Monday 28 July 2014

ENTROPIA revealed

You have all been hearing me rabbit on about this vorticist play, Entropia, I have been trying to write for the last couple of months.  Well, it is finally completed and I have published an excerpt below for you all to have a look at.  I need to acknowledge my grateful thanks to the wonderful creatives who worked with me to understand Vorticism and then turn it into something performative.  My team inlcuded:  Scott Knight, Idha Kurniasih, Luke Rogers, Zeynep Incir, Eleanor Lindberg, Elizabeth Paterson, and Odile Gotts.  I also have to give a shout out to Ben Rogan, my residency mentor for his support and encouragement:)

CHARACTERS
REPORTER 1
REPORTER 2
REPORTER 3 (Alice)
TONY ABBOTT
LITTLE TONY ABBOTT
MOTHER
KING RICHARD III
JOE HOCKEY
PROFESSOR
CHORUS

This is a play for 5 actors or more. 

This play is written in the Vorticist tradition.  The stage can be any configuration (end stage, round, thrust, pros arch, etc), but the placement and direction of the characters cannot change.  All stage directions are from a specific POV and should be blocked accordingly. The lighting should be angular and sharp, with a clear understanding of who is the focus of the scene (indicated through the script as the character having a spot light on them).  The sound should be violent and stacatic.  Three hand held radio microphones are required.

Centre stage is a lectern with a working microphone. There are two stools and one armchair (all TV style).  There are a set of steps (at least 4), and a small hillock.  These items can be placed anywhere to begin. 

There are placards littered around the stage. The placards read ‘Block the budget’, ‘Too many Abbott lies’, ‘We’re marching for a fairer Australia’, ‘We love our ABC and we vote’, ‘$3 billion for drones, not enough for Medicare?’, ‘Budget by the fat cats for the fat cats’.

Tony Abbott stands on the hillock, with a spotlight on him.  The rest of the cast sit together in a close group staring at the audience.

TONY ABBOTT:  Politicians should not, should not say one thing before an election and do the opposite, the opposite afterwards.  This election is about trust. 
A explosion and everyone falls to the ground, dead.  Tony Abbott stands at lectern facing the audience and Joe Hockey stands behind his left shoulder nodding continuously.  Reporter 2 stands close, but not looking at him, using a microphone, and Reporter 3 upstage of Joe but facing the back wall and using a microphone. The chorus sit facing Reporter 3.  There is a spot light on the two reporters.

REPORTER 2:  Mr Abbott was sworn in by Governor-General Quentin Bryce at Government House today, with wife Margie and daughters Louise, Bridget and Frances looking on.  Mr Abbott said he would govern

TONY:  For all Australians.  Including…including those who didn’t vote for us.  We won’t forget those who are often marginalised, people…people…er…um...and women struggling to combine career and family.

REPORTER 3:  he said.

TONY:  We will not spare ourselves, we will not spare ourselves, in order to deserve the trust placed in us this day.

REPORTER 2:  Mr Abbott said it was an honour to serve the nation.

TONY:  We  will do our best not to leave anyone behind.

REPORTER 3:  he said. (turns 90 degrees)

TONY:  We aim…we aim… to be a calm, measured, steady and purposeful government that says what it means and does what it says.

REPORTER 2:  Mr Abbott is a Rhodes Scholar who briefly trained as a Catholic priest. Before entering politics in 1994, he worked as a journalist and liberal advisor and also served as the executive director of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy.  He promises a ‘no surprises’ government that seeks a happy marriage between liberal and conservative traditions.

TONY:  I give you all this assurance:  we will not let you down.

REPORTER 3:  On the eve of the 2013 federal election Tony Abbott promised no cuts to education, health, or the ABC and SBS, and no changes to pensions. 

REPORTER 2 & 3:  Having run a successful smear campaign whilst in opposition about the Gillard governments carbon tax ‘lie’, it was a big risk for Tony Abbott to make such significant promises of his own.  Keeping the faith of the Australian people after such a divisive period will be Mr Abbott’s biggest challenge.

An explosion and they all fall down dead.  The chorus circle the stage slowly, holding placards chanting loudly and with passion. 

CHORUS:   When everyone is under attack, what to we do?  Stand up.  Fight back!

One member of the chorus pulls out of the crowd, places their placard against the back wall and stands at lectern as a professor. The chorus sit in a line parallel to the lectern but facing the audience taking notes. The ‘students’ are spotlit.

PROFESSOR:  Good morning everyone, welcome to Oxford.  This semester we will be commencing your studies by discussing the concept of entropy and its socio-political interpretion.  I assume you have all completed the required reading for this unit.  Mr Abbott, please remind the class what entropy is.

TONY ABBOTT:  (standing) Er, er, Entropy…er… um, that is, entropy is the second.  That is to say, er, entropy is, er the second, the second.  Er.  Entropy is the second law.  It is the second law of, e…of…, er, the second law of thermo, er,..er…er… of thermodynamics.  Entropy is, er, the third – I mean the second – entropy is the second law of thermo…thermodynamics.

PROFESSOR:  Thank you Mr Abbott, you may sit now.  Humpty Dumpty has often been used to demonstrate entropy. Entropy is a measure of the number of specific ways in which a system may be arranged, often taken to be a measure of "disorder". The higher the entropy, the higher the disorder. After his fall, and subsequent shattering, the inability to put Humpty Dumpty together again, back to his original state of order, is representative of this principle.  

TONY ABBOTT:  Uh, sir... I don’t think I understand.

PROFESSOR:  I know you don’t, Mr Abbott.  Think of entropy as what happens when you shake a person.  If you hold a poor person upsided down and shake a poor, no matter how hard you shake, very few coins will fall out of his pocket.  This person is a low entropy system.  Whereas, if you shake a rich person – a mining mogul, for example - a lot of coins will fall all over the place causing a system of high entropy, i.e a lot of ways they can be picked up and rearranged. 

TONY ABBOTT:  Er...why are we shaking people?

PROFESSOR:  You are getting sidetracked Mr Abbott.  The important thing to understand is that nature always organises energy so as to ensure it’s greatest chance of existence.  Entropy is precisely those number of ways the energy can be organised, and the entropy of an isolated system never decreases.

TONY ABBOTT:  I am confused.

PROFESSOR:  That does not surprise me Mr Abbott.  Now, in the socio-political arena we have a whole spectrum of how a society of people can be organised.  The best example of the regular reorganisation of entropic political systems is democracy.  Every time an election is held, the political elements of a community are reorganised within itself.

A ricochet of gun fire.  Everyone ducks.  Tony sits on the armchair.  Little Tony and the reporter sit together on the stairs.  The reporter has a microphone.

REPORTER 2:  Just Following on from what you said, I’ll play back to you something, you said on ABC radio before the election.

TONY ABBOTT:       I’ve...seen...the disaster that this government has created for itself and...I don’t wanna be like that.  I really don’t, and if we do win the election and...we immediately say “oh...um...we got it all wrong.  We’ve now gotta do these different things”, we will instantly be just as bad as the current government has been and...I just...refuse to be like that.

REPORTER 2:         With respect, Prime Minister, you are being like that.

LITTLE TONY:          Well, that’s for the people to judge!  (blows a raspberry).

An explosion and everyone falls dead.  The chorus circle the stage with the placards chanting.

CHORUS:  You say cut back, we say fight back.

A reporter steps out, places placard down, then crosses to the edge of the stage and picks up a microphone.  She is in the way of the protesters and gets jostled about and pushed around in the hubbub. 

REPORTER 1: It has not been a good year for Mr Abbott, with his popularity plummeting in the polls.  The austerity budget was recently released last week, and there is extreme outrage over his wink whilst on talk back radio and listening to a pensioner with chronic illnesses as she explained having to undertake phone sex work to make ends meet already – without the proposed changes.  People are saying this is exactly the lack of empathy and care for the ordinary Australian demonstrated by his draconian budget.  Today we are seeing mass marches around Australia yesterday, in Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth.  The largest attendance is here in Melbourne with over 10 000 people marching down Swanston street causing traffic chaos.  The nationwide protests demonstrate the sentiment that the budget burden is not being shared equally at all, but is being carried by the poorest in our country.   

The sound of an automatic machine gun and everyone falls dead.  A mother and Little Tony place placards down near the audience They sit opposite each other and play with building blocks together.

MUM:  Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall
            Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
            All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
            Couldn’t put Humpty together again.  (She repeats the song with little Tony)

King Richard puts placard down and stands on one side of the lectern, as if standing at it, but offset, mouthing the following words in synch with a voice over recording (which has ‘Best Budget Ever’ responses mixed in).  There is a spotlight on King Richard.

VOICE OVER:          “Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.”

MOTHER:    Do you know what Humpty Dumpty is, Tony?

LITTLE TONY:  Yes.  Egg.  Picture at kinder.

MOTHER:  And how do we know he’s an egg?

LITTLE TONY:  He falls, the horsies and soldiers come – bam! Bam! – can’t fix.  (rifle fire sounds as he says bam, and he knocks down the wall) Like you drop egg on floor, was all gooey and smooshie, and shell  broken.

MOTHER:  (She starts the game again).  That is right Tony.  What do you think this nursery rhyme means?

LITTLE TONY:  I know!  I know!  Can’t cook eggs when fall ‘cause dirty and make you sick!

MOTHER:  (Laughing) Well, yes, that is true Tony, but it means something more important than that.

LITTLE TONY:  No it don’t.  You’re fibbing Mum. (giggling)

Richard turns to face in the direction of the lectern, although still standing beside it, and repeats the lines after the voice over, line by line.  His voice is now picked up by the lectern microphone.

V/O & (RICHARD):  “What do I fear? Myself?
                                    (What do I fear?  Myself?)
There’s none else by.
(There’s none else by.)
Richard loves Richard, that is, I and I.
(Tony loves Tony; that is, I and I.)
(Together) Is there a liar here? No. Yes, I am.

MOTHER:  No Tony, I’m not fibbing.  What Humpty Dumpty means is that
sometimes, when you drop  something, or break something, it can’t be fixed.

LITTLE TONY:  God fix everything!

MOTHER:  Er, well, yes, that is to say, uh, yes, God can fix everything, but, er, only
things… only things that… only things that go up to heaven.  Things like…things
like… us, and… animals.  Not eggs, or toys, that sort of thing.

LITTLE TONY:  Daddy fixes toys.  Ask him, he fix you egg.

MOTHER:  Yes son.  I am sure he can. Can you name something that can’t be fixed
once it is broken? 

LITTLE TONY:  (Tony smacks her hands away)  Nope.  Bored.  Stop now.

MOTHER:  Okay, Tony we can stop playing this game now.  The answer, though, is

trust.  Trust can’t be fixed once you break it.  Never ever lie, Tony.

Tuesday 15 July 2014

Review: Glengarry Glen Ross

Thursday, 10 July, 2014
Review by SAMSARA DUNSTON

REVIEW: GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS

The atmosphere of the audience as they entered the theatre for this preview was one of restrained anticipation.  Glengarry Glen Ross is considered to be David Mamet’s greatest play.  There was a sense of excitement to see how the Melbourne Theatre Company would present it in their sumptuous Sumner Theatre.

Just before the curtain went up Alkinos Tsilimidos (director) announced that the actor originally cast as Shelly Levene had fallen ill and needed to be replaced four days ago.  A tangible murmur of dismay rippled through the auditorium as the scope of this tragedy was realised, with Levene being the main protagonist.  We were advised that John McTernan was now playing the role, but would be performing with script in hand.  The compassion and support from the audience was demonstrated by the voluminous applause as the curtain rose and McTernan stood there alone with his script in acknowledgement of the situation.  Everyone was in the mood to enjoy the production and support their valiant efforts.  Unfortunately this was not rewarded.

Glengarry Glen Ross is a study in workplace bullying, the ramifications of intense competition, and desperation.  Levene (McTernan)is an aging real estate salesman who is being ‘outsold’ by the very men he trained.  A sales competition has been set up to reward the best and sack the worst.  This sets the scene for backstabbing, bribery, and a dog eat dog world where survival of the fittest is the name of the game and there are no rules.
Mamet crafts the play with a mastery which is breathtaking.  Each scene builds on the one before, and there is no respite to the tension until the explosion of the denouement.  Unfortunately Tsilimidos’s production does not achieve this tension. 

Tsilimidos has a background in film direction.  He has emerged as a theatre director through the MTC with the previous productions Red and The Mountaintop. The Moutaintop and Glengarry Glen Ross suffer from the same flaws, although the intimacy of the Fairfax Studio allowed the audience to overlook them in the former production.  Tsilimidos seems to prefer symmetry in design, and uses the stage as a frame rather than an interactive space for the performers.  Whilst the set was lush and detailed as we have come to expect from designer Shaun Gurton, the neatness worked against the chaos Mamet creates as worlds fall apart.  Nigel Levings (lighting designer) makes a brave attempt to enliven the space, but again, this just becomes framing.

Alex Dimitriades (Roma) and Brett Cousins (Lingk) provide the only source of life in this sea of dullness.  The rest of the cast lack definition and often seem to not really know why they are there.  I will say that McTernan delivered his lines with great passion and understanding, and if he can achieve this in only four days, it bodes well for the rest of the season.


Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet Directed by Alkinos Tsilimidos, set by Shaun Gurton, costumes by Jill Johanson, lighting by Nigel Levings, sound and composition by Tristan Meredith.  With Rodney Afif, Nick Barkla, Justin Stewart Cotta, Brett Cousins, Alex Dimitriades, and John McTernan.  Melbourne Theatre Company, Sumner Theatre, until 9 August.

Sunday 6 July 2014

Sunday, Busy Sunday

A very full and busy day today.  It began with a meet up this afternoon with the Women Who Write group.  It was my first meet up with this group, but it was fun, and the organiser, Lee, was really friendly and spoke with each of us.  I met a couple of great women, and they got me thinking about the concept of publishing, and how to give the work a life.  I am the only playwright in the group, and it was really interesting to see how high the concept of publishing was on Everyone's agenda.  It makes sense of course, because how else do you earn a living.  I just always think in terms of a piece going into performance so it is refreshing to think about it as a piece of writing rather than performance.  Two women talked about their experiences self publishing and one broke down the economics.  It was really fun and informative.

The next item on the agenda today was the company meeting with WIT.  It was nice to meet everyone and they certainly appear to have a professional approach to what they are doing.  I am a bit concerned that the aspirations are higher than my experience tells me is achievable, but I don't know what connections people have and the economics of fundraising may be higher given the size of the ensemble.  I shall wait and see and go along with things and just see what happens.  Belinda has asked me to help her with some direction for her play 'The Bookworm' which is being performed as part of Fringe.  Her confidence is heartening.  I also put forward a suggestion for a midyear season of Sarah Daniels play Masterpiece.  Now I just have to find it!

All in all, a very productive and inspiring Sunday:)

Friday 4 July 2014

The Nuclear Solution

This evening I went to a physics lecture.  What the Fuck????  No, I haven't gone crazy and yes I had an ulterior motive.  The lecture was about physics, entropy and climate change.  I actually wanted to understand more about entropy so I could flesh out my short play 'Entropia'.  I don't know if I really achieved much real increase of knowledge, but the lecturer was entertaining and gave me some fun analogies I might be able to incorporate into the script.

I guess what I really took away from the lecture was a real understanding of the greenhouse problem and also a bit of a realistic take on what we can do about it.  The lecturer was very pragmatic and wasn't proposing radically changing how we as human beings function in our world.  He was basically saying that the only way we can get to our necessary CO2 targets by the required dates without reverting to the stone age was to get rid of coal and gas energy sources.  What I really liked was that he also had a pragmatic solution.  He pointed out that we can't possibly achieve it striving for renewable energy resources, and that the only real and achievable alternative was nuclear power.

This makes sense to me.  I can't see any of us willingly changing the lifestyle we have developed and yet we do seem to agree that we need to do SOMETHING.  Is it perfect?  No.  Is it achievable?  Yes.  Does the good outweigh the bad?  Yes.

Regarding entropy - there seems to be some confusion as to whether it is the second or third law of thermodynamics.  More research required.