Wages of Spin
Version 1.0 theatre group
With Stephen Klinder, Kym Vercoe and David Williams
Brisbane: Aug 23-26, Powerhouse, $29/$24
Melbourne: Aug 30-Sept 9, ArtsHouse, Nth Melbourne Town Hall, $20/$18, Hobart: Sept 13-16, Salamanca Arts Centre, Perth: Sept 20-30, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts.
Fear
Written and directed by Stephen Hopley
With David Sutton, Charles Billeh, Capkin van Alphen
Crypt Theatre, Cat and Fiddle Hotel, 456 Darling Street, Balmain
Aug 23 — Sept 17, $20/$15
PREVIEW BY SARAH STEPHEN
Wages of Spin, the superb performance theatre piece devised by Version 1.0 and first performed in 2005, is about to begin a national tour. It asks the uncomfortable question: Did we go to war on a lie?
The performance has been updated in light of recent developments: the failure of the Iraq occupation to bring peace and democracy; the ghastly sequence of stuff-ups and cover-ups over the death of Private Kovco; and the revelations that, even as we were gearing up to bring down the evil tyrant, we were bribing Saddam to buy our wheat.
Version 1.0's trademarks are biting irony and sharp political satire, combined with the powerfully engaging visual effects of TV cameras and a huge screen as backdrop. Live footage fed onto the big screen provides the audience with a different view of what's being played out in front of them, giving the feel of a live TV broadcast.
The use of public documents, parliamentary Hansard and media interviews as the building blocks of the script might sound dry, but it's used to superb effect. It's very clever political theatre, which played to packed audiences in Sydney and Canberra in 2005.
Fear is about Russell Cavanaugh, a man who fears terrorism and is vocally in favour of the legislation changes introduced by the Howard government in 2005. But soon, a chance comment sees him arrested and held without charge in a military prison. As his freedom is stripped away piece by piece, Russell begins to realise that the only thing he has to fear is fear itself.
Hopley wrote the piece late last year as the laws were being passed in Parliament. "It's an unbelievable affront to our rights, and most people aren't aware of how severe the legislation really is. Australia's the only Western country with no civil rights protection in law, and it's really starting to show. We can say we're an easy-going, laid-back kinda nation, but our current government doesn't reflect that — and the rest of the world is changing their view of us too", he said.