Tagged: stage
Theatre review: ‘Gorge’ by Virginia Frankovich & Phoebe Mason
Walking into a ‘fairyland’ of gluttony made me reminisce my childhood birthday parties. A space over-flowing with green jelly, decadent cupcakes, salty popcorn, chelsea buns, chocolate cornflake slice, iced-pink biscuits & sugar aplenty – a feast for queens and the audience, of course. I did not see the first season of ‘Gorge’ that showcased at Auckland Fringe Festival in March 2013 – however it was worth the wait. ‘Gorge’ is storytelling at its finest – about gluttony. Virginia Frankovich and Phoebe Mason were majestically outstanding as they played different characters, engaged with the audience, stimulated our imagination and questioned our relationship with sugar. Apparently ‘we are what we eat’. I love sugar – don’t you? Give me some tiramisu any day. I applaud the ‘Gorge’ girls. See you again in 2016.
Play Reading: Whore
Let the storytelling begin!
‘Whore’ is a collection of monologues based on true events; about sex workers who live in Auckland, New Zealand. After extensive research, meetings and interviews; the work can (now) start.
The stories have unique titles called: Illegal Migrant, ‘Married Woman’, ‘Transgender’, ‘Underage Sex Worker’, ‘Rent Boy’ and ‘Refugee’. Performing in late May, in an alternative space: ‘charlatan clinic style’.
The cast involved: Rebecca Parr, Lee Ah Yen Faatoia and Geraldine Creff.
This project is in collaboration with up to 20 ‘creative’ people, and I am excited to be leading this process.
Join us on Facebook for all the updates –
Betrayal with Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and Rafe Spall: Photographs
One of my favourite ‘Pinter’ plays.
Here are the production photographs of Daniel Craig, (his real-life wife) Rachel Weisz, and Rafe Spall starring on Broadway in Harold Pinter’s Betrayal, a tale of adultery that goes backward in time, directed by Mike Nichols. Opening night is Sunday, October 27 at the Barrymore Theater, and the play is set to run through January 5, 2014.
TRAYAL originally premiered at London’s National Theatre in 1978.
Click on any photograph to see it enlarged.
Jess Talks About ‘Lilly’
“Playing Lilly is a treat. Lilly is an unstable extrovert, highly sexual, smart, inattentive, easily bored, fascinated by the darker mores in life. She imagines herself to be an extremist – and makes choices based on a flirtation with a polarised position, which sits in opposition to her dry-mouthed, cardboard, and largely absent father figure. ” – Jess Holly Bates, ‘salt’
Living And Breathing Theatre
Starting a new project is always exhilarating.
Working collaboratively with a small team, to create performance art.
‘salt’ may potentially, also be a short film soon.
I am consumed by the characters (Henry & Lilly) and their lives, and their stories.
I will share my experience with you through the platform of social media, film, radio, print and experiential events.
Let the journey begin!
Playwriting
“You are one of those girls, that arrives from nowhere and departs the same way. You seem present but removed?” Will, ‘pURe’
Love that line. I am drafting my next work, which is again different, to my last 5 plays. I enjoy the intimacy of the stage with my characters, however I like to mix it up with film. Thinking about their interests, and back stories, and their secrets. We all have them. Looking forward to a play reading, in a month or two, nothing like seeing the work take shape.
Language is like oxygen – but so is silence. Sitting in an empty room, brings a wild imagination, and thoughts that wonder on for miles.
I am not one of those people, who write everyday. I write when I want to. This brings depth and colour to my work, when writing from the heart.
What is your experience with writing plays?
Director Peter Brook turns 88
“I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across this empty space whilst someone is watching him, and this is all that is needed for an act of theatre to be engaged.” – Peter Brooks, The Empty Space.
Happy Birthday Peter Brook, the man that turned theatre on it’s head: broke every rule, directed actors with minimal set, and who let’s the audience (imagination) come to their own conclusions. My hero, who believes in simplicity and truth. Brook’s work spans 8 decades and is one of the most influential (and my favourite) stage director’s alive. He has travelled the world to find stories that belong on the stage, stating that theatre is always evolving. His last work was called ‘The Suit’ by Can Themba, a story of adultery and revenge based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Brook’s advice is to “Never ask yourself what you have learned…only ask yourself what are the circumstances which are different from last year.” Bravo. Thank you for sharing your gift with the world.
Draft
When most people are getting ready to slow down (for a well deserved break) my head is spinning, with all the things I need to write about, including the journey of my next (two hander) stage play. I am one of those old-fashioned types, who likes to record ideas and thoughts in a notebook, opposed to a tablet. Talking to various people at the airport, baristas, dogwalkers, actors, and shop assistants, have all recently inspired me to think and feel, in some way or another. I have watched about 10 films in the last week, all relating to love. One of the best books that was adapted to film, I have ever seen (in my opinion) is ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’. It tore my heart out. Love is hard to find, but sometimes, it can catch you, when you are not looking.
melissafergusson 