Ruby Wax dives deep (with whales) in her comedy + Eliza Scanlen on Oscar Wilde
Comedian and writer Ruby Wax tells Michael about how she recently found herself in a mental health clinic, after searching for transformative experiences (like swimming with whales). So what drives her to go public about her experiences, and stay funny?Two thousand years ago and the Roman poet Ovid has been banished to live out his days among uncivilised people on the Black Sea ... The plot of An Imaginary Life by Australian writer David Malouf. Humphrey Bower is performing it as a one man play about how to live with others, and with nature. Musician Pavan Khumar Hari performs alongside. It's on as part of Ten Days on the Island festival.We chat with Australian actor Eliza Scanlen (Sharp Objects, Little Women), who is Cecily in a joyfully Queer production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, which can be seen in cinemas as part of the UK's National Theatre Live, co-starring Ncuti Gatwa (Dr Who) and Hugh Skinner (Fleabag).
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54:06
How Anaïs Mitchell wrote the hit musical Hadestown
This episode of The Stage Show is about love that doesn't end well!The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is retold in a hit folk musical called Hadestown. It's won Tonys, Grammys and is now in Australia. We speak to the singer-songwriter Anais Mitchell, who wrote Hadestown as a concept album, before touring it around in an old bus and then turning it into a remarkable stage show with the Broadway director Rachael Chavkin.Soprano Anna Dowsley sings the gorgeous aria Ah Belinda! In Dido and Aeneas, the opera by Henry Purcell about another ill-fated couple from classical times. Anna reflects on her character's fate and on working with acrobats in this production between Opera Australia and Circa, the Queensland based circus company.Anton Chekhov’s play Three Sisters follows the lives of a 19th C. family who feel trapped and are hankering for something more. It continues our theme for the day of tragic love-stories. We hear from Theatre Works' new production with director Greg Carroll, and actors Stella Carroll and Chris Connely. And globe trotting theatre critic from UK's The Stage newspaper, Richard Jordan, joins us for his highlights of the Adelaide Fringe .
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54:04
The story that brought Leah Purcell back to the stage
Actor, director and writer Leah Purcell has been telling us her own stories and the stories of people close to her since the 1990s. Now Leah’s back – as the adaptor and director of the true tale of Aunty Ruth Hegarty, which take us into the heart of Australia’s post-colonial history, a powerful two-person play called Is that you, Ruthie?The life of a performer on the road can be tough, but think about the partner who’s left back at home. Add a new baby to the mix and it can be challenging indeed. This was the experience of Kyle Falconer, the lead singer of Scottish band The View and his partner Laura Wilde. They tell their story in an indi musical No Love Songs. We're joined by the Australian cast Keegan Joyce and Lucy Maunder.Damien Warren-Smith is the comedian behind Garry Starr, the (increasingly nude) clown who has toured highly successful shows like Garry Starr Performs Everything, Greece Lightning and now, Classic Penguins, which won rave reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe and is now coming to Australia. Garry may be a buffoon, but Damien takes clowning very seriously.
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54:04
Actor Stephen Rea in Krapp's Last Tape + the soul of Butoh
We meet Irish screen and theatre actor Stephen Rea, who talks about meeting Samuel Beckett early in his career. Rea so wanted to perform Beckett's play Krapp's Last Tape, he had the foresight to record his youthful self reading it. In his new production at Adelaide Festival, the audience gets to hear those recordings.We head Back Stage to the hat maker's studio! In fiction there are lots of characters who are famous for their hats. Robin Hood. Sherlock Holmes. Lady Bracknell (she needs a ridiculous hat). In our new series Back Stage, Michael meets theatre milliner Phillip Rhodes, who reveals how hats bring a character to life. Butoh is a dance form that started in Japan in the 1950s and was called 'the dance of darkness'. Dancers often wear white body paint and explore raw psychological states. But it can also be outrageous and funny, as veteran performer Yumi Umiumare tells us about her own life practising Butoh. Yumi's latest show is Butoh Bar: Out of Order II for Asia TOPA.
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54:05
Turning the late Ryuichi Sakamoto into mixed reality
Shortly before he died, Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto performed a piano concert called Kagami – which was filmed and recorded with mixed reality technology. Thanks to that, the audience can see and hear Sakamoto play on a level of reality which pushes the boundaries of what a concert can be. Todd Eckert was a friend of Sakamoto and through his company Tin Drum, is pioneering this tech for the stage. The tragic heroine Violetta, from La Traviata, is one of the most iconic roles in opera. Samantha Clarke is reprising her much acclaimed performance as the ill-fated courtesan for Opera Australia's La Traviata and explains why Violetta is so dear to her. She also sings the breathtaking aria Addio del passato for us, accompanied by Brian Castles-Onion.For generations, Yolngu met and traded with other seafaring people in the top end of the continent. From this, language and songs, stories and more was exchanged. Now the Yolngu songman and dancer Banula Marika and choreographer Rachael Wallis are collaborating with First Nations artists from Taiwan, including Suming Rupi … for a show called Gapu Ngupan (Chasing the Rainbow) at Asia TOPA in Melbourne.
Australia