Author Archives: mtc

Review of Blackbird, by Grace Chapman

Blackbird touched its audience at the Majestic Theatre, Malanda on various levels. From a presenter’s point of view, Leah and her production team, Megan, James and Megan’s mother were obviously a united group bonded together in the confidence that they had a show worthy of anyone’s attention. They carried their ambassador, Megan high up on their shoulders. Continue reading →

About the play

Summer of the Seventeenth Doll is a pioneering Australian play written by Ray Lawler and first performed at the Union Theatre in Melbourne, Australia on November 28, 1955. The play is almost unanimously considered by scholars of literature to be the most historically significant in Australian theatre history, openly and authentically portraying distinctly Australian life and characters. It was one of the first truly naturalistic “Australian” theatre productions.

Plot

The play is set in Australia, in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton and it details the events of the summer of 1953, in the lives of six central characters. The structure of the play is such that the nature of these characters and their situation and history is not revealed immediately, but rather gradually established as the story unfolds. By the end, the story and all its facets have been indirectly explained. Continue reading →

About the production

The president’s  message from the programme:

Welcome to our show “Razzamatazz: Malanda the Musical”. We wrote the script ourselves not simply to celebrate the eightieth birthday of the Majestic Theatre but also to pay tribute to the people who created the highly functional and harmonious comunity, which was, until recently, referred to as Eacham Shire.

Many of the original families are still amongst us. Some of the family names are used on stage but in no way are we pretending to portray real people on stage. The characters in this musical are completely fictitious. In fact the only events that actually occurred historically are the building of the Theatre by the English family in 1929, the opening concert and the showing of the film “The Moth of Moonbi”. The rest is a comic fantasy to make you laugh and sing.

We hope you enjoy it.

Graham Harrington

MTC President 2009 and writer of the script for Razzamatazz

About Blackbird

In ‘Blackbird’ Megan Sarmardin sings the lives of the women of her family. ‘Blackbird’ has been created by Megan with John Rodgers and Sean Mee. The songs and interviews explore the recollections and reflections offour generations of Megan’s family: her mother Dixie Sarmardin, Dixie’s sisters Janine and Marie Gertz, Megan’s Grandmother Margaret Gertz, her Great Grandmother Flora Hoolihan and of course, Megan’s own memories of these inspiring women. Continue reading →