‘Stories Then and Now’ and ‘The Bull, The Moon and The Coronet of Stars’ with Eastside’s Arts Margaux Dombkins on Arts Thursday 9 May 2013

My first guests – Annette Shun Wah and Jenevieve Chang will chat about the inspiring new theatre work, “Stories Then & Now” which brings together six Asian Australians to tell personal stories from their past to unravel the threads that lead to their present day lives. Stories Then & Now is directed by master storyteller and celebrated photographer William Yang and writer and producer Annette Shun Wah.

The production takes the audience from the conflict zones of China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Korea and Sri Lanka, to the fraught family squabbles of suburban Australia. These candid narratives are drawn from vastly diverse personal experiences – from a daring escape by fishing boat, to a grand arrival by cruise ship; from seven years in a labour farm, to the gruelling stage routines at Shanghai’s first burlesque club; from a Chinese marriage market to an Australian queer wedding.  The storytellers are: academic and author Ien Ang; performer and writer Jenevieve Chang;  filmmaker and writer Michael C.S. Park; producer and writer Sheila Pham; social worker and food writer Paul van Reyk and civil marriage celebrant Willa Zheng.

This exploration of family across generations and continents is told through words and rare photographs from private collections with music by composer Nicholas Ng.

Stories Then & Now which is presented by Carriageworks and Sydney’s principal contemporary Asian Australian performance company Performance 4a, is an umbrella event of this year’s Sydney Writers’ Festival.

22 – 25 May 2013 at Carriageworks               information/tickets:  carriageworks.com.au

My next guests – Director, Lee Lewis and actor, Matt Zeremes will chat about an exciting new play on at the Griffin Theatre, The Bull, The Moon and The Coronet of Stars.

This love 
story takes the audience into an orgy of antiquity, cupcakes and beachside frivolity as it follows the story of Marion, an artist, struggling with the imperfections of everyday life in her quest for perfect love.

Playwright, Van Badham was inspired by the Greek myths of Ariadne, Theseus and Dionysis and the play is an exploration of how each generation intuitively repurposes these mythologies to explore their own problems. “The Greeks provided the framework for bold engagement with social catastrophe, but also for something as intricate and domestic as how a young woman learns to survive a broken heart.”

This world premiere of The Bull, The Moon and The Coronet of Stars is a co- production of: Griffin Theatre Company; Merrigong Theatre Company and HotHouse Theatre and stars Silvia Colloca and Matt Zeremes.

10 May – 8 June

SBW Stables Theatre, 10 Nimrod Street, Kings Cross   Monday – Friday 7pm
        Saturday 2pm and 7pm           Info / tickets: 02 9361 3817 or www.griffintheatre.com.au

To Listen to the Interviews: CLICK HERE   9 May 2013 arts thursday margaux dombkins

Thanks for your company

Margaux