Sydney University Drama Society

SUDS Wash – 14.v.2009

May 16th, 2009 by SeanO

In this Edition:

Now Showing: Attempts on Her Life
Coming Soon: The Colour of Justice
Coming Soon: How Does Any One Person
Social Event: Play-with-your-Food
For Your Diary: Cellar Clean-Up
Appeal: Website Details
Next Meeting: Wednesday 20 May

1. Now Showing: Attempts on Her Life

So there are but three opportunities left for you to catch the SUDS Major for 2009, running tonight through Saturday.

SUDS presents
Attempts on Her Life
17 Scenarios for the Theatre by Martin Crimp
By arrangement with Dominie Pty Ltd.

Who is Anne? Is she a child, a mother, a porn star, an international terrorist, a sports car? The more information we are given, the more mysterious Anne’s identity becomes.

WHERE: Cleveland St Theatre, 199 Cleveland Street, Surry Hills

TICKETS: $14 ACCESS / $16.50 Concession / $20 Adult

(Book online at trybooking.com, or in cash only at the door.

Directed by Harriet Gillies
Produced by Vivienne Egan
A/V Design by Max Rapley and Emily Morrison
Lighting Design by Lissa Fraser
Costume Design by Caitlin Kenny
Starring Hattie Archibald, Jacqueline Breen, Genny Buzo, Wil Eastley, Steph Iredale, Luke Martin, Camelia Mowbray, Sean Ohlendorf, Charles Purcell, Nick Starte, Tom Walker.

2. Coming Soon: The Colour of Justice

I flippantly said in March this year that I hoped SUDS would do one staged reading a month, and see how that worked out as a way of bringing interesting work to life. Turns out it has been quite successful, so here is the work for May!

“It is, par excellence, theatre as an image of society confronting itself” — The Independent

THE COLOUR OF JUSTICE, edited by Richard Norton-Taylor from the transcripts of the Macpherson Inquiry, is a shortened and streamlined staged version of the inquiry into the case of Stephen Lawrence. Stabbed to death in Eltham, South London, in 1993, Lawrence’s case made headlines for the extremely mishandled police investigation, which eventually led to the dropping of all charges against the perpetrators. A civil prosecution by Lawrence’s family similarly failed.

In 1999, Sir William Macpherson was appointed to investigate the handling of the case after a Coroner’s Jury made the exceptional finding that it had been a racist killing. Lawrence’s family, witnesses, policemen, lawyers and even one of the alleged perpetrators appeared before the inquiry. Its eventual finding was that systemic racism within the police force and the judicial mishaps which followed have most probably led to murder which can never be prosecuted.

One of the now-famous Tribunal Plays which originated from the Tricycle Theatre in London, the play is simply a staged version of the inquest. In presenting this work unadorned and in its simple reality, the play is an attempt to faithfully recreate an inquiry which should and did move and anger an audience. The Observer called it “the most vital piece of theatre on the London stage” and “a clarion call”. It continues SUDS’s exploration of the various faces of recent verbatim and political theatre.

WHEN: Monday 18 May, 7.00pm

WHERE: Moot Court, New Law Building (main campus)
HOW MUCH: Absolutely Free

Cast: Houston Ash; Anthony Baine; James Barrow; Urszula Czarnota; Curtis Dickson; Nick Dixon-Wilmshurst; Harriet Gillies; Christopher Hay; Cale Hubble; Guang Li; David Mack; Clare Matchett; Matt McGirr; Vyvyan Nickels; Sean Ohlendorf; Liz Schaffer; Stephen Sharpe; Anna Solar-Bassett; and Pierce Wilcox.

3. Coming Soon: How Does Any One Person

How can you claim your own place in the world? What do you do when your world falls apart? And how can the words of others help you through? One of the answers is that you can write a play about it, but even then what kind of opportunity does the theatre offer? It is from these provocative questions that How Does Any One Person proceeds, and along the way offers one man’s story of the struggle to confront Big Questions.

But never fear, it’s also quite funny (I promise), combining the personal tale with words by solo performers David Cale, Eric Bogosian, Tim Miller and Marc Wolf. If you’d like the chance to see a solo performance in the Cellar in an informal, merely hour-long form, then come along and join Chris Hay in splattering the space with neuroses.

WHEN: Wednesday 20 May, 6.00pm (before Reservoir Dogs)

WHERE: Cellar Theatre

HOW MUCH: Absolutely Free

4. Social Event: Play-with-your-Food

Coming up next week, we have the return of the infamous Play-with-your-Food. If you’d rather not see Chris prancing around the Cellar, then head up to Manning Bar for a cheap $5 dinner and drink before heading to see Reservoir Dogs in the Cellar.

5. For Your Diary: Cellar Clean-Up

And please put in your diaries now, the Semester One Cellar Clean-Up, always a highlight of the SUDS Social Calendar. On Sunday 6 June from 10am onwards, we’ll be giving the Cellar a spring clean (in winter, sure) in preparation for the excitement that Semester Two holds.

If you have been involved in a Semester One show in either cast or crew, then it is compulsory for you to attend. Of course, the more the merrier, so if you fancy hanging with us in the Cellar before StuVac, then please come along. Pizza is potentially involved.

6. Appeal: Website Details

In the break between the Semesters, we also hope to get a new SUDS website up and running. In preparation for this, we would ask that directors and cast members of shows of the past two years trawl through their hard drives for any production photographs or SUDS-related fun. Also, if each Director could write a very brief piece about their production, we hope to have an archive included on the website for members new and old to peruse.

Anything and everything can be emailed to Dom Mercer at dom@mercer.id.au: all contributions welcome.

7. Next Meeting: Wednesday May 20, 1pm

Please come along to our next General Meeting, next Wednesday May 20 at 1pm in the Cellar Theatre. We will be hearing proposals for Slot 8, which is the second slot of Semester Two in weeks three and four. There will also be proposals for the Wildcard slots in the middle of the holidays (the middle two weeks of July). For more information, please email sudsexec2009@gmail.com.

“It is not enough to demand insight and informative images of reality from the theatre. Our theatre must stimulate a desire for understanding, a delight in changing reality… Theatre must teach all the pleasures and joys of discovery, all the feelings of triumph associated with liberation.”

— Bertolt Brecht

(sorry, couldn’t resist any longer…)

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The Wash: 27.iv.2009

Apr 27th, 2009 by SeanO

In this edition:

Attempts on Her Life Launch Party
This Week: Triple4-Two (Slot 4)
Social Event: Coffee and Conversation Club
SUDS Major 2009: Attempts on Her Life
Show Recommendation: A Secret Place, atyp
Performance Opportunity: Alley Cabaret
Ticket Offer: Stagejuice, In the Shadows
Competition: USU Short Film Competition

1. Monday 27th April: TONIGHT!

Social Event: Attempts on Her Life Launch Party

The Cast and Crew of Attempts on her Life
SUDS Major 2009

Invites you to join them for their Launch Party!

6pm Monday 27th April @ Hermann’s Bar

Featuring Guest Speaker Marion Potts, Director for STC & Bell Shakespeare Company
+ Performance from the cast
+ live music

2. Triple4-Two: A collection of Shakespearean Sonnets
April 29 - May 9, Wed - Sat, 8pm
For two weeks only the Cellar Theatre will be alive with the glory of verse! Shakespeare, in a form rarely performed, will speak of love, betrayal, lust, melancholy, want, inspiration, beauty, and more! Witness how despite the ancient tongue the emotion is as new, and ultimately eternal.

3. Social Event: Coffee and Conversation Club

The eagerly-awaited next instalment of Coffee and Conversation Club is coming up this Thursday April 30. We will meet at the Cellar at 6pm and then go down to Glebe to find some coffee and cake. The first hour will be a final debrief about The Collection, and then we’ll introduce the Shakespearean Sonnets for Triple4-Two. So if you have any comments or questions about Slot 3, or want to learn more about Slot 4: come along!

4. SUDS Major 2009: Attempts on Her Life

SUDS presents
Attempts on Her Life
17 Scenarios for the Theatre by Martin Crimp
By arrangement with Dominie Pty Ltd.

Who is Anne? Is she a child, a mother, a porn star, an international terrorist, a sports car? The more information we are given, the more mysterious Anne’s identity becomes.

Directed by Harriet Gillies
Produced by Vivienne Egan
A/V Design by Max Rapley and Emily Morrison
Lighting Design by Lissa Fraser
Costume Design by Caitlin Kenny

Starring Hattie Archibald, Jacqueline Breen, Genny Buzo, Wil Eastley, Steph Iredale, Luke Martin, Camelia Mowbray, Sean Ohlendorf, Charles Purcell, Nick Starte, Tom Walker

WHERE: Cleveland St Theatre, 199 Cleveland St Surry Hills
DATES: May 6-16^th, Wed-Saturday 8pm, Saturday May 9th 2pm

TICKETS: Full $20 / Concession $16.50 / ACCESS $14

Sponsored by SUDS, the University of Sydney Union and the Royal Exhibition Hotel.

5. Show Recommendation: A Secret Place, atyp

atyp is excited to present A Secret Place, the premiere production of atyp’s Young Artists’ Program. Written and performed by the young and gutsy ensemble and directed by Zeal Theatre’s Tom Lycos, Brigid Kitchin & Stefo Nantsou, A Secret Place is a revealing production which intercuts numerous true stories to create a vivid, disturbing and complex study of love and addiction in contemporary Australia.

A Secret Place takes a very personal look into modern drug culture….… the booze, the pills, the dope, the whatever we use to get to our own ‘secret place’.

Combining Zeal’s trademark style of raw stripped-back theatricality, live music and an entertaining mix of comedy and drama, A Secret Place takes the audience on a swirling ten year journey, from mid teens to mid 20s, revealing lives and situations in a bold and confronting theatrical experience.

Featuring SUDS members Max Rapley and Emily Morrison!

SEASON 1 – 9 May

TIME 7.30pm

VENUE atyp The Wharf, Studio 1

TICKETS $15 Adult / $12 Concession / $10 atyp members

BOOKINGS call 9251 3900 or email atyp@atyp.com.au

If there is sufficient interest, we will try and organise a group expedition to see the show. Please email Chris on sudsexec2009@gmail.com if you think you’d like to come along.

6. Performance Opportunity: Alley Cabaret

We are a group of uni students who are producing a series of regular Cabaret shows at the Roxbury Hotel in Camperdown to create performance opportunities for emerging artists. There will be many opportunities for different performers to get onto stage as we are running an 8 show season, with shows every two weeks from the 13^th of May through until the 2^nd of September. Our first show on the 13^th of May will be themed 1920’s Chicago and is supported by the USU. If you are interested in getting involved, or just would like to know more, please email us at alleycabaret@gmail.com. This series of shows will only work if you get involved!

We are looking for performers skilled in:

Master of Ceremonies
Clowning
Dance
Object Manipulation
Live Music
Singing
Aerials and Trapeze
Comedy
Acrobatics
Theatre/ Drama
Juggling
Mime
Balance
Fire manipulation
Magic

If you have any of these skills and are interested in performing, please email us at alleycabaret@gmail.com. Make sure to include your name, preferably a contact number, and tells us what you can do. Also, rate your skills out of 5 where:
1 = Limited skills and will do it if no-one else will
2 = I’m okay but willing to learn
3 = I’m good at what I can do
4 = I’m competent at what I do
5 = I’m totally hot and can do it blindfolded

For crew, we are looking for help with:

Costumes
Make- up
Set & props design
Photographer
Videographer
Tech Crew (sound, lights, back stage, stage manager)
Front of House
Program design

Again, if you’re interested, drop us an email with your name, phone number and what you’d like to help out with. All performers and crew will be given a letter of reference, refereed for any job they apply for and it is our end goal to gift volunteers some of the profits.

7. Ticket Officer: Stagejuice, In the Shadows

A stylised movement-based performance that incorporates experimental hybrid mediums including image, original music and video media as a means to comment on perceptions of reality.

Featuring

Katy Green, Kylie Dennis-Calleja, David Buckley, Gideon Payten-Griffiths, Sasha Cohen as Media Artist, Tom Hogan on sound, Marc Chee as Technician and Skye Kunstelj as Production Manager

Thu 30 April - Sat 2 May at 8pm; Sun 3 May at 6pm

PACT Theatre

107 Railway Parade, Erskineville.

$12 (concession) $15 (adult)

For bookings or more information please contact admin@stagejuice.com.au or call Skye on 0419229047.

www.stagejuice.com.au

SPECIAL SUDS OFFER

$10 tickets for bookings of groups of 5 or more.

stagejuice are also looking for stagehand/technical assistant to help with bump-in and construction. It’s a unique chance to be involved in a relaxed external production company working in a professional theatre environment. Email Skye at admin@stagejuice.com.au if you’re interested.

8. Competition: USU Film Competition

Do you aspire to be the next Akira Kurosawa, rant and rave about the nepotism in the Coppola family, know every Kevin Smith screenplay like the back of your hand, have dreams worthy of a Michel Gondry picture, secretly wish you could change your name to Cohen and claim you’re their missing brother, or just want to have some film orientated fun?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above then it’s time YOU entered a 1-5minute film in the USU Short Film Competition! This is your chance to win $1000 worth of prize money plus a whole range of other fantastic prizes, as well the opportunity to have your film screened at one of the two screening nights.

ROUND ONE THEME: Water

The closing date for heat one of the Film Competition, is fast approaching, so come along to our FREE FILM MAKING WORKSHOP to help you get your ideas rolling. Drinks and snacks provided! Free camera hire! Application forms available online or from The ACCESS Centre, Level 1, Manning House. Round One closes 5pm, Friday 1 May.

“Investment should be given to some individuals who have the confidence of the Board to enter into work of an experimental nature. There can be no guarantee of a result in this area. If it is a true experiment it must enter an area completely unknown.”

— Mike Mullins, Submission to OzCo

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SUDS WASH 15.iv.2009

Apr 16th, 2009 by SeanO

In this Edition:

Upcoming General Meeting
Coming Soon: Triple-4 Two
Wildcard Week: Filmstock
SUDS @ Pride Week
Subgroup Meeting: PAD
Performers Needed: Bambina Borracha
Student Rush Tickets: New Theatre
Upcoming Opportunities: Verge Arts Festival

1. Upcoming General Meeting

We have the next of our General Meetings next week on Wednesday (April 22) at 1pm in the Cellar Theatre. As there are no proposals to be heard, it will be an informal meeting detailing some of the performance and theatrical opportunities for the rest of the Semester. It will also be a good chance to come along and spend some quality time with your friendly local SUDS Exec if you have any questions or problems, or just to pass some time with other SUDS members.

2. Coming Soon: Triple4-Two

Triple4-Two: A collection of Shakespearean Sonnets
April 29 - May 9, Wed - Sat, 8pm

For two weeks only the Cellar Theatre will be alive with the glory of verse! Shakespeare, in a form rarely performed, will speak of love, betrayal, lust, melancholy, want, inspiration, beauty, and more! Witness how despite the ancient tongue the emotion is as new, and ultimately eternal. And if your likes turn more to practical matters: We still need assistance on our production team. Contact Nick on ndix8937@usyd.edu.au ASAP.

3. Wildcard Week: Filmstock

Come and join FILMSOC and SUCS for three nights of unforgettable movie watching experiences. Three nights, four films. Drinks, food, sex, violence, liquid eyeliner, we’ve got it all- and it’s waiting for you.

5PM The Cellar Theatre
ALCOHOL & CANDY BAR WILL BE OPEN from 4:30pm
Entry: FREE for Access, OTHERS gold coin donation.

Tuesday April 21st - WITHNAIL & I
London: The Sixties. Two down-on-their-luck actors (Withnail and Marwood) find solace in drink and other substances. Seeking respite from their uneventful lives they escape up north to Penrith to Withnail’s uncle’s stone cottage. Faced with no modern conveniences, a bunch of oddball locals, and a surprise visit from an amorous “Uncle Monty”, their wits are tested, along with their friendship.

Wednesday April 22nd- SHORTBUS
With his groundbreaking second film, John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) doesn’t try to gene-splice hardcore sex into a lofty art house film, but instead recognizes it as the logical extension of another genre: the comedy of sexual manners, set among Manhattan’s bohemia. Shortbus certainly isn’t the first movie in which neurotic New Yorkers talk endlessly about sex and art, but it’s the first in which the actors engage in more than just talk, on screen. Imagine Woody Allen with circle blowjobs and remote-controlled vibrators. Frank Zappa famously asked whether it’s possible to laugh during sex. In Shortbus, laughter is not only possible but absolutely necessary, and there’s nothing wrong with singing “The Star Spangled Banner” into your lover’s asshole.

Thursday April 23rd- DOUBLE BILL
SOME LIKE IT HOT
Two struggling musicians witness the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre and try to find a way out of the city before they are found and killed by the mob. The only job that will pay their way is an all girl band so the two dress up as women. In addition to hiding, each has his own problems; one falls for another band member but can’t tell her his gender, and the other has a rich suitor who will not take “No,” for an answer.

FEMALE TROUBLE
There are a lot of things to overly praise about Female Trouble: the unpleasant sex, the bizarre outfits, and the unsavoury posturing. However, it’s the outlandish dialogue that keeps me coming back for more, as John Waters’ script features some of the most clever one-liners I’ve ever heard said aloud in a movie. And the quintet of Divine, Mink Stole, Edith Massey, Mary Vivian Pierce, and David Lochary are more than up for the demanding task of reciting it in the most exuberant manner possible.

4. SUDS @ Pride Week

Pride Week is a week to celebrate queer culture and students on campus and it is brought to you by USU, the SRC and the University of Sydney.

Monday 20 April, 3pm – 6pm (Cellar Theatre)

We open with a staged reading of a new play by the American playwright Christopher Shinn. A sell-out at its world première at the Royal Court Theatre in London, NOW OR LATER was described by the Independent newspaper as “unmissable. Razor sharp wit and explosive canniness.” After the SUDS Staged Reading two weeks ago, this would be only the second time the play has been presented outside the UK.

Written against the backdrop of the real life Obama/McCain election, the play dramatises the confrontations between freedom of expression and religion as against hate speech and homophobia. The cast for the staged reading is still to be confirmed, but will feature Urszula Czarnota, Guang Li, Daniel Ready and Pierce Wilcox. The play will commence at approximately 3.15pm.

In the second half, commencing at 5.00pm and running for approximately an hour, we will present some current solo performance work. Including extracts from performers such as Tim Miller, Marc Wolf, Deb Margolin and David Cale, the piece, will explore many of the currents running through this work by counter-balancing it with a personal account. Much of the work being presented as a part of the show has never been presented in Australia before, indeed some of it remains unpublished, and so it is an exciting opportunity to see rarely performed work and confront some of the questions it raises. The solo extracts will be performed by Chris Hay, and the entire show should last for no longer than an hour.

Tuesday 21 April, 7pm – 10pm (Moot Court, New Law Building)

During the 2008 Pride Week, SUDS launched its 2008 Major Production, The Laramie Project. It therefore seems fitting to present as part of the 2009 celebrations a staged reading of the first work by author and director Moisés Kaufman: GROSS INDECENCY: THE THREE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE. For this powerful indictment of homophobia and how prejudice ruined the life of one of history’s great talents, we are delighted to be able to use the Moot Court in the New Law School Building. Having the environment of an actual courtroom will bring a further resonance to our staged reading, as well as encourage a greater cross-section of the student body to attend. So please join us for the play that USA Today called “thrilling, unforgettable, maybe even life changing”. The cast for this staged reading includes James Barrow, Curtis Dickson, Chris Hay, Cale Hubble, Daniel Ready and Pierce Wilcox.

5. Subgroup Meeting: Production and Design

Wednesday 22 April, 2pm (Cellar Theatre)

We’re going to have an open meeting to discuss the production and design for Romeo and Juliet (Slot 6). Please come with at least two (2) of the following things to be discussed:
1 / an idea for a set, set piece or scenery piece
2 / two costumes (or part) for one character
3 / one song (or part) which would suit the play
4 / a lighting plot or design for one scene
It would be good if you could re-read the play if you haven’t for a while to delete any pre-conceived ideas about the play! Ideas can be in your head, but it would be even nicer if on paper for us all to look at! We’ll discuss all ideas as a group and the direction of design in which the production is proceeding. If anyone is still interested, we can start to divide and conquer tasks at the meeting and set up further meeting times!

6. Performers Needed: Bambina Borracha

Bambina Borracha Productions presents Babaret – HEAVY PETTING ZOO

Tuesday 21st April 2009
8:30pm - Free Entry!
***SPECIAL SHOUT-OUT FOR UNIQUE ANIMAL INSTINCT PERFORMERS!!***

It’s feeding time at Bambina’s special zoo and please don’t keep your hands to yourself. Come in and get cuddly with a cute piece of tail as we unleash the beasts for one night only! Too hot for humanity, too adventurous for the wild - there’s more animal debauchery here than the time David Attenborough seduced an entire pride of lions.

Bambina Borracha and Babaret are looking for new and unique performances of any variety to be a part of April Babaret. The theme is Heavy Petting Zoo, which means we’d like to see anything animalistic or animal-inspired on stage. Babaret aims to give a home to new works, reworked mish-mashes of pop culture, hybrid brainchildren of classic tales, songs, dances, and/or fandangos. Have you had an idea that seemed a bit too weird, a bit too awkward or silly or stinky? Have you always wanted to tell the story of the endangered Jamaican blue iguana? TELL US NOW and be a part of an exciting and expanding community of performers - actors, musicians, writers and geniuses - that put Babaret together every month.

Bambina Borracha have toured shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide and are currently producing a B Sharp (Belvoir) production. Make a wonderful and long-lasting connection with this amazing new theatre company that has spawned from the loving loins of our very own SUDS. For more information, or to volunteer your special skill, please contact Steph on steph.iredale@gmail.com.

7. Student Rush Tickets: New Theatre

$17 Student Rush tickets are available in person 30 minutes prior to New Theatre performances. Proof of full-time student concession is required and tickets are subject to availability. One per customer. No exchange or refunds after purchase. Not valid for preview or opening night performances.

This deal is for all New Theatre productions, though currently showing is Louis Nowra’s modern classic Così. The show runs from April 23 until May 16, at the New Theatre on South King Street, Newtown.

8. Upcoming Opportunities: Verge Arts Festival

Each year, the University of Sydney Union (USU) provides a wondrous Arts Festival on campus, the Verge Arts Festival. Running the first two weeks of September, Verge unites creative forces on campus to prove just what a hotbed of talent this University really is. SUDS has a pool of $3500 available exclusively to fund shows as part of the Festival, with a particular emphasis on work outside the Cellar Theatre. The first round of proposals for this funding will be in Week 13 of this Semester, so get your thinking caps on and think big! If you would like to discuss any ideas or get any advice on potential Verge shows, please contact the Exec on sudsexec2009@gmail.com.

“When a performance is over, what remains? Fun can be forgotten, but powerful emotion also disappears and good arguments lose their thread. When emotion and argument are harnessed to a wish from the audience to see more clearly into itself - then something in the mind burns. The event scorches onto the memory.”

— Peter Brook, The Empty Space

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SUDS SUPPLEMENTARY WASH

Apr 6th, 2009 by SeanO

In this edition:

Auditions: “Triple4-Two” (Shakespeare’s Sonnets)
Auditions: Reservoir Dogs
Auditions: Romeo and Juliet
Social Event: Pirates of Penzance (MUSE)
Subgroup Meeting: Writers’ and Directors’ Group
Social Event: Coffee and Conversation Club
Plug: Pirates of Penzance (MUSE)
Special Opportunity: Secret Garden Festival
Special Opportunity: “Whatever!” Extras Required
Competition Details: Short Film Competition
Competition Details: University Writing Competition

——————————————————————————————

1. Auditions: “Triple4-Two” (Shakespeare’s Sonnets)
(from Nick Dixon-Wilmshurst, Director/Curator)
Triple4-Two is to be a performance of Shakespearean Sonnets. How we do them and where we do them will be up to the cast although I’d like to build amazing set pieces in the Cellar and also use outdoor spaces on campus.This is a great opportunity for anyone who’s never done Shakespeare before but would like to. Auditions will be held from 10am Thursday at the Cellar. Easiest thing to do is call (0401304438) or email (ndix8937@usyd.edu.au)and book a time for the next week. Please bring a sonnet you would like to perform. Also - if you’d like to be involved in a design capacity that’s great. Arrange a time to meet with me and bring a sonnet. You may not have to perform it but I’d like to discuss it. See also the Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=74815359032.

2. Auditions: Reservoir Dogs
Details are still firming about auditions for Reservoir Dogs, but exact details will be available through the SUDS Facebook Group (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid=a09e8ecafa3637cc7713ce79f05f9136&gid=2215989530) very soon. However, the directors have let us know they intend to hold auditions between 11 and 1 on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. If this sounds good, come along, otherwise you can contact Neada, one of the writer/directors, on nbul2313@usyd.edu.au for details.

3. Auditions: Romeo and Juliet
(from Khym Scott, Director)
Performing: Weeks 12 & 13 (ie. 27 May - 6 June)
Rehearsal Period: (To be confirmed after casting, though this is to give a basic idea) Sporadically through Mid-Semester break, then generally Fridays after 1pm, weekends, and occasional weekday evenings, with a more intensive period closer to weeks of performance.
Crew: Those interested in production and/or design, please contact Khym to book some time in the same below audition periods to have a chat. It won’t be an audition at all, but rather a chance to recruit like-minded assistants and inform you of the vision of the show. The show will be fairly design and production-heavy, so it’s an opportunity for crew to do a large amount of work on a show during pre-production.
Auditions: We’d love to see as both new faces and old faces at auditions - we need quite a few people so don’t be put off if you haven’t done anything with SUDS before or in a while. Preparation: Please have a look at the pieces on the Facebook event (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=78808142501) from the play and be prepared to audition with them. If you don’t have access to Facebook, please email Khym on the details below for a copy. Further pieces may be given at the audition to be read unprepared.

Audition Times:
Friday 3 April 3pm-6pm
Saturday 4 April upon request (any time)
Wednesday 5 April 10am-12pm, 1pm-3pm
Thursday 6 April 10am-1pm, 2pm-3pm
Friday 7 April upon request (any time)
Saturday 8 April upon request (any time)
Monday 13 April upon request (any time)
Tuesday 14 April 4pm-6pm
Auditions will be booked in 10-15 minute slots and held on the Cottage Lawns (outside The Cellar). To book an audition please contact Khym (0410 129 181 / ksco8063@mail.usyd.edu.au), or message him through Facebook. He can also be found in the C&S Office 10am-6pm Mondays and Tuesdays if you feel like seeing him in person. If you have any questions, or can’t make one of the designated times for auditions, please let Khym know and we can find a time to schedule your audition!

4. Social Event: Pirates of Penzance (MUSE)
Our good friends at MUSE are doing their major production for Semester One this week, and we’ve organised a group to go along. Tickets to come with us will be a mere $10, and we are attending the 3.00pm matinee this Saturday April 4. If you’d like to come along, please contact our Social Secretary, Bec on rebeccasaffir@hotmail.com and she’ll organise payment and pass on more details. If you want to come with the SUDS group, you need to let us know beforehand so we can submit the appropriate event paperwork! More details below on the show itself and the rest of its run.

5. Subgroup Meeting: Writers’ and Directors’
Thursday April 9, 4.00pm - 6.00pm in the Cellar Theatre
The next meeting of the Writers’ and Directors’ Group is coming up, and will focus on the inspiration behind the writing process. In the first hour of the session, some recent student playwrights will talk about the inspiration behind their work and how they actually started putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). In the second half of the session, we will then do some stimulus writing and share the results with each other. It is designed to be a very open, friendly forum so if that sounds interesting to you, please come along and join us for an afternoon of inspiration (that was supposed to be a lame pun, but didn’t really work).

6. Social Event: Coffee and Conversation Club (CaCC)
Thursday April 9, 6.00pm, meet at the Cellar Theatre
The hotly awaited next installment of the Coffee and Conversation Club (the buzz is only slightly less than around He’s Just Not That Into You Too) is coming up next week also. With a new ‘C’ added every week, come along and have a chat about the Slot 3 performances: the plays themselves; the productions; and the process that led to them (there are a few ‘P’s involved too). Some of the actors and directors will be there to tell about their work, and if nothing else it’s a cheap cup of coffee to keep you awake during the shows - not, of course, that you’ll need it.

7. Plug: Pirates of Penzance (MUSE)
Sydney University Musical Theatre Ensemble’s 2009 production of Pirates of Penzance by W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, directed by Tom Heath and music directed by Roman Benedict. The shows are at the following times:
Thursday April 2nd 8 pm (TONIGHT)
Firday April 3rd 8 pm
Saturday April 4th 3 pm
Saturday April 4th 7 pm
and tickets are $15 ACCESS Card Holders /$18 Concession and /$20 adults. It’s on at the Tom Mann Theatre in Chalmers Street, Surry Hills - see the map here: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=the+tom+mann+theatre,+surry+hills&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=34.671324,78.75&ie=UTF8&ll=-33.887143,151.208954&spn=0.008443,0.019226&z=16&iwloc=A. More details are tickets are available through the MUSE website at www.museatusyd.com/pirates.

8. Special Opportunity: Secret Garden Festival
We are still looking for SUDS Members to come along to the Secret Garden Festival this weekend (it’s on Saturday 4 April) to provide some SUDSy entertainment to the masses. If you fancy dressing up in odd clothes and making strange noises while getting free entry to the festival, or even doing some real street theatre (!), this is the opportunity for you. The Festival is all about raising money for medical research, and details about it can be found here: www.thesecretgarden09.com.au. If you’re interested, our involvement is being coordinated by the wonderful Harriet Gillies, who can be contacted via email at hcgillies@hotmail.com.

9. Special Opportunity: “Whatever!” Extras Needed
We are looking for a number of teenagers who have experience with or are interested in acting and feel comfortable with the challenge of portraying some of the more extreme experiences of teen drinking or sexual flirtations. We also need a number of extras who are there in the background of the party but don’t take a lead role in the scene. Younger brothers or sister, or non-acting friends may be happy to come along to make up the party.

As this is a documentary there is no budget for payments made to families or contributors, but this will be a great night for all involved and a chance for your teen to see ‘behind the scenes’ of a film shoot. This scene will not portray any of the teenagers involved in a negative light. In the context of the documentary, this segment will clearly be recognised as a ‘stylised’ recreation. It should simply be a lot of fun!

If you want to be involved send an email to michael.oneill@essential-media.com with your phone number, age and a short message saying you are keen to be involved in the ‘house party shoot’. If you’d like to chat further about what might be involved, please contact Michael on 0404 092 034.

10. Competition Details: Short Film Competition
Basically, all you have to do is create a 90 second book “trailer” based on one of the three yet-to-be published books listed here. The grand prize winner will receive a massive cash prize of $6,000. Two runners-up will receive $3000 each and an online vote will determine the People’s Choice Winner who will receive a further $2000. The shortlist will be judged by an expert panel including producer/director Bruce Beresford, film critics, Margaret Pomeranz and Marc Fennell, Don Grover from Dymocks and Margie Seale MD of Random House. Entries close 12 May 2009. The website is now live at www.bookvideoawards.com.au as well as the BVA page on Facebook. This is a brand new film competition and we are really trying to get it off the ground! (Hold down the control key to access the links, PC users!)

11. Competition Details: USyd Writing Competition
The Department of English is pleased to announce the David Harold Tribe Fiction Award for 2009. Applications are now invited for this award to be made in the sum of $11,000. Closing date: Friday 7 August, 2009 at 4 pm. Entry is Free. For Terms of the Award and the Entry Form, see the Department of English website: http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/english/prizes/prizes.shtml or phone the Department of English enquiries 9351 2349 or 9351 3251.

“I had the example of my mother. Once, when she was coming to the end of a show, I found her on stage, looking very sad and alone as she looked out at the darkness. ‘Why are you so sad?’ I said. And she said, ‘All this talent that was gathered to make this play, the director, the designers, the actors, and all this work we’ve done, it’s now going to dissipate. Theatre is so ephemeral. Thank God for films, because something will remain’.”

— Ingrid Bergman

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The Wash – 31.iii.2009

Mar 31st, 2009 by SeanO

In this edition:

1.      Upcoming General Meeting: Wednesday April 1

2.      Now Showing: Slot 3, The Collection

3.      Subgroup Meeting: Production and Design

4.      Social Event: Play-with-your-Food

5.      Congratulations: Waiting for Godot

Upcoming General Meeting

Please join us at our next General Meeting, open to any member of SUDS or curious onlooker, tomorrow (Wednesday April 1) at 1pm in the Cellar Theatre. If you’ve not been there before, the Cellar is underneath the Holme Building just down from the Footbridge Theatre and opposite the main entrance to the Woolley Building. Because we love you, lunch will be provided.

The main action for this meeting is Proposals of which we have a bumper crop this week – Slots 4, 5 and 6! If you would like any further advice on putting your proposal together, feel free to contact the Exec on sudsexec2009@gmail.com. The proposals tomorrow are for all the remaining slots of Semester 1, so get your thinking caps on, come along and propose!

As those of you who have been attending recent General Meetings would know, proposals have been a bit thin on the ground. While this is a natural function of generational change in the Society as well as the start of a new year and commitments to other projects, this makes these three slots an ideal opportunity for anyone to put their hand up and give it a go. The slots also have varied rehearsal periods, so they can quite easily accommodate very different types of plays.

Opening Wednesday: Slot 3, The Collection

Opening this week, and showing through until Thursday April 9 is the Slot 3 Short Play Festival, The Collecton. With plays ranging from two seminal works of Harold Pinter from the 1960s, through Caryl Churchill’s of-the-moment response to January’s conflict in Gaza, to American Neil LaBute’s dark comedy some girl(s), there’s something for everyone in this festival!

            The programme is different each night, but highlights include a performance of the complete some girl(s) cycle on Friday April 3, and a special mystery reading on Saturday April 4. Pinter’s The Lover will be performed on April 1 and April 9, and The Dumb Waiter on April 6, 7 and 8. Please Note: Week 1 of The Collection runs traditional Wednesday to Saturday, but due to the Easter holidays, Week 2 runs from Monday to Thursday. A complete programme is on display in the Cellar.

Subgroup Meeting: Production and Design

The Production and Design (PAD) subgroup’s meeting will take place immediately before the General Meeting, tomorrow (Wednesday) at 12 noon in the Cellar. This week’s meeting will include a debrief on the technical design of Waiting for Godot, as well as a discussion of the technical requirements of upcoming shows The Collection and the 2009 Major, Attempts on Her Life. So come along if you’re interested in joining in the discussion, joining the technical team of upcoming shows, or simply what to check out the Cellar’s technical equipment.

Social Event: Play-with-your-Food

Once again, SUDS Members will be playing with their food at Manning Bar tomorrow (Wednesday) from 6pm, in preparation for the opening night of The Collection. As usual, come along and grab a token off the SUDS Exec member (doubtless wearing an intrusive t-shirt), and then get a drink and a meal for $5 before rolling on to see the show. Will you be there? You’ll be there.

Congratulations: Waiting for Godot

Finally, a big congratulations to the cast and crew of Waiting for Godot on their production of one of the twentieth century’s most controversial plays. It was an absolute pleasure to have this work in the Cellar over the past two weeks, and the dedication and energy of the cast and crew was inspirational. Well done!

“An Actor is seen as if through Crystals.

Inspiration in stages.

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SUDS 26.iii.2009

Mar 26th, 2009 by SeanO

Welcome to SUDS and Week 4. We’ve improved with age and are now even better than the last three weeks combined, if you can believe THAT! In this edition:

1. ‘Waiting for Godot’.
2. Writers Group.
3. Coffee and Conversation.
4. ‘The Pirates of Penzance’.

1. ‘Waiting for Godot’ – LAST 3 SHOWS!

“Estragon and Vladimir are waiting for Godot. In the meantime they are bored and they are busy, they eat and they piss, they talk and they dance. Is it a close and disturbing look at the heart of the human experience? Or is it simply two hours of hilarious drivel?

One of the most famous pieces in English theatre history, ‘Waiting for Godot’ is simple and grandiose, meaningless and meaningful, incredibly dull and powerfully moving.Directors: Cale Hubble and Timothy Steele
Producer: Nicholas Dixon-Wilmshurst
Cast: Todd Backhouse, Bridie Connell, Xenogene Gray, Matt McGirr, Caitlin Weston

Prices: $2/$3/$4/$5″

Catch the last performances on Thursday, Friday or Saturday night at 8pm.

2. Writers Group

The sub-group everyone is talking about is meeting this Thursday at 4pm in the Cellar. Throughout the year, the group will work on new material and discuss classic and contemporary pieces. You don’t need any experience to come along - just an interest in writing, reading or enjoying theatre!

3. Coffee and Conversation

This new event is designed to draw together SUDS members new and old to chat about theatre in a casual setting.

Come along before Thursday’s performance of ‘Waiting for Godot’ to grab a latte with some new friends, chat about the show and then, filled with caffeine and with boundless energy, go and sit quiet and still in the theatre.We’ll meet outside the Cellar Theatre, underneath the Holme Building, at 6pm, before strolling into the open arms of Glebe for coffee. The show then starts at 8pm.

4. ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ - OPENING NEXT WEEK!

Next week Sydney University’s very own Musical Theatre Ensemble (a.k.a MUSE) will present this classic at the Tom Mann theatre in Surry Hills. SUDS values your safety above all things, and recognizes that safety in numbers is sensible when pirates are involved. Stay tuned for a social theatre outing next week.

That’s all folks!

Love, SUDS

“Charity in the theatre begins and ends with those who have a play opening within a week from one’s own.”

Moss Hart (American playwright and director)

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The Wash - 15.iii.09

Mar 15th, 2009 by SeanO

In this edition:

Upcoming General Meeting: Wednesday 18 March

Auditions: The Collection, Slot 3

Subgroup Meeting: Production and Design

Upcoming Show: Waiting for Godot

Performance Opportunity: Secret Garden Festival

Upcoming General Meeting

Just a brief reminder that the next General Meeting of the Society will be held this Wednesday (March 18) at 1pm in the Cellar Theatre, underneath the Holme Building. Use the entrance situated opposite the Woolley Building, go up past the lawns and then down the stairs to the Cellar. We will be hearing Proposals for Slot 4 (Weeks 8 and 9, Semester 1) and the Wildcard Slot (mid-Semester break). For more details on how to propose, please consult your 2009 Handbook, or email sudsexec2009@gmail.com; we’re more than happy to give assistance or advice on Proposals.

Auditions: The Collection

Firstly, some specifics on the project.

- Wednesday 1st April to Saturday 4th April will be a season of short plays both new and old.
- Wednesday 8th April to Saturday 11th April will be a festival of British Drama, featuring two plays by Harold Pinter, The Lover (a Slot 1 revival) and The Dumb Waiter, and a double-bill from Tom Stoppard, Dogg’s Hamlet & Cahoot’s Macbeth.

Auditions will be held on Tuesday 17th March from 10 am until 1 pm in the Cellar Theatre. No prior preparation is needed, instead we’ll require you to read an excerpt from Tom Stoppard’s Dogg’s Hamlet or Cahoot’s Macbeth. There’s no need to be familiar with the plays, but a vague knowledge of Hamlet or Macbeth might be useful! For those interested in production, design, direction or writing, please come along in the same timeslot to have a chat with us. For those on the backstage side of things, this won’t be so much an audition as a chance to figure where you’ll be most suited. If this interests you particularly, please email Chris at sudsexec2009@gmail.com.

We need quite a few people for this project, and we’d love to see as many new faces as possible, as well as old faces in new roles. If you’re a writer with a short play lying around, a director with a dream short play, or someone who hasn’t acted in a while, this is your perfect chance to get involved. Of course, we also welcome those with more experience!

If you have any questions, or can’t make the designated time for auditions, please contact Pierce on 0401262970.

Subgroup Meeting: Production and Design

This year’s first meeting for the Production and Design (PAD) subgroup will take place this Wednesday (18 March) at 12 noon in the Cellar Theatre, immediately prior to the General Meeting. This week PAD will be unveiling a new structure for 2009, including a debrief with the directors and designers of the previous Cellar slot, and a presentation from the newest Cellar slot to be decided about their technical plans.

Upcoming Show: Waiting for Godot

Estragon and Vladimir are waiting for Godot. Who and where Godot is is as mysterious as who and where Estragon and Vladimir are. One of the most infamous pieces in English theatre history, Waiting for Godot is simple and grandiose, meaningless and meaningful, incredibly dull and powerfully moving.

Directors: Cale Hubble and Timothy Steele
Producer: Nicholas Dixon-Wilmshurst
Cast: Todd Blackhouse, Bridie Connell, Xenogene Gray, Matt McGirr, Caitlin Weston.

Performance Opportunity: Secret Garden Festival

The general outline of the event is this: it is a festival to raise funds for meningococcal research. Put on by a team of music industry do-gooders (they do exist!) the festival is hoping to attract around 1000 people, and will be held on a property in Camden, approximately 45 mins drive southwest of Sydney. More details are available at www.secretgarden09.com.au.

The organisers are looking for some bright, young, SUDSy things to add a bit of razzle dazzle to the night; perhaps a troupe of wacky characters that could perform alongside entertainment that has already been confirmed, including firetwirlers, gymnasts and Capoeira dancers. Ideally, the SUDS characters would spend the night mingling throughout the crowd, interacting with the audience, as well as staging various performances during the night. The more outlandish, energetic and eccentric, the better.

Aside from free entry to the event featuring some great music, (tickets are on sale for $100) the performers will have be provided with an ample supply of beverages, as well as having access to a VIP area. They will not be required to work for the entire night. The organisers want peformers to have as much fun as everyone else, and if not more. If you’re looking for a big audience and free reign over your performance, this is the right opportunity.

For more details, send Chris an email at sudsexec2009@gmail.com and there is a meeting later in the week with the organisers. If there is sufficient interest, we will attempt to organise an official Exec liaison for the project.

“When you come into the theater, you have to be willing to say, “We’re all here to undergo a communion, to find out what the hell is going on in this world.” If you’re not willing to say that, what you get is entertainment instead of art, and poor entertainment at that.”

— David Mamet

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Summer 2009!

Dec 22nd, 2008 by SeanO

Hello SUDS members and welcome to summer!

Do take time out from all that laborious sun-screen application to read this Wash (after washing your hands of course, we won’t pay for a new keyboard), which contains:

1. Congratulations to Whispers and Fumbles

2. Upcoming Productions - ‘Sir Dudley’.

3. Summer General Meeting.

4. T-shirt Design Competition.

1. Congratulations to the team of Whispers and Fumbles!

Over four fantastic nights leading up to Christmas the production of Whispers and Fumbles brought the SUDS 2008 Season to a close in style and signalled a great start to the Summer. In a production directed by Benita De Witt and produced by Pierce Wilcox and Caitlin Kenny, the cast performed a collection music and words gathered from contemporary music theatre, old Christmas videos, cabaret shows and new writers. Whispers and Fumbles showed off the voices of Caitlin Kenny, Eleanor Wood, Harriet Gillies, Luke Martin, Vivienne Egan, Wil Eastley and Chris Williams who ]doubled as the accompanying pianist. SUDS would like to thank the team for this show and we all look forward to a reprise performance in the near future.

2. ‘Sir Dudley Presents the Guide to Being Good and Proper in a World That It Is Not So Easy to Be Good and Proper In, As Well as Other Works’.

Sir dudley cordially invites you to attend his show, which explores many of life’s toughest issues as well as some very fickle ones in a strange new way. To do this the show uses an out of the wall and off the box style of sketch, scene, prose, song, and infomercial combined with a hint of banana oil.So come and catch Curtis Dickson, Anna Solar-Bassett, Alice Workman, Matt Mcgirr, Timothy Weston, Melissa Saxton, Dave Mack, Damiya Hayden, a musical cameo and of course Sir dudley in the most morally relevant show of the summer.

JANUARY performance dates are
Fri 16, 8pm
Sat 17, 2pm (with a free pre-show picninc from 12pm)
Sat 17, 8pm
Sun 18, 2pm (with a free pre-show picnic from 12pm)With Almost Kindest Regards
Liam Miller (writing on behalf of the benevolent Sir dudley)

Coming up later in the summer, the as-yet-untitled Doctor Project. Director Maisie Dubosarsky promises some euthanasing good-time, just in time for Valentine’s!

3. Summer General Meeting.

Speaking of benevolence, the General Meeting on February 4th 2009 will be the first conducted by El Presidente Chris Hay and the new exec. Come along to discuss plans for O-Week and the new year, and eat delicious things purchased lovingly by the new Socials Director, Bec Saffir.

4. T-Shirt Design Competition.

We need YOU to design the 2009 SUDS T-shirt!It’s no use pretending that dramatic talent is the only kind SUDS members possess. You and I both know that’s not true.So show us your design skills and come up with a T-shirt representing our members, our aims and our flava. Spend these lazy summer days getting creative, then scan and e-mail your design to sudsexec2009@gmail.com.Entries close January 20th 2009. If you only partake in one C&S T-shirt design competition this summer, make sure its this one.

Well that’s all we have for you kids, so run along back outside in to the sunshine. For those of you lucky enough to be working summer jobs, why not do some wrist or neck stretches? Hey, at least you’re not redundant. Yet.

A very merry Christmas to you all!

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