Where is the Passion?

When I recently called for expressions of interest in a play that required actors to perform nude and in some graphic, but nonetheless simulated, sex scenes, the overwhelming response was negative. Actors (mostly female) accused me of being a creep. My motivations were called into question by complete strangers, falling just short of libel, and attacks on my personal integrity and my character became the order of the day.

While the response was not unexpected, the vociferousness of it was.

As a result, the past few weeks has seen me do some serious thinking about theatre, particularly in Perth (since this is where I live), and my own reasons for doing it.

What *are* my motivations as a professional theatre practitioner? And do they gel with the motivations of other "professionals" practising theatre in Perth?

Well, the second question is easy. The answer is unequivocally "no".

But why?

To answer this, I must answer the first question.

(deep breath) Here goes:

My motivation is to create theatre that burns people. Theatre that asks you to re-examine your self. Not the glib, superficial, self-congratulatory theatre that has been crafted for us, and in which we so happily wallow... the depressingly predictable parade of theatre that re-inforces stereotypes, pats ourselves on the back for our magnificence, sucks up to politically correct socialist rhetoric, preaches self-indulgently in a faux-provocative fashion to the converted, and perpetuates cliches and platitudes under the guise of bemoaning them.

I am interested in theatre that truly and profoundly confronts an audience, both in a messy, "in-yer-face" way, and in a wry, subtle way.

After one particular performance of "Hamlet" at the Belvoir Street Theatre in Sydney, director Neil Armfield was approached by a member of the audience. The man shook ArmfieldÂ’s hand passionately, and, in doing so, squeezed three $50 notes into it. He said "Buy the cast a drink".

When Swy Theatre presented "A Night in the Arms of Raeleen" back in the early nineties, a member of the audience, who had lived a life similar to that depicted in the play, approached one of the actors, shook his hand, and with tears in his eyes, said repeatedly "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you".

This is called affecting the audience, and on the few occasions when an audience member has approached me in a similar fashion, I have been profoundly humbled by their response.

This has led me to realise that theatre performs a civic function, and is not just a way for actors to earn money and get their names in the paper.

This is why IÂ’m different to the bulk of the so-called "professionals" in PerthÂ’s theatre scene today... IÂ’m in it for the work, not the pay-cheque.

I'm not denying anyoneÂ’s right to earn a living (God knows, I could do with some income about now... I am quite literally having to sell everything I own, just to pay the bills), but what bugs me is that it appears that money is the prime motivating factor in the mind-set of the vast bulk of Perth actors. How else would you explain the demise of the Hole-in-the-Wall, reduced, in its most recent incarnation, to the same fractured state as any other independent production company, instead of being the on-going production house it should have been? Or the turning of Effie Crump from a once open, egalitarian springboard for semi-professional practitioners, into just another professional company struggling for survival?

Industry pressure forced these companiesÂ’ hands. Actors pressured their union to pressure these companies to pay full equity rates to all. As a result, HITW is now effectively dead, and EffieÂ’s is a closed shop, providing limited opportunities to actors and directors, and constantly flirting with liquidation.

So where is the love? Where is the passion?

The simple, necessarily pessimistic answer is: there is none.

Actors want to be paid. They would rather be *paid* to be an actor once or twice a year, than to actually *be* an actor all year round.

And those that do decide to perform year-round, in profit-share productions, would rather be liked than be good.

They want to do plays that re-inforce the nice things in life, and that make them look good to casting directors. They want professional directors like Becher, Ross, Schmitz, etal., to come and see them in "nice" plays, and not something where their tackle is on display or where their performances are too close to the bone for anyone's comfort.

Classical texts have become an excuse to show-off, new plays an excuse to get in good with the funding bodies, and experimental productions a chance to be seen as "cutting edge" and "cool".

When it comes to theatre in Perth, street cred seems to have superseded artistic integrity.

*Is it* just about the money and the glory?

"Oh, of course not, David. I do it because I love it!"

Prove it.