The New Garrick Gazette Issue 575 May 2020
Garrick Theatre Club (Inc) www.garricktheatre.asn.au 16 Meadow Street, Guildford PO Box 122, Guildford WA 6935 Editor: Douglas Sutherland-Bruce In this issue:
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Another View
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Editorial
2
Obituaries
4
Open Letter
3
The Committee
7
D E N O P T S
The New Garrick Gazette Published by: Printed by: ISSN (Print edition): ISSN (Online edition)
The Garrick Theatre Club (Inc) Docuprint 2652-4678 2652-4686 Copyright 2020 1
The actor has to develop his body. The actor has to work on his voice. But the most important thing the actor has to work on is his mind. - Stella Adler
EDITORIAL AS WE MOVE INTO May it is with a certain amount of hope that the light at the end of the tunnel is not the mid-town express coming the other way, but the prospect that there is a way out of this dreadful situation in which we find ourselves. Because Australian took such early and drastic action we find, for example, in WA that there are just thirty-two active cases of Covid-19, of which fourteen are in hospital (figures accurate as at the 1st May) and we have had fewer than five new cases in the past week. This very clearly indicates that the current wave of infections is under control from a health security point of view. But as considerable cost to the WA economy, people’s livelihoods, recreation, sport and mental health. People are neglecting other health issues because they don’t want to risk doctors’ surgeries or leaving home and many other factors, including wide-spread disruption to families and to our society. The WA State Government are working towards a loosening of the restrictions and we have seen this week a partial relaxation, with more planned in the next fortnight, so a cautious optimism is possible. But (always a caveat) a lot will depend on the uptake by the population of the socalled Covid App on our smart phones. So far, I haven’t heard any real selling of the thinking or a totally clear, easily understood explanation of the concept, other than it will help with health safety. Some people have taken this to mean that it confers some sort of immunity. It does not. Providing enough people install the app it will make it possible to inform people with the app if and when they have been in close proximity to someone with a determined case of the disease within the past 21 days, so that they may seek treatment. It will work, given sufficient people install the application, and providing testing continues and more non-symptomatic people are tested. But we have to face facts, however loose the restrictions get it will be a very long time before people will be allowed to sit next to total strangers in a darkened theatre for two to two and a half hours. And even longer before people will want to take that risk. So, as theatre people we have to assume that even if the restrictions are complete lifted by, say, September, we cannot think we’ll be going back to anything like the situation we had last September. The truth, on the other hand, is that however long it takes, we’ll be here waiting, ready to take your mind off your troubles, to entertain, enlighten and amuse. Until then, take heart of grace, stay safe, stay home and wash your hands. Until we next see each other on the green ...
Douglas Sutherland-Bruce, Editor. Any views expressed in this editorial are those of Dr Sutherland-Bruce alone and may not reflect those of the President and Executive Committee
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Open letter from RSLWA State President Peter Aspinall, AM
to be filmed and interviewed for these videos; those featured in our mateship articles and to those who stepped up to help with the many media requests for talent, RSLWA thanks you all. To all those men, women, boys and girls who gave up their time to perform special #DrivewayDawnService renditions of The Last Post and Reveille, we thank you. To the Veterans who turned out and stood in silent vigil at 6am, we are especially proud of you – particularly our older Veterans, many of whom were resolutely determined to rise from their beds to honour their fallen mates. And to those who checked in on their own mates, many of whom did it especially tough on this day, we thank you. To the many who dug deep in these very tough financial times to support our ANZAC Appeal, we are humbled by your gratitude. Last but certainly not least, we salute you, the community of Western Australia, for rallying as one to support our Veterans and serving men and women on what proved to be a very special, unique and memorable ANZAC Day. Yours respectfully, Peter Aspinall
Hello everybody, Now that ANZAC Day is behind us and COVID-19 social-distancing restrictions have been eased, I’d like to say how humbled I am as your President at the incredible support and respect shown by the people of Western Australia. The coming together, yet apart, for the #DrivewayDawnService was truly inspirational - and the sheer numbers that turned out places RSLWA in good stead as we now begin to plan for ANZAC Day 2021 and onwards. As you know, our traditional ANZAC Day commemorations such as the Kings Park Dawn Service, the march through the CBD and Commemorative Service at the Concert Hall were cancelled, in line with advice from the State Government. And yet, both the community and WA’s leaders took this year’s ANZAC Day theme, Embracing The Spirit Of Mateship, to heart. Thousands of people across the state and even overseas stood vigil in driveways, on balconies and at farm gates in solemn commemoration, together yet apart. Our efforts to continue to honour the fallen, those who served and those who continue to serve in these unique times were a resounding success and, quite frankly, your support of the #DrivewayDawnService blew us away. Let me personally thank a few individuals who helped make this happen: Firstly, to the Honourable Kim Beazley AC, Governor of WA we thank you. Your willingness to take part in our communityservice videos and pre-recorded ANZAC Day special was greatly appreciated, as was that of the Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Linda Reynolds. And special thanks goes to our WA Premier Mark McGowan, himself a Veteran, who got right behind our ANZAC Day campaign in so many ways. To the Veterans who agreed 3
OBITUARY RAYMOND DOUGLAS OMODEI CIT WA (1936-2020) JAKE NEWBY
RAYMOND OMODEI WAS AN Australian Adaptor, Designer, Director, Producer, Actor, Performer, Devisor, Costume Designer and Musical Director. He was born in 1936, growing up in Wiluna until the age of seven when his family moved to Kalgoorlie. He attended Christian Brothers High School, gaining his Leaving Certificate with a Distinction in Art, then became one of the first intake of teacher trainees at Graylands Teachers College. His first posting was in charge of the oneteacher Kookynie School, soon transferring to Kalgoorlie and teaching at Eastern Goldfields High School. There he joined the Kalgoorlie Repertory Club, mentored by Senator Sedden Vincent and his wife Frieda. The Club’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with Raymond as Oberon, was invited into the Festival of Perth and rapidly established his credentials as a theatre artist. Back in Kalgoorlie he directed several major musicals for the Rep at the Kalgoorlie Town Hall. He transferred his teaching to the justopened Scarborough Senior High School as a teacher of English, producing Sophocles Oedipus the King to an overflowing sold-out season attended by theatre-goers from all over Perth. The following year, under his direction, the high school students performed Antigone and A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a night-by-night repertoire season, with surpassing success. After several years in Melbourne and London Raymond returned to Perth in 1971, invited by Edgar Metcalfe to join the National Theatre at the Playhouse as Associate Director, where he enjoyed signal success as the director of Dorothy Hewett’s Man From Mukinuppin and ran a workshop course for aspiring WA playwrights. In 1973 he joined the Old Tote Theatre Company and the Australian Theatre for Young People in Sydney as Associate Director, directing Angela Punch McGregor in The Playboy of the Western World, the fourth play in the newly-opened Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre amongst others, and directing two years
of plays and workshop theatre-in-education projects based and in conjunction with the University of New England in Armidale NSW. Invited by the WA Education Department of WA and the National Curriculum Development Centre, for two years Raymond directed a multiarts investigation project in Floreat, seeking modes of introducing arts processes into general teaching. Since 1971 Raymond had regularly returned to Perth as Artist-in Residence at UWA and to direct for the Hole in the Wall Theatre in Leederville where his productions of Hamlet and Long Day’s Journey into Night were outstanding successes. In 1982 he was appointed Artistic Director of the Hole in the Wall Theatre Company, introducing many new Australian plays, modern overseas works and great classics in a series of repertoire seasons which culminated in a sixplay season in the second half of 1984 at the Subiaco Theatre Centre where it was possible for subscribers to see all six plays in one week, ending with A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with the Mucky Duck Bush Band as ‘the rude 4
ANOTHER VIEW
mechanicals on Midsummer night. Over the years Raymond received a string of awards including WA Citizen of the Year for services to arts, culture and entertainment and the Heritage Award for outstanding lifetime achievement in the performing arts. Always an innovator, he introduced West Australian audiences to the plays of Nobel Laureate Patrick White; to Willy Russell’s Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine (which with Amanda Muggleton in the solo role eventually played for almost a decade in nearly two thousand performances) and continued his programme of producing new writing, classics and modern classics, training an ensemble of actors, introducing female directors into the main body of the Hole in the Wall’s repertoire. With the creation of the State Theatre Company he became its first Artistic Director, and on the demise of that company returned to re-invigorate the Hole in the Wall Theatre Company, and eventually to return to freelance work, including with his always-admired young student actors. His final two productions, in March 2018 and March 2019 were as a special guest director for productions of the Eighteenth Century comedy The Way of The World and a contemporary little-known classic Salonika at Garrick Theatre.
Author unknown
Child: "How old are you, Grandpa?" Grandpa: "I'm 81, dear." Child: "So does that mean you were alive during the Coronavirus?" Grandpa: "Yes, I was." Child: "Wow. That must have been horrible, Grandpa. We were learning about that at school this week. They told us about how all the schools had closed. And moms and dads couldn't go to work so didn't have as much money to do nice things. They said that you weren't allowed to go and visit your friends and family and couldn't go out anywhere. They told us that the shops and stores ran out of lots of things so you didn't have much bread, and flour, and toilet rolls. They said that summer holidays were cancelled. And they told us about all those thousands of people that got very sick and who died. They explained how hard all the doctors and nurses and all essential workers worked, and that lots of them died, too. That must have been so horrible, grandpa!" Grandpa: "Well, that is all correct. And I know that because I read about it when I was older. But to tell you the truth I remember it differently... I remember playing in the garden for hours with mom and dad and having picnics outside and lots of bbqs. “I remember making things and fishing with my Dad and baking with my Mom. I remember making forts and learning how to do hand stands and back flips. I remember having quality time with my family. I remember Mom's favorite words becoming 'Hey, I've got an idea...' Rather than 'Maybe later or tomorrow I'm a bit busy'. I remember making our own bread and pastry. I remember having movie night three or four times a week instead of just one. It was a horrible time for lots of people you are right. But I remember it differently." ~oOo~ Remember how our children will remember these times. Be in control of the memories they are creating right now, so that through all the awful headlines and emotional stories for so many that they will come to read in future years, they can remember the happy times.
Raymond with then Garrick President Ken Harris at an Opening Night 5
OBITUARY KIM ANGUS (-2020) COMMUNITY THEARE IS THE poorer for the passing of Kim Angus, a long-time member and supporter of Garrick Theatre Club and many others. Club President Dale James: ‘It is with great sadness that I advise you of the passing of Kim Angus. Kim was a very active member of The Garrick Theatre Club during the 80 and 90’s. Kim participated as a Committee member as well as serving as President of the Club. Kim with her two sons and he ex-husband Bruce at the keyboard gave the audiences of Garrick many enjoyable pantomimes. I had the pleasure of being on stage with Kim many times as well as being directed by her. Kim was a very capable director and actor to be on stage with. From all of us that knew Kim and shared many wonderful times with her at the club, our condolences to her family and partner Peter. Thank you Kim – for the friendship, the fun, the laughter and the memories – Rest in Peace.’ Other Garrick members have fond memories Kim, too. Sarah House: ‘My very first audition for the Garrick Theatre was for Kim Angus. I didn’t know her at the time, but I saw an auction notice for a local theatre and after not acting for a while decided to give it a go. I didn’t get the part and I was pretty devastated I have to say. ‘Then, one evening, my husband and I were having dinner and Kim approached us and asked if I’d be interested in audition for her next show, The Rivers of China. I was thrilled to be asked and even more thrilled when I was cast. It was then my long time association with Kim and the Garrick Theatre began. ‘Kim was a strong director who always knew what she wanted from her productions. She guided actors, but also let them create and develop their own characters. She created a fun atmosphere, whilst keeping everyone on task and focused. You always felt you were in safe hands with Kim. Rehearsals ran smoothly and the shows were well prepared before opening night. Her direction will be a loss to the theatre community. ‘Through Kim I met so many amazing people. People I am still in contact with today.
I went on to perform in many of Kim’s shows - most memorably, those we performed in the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre and had an absolute ball. She was also directly responsible for me finding my way back into teaching something I will forever be grateful for. ‘Kim was a great contributor to the Garrick Theatre. She was a passionate President and I was fortunate to learn a lot about how committees operate under Kim’s guidance and experience. Kim was also a great director. She had a vision and was always passionate about the shows she put on. I learned so much from Kim - both on and off the stage. She will be greatly missed, not just by me personally, but by the WA Theatre Community. Kristine Lockwood: ‘Kim was an amazing, very strong person, who never minced words, and you always knew where you stood with her...! I thoroughly enjoyed acting along side her, and being directed by her...! I know there are others who will. It’s her more than me, and for them I am truly saddened. Kim leaves behind shoes that none of us can fill…..’ Vale Kim Angus. 6
The Executive Committee President
Dale James
0407 426 957
Dalejames911@iinet.net
Vice President
Rodney Palmer
0478 410 330
Rodpickels@gmail.com
TAG liaison
Rodney Palmer
0478 410 330
Rodpickels@gmail.com
Treasurer
Terry Brown
Secretary
Lynne Devenish
0488 906 076
Garrickarchives@hotmail.com
Production Manager Rodney Palmer
0478 410 330
Rodpickels@gmail.com
Siobhan Vincent
Douglas Sutherland-Bruce
Production Kerry Goode
Gail Lusted
Ray Egan
Jordan D’Arcy
Archivist
Lynne Devenish
0488 906 076
Garrickarchives@hotmail.com
Bookings
Elaine Gilberthorpe 9378 1990
Minute Secretary
Barbara Brown
9275 5281
Bar Manager
Rodney Palmer
0478 410 330
Rodpickels@gmail.com
Wardrobe
Colleen Bradford
0414 579 752
Colleenbradford@iinet.net.au
Technical
Caileb Hombergen-Crute
Front of House
Yvonne Starr
Set Supervisor
James Nailen
Shed Supervisor
Alan Shaw
Publicity
Douglas Sutherland-Bruce 0418 934 850 GarrickEditor@gmail.com
Editor
Douglas Sutherland-Bruce 0418 934 850 GarrickEditor@gmail.com
Bookings@garricktheatre.asn.au
Social Convenor
2020 Adjudicators Dee Howells
David Young
Christopher Churchouse
Yvette Wall
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The New Garrick Gazette Garrick Theatre Club (Inc) P O Box 122, Guildford Western Australia 6935 Print Post Approved 100002309
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STAY SAFE! Please: Stay home - the life you save may be your own. If you have to leave the house for essential reasons, please practice social distancing wash your hands
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