Holding The Man

I had the luck of making it into one of the packed performances of "Holding The Man" last Monday evening at the Sydney Opera House. (Yes I know - I'm probably one of the last gayboys/queens in Sydney to have seen it!) After three seasons in the last year or so, this has been an incredible hit - and not just with the gay audiences! So after so many times talking about going - my partner booked us in for what would be an unforgettable night.

In a nutshell... What a wonderful show! Not only was it performed exceptionally, it was written and staged beautifully too.

Now a bit of background first.. For those who do not know of the book "Holding The Man" by Timothy Conigrave, you must not be a gay Australian male, or you live overseas! I seriously do not know a single person who has not read the book.. It's almost required reading for all gay boys in Australia! (Mind you, those of you abroad, I have heard it's been translated into several languages... I wonder where?)

Anyways, it basically is an autobiographical book about Timothy Conigrave's life, from his teenage years, through to it's emotional end during the AIDS epidemic in Australia. It primarily follows his long-term relationship with his partner John Caleo, but also his relationships with close friends, and of course, his family.

I had the pleasure of meeting Tommy Murphy, a resident writer for the Griffin Theatre, at the Opening Night Party of "Priscilla", and spoke with him about the stage adaption. It was wonderful to see the script move to the stage so brilliantly.. Well done Tommy!

With suitably perfect lighting and staging, it is a stirring account that always leaves the audience emotional, to say the least.

The actors all did an amazing job - there was never a time they were not committed to the character, pulling the emotion from deep inside, and by doing so, were completely genuine and engaging. Special mention to three of the cast in particular - Guy Edmonds (Timothy Conigrave), Matt Zeremes (John Caleo) and Brett Stiller (multiple characters). These three were superb! I wouldn't question what the show was if they were in it.. I would just say - "When are we going?!"

The play was a roller-coaster of emotions, as is the book. I remember reading it when I was attending WAAPA, finding striking similarities between myself and Timothy when he was attending NIDA. When discussing this with people, I find that they feel the same - even though, from outside, it would seem their two lives are poles apart. I believe this has been the reason for the book's/play's success.. It really translates well to every human being.

The book even caused a bit of concern with my lecturers at WAAPA, as I would sometimes turn up to my dance classes with tears streaming down my face! I never thought a book could do that too me!

It really is an amazing story, put beautifully into a book, then re-written, equally as beautifully, this time for the stage. I truly hope this show gets to tour Australia - everyone should see it. It is well deserving to make it into festivals the world over. Of course there are many of these types of stories told all around the world as it is, but this story in particular seems to resonate so strongly with so many people..

A must see!

9.5 Diamonds out of 10

Back..

Well I have not written an entry on my blog for a while now - and haven't I been well and truly reprimanded for it?! Absolutely!

A number of emails have come in.. What the motivation for these emails is varied - some people write that they been interested in what was going on in my life, while some worried that I had some personal problems after my family visited Sydney and saw me in drag for the first time... One person simply wrote: "Where are your blogs? R u dead?"

But one person in particular though, gave me a kick up the pants when he sent an email saying he always read my blog every Monday night, and further added: "I'm very disappointed that you didn't keep your own commitment to those who read your blog weekly".

Well I really didn't know people cared about whats happening in my life, or cared about holding me to my own commitments.. My thanks to those who sent emails..

Well, don't worry, I'm back to my blogging (though with my tail tucked under to avoid any more smacks on the bum..!). And I have a lot of things to say about the idea of "back"..

• BACK to shows..

I'm working on a new regular Sydney show for a weekend evening. Negotiations are underway with the management and concepts are being finalised. I'll post news on this one once details are confirmed.
Rough Trade (Hers), is touring again! This time we will be down at Cube Nightclub in Canberra on Friday 22nd June. Charisma Belle, Ru Bella and myself are looking forward to the new faces and a new venue. If your in the ACT, please come along!
I'm also working on a special one-of-a-kind solo project. It's all very top secret atm, but will be developed on the side of the usual hustle and bustle, until it is ready to be performed. I wish I could tell you more, but that would ruin the surprise!

• BACK with a Vengeance - Barry Humphries

Well I have long wanted to see Barry perform in person, as I didn't know what to expect on stage. I attended his guest lecture at WAAPA back in 1999 (?), where I was one of a number of students who walked out when he spoke in such an old-school racist way for a considerable portion of the lecture. As in my blog from late last year, I also chatted with him briefly at the Opening Night After Party of "Priscilla" - the musical, for a short time. I thought that I should watch him do his job, rather than just judge him on the person I found him to be, so I went along to his preview night of his new show..
Of course the show he has just opened in Sydney showcases his iconic characters, Dame Edna Edveridge and Sir Les Patterson, with the lesser known character, Sandy Stone. With all 3 characters appearing in the first act, it was a marvel to see the change in physical characterization get completed so quickly. Makeup, clothes, hair, body language - all changed in (almost) an instant. One thing however was quite starkly obvious to me - the vocals of Dame Edna and Sandy Stone sounded remarkably the same..
In any case, the over-the-top characters of the Dame and Sir Les were a hoot, being crass, sly, witty and left no one in the audience safe from spit and gladdies!
However, the one greatest disappointment about the evening was Sandy Stone. As with his other characters, Humphries turns a mirror on society to make commentary on the community at large. This fun and outlandish commentary is what Australians tend to like with their humour, which Dame Edna and Sir Les provide in bucket-loads!
Sandy, however, is approached from a different place as far as character development. He is based on a person in their 70's/80's and is a character who talks about his life, particularly his wife and WW2, all from a lonely ratty old couch set in a neglected nursing home.
Sandy is portrayed as such a genuine character, as we start to feel sorry for him, his wife, and all he has been through in his life. Sandy even spoke on the quality of care at nursing homes - a quite topical point as of late here in Australia. But Humphries wanted to put some jokes in there - so instead of some typical bumbly old man jokes, he resorts to offensive racist remarks to get a laugh. Few people bellowed with laughter, others embarrassingly giggle, many didn't find them funny at all. I was one of them.
Now we all do know people who talk about "Japs, Koreans, Wogs, Abbos, Yellow People, Asians and Muslims" etc, believing that there is nothing wrong with the way they think and talk. Communicating such a horribly racist mentality to others is for me not acceptable. We should be trying to educate people against this discriminatory and racist mentality whenever we see it..
Humphries set up this character Sandy to a dear old man, genuine and the kind you have compassion for. If that set-up is to communicate his racist views for another "White Australia" (and he was around at that time when that was common accepted belief) - then I wish him luck overseas, as I'm not encouraging anyone to attend/support his shows here in Oz..
The seats next to me were empty after interval - it was a co-worker of mine. When I saw him at work the next day I asked him why he left. Not surprisingly, he told me that he was not interested in listening to "crap racist jokes that crossed the line".
Here, here!
I will ever attend another one of his shows, or even show any interest in the man..
As the famous quote goes: "Never again.."

• BACK to a Labour State Government

Now I'll only chat a moment on this. The State election earlier this year was a fizz.. Basically the Parliament remained the same after all the hoo-haa of the election campaigns. I'm, however, not complaining about it - Labour is always ahead in my vote against those nasty Liberals..
As for the federal election later this year.. Vote Labour ahead of Liberals at all costs! (ie. I'm voting Green, with my preferences to Labour..)
Go Ruddy! Go the Gillard!

• BACK in Australia TODAY - David Hicks

For those who are not from Australia, David Hicks is one of two Aussies that were detained and sold to the Americans as "terrorists". Now if you want to know about Hicks, just search his name on the net - it's been a long 5 years worth of debate and reporting about this man, from the media, politicians and the community, and you will find information readily. Anyway, after his surprise guilty plea, complete with a plea bargain no less, (Justice anyone...?) Hicks was sentenced to only serve a few months of prison , with most of his penalty already carried out in the infamous US base at Guantanamo Bay. This man has endured a serious breach of his human rights, and with as little support from the government as possible. As an Australian citizen, our government should have supported Hicks by removing him from the illegal detainment and objecting to the Kangaroo court setup by the US military. Even the US Supreme court ruled them unjust! (it is worth noting still that no US citizen can ever be tried in these courts - the military court provides no safeguards and is "not suitable for US citizens".) Regardless of his guilt/innocence, the Howard government deserves it's condemnation for it's actions, or more accurately, lack thereof.