Sunday Arts Magazine

19 Jun 2016

Peter Keogh, Copy Cut Post, People Like Us, Einstein Musical

Arts, Education, Music, Performing Arts, Society & Culture, Technology, TV & Film, Visual Arts

David and Brendan talk about all the support and dedications for Orlando from Joy presenters and also artists worldwide.  Brendan saw a doco called Mr Gaga about renowned choreographer Ohad Naharin, who is also artistic director of the Batsheva Dance Company. Brendan loved it– 4 stars.  It is the opening film of the Hotdocs Film Festival at the Palace Cinemas–on until 26 June in Melbourne. Brendan and David discuss docos and doco-makers in general. David also talks about dance, including ‘trailblazers’ the Nederlands Dans Theater who are at the Arts Centre 22 to 25 June.

Special guests today are:

17:00 to 23:25 mins– Peter Keogh is a Perth writer, on the phone to talk about a book he wrote about his own life (My Hi-De-High Life) which was published initially as an e-book, then a hard copy and then took off around the world. It has a foreword by actress Debbie Reynolds and theatre producer John Frost which was very helpful!  He was encouraged to write it by friends as he’d had a very interesting life and it needed to be written.  He found it a very cathartic experience. He grew up on a farm, sometimes wearing his mum’s clothes to school.  The family moved to Perth where he had a very hard time as a gay youth.  He was at the first Mardi Gras in Sydney and saw things progress over the years. Once he sat down to write of his experiences it just flowed and memories flooded in.  A lot of it is very funny despite the hard experiences and it has a conversational style.  He tried publishing the book in Australia, with no success, but a UK company picked it up.  They edited very little of it which Peter regards as a blessing. He has also been approached about making it into a play and agreed to it with some advice from ex-partner John Frost.  Our hosts will do a more in-depth interview in about a month when Peter and his partner Sasha come to Melbourne.

24:50 to 46:51 mins–Paula Van Beek is an Independent Artist here to talk about Copy Cut Post on at the Metanoia Theatre at the Mechanics Institute from 26 June to 10 July.  Paula grew up in NZ where her parents took her to galleries and theatre shows as a child. She’s been in Melbourne for 10 years, initially coming over to study ‘animateuring’ at the VCA. This is ‘original performance-making’ which also involves a social aspect, such as public art. Paula and David discuss public art. Copy Cut Post is the first project (out of six) in Metanoia Theatre’s ‘liveworks’ program. It’s a response to the social media selfie culture where she asked 10 female artists of diverse ages and artistic backgrounds (i.e.performers as well as visual artists) to make a ‘selfie’ work in one day (25 June) in the venue.  On 26 June between 5 & 8pm is the ‘posting’ of the artwork i.e. the exhibition opening which the public are invited to. She and our hosts discuss selfies and social media– both good and bad aspects. Also selfie feminism, ‘palatable’ selfies & the lack of diversity being posted and selfies (self-portraits) in the past.  Paula talks more of how she moved from theatre to visual arts and previous collaborations and selfie projects.  She is now doing a PhD at RMIT which is specifically looking at the complexity of capturing a feminine experience.  She’s using smartphones as a research tool and is investigating private-public sites such as bathrooms and social media sites.

47:07 to 1:12:50 mins– Jason Smith is the new Director of Geelong Gallery and is here to talk about the gallery, himself, and a new exhibition called People Like Us on at the gallery from 18 June to 21 August. Jason liked to draw as a child in Canberra but really got the bug when, at 17, he met 2 famous artists who invited him to their studios. His career in short went from– art school, a commercial gallery in Melbourne, Post-grad in museum studies, Warnambool Gallery, a first Curation grant, NGV, Monash Gallery, Director at Heide and then Qld Art Gallery and then–from May–Geelong Gallery when Geoffrey Edwards retired.   Geelong appealed to him for a long time because it’s historically old and has an exceptional collection of national significance including work, from the 18 & 1900s, specific to Geelong’s history.  David and Jason discuss the amazing story of the purchase of the painting View of Geelong from Andrew Lloyd-Webber. Jason talks about Geelong itself, the diverse population, community engagement & the artists. People Like Us is curated by Jason’s colleague and friend– UNSW Galleries Director Felicity Fenner– and is being toured around many galleries by National Exhibitions Touring Support. It involves 13 Australian and International artists with pieces on their interpretation of the words People Like Us, and the human condition. There is a huge diversity of work and many are using new technologies.  Jason gives examples of various pieces. He then talks generally about the importance of art and artists in society and the programs in the gallery–present and future.

1:13:05 to 1:32:39 mins–Director Dan Czech and actor/writer/lyricist Jess Newman from a new musical called Einstein: Master of the Universe–on at Theatre Works St Kilda from 30 June to 10 July. Dan was involved with the Shakespeare company at Melbourne Uni while doing a music degree. He ended up running and directing it (as well as directing a musical) and decided this was his vocation–so he went to train at the VCA.  Jess is first and foremost an actor but became interested in writing musicals also when he discovered Stephen Sondheim in high school. David and our guests discuss what’s so special about musicals, especially the more recent ones.  Jess explains why Einstein is the subject and how the music is an expression of Einstein’s emotional life.  He did a lot of research on Einstein’s life in order to make a clear story, to pay tribute and to bring real people to glorious life. He wants to show the man behind the icon and the show takes the idea of relativity and imbues that in the emotional story. Dan explains the story–it begins with Einstein’s graduation from the Zurich Polytechnic in 1900 and it ends in 1933 when he’s leaving for America. It covers his struggles when working on his first theories and the breakdown of his marriage to his first wife. There are 12 people in the cast with some people playing multiple characters. Casting the right person to play Einstein was difficult and it took weeks before they found Scott Mackenzie–who is great. Dan talks more about the show is set with scenic projections on the walls behind the cast, showing the location they are in.

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