A direct relationship with our time and place

So here, within the context of this project, is my greater understanding of what and why it is important for us to either learn for the first time, or remember what it is that we do as actors or performers, writers and, of course, directors.

______________________

The performance of the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre actress Birutė Mar as ‘Antigone’ was recognised as the best performance of the One Actor Theatre Festival, which took place in Torun. Image: © Lara Khatchikian Photography.

How did we get to this point in our practice?

What came before us to bring us to this point?

What are we doing theatrically that is significant to our time and place?

Where do we go from here?

Where does my style as a writer, performer or director come from?

How did the style that I work in manifest?

What has been forgotten?

What endures?

______________________

I am not expecting answers to all these questions; I am just posing the question. I suspect very strongly it is also a question that you may have asked yourself. Whatever the outcome of these questions, for the most part they will be subjective, but it is with a collaborative mind and creative energy that I now do not ask them alone.

______________________

There has also recently been lively conversation about the role of the director in Australian theatre.

What I will not spend much time on within this project, is the ongoing war between the Contemporary Australian Theatre Scriptwriter and the politic of directors choosing to work on classic texts rather than new Australian work.

A conversation that has been well documented in blog’s such as Alison Croggon’s Theatre Notes, Platform Papers written by Julian Meyrick, newspaper articles and interviews with Simon Stone, and public declarations of despair by new Australian playwrights.

I choose at this time in my career to indulge myself in classic text. I have, for the first time and after 30 years of theatre practice in Australia, directed in February of this year, a play that is not a new Australian work – Stephen Burkoff’s East. All my work as a director, producer and dramaturge has been focused on new Australian writers and their texts, driven most often to successful funding and production outcomes.

______________________

The Age review of East. Read the full review here.

Because the 'Director' is such a young profession (being only approximately 150 years old), to talk about acting and the change in style over the past 100 years, the director and their role in that change is fundamental. And even younger still, the role of Dramaturgy – again a role most often facilitated by the director in their relationship with the writer and their text.

My question as a director within this project’s context is an historical one, and I see its direct relationship woven into the story being told through Elia Kazan. 

______________________

I would very much enjoy your company on Sunday 31 August at The Sandpit for the first of three readings, Waiting For Lefty by Clifford Odets.

Thank you for coming to play.

—    Peta Hanrahan