| The Future Australian Race | commonplace |
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 Photo - Ponch Hawkes
The Bigwig and the Bohemian
Redmond Barry vs Marcus Clarke
Redmond Barry has a master-plan for Melbourne. A colony of low-lifes and undesirables needs cultural building blocks - a university, an art gallery and a public library - if the British race is to prosper. Marcus Clarke seems a likely lad. He’s from ‘the right stuff’, well-bred, well-educated, a talented writer on the up. At the State Library of Victoria where they work, a spirited friendship grows between these quintessential contrarians. Words collide as the literary ‘enfant terrible’ (author of For the Term of His Natural Life) and Ned Kelly's hanging judge battle it out among the books.
commonplace is an independent theatre company that for almost a decade has investigated the nature and growth of an Australian national identity. In 1999 the company staged the sell-out show The Terms & Grammar of Creation in the great domed reading room of the State Library. In 2003 and 2004, The Ishmael Club set the anti-suburban elitism of Norman Lindsay against the idealism of his friend and fellow artist Will Dyson at Trades Hall and at the Malthouse. At the North Melbourne Arts House in 2005 Billy Maloney was a quixotic real-life character whose idealism about the Australian people collided with our lack of belief in ourselves.
Says director Peter Houghton about this play: “The Future Australian Race is unique in the theatrical landscape of Melbourne as it occupies the same space that the characters themselves occupied during the period portrayed. Played out is a mutual infatuation which echoes the dichotomy of Australian cultural life. The 'larrikin' and the 'conservative' face off in an intellectual slanging match still played out today."
commonplace presents
THE FUTURE AUSTRALIAN RACE
Written by Sue Gore & Bill Garner
Directed by Peter Houghton
Design by Shaun Gurton
Lighting Design by Nick Merrylees
Performed by Jim Daly & Luke Ryan
Venue: Queen’s Hall, State Library of Victoria, 328 Swanston St
Previews: May 5 & 6 @ 6.30pm
Dates: May 7 – 24
Times: Mon-Tues @ 6.30pm; Wed-Sat @ 7.30pm
Matinees: Thurs @ 1pm & Sat @ 2pm
Tickets: Previews $20/$15 Season $30/$25
Bookings: 03 9534 5984 or
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Visit: www.commonplace.com.au
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