sudsonline.org Blog

1. Upcoming General Meeting
2. Coming Soon: Triple-4 Two
3. Wildcard Week: Filmstock
4. SUDS @ Pride Week
5. Subgroup Meeting: PAD
6. Performers Needed: Bambina Borracha
7. Student Rush Tickets: New Theatre
8. 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