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Michael Gow Interview Productions: Dirt (current), Cloudstreet (July 20). Buried Child (August 20) Company: Queensland Theatre Company Read our review of DIRT here, and you can also read our interview with Angela Betzien, playwright of Playboy of the Working Class, as featured in DIRT.
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Burying the Past
The Blurb: This is your second season with the QTC. How do you think things are progressing? Michael Gow: Well, we're selling lots of tickets! [laughs] Seriously, I think we've established a much better relationship with the [theatre] industry in Queensland; both professional and community. I mean, part of our brief is to foster community relationships and community theatre is so strong here. I think it's important to strike a balance between maintaining professional standards and our commitment to developing theatre here. TB: What would you count as your biggest success so far? MG:
I think FRED; because
it was such a hit and a great show too. So fresh. But Skin of Our Teeth
was a great experience too. TB: Having worked with the Sydney Theatre Company, how does the QTC compare? MG: Well, of course everything is on a much bigger scale at the STC. I mean, they've got 20,000 subscribers! We don't have as much access to stars here as they do; and those we do get tend to be Queenslanders "coming home" like Geraldine Turner and Bille Brown [who appeared in QTC's THE FOREST]. We tend to employ people who live and work here. TB: Is there still that "cultural cringe" that existed a few years ago? MG: I think there is still something of a lack of self-esteem; but I think it's going. I think Queenslanders are becoming more comfortable with the concept that we don't have to be the same as Sydney or Melbourne. TB: What kind of audiences are you drawing? MG: Oh, all kinds. We have a strong base of subscribers who tend to come to all our productions; but we're selling a lot of single tickets. The single ticket buyers come from all over, young people, older people, students. It's difficult to demarcate exactly who our audience are as a group. I think the "traditional" image of both subscribers and theatre-goers in general as middle-aged people from Hamilton [an affluent Brisbane suburb] is an urban myth. If it was ever true, it's certainly not true now. That's partly because of a conscious effort to broaden our audience reach. TB: What
about your latest production, Dirt? MG: We seem to be getting a "cross-over" crowd - a lot of music people, because of the musical element to the show. But our subscribers are interested in the show, and a lot of young people too. TB: What was the genesis of Dirt? MG: Dirt started because we had money to commission new work. We actually had only one commission for the year [2001]; but the chances of commissioning and performing only one full length play are pretty slim. So I thought, instead of commissioning one full length play, why not commission four short plays; thinking we might be able to produce say two of those. But when the four came back, they were all terrific, so I decided to present them all as Dirt. >>> |
TB: You've given this new work by emerging writers a very public airing. MG: Yes, deliberately. I mean, a couple of years ago, this is the kind of production we might put on in The Shed [a much smaller venue]; but I decided to go with the bigger venue - to put these emerging writers on the same level as our other writers. There's just so much energy in the generation that's coming up now.
MG: Very little actually. When I found out Company B were going to remount it in Sydney and then take it to New York, I talked them into coming to Brisbane as well. I mean, there's a bit of a pride thing as well; because the first time it went to all the capitals except Brisbane, so I wanted to redress that. Cloudstreet is also a huge event; the kind of thing that's rarely done in Australia. And I wanted to do something like that as part of this season. TB: Then you've got Buried Child, a play from one of my personal favourites, Sam Shepherd. It's a little unusual to see that kind of American theatre being performed here? MG: Well, we see quite a bit of American work here; but it tends to be mostly Broadway productions. We don't get much of the more interesting American work. I like to bring something different to audiences and I think Buried Child is a wonderful play. Also, I don't think it's ever been professionally performed in this country. I saw it as a graduate production at NIDA, but I don't think it's been done anywhere else. TB: Do you consciously set out to challenge audiences? MG: Of course. We need to challenge audiences. Brisbane has a remarkable amateur theatre tradition, which is still strong today. But the QTC needs to offer people something different; something they can't see in an amateur production. As a result, it's easier for us to define who we are and where we're going.
MG: Not really. I mean, I can do virtually anything I like here. Sure there are plays I'd like to do - there's millions of plays [laughs]. But I guess Buried Child is a pet project of mine. TB: When you eventually leave QTC, what shape do you hope the company is in? MG: My dream is that when I go, there'll be a battle for my job - with Brisbane people seriously in the running, not just people from Sydney or Melbourne. I'd like to see the QTC have developed a stable of actor, writers, designers, whatever who can and will take the company onward. And I'd like the company to have a national focus and recognition. We're chipping away at that kind of national recognition at the moment and next year, the company will be developing even more in that direction. David Edwards Send us your feedback on this article or anything else in The Blurb |
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Renowned
playwright and director Michael Gow left the whirl of Sydney's theatrical
scene to become the Queensland Theatre Company's artistic director. Having
the rather large shoes of previous director Robyn Nevin to fill, and with
one full season under his belt, he's looking ahead to a vision splendid
for QTC. On the day we spoke to him, he was battling a cold and was in
the middle of rehearsals for the QTC's new production Dirt, showcasing
the work of upcoming Queensland writers. Here's what he had to say. 
TB:
The next big theatre event in Brisbane is Cloudstreet. What was your involvement
with that?
TB:
Is there one dream project you'd like to do?