Tangent Productions in Association with Griffin Stablemates. SBW Stables Theatre - 2003 and 2005 Revival
"Sewell has produced a powerful and robust analysis of the currently conservative politics of the US and a warning to Australia. Myth is not a solution to the state of the world. It is a penetrating and beautifully crafted missive to us all."
Sydney Morning Herald
Written with searing passion and dazzling momentum, Myth, Propaganda and Disaster in Nazi Germany and Contemporary America reverberates with the aftershocks of September 11. With compelling drive and theatrical daring, we are swept from cocktails at the Guggenheim to the hungry vacuum of Ground Zero. Stephen Sewell demands answers to some of the most urgent questions of our times. Where is the line between patriotism and nationalism? What happens when the Land of the Free makes such uncompromising statements as: ‘You’re either with us or against us’?
AWGIE Stage Award (2004 winner)
Green Room Award - Best New Australian Play (2004 winner)
Louis Esson Prize for Drama (2004 winner)
NSW Premier's Literary Awards - Play Award (2004 winner)
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The Sydney Morning Herald
Myth ... is a blast of fresh theatrical air in a cultural and political climate starving for it.
In Talbot, he (Sewell) has created a great, fragile hero for our time.
Sewell's potent, lucid and elegant play races along like a brilliantly balanced black comedy.
Nicholas Eadie is brilliant as Talbot
Sewell has produced a powerful and robust analysis of the currently conservative politics of the US and a warning to Australia. Myth is not a solution to the state of the world. It is a penetrating and beautifully crafted missive to us all.
The Sun Herald
Myth, Propaganda is one of the angriest, bravest and smartest plays written in this country from many years.
disturbing intelligent and largely breathtaking
Eadies performance is courageous and horrifying to watch
Variety
“One of the freshest and most compelling productions seen in Sydney in some years.”
Myth ... is a blast of fresh theatrical air in a cultural and political climate starving for it.
In Talbot, he (Sewell) has created a great, fragile hero for our time.
Sewell's potent, lucid and elegant play races along like a brilliantly balanced black comedy.
Nicholas Eadie is brilliant as Talbot
Sewell has produced a powerful and robust analysis of the currently conservative politics of the US and a warning to Australia. Myth is not a solution to the state of the world. It is a penetrating and beautifully crafted missive to us all.
The Sun Herald
Myth, Propaganda is one of the angriest, bravest and smartest plays written in this country from many years.
disturbing intelligent and largely breathtaking
Eadies performance is courageous and horrifying to watch
Variety
“One of the freshest and most compelling productions seen in Sydney in some years.”
Sydney Morning Herald Review
"Myth, Propaganda & Disaster in Nazi Germany & Contemporary America" - a review by David Martin
It was certainly a propaganda coup for Myth, Propaganda and Disaster in Nazi Germany and Contemporary America that its production coincided with the uproar surrounding the visit of George W. Bush to Australia.
Playwright Stephen Sewell takes us outside our comfort zone into the security-crazed world of contemporary America. Set in the world of New York academic circles post 9/11, Myth explains how freedom can be manipulated by those in power. Australian-born Professor Talbot Finch (Nicholas Eadie) draws parallells between Nazi Germany and the insideous changes he sees in American society. His intentions are good and he seeks to encourage debate and reason, and expand the minds of his students.
Talbot's American wife Eve (Margot Fenley) is a highly successful television and movie writer. Her relationship with Talbot is jeopardised by the arrival of The Man (William Gluth), a mysterious and sinister figure who bashes Talbot both physically and mentally. The true identity of The Man is unknown. Is he connected to the family of Talbot's beautiful student Margurite (Melanie Vallejo) or does he spring from the silent new power brokers?
Talbot's contemporaries don't share his liberal views. His supervisor, the amoral Jack (Andrew McFarlane) and faculty lawyer Stan (Jonathan Gavin) initially turn their backs on and ultimately seek Talbot's demise. The changes in society are initially barely recognisable. We see the characters gradually accepting the erosion of their rights and liberties under the guise of national security. Truth is the ultimate scapegoat.
Max (Mark Constable) is an old mate of Talbot's - a relaxed and jovial Australian - seeking a teaching position and recognition in the United States. His subtle Americanisation and moral downturn are captivating. In many ways Max represents our country and its adoration of the god that is the American Empire. Andrea Moor is great as Jack's alcoholic wife Amy. Even though she too chooses to ignore the disasters in her own life and in the broader community, she at least is aware that that are occurring. Light relief comes from Stan's unfaithful wife Jill (Victoria Hill), whose profound beauty contrasts with her own flawed nature and the evil around her.
Certainly Yank-bashing is fashionable in some circles, and detractors may accuse this play of doing doing that. However we are a part of the war on terror and Myth gives us a vehicle by which to explore our concerns with the actions of the world's only superpower and our own nation's role in the morally dubious fiasco.
The play is confronting and intense and could easily become pondersome. However, director Christopher Hurrell's discipline keeps the show's pace dynamic, believable and horrifying.
Where: Stables Theatre, Kings Cross
When: Until November 15
More Info: (02 ) -9250-7799
David Martin contributes theatre reviews to E-On Stage, the weekly newsletter covering the NATIONAL theatre scene across Australia. For a FREE e-mail, please send a note to davidjohnw@ozemail.com.au
It was certainly a propaganda coup for Myth, Propaganda and Disaster in Nazi Germany and Contemporary America that its production coincided with the uproar surrounding the visit of George W. Bush to Australia.
Playwright Stephen Sewell takes us outside our comfort zone into the security-crazed world of contemporary America. Set in the world of New York academic circles post 9/11, Myth explains how freedom can be manipulated by those in power. Australian-born Professor Talbot Finch (Nicholas Eadie) draws parallells between Nazi Germany and the insideous changes he sees in American society. His intentions are good and he seeks to encourage debate and reason, and expand the minds of his students.
Talbot's American wife Eve (Margot Fenley) is a highly successful television and movie writer. Her relationship with Talbot is jeopardised by the arrival of The Man (William Gluth), a mysterious and sinister figure who bashes Talbot both physically and mentally. The true identity of The Man is unknown. Is he connected to the family of Talbot's beautiful student Margurite (Melanie Vallejo) or does he spring from the silent new power brokers?
Talbot's contemporaries don't share his liberal views. His supervisor, the amoral Jack (Andrew McFarlane) and faculty lawyer Stan (Jonathan Gavin) initially turn their backs on and ultimately seek Talbot's demise. The changes in society are initially barely recognisable. We see the characters gradually accepting the erosion of their rights and liberties under the guise of national security. Truth is the ultimate scapegoat.
Max (Mark Constable) is an old mate of Talbot's - a relaxed and jovial Australian - seeking a teaching position and recognition in the United States. His subtle Americanisation and moral downturn are captivating. In many ways Max represents our country and its adoration of the god that is the American Empire. Andrea Moor is great as Jack's alcoholic wife Amy. Even though she too chooses to ignore the disasters in her own life and in the broader community, she at least is aware that that are occurring. Light relief comes from Stan's unfaithful wife Jill (Victoria Hill), whose profound beauty contrasts with her own flawed nature and the evil around her.
Certainly Yank-bashing is fashionable in some circles, and detractors may accuse this play of doing doing that. However we are a part of the war on terror and Myth gives us a vehicle by which to explore our concerns with the actions of the world's only superpower and our own nation's role in the morally dubious fiasco.
The play is confronting and intense and could easily become pondersome. However, director Christopher Hurrell's discipline keeps the show's pace dynamic, believable and horrifying.
Where: Stables Theatre, Kings Cross
When: Until November 15
More Info: (02 ) -9250-7799
David Martin contributes theatre reviews to E-On Stage, the weekly newsletter covering the NATIONAL theatre scene across Australia. For a FREE e-mail, please send a note to davidjohnw@ozemail.com.au
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