WHAT ARE OUR STARS DOING AT THE MOMENT ?
April 2000:
Liz Burch was last seen as a distraught mother in "All Saints". Now she's joining the cast of the new drama series "Above the law" for a guestrole.
Brett Climo is gueststarring in "Stingers". Not more details given as yet.
March 2000:
Christopher Stollery is currently visiting Finland as his film (no title provided)is showing at a festival.
More news soon.
Max Cullen plays in "The Great Man"
David Williamson's last ALP play was the much-loved (and nearly three decades old) Don's Party. In The Great Man he moves from a
party to a funeral.
Jack "The Duke" Barclay has died. Jack was a minister in the
Whitlam government, and a group of comrades (and the
not-so-comradely) gather at his home to plan his final
ceremonies.
If you imagined that the stage is set for much discussion of his
life, his work and a whole lot of back-biting and
reputation-stripping, you'd probably be right.
The Great Man is directed by Robyn Nevin and stars Max Cullen,
Genevieve Picot, Gary Day and Martin Vaughan among others.
It's (hopefully) nice to see Williamson moving back into political
satire and away from all those screaming yuppies of recent years
- of course, being set in today's ALP, it may well have screaming
yuppies to the fore anyway.
Stephen Dunne
Mark Neal plays in "Certified Male"
There's some hot talent in this show. It's written by brilliant comic
Glynn Nicholas and Scott "Box The Pony" Rankin. It's directed by
the ubiquitous (over 150 shows staged!) Terry O'Connell.
And being one of the big hits of the 1999 Melbourne Festival
can't exactly hurt.
The territory - corporate types who shed their suits and don
shorts amid the gum trees to rediscover their blokedom - is well
worthy of satire, and Nicholas is easily one of the best comic
actors I've ever seen (Peter Rowsthorn, Mark Neal and Peter
Hosking complete the testosterone foursome).
It's a cabaret as well, with a four piece band. The songs include
work by Mark Seymour (Hunters & Collectors) and Paul Kelly.
Not a woman involved - which is apt for a comedy about the
belated rediscovery of bollocks.
Stephen Dunne
What the reviewers say:
Bottom line: men, it won't put hairs on your chest , but it might
confirm your fears about the pointlessness of your existence;
women, it won't tell you anything you haven't figured out already,
but it will give you plenty of ammunition. And everyone gets to
laugh.
Colin Rose, The Sun-Herald, February 2000
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