Sunday Arts Magazine

28 Aug 2016

The Boardwalk Republic, Wit, Mari Funaki Award, You Got Older

Arts, Comedy, Performing Arts, TV & Film, Visual Arts

Neil joins our hosts again from The Taste of Radio course and will speak a little this week.  Brendan launches into film reviews starting with Ben-Hur a remake of the epic 1959 film.  Like predicted by many, and Brendan himself, it was terrible–1 star. Next is David Brent: Life on the Road with Ricky Gervais bringing back his infamous character from The Office.  It starts off in the style of The Office and then becomes a road movie.  Brendan gives it 4 stars but it is a divisive movie so he wouldn’t recommend it to everyone.

Special guests today are:

13:05 to 30:01 mins–Frank Minniti is the producer of shows within The Boardwalk Republic on from 13 September to 1 October at Gasworks Arts Park.  This starts a little earlier than, but is part of, the Melbourne Fringe Festival on from 15 September to 02 October. Frank’s background is in circus arts and in 2012 he collaborated with other artists to put a festival together under the name The Boardwalk Republic and it has grown and diversified (to include burlesque, cabaret, magic & other performance arts) since they joined Gasworks and the Fringe. This year they have 15 different productions over 2 weeks at 2 venues at Gasworks–The Big House and The Clover Club. Franks describes some shows including an aerial show from students at NICA called By A Thread, girl-power acrobatics in The Element of Consequence and Company 2’s new show Sediment.  He and our hosts also discuss fringe fests, touring, publicity, Gasworks’ support, Frank’s early influences and the ‘endgame’ for him and The Boardwalk Republic.

30:41 to 53:44 mins–Jane Montgomery Griffiths is here to talk about her play Wit on at fortyfivedownstairs from 1 to 17 September. Jane taught herself ancient Greek & Latin at school, studied drama at Cambridge Uni in the UK and ran the Cambridge Greek Play (a 135yo institution there), had a successful acting career for 10 years, got an Aussie girlfriend and moved to Australia with her–where she pursued an academic career for 10 years after getting her PhD. She and David discuss the classic languages, Cambridge Greek Play and travelling in Greece.  After writing a play about Sappho a few years back, she got the theatre bug back.  She now runs the drama department and teaches at Monash Uni and gives herself time off to do plays. She’s very excited about the new generation of theatre-makers coming through. As for the play Wit, it takes the main character Vivian, from being diagnosed with Stage 4 Ovarian cancer right up to her death.  Vivian actually steps out of her pain to speak about things so, despite the heavy nature of it, it is a hugely witty and profound play and Jane also regards it as spiritual and beautiful. She details her experience of playing the main role and issues in the play.

54:49 to 1:14:48 mins–Katie Scott director of Gallery Funaki, is here to talk about Mari Funakii , the gallery and the 2016 Mari Funaki Award for Contemporary Jewellery on from 24 August to 24 September. A ‘craftsperson’ from childhood, Katie did a lot of tertiary study including Media, Design, Events, Fine Arts and gold and silver-smithing.  She met Mari Funaki via a Department Head at Monash. Mari was a spirited Japanese artist, who came to Melbourne via the USA in the late 1970s. She started her gallery soon after graduating from RMIT in painting and gold/silversmithing–showing her own and others jewellery work and touring some exhibitions. Katie became director when Mari decided to free up her time to concentrate more on her studio work. She talks about how this came to be and also about Mari’s death in 2010 and the apprehension she felt in filling her shoes. The Mari Funaki Award… is a bi-annual International award and this year has received >400 entries from 48 countries where entrants send images of their work. Katie and assistant Chloe Powell did the shortlisting down to 35 artists– that they exhibit. The pieces arrived and the exhibition opened on 24 August.  All pieces are for sale and many have sold already. The exhibition is also viewable online.

1:15:07 to 1:29:25 mins–Actor Emily Goddard is here to talk about the Australian premiere of the play You Got Older on at Red Stitch Actors Theatre in St Kilda East from 31 August to 2 October. Emily always liked acting and at 20 yo went to study it at an international school in Paris under the ‘never boring’ Philippe Gaulier who gave her ‘the tools to have an amazing range’. One of the things he taught was clowning which she found ‘liberating’.  She has done some ‘amazing projects’ since graduating, here and in Europe/UK.  She has worked with Red Stitch once before and feels the ensemble has a ‘wonderful collaborative spirit’.  They often do Australian premieres of new overseas plays. You Got Older is an American one by Clare Barron and is about a 32yo woman who loses her job and partner at a time when she wants security.  Her father is ill so she goes home to see him and also to escape the world and be a child again. She goes through quite a journey. Emily sees it as a tender comedy.

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