Anthony Skuse comes on board as director - great news. Anthony, Caitlin and I had a great chat over the first part of the script at the Wharf. This lead to further meetings and a great dinner with Skusie and Pete at their place in Randwick.
It's been a strange thing looking for a director, and - indeed - putting this idea out there that I'm doing something different.
Very exciting to have someone as brilliant and as open-minded as Anthony on the project. Already things are moving in new directions.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Meeting #1
Met with Caitlin who will do the sound design - trying to grab a coffee in the cross some days is a real effort - Fernandez' machine was broke, Fratelli Fresh not ready to serve - we end up chatting over some really weird chai drinks at a table the street cafe vendor gave us (using us as his reason to kick a junkie couple off his turf). Talk was general given there's no confirmed director.. but a good conversation which I walked away from hoping neither of us had caught swine flu from our strung out friends..
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Adelaide!
Cliff Notes and Wikipedia won’t tell you the secrets of Elsinore. Only Horatio’s behind-the-scenes account of the most epic tragedy ever reveals who loved who and what really went on as he tries to make sense of his own role in events. There’s at least two sides to every story.Up Late & Alone in Denmark will be playing at the
Bakehouse Theatre, 255 Angas Street, Adelaide, South Australia
as part of the 2010 Adelaide Fringe Festival
Written and Performed by James Beach
In the Studio:
Tuesday 23 February - 2pm
Wednesday 24 February - 11pm
Thursday 25 February - 11pm
Friday 26 February - 11pm
Saturday 27 February - 11pm
Wednesday 24 February - 11pm
Thursday 25 February - 11pm
Friday 26 February - 11pm
Saturday 27 February - 11pm
In the Main Theatre:
Tuesday 9 March - 2pmWednesday 10 March - 11pm
Thursday 11 March - 11pm
Friday 12 March - 11pm
Saturday 13 March - 2pm, 11pm
Bookings on 1300 FRINGE
or www.adelaidefringe.com.au
from January 9, 2010
Friday, October 23, 2009
New Tricks
On writing a new work:
Apparently putting just a small amount of creative energy into an idea can be transformative when it is given permission to grow. I began making little notes and observations in a note book in 2008 and creating in a new way without any anticipated public gaze got me through some dark days that year; allowed me in fact to channel certain frustrations into something else - producing some kind of starving bastard child that soon became a favourite son (if I can extend into metaphor without vomiting - apparently so).
And I have to acknowledge my Mum, Aunty Anne, friends like Max and Andy and most of all my sister Jennifer for offering sentiments like this:
Can you PLEASE start writing plays... you facebook status alone could make you the john hughes of the new generation.
Ah, sweet flattery! Makes every idea seem a good one. Such as:
Acting!
Sweet Heavens deciding to act again is such a guilty secret. It's like confessing you have a mid-life crisis to people.
In my defence the following flatterers helped affirm my decision with their comments while unaware (perhaps) of what was happenning:
Berynn Schwerdt calling me an actor among the company I directed in As Bees in Honey Drown
My Grandfather, Arthur Clegg, the old vaudevillian, who compared the last performance he saw of mine in 1999 to Pavarotti (hehe!)
Van Badham who asked me if I missed acting cos I was 'you know, good at it.'
Katrina Rautenberg working on Horrific Acts for Charity who said she wanted to see me act again.
Duncan Fellows and others I let the plans slip to early
And Melita Rowston for hilariously posting a note about the dream she had of me taking over the stage from a/n (imagined) cast I'd been fed up with and being really kind of good at it.
Going back further:
Helmut Bakaitis at the beginning of the year of Directing said I was acting my socks off in an exercise I thought I was phoning in; at the end of the year he wrote he hoped that one day I'd jump off a cliff (love).
Years before, Zoe Emmanuel grabbed me after a performance of mine and shook me and said "you are an actor". Wow.
I mean, ok, am I gonna start reading horoscopes into everything I hear? no. But all of this, coming as randomly as it did was encouraging.. and the fact that those comments lodged in my mind (among others) belies the pretense that I'm entirely done with stepping onstage. I'd be foolish to suggest this didn't quickly become attractive given I stopped cutting my hair some time ago. No doubt, while I like to see this as all generating from a light-bulb moment, the idea must, on some level, have seemed strong in the first place because it offered me a performance opportunity such as I'd forgotten myself hungry for.
In another cop-out, there's a degree to which I see performing one's own material as different to the process of acting. I'm considering this a performance, rather than an *acted* thing - if such distinctions (and let's say they exist) stand up in the light of day.
And I am still a director and determined to pursue that further. This is not a repudiation of that business, nor was it planned all along as I set myself up to direct.
I came to directing as a person holistically interested in theatre-making and this is an extension of that. Risky. Foolish - perhaps. But I hope re-investigating other forms of work will renew my understanding of all processes.
Hmm.. apologia blog? Enough with the excuses. If my certain vanity makes this appear to be nothing more than a vanity project, there are only two words I can offer in reply: Eat me.
Apparently putting just a small amount of creative energy into an idea can be transformative when it is given permission to grow. I began making little notes and observations in a note book in 2008 and creating in a new way without any anticipated public gaze got me through some dark days that year; allowed me in fact to channel certain frustrations into something else - producing some kind of starving bastard child that soon became a favourite son (if I can extend into metaphor without vomiting - apparently so).
And I have to acknowledge my Mum, Aunty Anne, friends like Max and Andy and most of all my sister Jennifer for offering sentiments like this:
Can you PLEASE start writing plays... you facebook status alone could make you the john hughes of the new generation.
Ah, sweet flattery! Makes every idea seem a good one. Such as:
Acting!
Sweet Heavens deciding to act again is such a guilty secret. It's like confessing you have a mid-life crisis to people.
In my defence the following flatterers helped affirm my decision with their comments while unaware (perhaps) of what was happenning:
Berynn Schwerdt calling me an actor among the company I directed in As Bees in Honey Drown
My Grandfather, Arthur Clegg, the old vaudevillian, who compared the last performance he saw of mine in 1999 to Pavarotti (hehe!)
Van Badham who asked me if I missed acting cos I was 'you know, good at it.'
Katrina Rautenberg working on Horrific Acts for Charity who said she wanted to see me act again.
Duncan Fellows and others I let the plans slip to early
And Melita Rowston for hilariously posting a note about the dream she had of me taking over the stage from a/n (imagined) cast I'd been fed up with and being really kind of good at it.
Going back further:
Helmut Bakaitis at the beginning of the year of Directing said I was acting my socks off in an exercise I thought I was phoning in; at the end of the year he wrote he hoped that one day I'd jump off a cliff (love).
Years before, Zoe Emmanuel grabbed me after a performance of mine and shook me and said "you are an actor". Wow.
I mean, ok, am I gonna start reading horoscopes into everything I hear? no. But all of this, coming as randomly as it did was encouraging.. and the fact that those comments lodged in my mind (among others) belies the pretense that I'm entirely done with stepping onstage. I'd be foolish to suggest this didn't quickly become attractive given I stopped cutting my hair some time ago. No doubt, while I like to see this as all generating from a light-bulb moment, the idea must, on some level, have seemed strong in the first place because it offered me a performance opportunity such as I'd forgotten myself hungry for.
In another cop-out, there's a degree to which I see performing one's own material as different to the process of acting. I'm considering this a performance, rather than an *acted* thing - if such distinctions (and let's say they exist) stand up in the light of day.
And I am still a director and determined to pursue that further. This is not a repudiation of that business, nor was it planned all along as I set myself up to direct.
I came to directing as a person holistically interested in theatre-making and this is an extension of that. Risky. Foolish - perhaps. But I hope re-investigating other forms of work will renew my understanding of all processes.
Hmm.. apologia blog? Enough with the excuses. If my certain vanity makes this appear to be nothing more than a vanity project, there are only two words I can offer in reply: Eat me.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Getting Drafted (rhymes with?)
SO, the other week I completed draft 1 (and within that draft, many redraftings)...
Why no blogging about that process? First, writing about the writing is anathema to the actual writing. Second, this began as an idea that I may have wished to bury, rather than reveal. It turns out I am fired up about putting it on.
The process in a nutshell: Much of the play I wrote over two visits to my family shack on the cliff between Austinmer and Thirroul (Facebook friends of the artist can see more here) where, apart from the joyous air and the sound of the sea I HAVE NO INTERNET connection.
Then, as my laptop has developed funny malfunctions like no space-bar or delete key (even now I am pasting spaces, it is time for a repair!) I printed what I had and stuck it in a scrapbook and hand-wrote around the sections I already had (I could and did have this book on hand anywhere and everywhere to catch moments of inspiration - when I had formerly done this with text-message drafts..). It was useful and fun to write the old-fashioned way and was also a tactic I remember Mr Chris Mead recommending. Certainly more practical when it comes to writing in windswept locations for extra inspiration..
Finally, I typed almost the whole thing out from beginning to end. Celebrating with a glass of wine I excitedly read aloud and checked over the whole thing. PHEW! It seemed good at that point but I was all drunk in the afterglow of achievement (and, well, the wine).
NEXT: I have sent it to some trusted friends for their feedback and focused on where and when and how I will stage it next year. Taking a welcome break from creating and an important pause to get fresh perspective on it.
Looking forward to re-reading and wondering what the hell I was thinking..
Why no blogging about that process? First, writing about the writing is anathema to the actual writing. Second, this began as an idea that I may have wished to bury, rather than reveal. It turns out I am fired up about putting it on.
The process in a nutshell: Much of the play I wrote over two visits to my family shack on the cliff between Austinmer and Thirroul (Facebook friends of the artist can see more here) where, apart from the joyous air and the sound of the sea I HAVE NO INTERNET connection.
Then, as my laptop has developed funny malfunctions like no space-bar or delete key (even now I am pasting spaces, it is time for a repair!) I printed what I had and stuck it in a scrapbook and hand-wrote around the sections I already had (I could and did have this book on hand anywhere and everywhere to catch moments of inspiration - when I had formerly done this with text-message drafts..). It was useful and fun to write the old-fashioned way and was also a tactic I remember Mr Chris Mead recommending. Certainly more practical when it comes to writing in windswept locations for extra inspiration..
Finally, I typed almost the whole thing out from beginning to end. Celebrating with a glass of wine I excitedly read aloud and checked over the whole thing. PHEW! It seemed good at that point but I was all drunk in the afterglow of achievement (and, well, the wine).
NEXT: I have sent it to some trusted friends for their feedback and focused on where and when and how I will stage it next year. Taking a welcome break from creating and an important pause to get fresh perspective on it.
Looking forward to re-reading and wondering what the hell I was thinking..
Monday, August 3, 2009
Where's Joaquin?
So, Joaquin Phoenix has dropped off the media radar. Theories:
A) It's in the can. Just awaiting the final death of the Brüno circus before unveiling the gotcha mockumentary of the year, the dim neon candle to which all efforts in this one-idea 'genre' will be perpetually held.
B) Genuine crisis. The next Susan-Boyle-style moment of skin-deep reflection awaits us all.
C) He's burnt his cool capital and whether faking it or genuine, in trouble or in control, the media who cannot brook ambiguity are not his plaything any longer.
I'm still interested in the public train-wreck he at least made himself out to be, even if the consensus that eventually emerges around it should remain entirely cynical. What he's demonstrated - regardless of intent - is the finite and fragile territory an artist can seemingly occupy in a world of commodity while holding onto their professional integrity. As an emerging artist (still! still!) with more areas of interest (still!) than I've yet been able to declare (and to a significantly smaller audience than Mr. Phoenix) the tolerance threshold of a career- and product-driven culture seems important to both understand and reject.
So, laugh while ye can, I guess..
In the meantime, casting an eye over the projects which have occupied me to date is long overdue, and something I'm intending to do here in the coming days and weeks...
UPDATE: I have moved the nostalgia project/online CV here
A) It's in the can. Just awaiting the final death of the Brüno circus before unveiling the gotcha mockumentary of the year, the dim neon candle to which all efforts in this one-idea 'genre' will be perpetually held.
B) Genuine crisis. The next Susan-Boyle-style moment of skin-deep reflection awaits us all.
C) He's burnt his cool capital and whether faking it or genuine, in trouble or in control, the media who cannot brook ambiguity are not his plaything any longer.
I'm still interested in the public train-wreck he at least made himself out to be, even if the consensus that eventually emerges around it should remain entirely cynical. What he's demonstrated - regardless of intent - is the finite and fragile territory an artist can seemingly occupy in a world of commodity while holding onto their professional integrity. As an emerging artist (still! still!) with more areas of interest (still!) than I've yet been able to declare (and to a significantly smaller audience than Mr. Phoenix) the tolerance threshold of a career- and product-driven culture seems important to both understand and reject.
So, laugh while ye can, I guess..
In the meantime, casting an eye over the projects which have occupied me to date is long overdue, and something I'm intending to do here in the coming days and weeks...
UPDATE: I have moved the nostalgia project/online CV here
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Getting Old, Something New, Too Much Borrowed, Sometimes Blue...
Late last year I set up this blog to write a bit of opinionated waffle, the sort that's all over the internet and therefore, like so many January projects before it, perhaps it's best I drifted away from it.
I'm resurrecting the site because I'm starting a new project, which I conceived this year and began properly writing last month in my family's beautiful old fibro shack on the side of a cliff in Austinmer (ok, it's not that isolated these days, but you get the point).
I've no idea how or what this writing will evolve into, exactly, though I have some secret plans. Among which is to gradually diarise the experience of creating a work at this blog.
So, like it says, for now... watch this space...
I'm resurrecting the site because I'm starting a new project, which I conceived this year and began properly writing last month in my family's beautiful old fibro shack on the side of a cliff in Austinmer (ok, it's not that isolated these days, but you get the point).
I've no idea how or what this writing will evolve into, exactly, though I have some secret plans. Among which is to gradually diarise the experience of creating a work at this blog.
So, like it says, for now... watch this space...
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