Norm And Ahmed
''Norm and Ahmed'' is a 1968 Australian play by Alex Buzo. Plot A middle aged war veteran, Norm, has an encounter with a Pakistani student Ahmed, at a bus stop one night Censorship controversy The play script originally ended with the line "fucking' boong". This was changed to "bloody boong" for its debut production at the Old Tote, which was directed by Jim Sharman. In April 1969 the play was performed at the Twelfth Night Theatre in Brisbane, using the writer's original line. After one performance, two policemen arrested Norman Staines, the actor who said the line, on a charge of using obscene language in public. Staines was set free on bail and continued to use the line. After a series of trials which went all the way to the High Court, the conviction was quashed.Leslie Rees, ''Australian Drama in the 1970s'', Angus & Robertson, 1978 p 256-257 At a performance of the play at La Mama Theatre in Melbourne in 1969 the actor playing Norm was summoned and ordered to appear in c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Alex Buzo
Alexander John Buzo (23 July 194416 August 2006) was an Australian playwright and author who wrote 88 works. His literary works recorded Australian culture through wit, humour and extensive use of colloquial Australian English. Biography Early life Alex Buzo was born on 23 July 1944 in Sydney. His father Zihni Jusuf Buzo (1912-2006) was from Berat, Albania, an American Harvard University graduate and civil engineer of Albanian origin. Elaine Johnson, an Australian teacher of Irish descent was his mother. Buzo's brother, Adrian Buzo (born 1948, Brisbane) is a Korean studies scholar and former Australian diplomat. The first school Buzo attended was the Middle Harbour State Primary School. Buzo's interests in his early years were shaped by his influential mother's sister Ailsa, a theatre and movie goer. At age 10, Buzo and the whole family went to live in Armidale when his father got a position at Armidale University. Buzo attended The Armidale School where his interest in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
AusStage
AusStage: The Australian Live Performance Database is an online database which records information about live performances in Australia, providing records of productions from the first recorded performance in Australia (1789, by convicts) up until the present day. The only repository of Australian performing arts in the world, it is managed by a consortium of universities, government agencies, industry organisations and arts institutions, and mostly funded by the Australian Research Council. Created in 2000, the database contained more than 250,000 records by 2018. History The AusStage project was instigated by the Australasian Drama Studies Association in 1999, with Flinders University in South Australia leading the project, funded by a grant from the Australian Research Council (ARC). Other collaborating universities were La Trobe University (Vic), University of Queensland, University of New South Wales, University of Western Australia, University of New England (NSW), Newc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Old Tote Theatre Company
The Old Tote Theatre Company (1963–1978) was a New South Wales theatre company that began as the standing acting and theatre company of Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). It was the predecessor to the Sydney Theatre Company. The Old Tote was one of the leading Australian theatre companies. History The Old Tote Theatre was established in 1962 by the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), which had been created in 1958. It began in a converted tin shed on the campus of University of New South Wales in Sydney. The wood and corrugated iron building (originally an army recreation hall) became known as the "Old Tote" because it had previously been part of the group of buildings that had formerly housed the totalisator betting machine when the site had been Kensington Racecourse, Sydney, Kensington Racecourse. The building still stands, and is now known as the Figtree Theatre. The company was founded by the University's Professor of Drama, Robert Quentin, and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Jim Sharman
James David Sharman (born 12 March 1945) is an Australian director and writer for film and stage with more than 70 productions to his credit. He is renowned in Australia for his work as a theatre director from the 1960s to the present, and is best known internationally as the director of the 1973 theatrical hit ''The Rocky Horror Show'', its film adaptation ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975) and the film's follow-up, ''Shock Treatment'' (1981). Life and career Sharman was born in Sydney, the son of boxing tent impresario and rugby league player James Michael "Jimmy" Sharman Jr. (1912–2006) and Christina McAndleish Sharman ( Mirchell; 1914–2003). He was educated in Sydney, though his upbringing included time spent on Australian showgrounds, where his father ran a travelling sideshow of popular legend, founded by Jimmy Sharman, his own father, called "Jimmy Sharman's Boxing Troupe". This brought him into contact with the world of circus and travelling vaudeville. Develop ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Twelfth Night Theatre
250px, Twelfth Night Theatre The Twelfth Night Theatre is an established Australian entertainment venue located in Bowen Hills, in Brisbane, Queensland. Many notable actors, both international and Australian, have performed there. The Twelfth Night Complex includes the main theatre and a smaller basement area which in recent years has been used as a dinner theatre. History Founding in the 1970s Originally located on Wickham Terrace, Twelfth Night Theatre was relocated to its present location following the demolition of its former building due to the construction of the Turbot Street Bypass in 1971. Joan Whalley was the artistic director of Twelfth Night Theatre from 1962 - 1976. The land was sold in 1966 by Brian Johnstone and Marjorie Johnstone, who also owned the adjacent Johnstone Gallery. Funds for the purchase were raised by the theatre, the Johnstones and the Myer family. The location of the new theatre designed by Vitaly Gzell, next door to the Johnstone Gallery in C ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
La Mama Theatre (Melbourne)
La Mama Theatre is a not-for-profit theatre in Carlton, Victoria. It has been nationally and internationally acknowledged as a crucible for cutting edge, contemporary theatre since 1967. La Mama produces work by theatre makers of all backgrounds and encouraging works that deconstruct and critique form, content and social issues. History The theatre, an initiative of founder Betty Burstall, was inspired by the "off-off-Broadway" theatre scene in New York City. Betty and her husband, film maker Tim Burstall, had just returned from a trip to New York and wanted to re-create the vibrancy and immediacy of the small theatres there. La Mama was modelled after the similarly named New York venue La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club."I got the idea for La Mama when we went to New York in the sixties. We were poor. It was impossible to go to the theatre – even to see a film was expensive – but there were these places where you paid fifty cents for a cup of coffee and you saw a performanc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Graeme Blundell
Graeme Blundell (born 7 August 1945) is an Australian actor, director, producer, writer, playwright, lyricist and biographer Early life Blundell was born on 7 April 1945 in Melbourne; he grew up in the suburb of Clifton Hill. He was educated at Merrilands College and Coburg High School, where he served as a Prefect. He then studied arts at the University of Melbourne, where he resided at Ormond College and became involved in student theatre. He has a younger brother, Dennis, and two younger sisters, Margaret and Kathryn. Career In his early years, Blundell worked at La Mama Theatre, the Pram Factory, Hoopla, the Playbox Theatre Company, and the Melbourne Theatre Company. He directed and acted in the premiere performance of Jack Hibberd's play ''Dimboola'' at La Mama. His first television appearance was as an uncredited extra in the debut episode of ''Homicide'' (1964). He is best known as playing the title character in the 1973 sex-comedy film ''Alvin Purple'' and its 1974 se ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Max Cullen
Max Cullen (born 29 April 1940) is an Australian stage and screen actor. He has appeared in many Australian films and television series but is best known for his role in the film ''Spider and Rose'' and the television series ''The Flying Doctors'', ''Secret Valley'' and ''Love My Way''. Early life Cullen was born in Wellington, New South Wales in 1940, but when he was one year old his family moved to Lawson in the Blue Mountains. His brother was the actor Cul Cullen (1934–1982). Career He began his career as a painter and sculptor after training at Sydney's National Art School in 1956 and later studied at the Julian Ashton Art School with Brett Whiteley in 1959. His works have been exhibited regularly in solo and in group exhibitions and he has worked as an illustrator, cartoonist and layout artist on several magazines and newspapers. Cullen was also a regular arts reporter on the ''Sunday'' current affairs television program. He has also worked as a professional and moti ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Screen Australia
Screen Australia is the Australian Federal Government's key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, created under the ''Screen Australia Act 2008''. From 1 July 2008 Screen Australia took over the functions of its predecessor agencies the Australian Film Commission (AFC), the Film Finance Corporation Australia (FFC) and Film Australia Limited. Screen Australia supports the development, production, promotion and distribution of Australian narrative and documentary screen content. History The Commonwealth ''Screen Australia Act 2008'' provides detailed information about the specific functions and powers of Screen Australia. Under this act, from 1 July 2008 the Australian Film Commission, the Film Finance Corporation Australia and Film Australia Limited were merged into one body, to be known as Screen Australia. New Zealand television and film executive Ruth Harley was appointed the inaugural chief executive officer, handing over to Graeme Mason at the end o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
1968 Plays
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * January 10 – John Gorton is sworn in as 19th Prime Minister of Australia, taking over from John McEwen after being elected leader of the Liberal Party the previous day, following the disappearance of Harold Holt. Gorton becomes the only Senator to become Prime Minister, though he immediately transfers to the House of Representatives through the 1968 Higgins by-election in Holt's vacant seat. * January 15 – The 1968 Belice earthquake in Sicily kills 380 and injures around 1,000. * January 21 ** Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh – One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins, ending on April 8. ** 1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash: A U.S. B-52 Stratofortress crashes in Greenland, discharging 4 nuclear bombs. * ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |