“I know it’s unpopular... but I just love Robyn Nevin. Such a giving soul, generous and so much time for everyone. Her creativity and insight surpasses expectation. No one could best represent the theatre industry in Sydney than our wonderful Robyn!” Sydney Morning Herald (Posted by: KurtAngst on September 4, 2006 3:25 PM)

Robyn Nevin would have been able to sit down to her Xmas lunch, retired from her position as Artistic Director of the Sydney Theatre Company, satisfied with a job well done. Relaxed and comfortable you could almost say. Possibly lifted a glass as loved ones toasted her achievement and welcome her home.

She could have taken up the glistening blade and sunk it into the turkey’s breast without a hint of irony. It has not been a murderous regime, though others among Sydney’s theatre profession may not look back on Nevin’s reign the same way. As Nevin herself noted in her farewell speech, she has never been “all things to all people”. But hey, she survived an 8-year reign. Disinclined to be swayed, she did disappoint those who saw the duties of the STC differently. But Nevin was never the type to bow to outside pressure and so, whatever any of us think of the STC at the end of 2007, it is in the shape and condition Robyn Nevin willed it to be.

In his choice of ‘most admired’ theatre person in Sydney, KurtAngst feared he was wading into terrain without much company. Not true.

Quite the opposite from what I encountered at La Nevin’s farewell celebration, which kicked on very nicely into the STC’s 2007 Xmas party, which in turn kicked on into the early hours of one morning – about a week ago. Sorry it has taken so long to report back, but there was the matter of a hangover!

The evening began slightly creakily for moi as I was introduced to another James, as in Strong - previous chair of the STC board. He is a man who knows about knives, especially those that take the form of letters of complaint to a newspaper’s editor. His was one of the more influential which ultimately saw me out of my position as senior drama critic at the Sydney Morning Herald, almost a decade ago now.

At some point in the evening I sidled up to this other James, quite daintily I thought, and informed him that I admired concerned citizens who went to the trouble to enter into cultural debate by means of letters to an editor.

Not surprisingly, as the successful Chair of some of Australia’s leading companies, including a host of fine arts companies, James Strong can sniff the approach of a card-carrying Revenger’s Tragedy from a mile off; and so my convivial goodwill fell somewhat flat. ‘Unmoved’ might be the word I am looking for. That man knows how to keep a coffin-lid shut!

It was not an occasion for picking at the bones of an old carcass anyway. This was Robyn’s night! And had KurtAngst been there (and might have?), he would have found himself among a congratulation of like-minded enthusiasts and groupies. No only does Nevin have a lot of friends in the theatre profession, as it turns out, a good many were keen to speak openly about what it is they like about her.

It was a big, fun, generous-hearted gig. The Sydney Theatre, one of the several significant projects Nevin saw into fruition in her time, was full to overflowing with thespians and those who love them. There was song and dance, skits created especially for the occasion, speeches and words of thanks from around the world via video-link (or some such technology). David Hare spoke from London and Tom Stoppard was in the audience.

Whatever else can be said about Nevin’s 8-year reign, she has achieved a number of hugely significant milestones. Some data from current STC Chair Ian Darling’s speech.

“A big thanks…from the 2,327,000 audience members who have experienced 7,477 of your performances.

“Thanks for the 1,310 acting roles you provided, and for the hundreds of directing/design/lighting and composition gigs you provided along the way.

“For the 45 young assistant-director roles you created...

“And for the joy you gave us in the nine times you graced the stage as an actor and the 12 productions you directed.

“Thanks from the 30,000 school kids who you have brought to the theatre every year.

“Thanks for creating the Wharf Revue.

“Thanks for supporting Australian playwrights 39 times, and for giving us 23 world premieres of Australian plays.

“Thanks for commissioning 23 writers along the way, and for the 24 newly-developed productions you created.

“Thank you for all the international ties you made, for bringing some of the world’s best productions and directors to Australia, and for taking our own world-class productions to the world.

“Thanks you for having the courage to take risks, to create an ensemble of actors, to build a new theatre.

“And thank you for cementing the STC as the finest theatre company in the land.”

No denying any of that! Did a number of senior actresses feel left out. Pushed away? Yes? Did some take the view that Nevin had turned the STC into a colonial outpost of the National Theatre in London? Yes. Are some still waiting for a decent explanation for the existence of the Actors Company, beyond giving a lucky few actors some regular work? Yes.

But what really spoke to me on the occasion of the farewell were the number of gifted young people who wanted to thank Nevin for the career-launching opportunities she had given them. From Vienna and Berlin came messages from both Barrie Kosky and Benedict Andrews.

In hindsight, given the risks involved, the two greatest on-stage achievements during Nevin’s time were Kosky’s production of The Lost Echo and Andrews’ production of The Season at Sarsaparilla. Both presented by the Actors Company - another of Nevin’s most significant achievements.

Taking note of some disturbances within that troupe of late, and few less than successful productions, I do believe it is time for the role and aims of the Actors Company to be more fully defined. But that will be for incoming artistic directors, Andrew Upton and Cate Blanchett. In the meantime, Nevin has to be credited for getting this specialist ensemble up and running.

Wharf 2Loud, strongly supported by Nevin, served as a leg-up for a bunch of emerging practitioners including Brendan Cowell and Chris Mead. Writer Tony MacNamara spoke for the many young writers whom Nevin has encouraged; and a whole enclave of associate artists, many now well on their way to established careers, were also there to say thanks.

The evening would not have been nearly as much fun had it not been for its hosts, the core Wharf Revue team: Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe and Phillip Scott. This team is a phenomenon now and Biggins, in particular, has been allowed to flourish into a master of wit and entertainment as brilliant as Noel Coward in his heyday. Valerie Bader’ reprise of her Cleo Lane-like jazz artiste in the Helen Clarke Five was but one of the evening’s delicacies, this wicked confection born of a recent Wharf Review.

The cast of Ying Tong: a Walk with the Goons, the recent hit production directed by Richard Cotterill, also offered enlivened entertainment: Biggins (again), Geoff Kelso, Tony Harvey and David James were all hilarious in a skit freshly contrived for the occasion. Talent busting at the seams.

If I were to cite one key achievement (from Ian Darling’s list) it would have to be Nevin’s grooming of a whole new generation of committed, confident and capable theatre artists. Nevin may well have anticipated she might pay a price in lost friendships and a brooding of ill-will among her life-long peers. If so, it was a price she was prepared to pay.

To Nevin’s credit, her favouritism was highly astute. She certainly sniffed out the most promising emerging talent. I am tempted to toy with a truffle metaphor here, but I can see myself getting into an inelegant tangle involving snouts and dank earth. Let’s just say, however recovered, we can now sit back and admire the rich results of the dig!

We shall surely see the effects shake down in a most positive fashion through the next couple of decades. Above all else, the controversial decision to appoint Upton and Blanchett to replace Nevin in leading the company into the immediate future is probably best appreciated in this context.

"She [Nevin] lived and breathed and ate and drank the Sydney Theatre Company, determined to elevate it to its highest levels of performance and production. I've seldom seen anyone so determined and single-minded." David Williamson

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FURTHER READING
http://www.smh.com.au/news/arts/robyn-nevin-she-who-must-be-obeyed/2006/02/23/1140563906152.html?page=6

http://www.smh.com.au/news/arts/enter-blanchett-stage-left/2006/11/08/1162661757611.html


IMAGES
Top - Robyn Nevin's Farewell
Centre Right - Robyn Nevin & John Gaden
Centre Left - Drew Forsythe & Tamsin Carroll
All Photos by William Yang