatre, S. D.H. Sat Aug 23 to Sat Sep 27 Man to Sat at 8 p.m. BORDER COUNTRY by Anne-Marie AETT $19.50 Mykyta he Sydney Dance Company returns to G.P. $22.50 Directed by Peter Kingston T the Drama Theatre of the Sydney Pens/Stud $18.50 Designed by John Senczuk Opera House for its Winter Season from Two AETT tickets per member Cast includes Penny Cook, Marian August 23 to September 27. After five D worakowski, John Stone months of extensive touring, including a Stables Theatre tour of Greece and Italy, the Company Performance Work returns with a brand new three-act work he problems that migrants have adap­ by Graeme Murphy - NEARLY yndal Jones is a Melbourne-based T ting to a new life in Australia are BELOVED. L artist who has worked as a choreo­ not a new subject in theatre but few come This work had its origins in a piece grapher, dancer and theatre director. as straight from the heart as BORDER called OLD FRIENDS, NEW While critically acclaimed overseas, she COUNTRY, the next play to be FRIENDS, seen at the Opera Theatre in has had little time to show her work in presented by the Griffin Theatre Com­ late 1984. Graeme Murphy has taken the her own country. That situation is about pany. It is about the outsider caught in characters and the inspiration to create to be rectified, for this month the the "no man's land" between men and something completely fresh. Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust, in women, between Australians old and new. NEARLY BELOVED sees Murphy conjunction with the Sydney Biennale, returning to an intrinsically Australian will present her "PREDICTION PIECE theme for his work -- something at 8 WINTER/ PASSION" at the Art which he excels. He takes the characters Gallery of N.S.W. Developed by Lyndal in a country town, circa 1950s, and brings Jones, "Piece 8" comprises a series of them to life on stage in a recognisable five twenty-minute stories predicting and slice of Australian life. NEARLY playing out scenes of love, hate and isola­ BELOVED is another of those Murphy tion. The performance is presented with works, with its mix of humour and five Australian actors of diverse cultural pathos, which subtly balances past and histories. These blend with their diverse present to evoke reality and fantasy performance experience to create a through the dreams and aspirations of powerful performance. the characters. This time he has assigned his dancers a BOOKING INFORMATION AETT discount $1.00 string of double roles - those they dance Bookings on 357 1200 and those they portray in a full-scale 4

New Marian St Season JOURNEY INTO NIGHT, about a single day in the life of the Tyrone fam­ ily. It will be directed by John Krummel and opens in March '87. John Krummel BREAKING THE SILENCE by Stephen will also direct NOEL COWARD IN Poliakoff TWO KEYS, Noel Coward's last work Directed by John Krummel for the theatre, which is comprised of two Designed by James Ridewood one-act plays, COME INTO THE Cast: Judi Farr, Dennis Olsen and GARDEN MAUD and A SONG AT Linden Wilkinson TWILIGHT. Northside Theatre Company, Marian Northside Theatre Company is keeping Street up its tradition of making the last play of the season a "Surprise Production". Past elebrating its 20th anniversary, the surprises have included DUET FOR C Northside Theatre Company ONE, EDUCATING RITA, launches its new season next month with MACHIA YELLI MACHIAVELLI and BREAKING THE SILENCE by SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM. American playwright Stephen Poliakoff. Dennis Olsen If you wish to subscribe for the full Based on Poliakoff's grandparents' ex­ emerges himself in his passion of trying season, please ring Marian Street on periences it was first presented by the to put sound on film. 4983166 for a brochure. Tickets for Royal Shakespeare Company last year ABSURD PERSON SINGULAR by single shows will be offered to Trust and was a great success. It is a both funny Alan Ayckbourn is the second play of the Members throughout the year in Trust and touching play. season and will be directed by John News. Don't forget that Marian Street BREAKING THE SILENCE is set in Tasker. It is a behind-the-scenes look at has a very pleasant restaurant for pre­ post revolution Russia where a Jewish Christmas party disasters in the three performance dinners and bookings can aristocratic family adjust to the new separate kitchens of three very different be made through the theatre. order. They find themselves travelling the couples. length and breadth of Russia on an Im­ Bruce Myles will direct TO BOTANY BOOKING INFORMATION perial Russian railway carriage as the BAY ON A BONDI TRAM which stars BREAKING THE SILENCE father (played by Dennis Olsen) pursues its creator, Beverley Dunn, and will be Aug 24 to Sep 7 his allocated task of Inspector of presented during the Festival of Sydney. Tue to Sat at 8.15 p.m. Railways. But the changing order is not It honours the multi-talented Dame Mary Sat & Sun at 5 p.m. Wed at I I a.m. only a political change: the mother (Judi Gilmore and was compiled from her let­ AETT $15.00 (Mon to Fri and mats Farr) is forced to take over the respon­ ters, poetry, interviews and private except Aug 27/28) G.P. $18.00 (Tue to Thu) $19.00 (Fri to sibility for the family and her emergence papers. Sun) as a "modern" woman is a key develop­ Ron Haddrick, Dinah Shearing, David Pens/Stud $12.00 (except Fri and Sat evg) ment of the play. The father, unable to Downer and Tony Sheldon will appear in Two AETT tickets per member. adapt as readily to the new order, Eugene O'Neill's classic, LONG DAY'S

Making the most of your Trust Membership

he recent publicity campaign to usually offer you tickets before • Sometimes it is not possible to book in T increase public awareness of the general public bookings open. advance so you should then purchase Trust's membership programme has You should mail your ticket re­ your tickets directly from the theatre resulted in a large number of new quests at least two weeks before the or Mitchells-Bass. Show your members. It seems the right time to re­ performance date to allow for the time membership card to receive the Trust mind all our members about membership involved in processing and delivery. discount. If you wish, you can book benefits and the best way to make the Should you need additional supplies of by phone using your credit card most of your membership. the booking coupon please ring the facilities. The phone numbers for each • The best way to get the best seats is to membership office on 357 1200. Sydney theatre are given in book on the Trust's grey booking • If you wish to book seats for another Theatreguide attached to your grey coupon as soon as possible after Trust member please quote their booking coupon. Please note that a receiving Trust News. We obtain the membership number alongside yours service charge often applies to phone best available seats and mail them to on the booking coupon so that you bookings. you. If the only seats available are can obtain the extra tickets at the ones which we consider to be unaccep­ Trust member price. Although you are • Before travelling interstate, call us for table then we will contact you by restricted to two tickets at T.M. price, the local edition of Trust News so you phone to see if you wish to take them there is normally no restriction on the know what's on at the theatre. Our in­ or to transfer to another night. If you number of tickets you may purchase at terstate representatives will be pleased book early this rarely happens as we the general public or pens/stud price. to arrange theatre tickets for you. 5 -..nsaotl -O~_II":I____ ------1

nothing finds all the women around lying Up 'N' Under helpless at his feet. Oliver Goldsmith's comedy SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER inner of the 1984 Laurence Olivier has been a popular success since its W Award for Comedy of the year, UP premiere in 1773. It's the story of a man 'N' UNDER is written by British who feels quite at ease with barmaids and playwright John Godber. It's a tribute to pros but becomes a tongue-tied stam­ the kind of sporting players who give merer with a "nice" girl. The girl in ques­ their all against the odds. For a bet, a tion disguises herself as a barmaid to "get determined trainer takes over the for­ her man". tunes of a gormless seven-a-side rugby team with an unbroken record of defeat BOOKING INFORMAnON and brings it about that they win a victory York Theatre, Seymour Centre over the best side in Yorkshire. Mon to Sat at 8 p.m. Barry Creylon and Gordon Chaler in CORPSE! Sat mat at 2 p.m. The climax of the play is the game Barry Creyton plays a pair of twin itself in which the seven players play both WILD HONEY brothers; one a rich businessman, the Jul 14, 18, 19 (2 & 8 p.m.), 22, 23, 24, teams and for which they are perhaps as other a broke actor. Actor Evelyn plots 26 (8 p.m.), 28, 29 & 30 to kill and then impersonate his well­ worthy of tribute as the characters they Aug 1, 2 (2 p.m.), 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 (8 p.m.), heeled twin with the help of a drunken represent. 12,13,14,15,16 (8 p.m.), 18,20,21,22, 23 (2 p.m.), 27, 28, 29, 30 (2 & 8 p.m.) old reprobate called Powell (played by BOOKING INFORMATION Gordon Chater). That's the plan, but SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER when you're dealing with identical twins, Kinselas Jul 15, 16, 17,21,25,26,31 Mon Jul 21 to Sat Aug 30 Aug 2 (8 p.m.), 8, 9 (2 p.m.), 11, anything can happen and the audience is Mon to Sat at 8.30 p.m. (7 p.m. dinner) 16 (2 p.m.), 19, 23 (8 p.m.), 25 & 26 kept guessing right up to the end. AETT $16.00 (Mon to Thu show) AETT $19.00 (Tue to Fri) $28.00 (Mon to Thu show/dinner) G.P. $21.00 (Tue to Sat) BOOKING INFORMATION $31.00 (Fri & Sat show/dinner) $18.00 (Mon & Sat mat) Footbridge Theatre G:P. $18.00 (Mon to Thu show only) Pens/Stud $15.00 (Tue to Fri) Tue Jul 29 to Sat Aug 23 . $21.00 (Fri & Sat show only) $12.00 (Mon & Sat mat) Mon to Sat at 8 p.m. $30.00 (Mon to Thu show/dinner) Mats: Wed at 1 p.m. Sat at 2 p.m. $33.00 (Fri & Sat show/dinner) AETT $20.00 (Mon to Thu & mats), Two AETT tickets per member $22.00 (Fri & Sat) Measure for Measure G.P. $23.00 (Mon to Thu & mats), $25 .00 (Fri & Sat) '86 Nimrod Season EASURE FOR MEASURE is one Pens/Stud $15.00 (Mon to Thu & mats) M of Shakespeare's lesser-known Two AETT tickets per member ILD HONEY is the new title for works. A dark comedy, it is set in a bust­ W Chekhov's first play which has been ling city where order and law have given adapted by British playwright Michael way to corruption, licence and vice. The Gulls Frayn (NOISES OFF and BENEFAC­ play is about a young woman who is TORS) into what City Limits magazine forced to choose between her chastity and pening at Belvoir Street Theatre .on described as "a glorious and intriguing her brother's life. Fortunately a tragedy O July 3 is GULLS by Austrahan comic masterpiece". The play was is prevented when the local nobleman playwright Robert Hewett, which was mounted by the National Theatre of intervenes and brings about a happy hailed at its London premiere by the Lon­ Great Britain in 1984. John Bell makes a ending. John Howard and Susan Lyons don Guardian as the most outstanding guest appearance for Nimrod playing play the lead roles. play from Australia for many years. It's Platanov, the romantically haggard, the story of Bill, a brain-damaged man gloomy schoolmaster who, by doing BOOKING INFORMATION who describes himself as "three years old Wharf Theatre going on forty", and whose sister has Wed Jul 9 to Sat Aug 16 given up her career and marriage to look Mon to Sat at 8 p.m. after him. This doesn't sound like a Sat mat at 2 p.m. comedy but there is a good deal of warm AETT $18 .00 (Mon to Thu & Sat mat) humour in it. Jill Perryman, Simon G.P. $20.00 Chilvers and Jeannie Drynan star. Pens/ Stud $15 .00 Two AETT tickets per member BOOKING INFORMATION Belvoir Street Thu Jul 3 to Sun Jul 27 Corpse! Thu to Sat at 8 p.m. Sat & Sun at 5 p.m. ORPSE! is fast-moving and con­ AETT $15.90 G.P. $19.90 voluted comedy thriller - nothing C Pens/ Stud $14.90 goes quite as expected and it is as much a Two AETT tickets per member whodunit-to-whom as a whodunit. 6 -s"ot-,ii"'------+I All Set and Nowhere to Go

by Michael Billington

In this article for the London Guardian, Michael Billington asks whether theatre is making a spectacle of itself The article is reproduced here by kind permission of The Guardian newspaper.

heatre at its best offers a democratic T fusion of skills. If anyone element - acting, writing, direction, design - takes undue precedence over others, the results may be exhilarating but decadence is never far away. And my hunch is that, at the moment, we are living through a period of Designers' Theatre in which people are attracted to the theatre as much by the excitement of spectacle as the exploration of content. What in fact have been the peak moments in London theatre over the past 12 months? William Dudley's bounteous boat rocking, heaving, dipping in the dramatically under-powered MUTINY. John Napier's junk-filled trucks spinning on their axes to transform themselves from Parisian tenements to barricades in LES MISERABLES. Philip Prowse's black-clad figures processing through a looming, grey-panelled chamber in THE DUCHESS OF MALFI. Maria Bjorn­ son's light-filled disc rising spectacularly from the earth in Stockhausen's DON­ NERSTAG AUS LICHT. And operagoers might add (though I have yet to see them in action) Gerald Scarfe's sharp-fang'd Parisian predators evoking Angela Punch-McGregor and Colin Friels in Kim Carpenler's refreshing produclion of A MIDSUMMER the world of Offenbach's ORPHEUS IN NIGHT'S DREAM - a produclion which successfully unified lexl, image and music THE UNDERWORLD. It would be absurdly puritanical to At its best, theatrical design can be superb sense of theatrical effect as in the deny the power of spectacle. And one has both breathtaking and relevant: a classic evocation of Javert's suicide by the rais­ to confront several facts. One is that we example would be the sudden revelation ing of a bridge and a rippling whirlpool currently boast some of the best designers of William Dudley's globular Ferris­ of light on stage. in Europe (and I've not even mentioned wheel in DOOMSDAY filled with a vi­ I am not asking for a return to a brick­ John Gunter, John Bury, Ralph Koltai). sion of humanity writhing in torment. walled austerity. (I remember a very good Another is that advanced technology has This was both apt and thrilling. But what designer telling me in the late 'sixties that helped transform set-design from decor nags me is the feeling that (particularly in William Gaskill pleaded with him to put into engineering. And a third is that, in musicals) design is being asked to com­ some objects on stage because they had to an age of gloom and recession, audiences pensate for the relative thinness of con­ pay him for doing something.) What I want circuses as well as bread. A night tent. The more I think about LES am seeking is a greater harmony between out is now an expensive business; and MISERABLES the more I am struck by design and content. STARLIGHT people both want to see where their the immense gulf between the show's EXPRESS, for example, does strike me money has gone and hunger for some visual sophistication and dramatic as a decadent phenomenon in that transcendental moment denied them by paucity. On the one hand, a strip-cartoon Napier's roller-skating track and back the mini-realism of television. reduction of a great novel; on the other, a wall of light is used to transform a flimsy 7

fable about racing trains into an osten­ profession about us. It's even there on educated in art history. They are bom­ sibly momentous event: this is pure jokey first-night cards. One 1 got for the barded with visual information of a Spielbergism in which size is somehow National double-bill said 'Hope you grab richness previous ages could not have equated with spirituality. Even a design all the reviews this time'. There's an matched. Therefore when they come to as dazzling as John Gunter's for The underlying feeling of when are we going the theatre they want to see something of GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR worried to get back to acting, and a hunger for great visual power; but it has to work me a bit: it almost launched a 'pre­ some magical golden era lfhen theatre with the actor and the text. " emptive strike announcing, before a word used to be without any design. But, Dudley cites examples from his own had been spoken, that this was going to historically, this is untrue. Shakespeare's and other designers' work that he believes be a play about a fly-blown bureaucracy theatre, when it moved indoors to the enhance rather than obliterate the actors' in which everything was on a distorted Blackfriars, was very design-conscious. contribution. His own use in RICHARD scale. Design in Britain is often brilliant; David Garrick imported a great Euro­ III of a light, white medieval set (based but it has begun to acquire a self­ pean designer, Philip de Loutherbourg. on a chapel in Westminster Abbey) to of­ advertising virtuosity unseen since the Irving's Victorian theatre was full of big fset the small, black spider at the play's days of Sean Kenny's mobile towers in spectacular effects. " centre. His quirky, mechanical evocation Blitz. of 1959 Thames Valley suburbia in ·THE My notion of the designer as reigning But even allowing for actor's sentimen­ MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR at Superstar is, however, challenged when I tality about the virtues of bare boards Stratford which helped the actors' toss some of these ideas in the lap of and a passion, I press the point that today characterisation take flight. And John William Dudley, whose recent work in­ visual spectacle is gradually superseding Gunter's set for THE GOVERNMENT cludes not only MUTINY but the recent the power of the word. Dudley vehement­ INSPECTOR which he thinks was need­ NT double-bill of THE REAL INSPEC­ ly disagrees. "There are quite different ed to match a big performance by Rik TOR HOUND and THE CRITIC and strands in the theatre. You get a vital Mayall in a big space like the Olivier. the RSC RICHARD III. Dudley, a nice, Fringe area with stark concentration on All this may be true. But there is nervously articulate man, paints a picture the presence of the actor and the text. another area of theatre where the set is of the designer as an insecure free-lance Concurrently you're getting large spec­ the show and where the human element is operating in a kind of theatrical limbo: tacles which audiences love. The less exciting than the mechanical; and on the one hand denied a place in the irritating thing for actors is that au­ Dudley, in a sense, concedes the point by power structure of the big companies, on diences do actually like this. I often pop recounting the panic he got into when the other regarded with suspicion by the in to the end of THE CRITIC when working against the clock to create his actors. everything starts collapsing and people marine masterpiece in MUTINY. As he "I would say," claims Dudley, "we love the element of danger and surprise. says, "If the boat didn't work, there was have responsibility without power. We And although it may look costly, it's no fall-back. It was like jumping out of a have the responsibility to spend budgets mostly painted flattage which is the plane with only one parachute - it was of up to £100,000 but we have little voice cheapest scenery of all. My theory is that this silk cord or nothing. " In fact, at the in the planning and operation of big com­ audiences are changing and are more heart of MUTINY, there is an interesting panies. A t the same time we know there is sophisticated visually than any audience idea about the conflict between the a growing resentment from the acting that has gone before. They are better rational Christian and the irrational Bligh. But if the hydraulic engineering packed up there would be no event, whereas RICHARD III could have gone on, even if there had been a lightning scene-shifters' strike. I am not, however, attacking designers nor denying the pleasure of spectacle. I am simply suggesting that the eye is cur­ rently being better served than the ear and that there is an ever-present danger of statement replacing evocation. Great design (like Koltai's for CYRANO DE BERGERAC, Luciano Damiani's for THE STROHLER TEMPEST or, to judge from television, Richard Peduzzi's for the CHEREAU RING) is as much to do with space and light as it is to do with occupation of every inch of the stage. A designer once told me that there are unlimited possibilities for the destruction of the scenery; and I wonder whether we don't need to swing the pendulum back Nancye Hayes in GUYS AND DOLLS, which has a speclacular sel designed by John Grunler for The to the magic of simplicity away from the alianal Thealre of Greal Brilain technology of showbiz. 8

heatregoers in London's West End Other current transfers to West End world. Production is by Adrian Noble T this summer are being offered a wide theatres include Albert Finney at full with superb performances by members of choice of musicals, plays and plays with stretch in another American play, OR­ the Royal Shakespeare Company, music - many with starry casts and pro­ PHANS, by Lyle Kessler at the Apollo including Alan Rickman and Fiona duction personalities. Besides many long­ Theatre (from Hampstead). In something Shaw. Another recent joy was running shows, recent additions include like an American version of Pinter's THE DALLIANCE at the National Theatre - the long-awaited LA CAGE AU CARETAKER, Finney gives his best per­ Arthur Schnitzler's LIEBELEI in a ver­ FOLLES, at the Palladium with George formance in years as the drunken Harold sion by Tom Stoppard, directed by Peter Hearn and Denis Quilley, and CHESS - who changes the domestic balance of Wood at the Lyttelton Theatre and cur­ Tim Rice's new collaborative musical power in the lives of two orphans. Mean­ rently in repertoire for the summer. with ABBA's Benny Andersson and while, the National Theatre production Forthcoming openings include Bjorn Ulvaeus, starring Elaine Page and of Alan Ayckbourn's award-winning CHARLIE GIRL at the Victoria Palace directed by Trevor Nunn at the Prince comedy A CHORUS OF DISAP­ with Cyd Charisse and Paul Nicholas; Edward. It depicts East-West confronta­ PROVAL (not to be missed!) transfers to Simon Ward in Terence Rattigan's ROSS tion at the world chess championship the Lyric with Colin Blakely in the at the Old Vic; Vanessa Redgrave and through a number of personal relation­ original Michael Gambon role - behind Timothy Dalton in ANTONY & ships and conflicts. The critics have the scenes in an amateur operatic CLEOPATRA and THE TAMING OF found it an unsatisfactory piece, company. THE SHREW in repertoire at the theatrically naive and lacking in a strong, Outside the West End, for my money, Theatre Royal, Haymarket; I'M NOT sustained dramatic idea. No doubt it will the most exciting evening of theatre RAPPAPORT with Paul Scofield at the run for a long time! At the Albery, Tom recently has been the RSC's Barbican Apollo and John Osborne's THE Hulce (Mozart in the fil,n AMADEUS) production of the epic, MEPHISTO, ENTERTAINER with Peter Bowles as has taken over from Martin Sheen for the adapted by Ariane Mnouchkine from Archie Rice at the Shaftesbury, which transfer to the West End from the Royal Klaus Mann's novel of theatrical life in comes into London after a provincial Court of Larry Kramer's American Germany during the 1920s as the Nazis tour. drama THE NORMAL HEART (about came to power. Through the career of AIDS) - in a production which has been actor Hendrik Fhogen, the play examines Margaret Leask is a former editor of highly praised for its sensitive and the different roles theatre can perform in Trust News now living in London where dramatic portrayal of homosexual society, and the operation of a theatre she is an artist's agent. relationships. community as a model of the outer

by Carole Long, Membership Manager

ho was it wrote of "the best-laid from the U.S. Libyan raid and London his month Sydney's Nimrod Theatre W plans of mice and men?" Perhaps theatres are sorely missing the influx of T enters a bold new phase. Starting at we had been optimistic in expecting the American tourists. Still audiences for the old Stables Theatre in 1970 (and who half price ticket booth in Martin Place to SONS OF CAIN are building up and that can forget the magic of those early open in June but the Gods certainly must be good news in the present climate. halcyon years), the theatre moved to the I weren't on our side and unexpected hitch­ old Salt Factory in Surry Hills and more es have forced its postponement until have been delighted to meet an increas­ recently to the Seymour Centre. mid-July. I ing number of members in the younger Somewhere along the line it felt the need age group at our receptions for new to regoup, so an eight-month recess to rom London we hear good reports of members. This is great news, for without review and re-assess seemed like a pru­ F the opening of the Australian Eliza­ their support theatre doesn't have a great dent move. The result is are-opening bethan Theatre Trust's production of the future. But it has led me to think of the with new artistic director and four classic David Williamson play SONS OF CAIN. need to organise social functions plays presented in repertoire by a perma­ The play had overall good reviews and specifically for this age group. You'll see nent company of actors. It should add an the Australian High Commissioner and under Member Activities that we've exciting new dimension to Sydney's his wife, who attended the opening night, organised a pre-CORPSE! (no pun theatre scene and we wish the company said at the party afterwards that it made intended) dinner for the under 40s on well. them "proud to be Australian". And as Tuesday, August 5. I hope that those if to prove the point, Mrs. Parsons rang interested in younger set activities will up the next day to take half a house in attend and we might get together a core June as a benefit for Australian charities! of people who can get some activities go­ But it isn't time yet to crack the cham­ ing. If you can't attend the dinner but pagne bottle. Hotel occupancy rates would like to participate please give me a I aren't the only sufferers in the fall-out ring.

I II 9

FORTRESS directed by Arch Nicholson young man. But love eventually over­ Produced by Raymond Menmuir comes the mores of the day, and the tale Screenplay by Everett De Roche, from ends happily back in Italy. (he novel by Gabrielle Lord Starring Rachel Ward, Sean Garlick, FAIR GAME directed by Rebecca Rigg and Robin Mason Mario Andreacchio At Hoyts Produced by Ron Saunders and Harley Manners R0nt page news all over Australia a Screenplay by Rob George few years ago was the gunpoint Starring Cassandra Delaney, Peter Ford, hold-up and abduction of a young David Sandford and Garry Who schoolmistress and her nine pupils from a Opening July, venue unconfirmed classroom in northern Victoria. Crawford Productions have now made he real star of this Australian outback the movie from the book based an the T thriller, in the vein of the MAD MAX event by Gabrielle Lord. movies and THE CARS THAT ATE Teacher Sally Lord (Rachel Ward) and Julian Sands and Helena Bonham-Carler in A PARIS, is an almost humanly malignant her charges were looking forward to the ROOM WITH A VIEW giant custom-built shooting truck, called coming school holidays when they were James' novel THE BOSTONIANS, Jean The Beast. plunged into a horrific nightmare. Four Rhys' QUARTET and Ruth Prawer Filmed in the scorchingly dry summer grotesquely masked and armed men kid­ Jhabvala's much acclaimed HEAT AND heat of the vast and desolate countryside nap them and imprison them in Ii damp DUST. Their new release is the film of E. near Burra, far north of Adelaide, FAIR dark cave, from which they manage to M. Forster's classic, A ROOM WITH A GAME was an ordeal for the whole crew, escape through an underwater exit. VIEW, a gentle love story and social but director Andreacchio wanted to cap­ It is a story of remarkable courage and comedy set in Italy and England in 1907. ture the heat and dryness, "that sense oj endurance on the part of both teacher Director James Ivory said of the novel, madness in the air". and children. Believing they are free they "I liked the tone of the book . .. he wrote Jessica (Cassandra Delaney) is ' a head f.or a farmhouse only to find their it when he was in his twenties and it was modern young woman, living alone on an kidnappers waiting with the old farmer full of a young man's exuberant impres­ isolated farm where she has a wildlife and his wife. The old woman is viciously sions of his first foreign trip. It was also sanctuary, until The Beast arrives. This is attacked and the farmer is killed. Know­ full of some funny observations on kangaroo country and to it come a very ing their inevitable fate will be death at people at home in England". nasty trio, Sunny (Peter Ford), ruggedly the hands of the thugs, Sally and the The story involves two young people, good looking but icy cold, Ringo (David children plot yet another escape and after Lucy (Helena Bonham Carter) and Sandford), punk and trigger-happy, and stumbling through the night find shelter George (Julian Sands), who meet and fall the pudgy and crazy country boy, Sparks in a cave, only to be found again, and in love while visiting Italy; Lucy under (Garry Who), plus, of course, their pet taunted by the men. The cave becomes a the vigilant eye of her prim sister monster, The Beast, with its red fortress and a collection of penknives, chaperone (Maggie Smith) and George in headlamps, chrome horns, bull bar and scissors, sharpened pencils and a the company of his free-thinking, self­ protective steel piping. tomahawk their weapons. Their eventual educated and "not quite nice" father It starts as a game for the kangaroo victory over their torturers is not pretty, (Denholm Elliott). The romance is hunters when they sandwich Jessica's car but their bravery is unquestionable. frowned upon by chaperone Charlotte between The Beast and their freezer van and Lucy returns to her comfortable and in a high-speed chase, but when they A ROOM WITH A VIEW directed by conventional English home and family to trespass on her land it becomes a fight to James Ivory accept a proposal from a "suitable" the death, and a dramatic and literally Produced by Ismail Merchant explosive ending. Screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, BOOKING INFORMATION from the novel by E. M. Forster Starring Helena Bonham Carler, Julian Concessional vouchers can be purchased from the Sands, Maggie Smith, Denholm Elliott, AEIT and exchanged at Hoyts, Greater Union and Village cinemas for tickets. The vouchers are Judi Dench and Rosemary Leach open dated but some Saturday/ Public Holiday Opening July 3 at Village Double Bay restrictions apply to their use. See vouchers for details. very fertile partnership began in G.U. $6.50 ($1 saving), Hoyts $5.50 ($1.50 A 1961 when Indian producer Ismail saving), Village $5.50 ($1.50 saving). Please note, Merchant, American director James no handling fee applies to film vouchers and members may purchase as many as they wish. Ivory and German-born author Ruth Discounts are also offered at the Dendy Cinema, Prawer Jhabvala first got together to Marlin Place ($2.50), and the Academy Twin, make the film of Jhabvala's novel, THE Paddington ($2.50), at all performances except HOUSEHOLDER. after midday Saturday. Members should present Since then the trio have collaborated their membership card at the box office. Discount on more than 10 films, including Henry available on one ticket per member. The John Godber comedy about Arts Centre, ANU, from July 25 to The Orange Theatre Company is Yorkshire rugby, UP 'N' UNDER, wiII August 9, and is directed by Carol celebrating its 10th anniversary with a be at the Canberra Theatre from Tues­ Woodrow. The play explores the rela­ production of CROWN day, July 15 to July 19, prior to a season tionship between a young girl and her two MATRIMONIAL between July 4 and 12. at Kinselas. The story is based on a bet grandmothers, her grandfather and a Directed by John Ash, it is about the about whether the local team, the Wheat­ great aunt, with emphasis on people's family tragedy behind the abdication of sheaf, who do most of their training at perceptions of themselves and the rela­ Edward VIII. The Peter Williams pro­ the bar, can beat Yorkshire's finest. tionship between the body and sense of duction of the play had enormous success self. Australia-wide in the '70s. At the Canberra Playhouse from July 4 to 26 will be the farcical English romp, A The New England Theatre Company has Later in the month at the Orange Civic BEDFULL OF FOREIGNERS by Dave a treat for the young fans with BRER Centre the Sydney-based Freeland Dance Freeman. It will be presented by the RABBIT, a pantomime adapted by Company will present two original Canberra Comedy Theatre Company and Australian playwright Bob Herbert from ballets, WHITE SHADOWS and JEUX directed by Peter Williams. The play is Joel Chandler Harris' "Uncle Remus" DE GENS. Ann Butt is artistic director set in a continental hotel, where a mix-up tales of the deep south. It will be at the of the recently formed company, which in bookings for two couples results in Armidale Arts Theatre from July 9 to 12 will also present several school perfor­ inevitable confusion. and will then tour the north-west districts mances. from July 14 to August 2. The younger fry are also catered for at David Williamson's WHAT IF YOU the Canberra Theatre with two produc­ Human Veins' dance season TRIPLE DIED TOMORROW is the Hunter tions by the Queensland Marionette VISION will be presented in Gorman Valley Theatre Company's July produc­ Theatre on July 24 and 25. THREE House, Canberra, from July 9 to 12 and tion. It opens on the 16th and continues until August 9. Directed by Brent LITTLE PIGS is for the eight and 16 to 19. Three new works will be staged: McGregor, it is about a young writer try­ unders, and WALTZING MATILDA Graham Watson's RITUAL AND for ages nine and upward. SEDUCTION, Gary Lester's ing to cope with parents, publishers and FRAGMENTS (ORDINARY LIVES) domestic strain. The second production by the new and RING AROUND A ROSY ROOM AETT discount applicable all perfor­ Canberra company, ETP Canberra, is by Julie-Anne Long. A new innovation mances. See local press for booking GRANDFATHER IS DYING by Sydney for the company is bar service and supper information. writer, Lissa Benyon. It wiII be at the for audiences. ~:J! ·_~1ct_~_IC"_____ ------'-.:I 1

SUNDAY AT GLEDSWOOD Theatre tickets will be booked as a group Hotel and the all-inclusive cost will be Sunday, July 13 so you'll be very welcome to attend solo approximately $650 per person. For if you wish. Festival programme and more detail s There are still a few vacancies on our visit please contact the Membership Office. to historic Gledswood Winery near Camden. There'll be an inspection of the SPOLETO IN MELBOURNE SCONE DISTRICT WEEKEND house, wine tastings and lunch before a Fri, Sep 19 to Sun, Sep 21 Saturday, August 30/ Sunday, August 31 roaring log fire. Tickets are $30 which in­ cludes bus transport, lunch and entries. Melbourne is to have a new Arts Festival Advance notice that Shirley Hay is Or if you make your own way tickets are - the Spoleto Festival. Named after the organising another of her splendid $21 each. Spoleto Festival in Italy, it is actually an weekends to the Scone district. As usual offspring of that world-renowned there'll be a visit to Belltrees Station and festival. Gian Carlo Menotti, founder of some of the other fine homes in the YOUNGER SET DINNER the first Spoleto Festival, is artistic direc­ district that are not normally open to the CORPSE, Tuesday, August 5 tor. Sydney Committee President Shirley public. This is always a popular trip to Hay is leading a three-day visit to reserve your place now by ringing the If you're under 40 you're very welcome Melbourne during the Festival. It will be Membership Office. All inclusive cost is to join us for dinner at the Glebe Terrace an opportunity to see some fine theatre expected to about $170 per person. Restaurant prior to seeing the production but the visit will also include an inspec­ Member Activities should be sent in on of CORPSE! Tickets are $38.50 which tion of th Arts Centre, dinner on the the same grey booking coupon as your includes a two course dinner with wine Yarra, and a full-day visit to Ballarat. theatre bookings. The handling fee does and coffee and your theatre tickets. Accommodation wiII be at the Regency not apply to Member Activities. 11

Mort Sahl is a very funny man who Menzies, Peter Collingwood and Nor­ EUGENE ONEGIN, FIGARO and LA takes the mickey out of the politics man Kaye, THE SEAGULL is the FILLE DU REGIMENT. Please check and politicians of our times. Now his Sydney Theatre Company's second play May Trust News for details or contact the zany humour can be enjoyed at Kinselas in its 1986 subscription series. It's at the Membership Office on 357 1200. until July 19. No section of the commun­ Drama Theatre, S.O.H. and is directed AETT discount $6.00 ity is safe from Sahl's biting humour, and by Jean-Pierre Mignon of Melbourne's Bookings on 357 1200 he also has a go at the entertainment Anthill Company. By Anton Chekhov, ontinuing at the Performance Space business, topical news stories and his own it's set on a Russian country estate and on until July 6 is a two-week season of past. His closing remark at all perfor- the surface seems to deal with art and C dance presented in conjunction with the , mances - "Are there any groups 1 talent; but its real subject is the tensions Sydney Biennale. Sydney's Dance haven't offended?" - has become between the forces of creation and Exchange will present GISELLE 2000, famous. Appearing with him on the destruction. choreographed by their artistic director, Kinselas bill is Australian AEIT discount $2.00 (except Fri and Sat Russell Dumas. Also included in the singer/ songwriter Margaret Roadknight. evg) season are solo performances by inter­ AETT discount $2.00 (except Fri and Sat Bookings on 2 0588 national artists, including Pauline de show only) eil Simon has always made people Groote, Holland's leading avant-garde Bookings on 331 3100 Nlaugh and a favourite among his dancer, Balinese mask dancer Imade plays is BAREFOOT IN THE PARK, Djimat, Indian traditional dancer he eternal debate between discipline about a pair of newlyweds setting up their Daksha Sheth and American dancer and compassion T is at the heart of the first home. Directed by Hayes Gordon, it Janis Brennet. For programming details Griffin Theatre Company's current pro­ is on at the Ensemble until July 19, and is contact the Performance Space. duction, MORNING SACRIFICE, by the last play in the Festival of Laughter AEIT discount $1.00 distinguished Australia writer, Dymphna season. Although it is basically a light Bookings on 698 7235 Cusack. It is set in the staff room of a comedy, it also gently mocks the myth of girls' high school just before the outbreak wedding bells meaning happy ever after. "0 ne hell of a show", "A perfect of the Second World War. A relatively AEIT discount $1.00 show" - that's what Andrew minor indiscretion by one of the school Bookings on 929 8877 Tobin said in Adelaide's Sunday Mail of students is the catlyst which reveals the Guys and Dolls, which plays at Her frustrations, hypocrisy and downright Majesty's Theatre throughout July. It all ,I bigotry of a section of the staff. And it takes place in Damon Runyon's low-life takes a real tragedy to bring any sense 'of New York in the days of prohibition and perspective back into their lives. It's a is full of wonderfully named characters gripping play with a good deal of humour such as Nathan Detroit (Peter Adams), and some fine performances, notably Miss Adelaide (Nancy Hayes), Harry the from Helen McDonald as the deputy Horse (Stan Kouros), Sister Sarah head and super bitch Miss Kingsbury, (Angela Ayers), Nicely Nicely Johnson and her sycophant, Miss Bates, played by (Ricky May) and Sky Masterson Barbara Phillipps. (Anthony Warlow). The production is AEIT discount $1.00 based on the National Theatre of Great Bookings on 33 3817 Britain's production. AETT discount $2.00 (Mon to Thu & mats) here aren't many facets of modern Bookings on 2664800 TAustralian life that playwright David Williamson hasn't looked at and used to Sally Phillips. Gillian A Xlell and SCOIl Ferguson in lso running throughout July is the make his audiences laugh. THE BA REFOO T IN THE PA RK A very popular Cats by Andrew Lloyd DEPARTMENT is one of them and its uly's programme for The Australian Webber and based on T. S. Eliot's "Old revival at the Northside Theatre Com­ J Opera season at the Opera Theatre, Possum's Book of Practical Cats". It has pany's Marian Street Theatre continues S.O.H., includes four AETT dates. already worn out one chorus but a new throughout July. The department in Tickets for members are available for one has replaced it to infuse new life into question is that of a technical college lec­ July 15 (MADAME BUTTERFLY), July the show. Don't miss it, it will be talked turer and the play satirises the absolute 9 (PETER GRIMES), July 28 (MAGIC about for many years, and there are some trivia in which bureaucracy can get FLUTE) and July 29 (AIDA). Both good seats available for Trust members. bogged down. It stars John Clayton and MAGIC FLUTE and PETER GRIMES BOOKING INFORMATION Barbara Stephens and is directed by John are new productions directed by Goran Sat mat Sep 20 at 2 p.m. Krummel. Jarvefelt and John Copley respectively. Tue Aug 12 at 8 p.m. AETT discount $1.00 (except Sat even­ Other operas included in the season Wed Sep 3 at 8 p.m. ings) which continues well into October are AETT $37.00 Bookings on 498 3166 BARBER OF SEVILLE, BORIS G.P. $39.00 GODUNOV, MACBETH, THE CON­ No pens/ stud discount tarring Robyn Nevin, Helen Buday SUL, MANON LESCAUT, RIGO­ Two AETT tickets per member Discount unavailable at Theatre Royal S("For Love Alone" star), Robert LETTO, DIE FLEDERMAUS, 12 1'~fJIJI'S is a publication of the Australian Elizabethan POSTACE Theatre Trust which is produced exclusively for I its 9,000 members throughout Australia. PAID I THE AUSTRALIAN ELIZABETHAN AUSTRALIA THEATRE TRUST (incorporated in the A.C.T.) I Patron Her Majesty The Queen President Sir Ian Potter Chairman Andrew Briger, AM Chief Executive Kathleen Norris Directors Rt. Hon. The Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Alderman S. Atkinson Sir David Griffin eBE, The Hon. Mr. Justice C. J. Legoe K. E. Cowley, Dr. T. Manford, D. A. Mortimer L. G. Teale, L. D. S. Waddy, T. C. Yates Company Secretary: Don Grace Accountant: Barry Tree Entrepreneurial Administrators: Dennis Linehan John Woodland Australian Content Director: Wendy Blacklock Executive Producer for Musical Theatre: Noel Ferrier Marketing Manager: David Martin Administrator of Orchestras: Warwick Ross Theatre of the Deaf Artistic Director: Patrick Mitchell Theatre of the Deaf Administrator: Priscilla Shorne Ticket Services Manager: Andre Krause Building, Props and Electric Supervisor: Roger Taylor Costume Hires Manager: Michael James Carole Long Membership Manager: i Membership Secretary: Carol Martin Melbourne office: Carol Ormerod ! Brisbane office: Denise Wadley I Adelaide office: Veronica Bohm Perth office: Janet Durack The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust receives financial assistance for its activities from: The Music, Theatre, Literature and Aboriginal Arts boards of The Australia Council a statutory body of the Commonwealth Government. The Department of Aboriginal Affairs. The New South Wales Government through the Office of the Minister for the Arts. The Queensland Government Directorate of Cultural Activities. The Victorian Ministry for the Arts. The Government of Western Australia through the W.A. Arts Council. B.P. Australia. The Ian Potter Foundation. ! The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust is a founder member of CAPPA. Membership enquiries should be directed to the Membership Secretary on 357 1200, 153 Dowling St., Potts Point. Postal address: P.O. Registered by Australia Post - Publication No. NBH 1305 Box 137, Kings Cross 2011. May be opened for postal inspection