My play Silence is on the VCE list for year 11 and 12 students! It will be published with Currency Press in May 2010 and have another season at La Mama.
The run was successful in November 2009 even though I had to play Ba at the last minute. This at least gave me an insight about how difficult the part is to play.
Peril is having a launch at Asialink on Thursday December 3 at 7pm. Come along and be part of the fun!
Did a reading at the literaturwerkstatt last night with Antje Strubel. It was an interesting discussion about communism, history and the role it plays in our respective works. I then had drinks with some people from the Australian Embassy, one of whom I’ll be meeting again on Friday to discuss my next Berlin visit in 2010. I have confirmed that I will be returning in the second week of June to do a video installation of ” i could be you” at the skupturen park in the centre of Berlin. I’m at the end of my residency now. Tonight I’m seeing a modern German rendition of Hamlet by the Deutsche Theatre – at least I know how it ends! And will be catching up with Pham Thi Hoai on Saturday the day before I go.
Went to Hamburg to visit a close friend- and saw a modern day production of Siegfried- the Wagner opera from the Ring Cycle led by Simone Young. It was brilliant! The first act was set in a psychiatric hospital, the second in a railway station, the third in the library (which could be read as his mind) and the fourth in a homeless shelter. The action was set in his mind, so the dragon was his mind projecting a monster onto another homeless man. The subconscious was represented by broken windows and forest, and the conscious by the front part of the stage where the “action” took place. It blew my mind- in a good way.
It reminded me of the artistic director’s statement for “Silence” which premiers when I get back on November 11. Penelope Bartlau and Wolf Heidecker are using the set of the house as a metaphor for the self, with the ghostly apparitions as subconscious possessions. I’ve seen a few tantalising pictures on facebook of the production (it’s been developed while I’ve been in Berlin) and it looks wonderful.
I’ve been writing additions to grant applications while I’ve been here as well as redrafting and writing my own work. I’m so grateful for the time- though there is only a week left.