about the talk, “Big Stuff”
There’s just so much Big Stuff – like the great mess of the world and the incomprehensible political, social and environmental situations. But theatre shows us that different perspectives are possible and allows us to appreciate ideas that are challenging and a bit wild. Through theatre we can experience the full scope of life and society. There are so many stories that have never had the special attention that theatre offers where real comedy and tragedy can mix. Theatre is so much better than Netflix and if we want to remain a self-respecting, national democracy, we have to fund the arts. Eamon will also tell us how, from Singapore to Cootamundra to Surry Hills, a shy kid came to run one of Australia’s great theatre companies.
about Eamon
Eamon is the Artistic Director of Sydney’s acclaimed Belvoir Street Theatre. He lived in Coota in 1987, on Hovell Street, next door to a very old man called Bede who always wore a three-piece suit. Eamon was born in Singapore and his family moved around and travelled a lot before settling in Brisbane in 1988. He trained as an actor at West Australian Academy of Performing Arts from 2001 to 2003 and has since worked as a director, writer and dramaturg, from the Tiwi Islands to Melbourne, from Geraldton to Palm Islands. His directing credits include Counting and Cracking, A Taste of Honey, Ghosts, Angels in America, The Glass Menagerie and As You Like It. He has worked on new plays with many of Australia’s major writers, from Leah Purcell to Michael Gow, and he has adapted plays by Sophocles, Chekhov and Ibsen. His production of Ivanov won four Sydney Theatre Awards in 2015 including Best Mainstage Production and Best Direction. His productions of The Glass Menagerie and Angels in America both won Best Play at the Helpmann Awards.
about Belvoir
Located in Sydney’s Surry Hills, Belvoir was born out of the Nimrod Theatre in 1984. Since that time it has remained a “cultural weather vane” that bridges Sydney’s alternative theatre with the mainstream. Embracing a mix of risk and tradition, Belvoir’s productions are dynamic, challenging and visionary. Belvoir Street Theatre has nurtured the talents of many renowned Australian artists: actors including Cate Blanchett and Richard Roxburgh; writers such as Tommy Murphy and Kate Mulvaney; directors including Rachael Maza, Wesley Enoch and former Belvoir Artistic Director Neil Armfield.
For more information contact The Arts Centre Cootamundra via phone 02 6942 4773 between 9.30am and 1.30pm, Tuesday to Friday OR email info@theartscentrecootamundra.org.au
