newest ~ 11-02 ~ 11-01 ~ 10-01 ~ 08-01 07-02 ~ 07-01 ~ 06-04 ~ 06-03 ~ 06-02 Spine 1.2 by Gina Czarnecki Gina Czarnecki (UK, currently based in Melbourne) Where: Union Lane (enter from Bourke Street, between Swanston and Elizabeth streets) When: 28 June to 23 August 2006 (dusk to midnight) In a narrow crevice between monolithic stores in the heart of Melbourne’s shopping precinct, thousands of bodies move with smoke-like fluidity up and down a 6 metre high video screen. The mesmeric vertical grace of the work sits in stark contrast to the horizontal walkways conveying traffic between temples of retail activity – human traffic of a different kind. The specially commissioned sound is an integral component of how the work unfolds the images merge and mutate into a form resembling – from a distance – a human vertebrae. Not Like Beckett july 28 - aug 20 By Michael Watts Direction Michael Kantor With Russell Dykstra Set and Costume Design Anna Cordingly Lighting Design Niklas Pajanti Composition and Sound Design Darrin Verhagen Get ready to meet the most famous comedian you’ve never heard of: Walter Walloon Beckett, all-singing, all-dancing humorist extraordinaire and the last of the famous Beckett clan. And he’s a rabbit. Trapped on a hilltop in outback Australia, in fear of an unseen assassin’s bullet, Walter reflects on his life and his one true love, Boo Boo the bilby. In Michael Watts’ extraordinary feat of sparse prose and killing humour, Not Like Beckett presents that most cunning of metaphoric figures, the rabbit, as an allegory of colonised Australia. Beneath the play’s bone dry wit and tough simplicity, dwells a tender and unexpectedly touching tale of love and beauty as fierce and affecting as its landscape. Watts’ extraordinarily sustained and original homage to playwright Samuel Beckett, appears almost effortless and was a natural directorial choice for the theatrical invention of Malthouse Theatre’s Artistic Director, Michael Kantor. This premiere production features the unforgettable talents of AFI Award winning actor, Russell Dykstra, most recently seen as Donald Rumsfeld in Neil Armfield’s production of Stuff Happens. malthousetheatre.com.au