Ellen Ternan - Nell: Dickens' Lover or Romantic Dream?

Think Piece: What the Dickens!

If Charles Dickens had lived in London in this day and age, I am confident he would have his phone hacked habitually after catching character actress Miriam Margoyles’ Dickens’ Women.

He would have been number one tabloid fodder, thanks to his own romantic aspirations, but I doubt he fell into bed with young women as often as he fell in love.

Sure, he had 10 children with wife Catherine, nee Hogarth (pictured below as a young woman), before turning his marriage into a train wreck, but I wonder if his liaisons with much younger women were as intimate as has been suggested.

It is just a theory – I am not Dickensian scholar – but I came away from the Delicious Miss M’s Brisbane show wondering if the pre-eminent Victorian storyteller was a victim of his own success and over-the-top (OTT) imagination.

His passion for teenage women began a year after his marriage in 1836 to Catherine, when her 17-year-old sister, Mary, came to stay and soon after died in his arms.

The event turned him into the starry-eyed lover of a young and innocent girl, who was no more than a ghost haunting his mind, and a writer consumed with the sort of desire associated with the unattainable.

There’s nothing more seductive then something one can’t have and there’s no relationship more impossible then one with someone who is no longer alive.

That is unless you have an extremely vivid imagination and the ability to create conversations, encounters and the like in your own tortured mind. Even then it is just a manifestation of one's self.

Thanks to something that happened in his childhood, when his mum didn’t act to pull him out of the hated boot-blacking factory as the family’s dire fortunes improved, Dickens believed ‘a women’s place was in the home.’

Well, at least mothers and wives, while nubile and beautiful young treasurers were free to wander the corridors of the imagination just behind the  mind’s eye.

Another early bad experience was when he was denied his first sweetheart, Maria Beadnell, who was sent overseas rather then be exposed to the then seemingly callow young man.

When Dickens finally ditched Catherine, after 22 years of marriage, he organised a re-union with Maria, who was then a widow, only to discover that she was no longer the teenage incarnation he adored.

The meeting apparently lasted only a few minutes.

Dickens last great love was a 19-year-old actress, Ellen Ternan, whom he met when he was 45, and there are all sorts of stories in books and plays about their relationship and a possible infant.

He certainly spent a lot of time with her, and supported her in many ways, but there’s more than a little doubt about an intimate relationship, which appears to be based on pure speculation.

I came out of the Dickens show musing on the old Rodgers and Hart standard, Falling in Love with Love Is Falling for Make Believe, but whatever Dickens had at the end of the day our legacy is even greater.

We can still savour the magic of Nicholas Nickleby, Oliver Twist, The Old Curiosity Shop, David Copperfield, A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, Bleak House and many more.

Let’s hope that my lingering memory of the show is wrong and Dickens had some really splendid amorous adventures in his 58 years on this earth, sharing the genius of his imagination.

Ms M’s wonderful one-hander has left Brisbane, but will be touring regional areas of NSW throughout April.

Christen O'Leary: Theatrical athlete

Theatre Review: Bombshells

Bombshells. The Queensland Theatre Company. Cremorne Theatre . Stars Christen O’Leary. Till April 21. B+

Joanna Murray-Smith’s celebration of modern Australian womanhood is brought to the Cremorne Theatre stage with energy and huge enthusiasm by Christen O’Leary.

This one women show takes the form of six monologues featuring a harassed mum, Meryl, cactus-loving divorcée, Tiggy, a musical theatre wannabe, Mary, a two-minded bride, Theresa, a sixty something widower, Winsome, and a failing cabaret diva, Zoe.

Ms O’Leary’s energy is breath-taking as she throws herself into this 90-minute showstopper as if she were an athlete preparing for the London Olympics.

It is definitely tight, tort and terrific, but standing back from this whirl-wind show, directed by Queensland Theatre Company artistic director Wesley Enoch, one has to make some level headed judgments.

One has to pick favourites and I’d like to single two out.

My vote (how topical) goes to the stressed and overworked mum Meryl and Winsome who finds some kind of love, albeit simply physical, at a time when she could be forgiven for thinking her life was all washed up.

Meryl’s tale was like a prose poem flowing down a waterfall with words tumbling out in majestic simplicity. I have heard these ideas expressed  before from women overburdened with motherhood, but never so succinctly or engagingly put.

Then there was Winsome a 60-something widow who puts affairs of the heart and mind behind her to complete her life with dedication to others, but finds an oasis of emotional and physical comfort in the arms of a blind man for whom she reads.

When the fellow gets her to read something a little fruity she exclaims:’Oh I can’t read this I am a widow.’

Yes, you can Winsome and you can sleep with him if you both constant. Love and lust are not against the law.

I know Winsome and she deserves what she receives even if only for a fleeting time. Ms Murray-Smith once again dips her pen into the poetic pot to create a character so rounded.

However, I don’t feel that all her characters work so well as the troubled bride seems somewhat clichéd and  deserted Tiggy makes allusions to sexual references too obviously.

Having said that people whom I deeply respect thought Tiggy among the best and audience reaction favoured others I thought ordinary. There’s six characters in Bombshells and millions waiting to see it. Something for everyone.

 I read this week that Joanna Murray-Smith and playwright Daniel Keene’s work represented more than half of Australia’s theatrical output to the world.

Congratulations  and well-done Wesley.

Finally – and I am dying to get out of this story – I must acknowledge designer Simone Romaniuk whose set was magnificent and allowed Ms O’Leary lots of room.

PS Watch out for Songs for Nobodies by Joanna Murray-Smith starring Bernadetta Robinson in May at the Cremorne Theatre. A corker. Trust me I am a journalist.

The Delicious Ms M

The delicious Mistress Miriam Margoyles who I will be writing about this week in the wake of her Brisbane outing in the one-woman show Dickens' Woman.

The D Miss M not only gave us insght into Dickens but also his personal relationships with women.

 Imagination is both a gift and a curse. Imagination was Dickens' down fall. Imagination puts us up where we belong but it can also destroy .

Charles Dickens , Oscar Wilde and Dak on same page

.Thank you very much for the interest shown so far.

Coming soon posts on Dickens and his love fantasies inspired by Miriam Margoyles' Dickens' Women and the Queensland Theatre Company's interpretation of  Joanna Murray-Smith's Bombshells showcasing Christen O'Leary and directed by Wesley Enoch.

I am beginning to get a clear idea of what this blog is about. I am not a newspaper or magazine but more a diary posting reviews, think pieces, titbits and random thoughts.

I love a conversation so please feel free to email me.  Each Saturday morning on twitter I'll post Dak's Weekend Trivia and in most cases follow up during the week with a short ( all my postings will be on longer then 400 words) essay.

 My aim is to link On Centre Stage to my  twitter @Dak101 Kennedy and my radio broadcasts with Spencer Howson on 612ABC breakfast shows Friday mornings at 6.40am. I also have a creative side featured in Michael Burns Kennedy Tells Tales (blog) and Old Grim 1 (twitter).

 "One would have to have a heart of stone to read the death of Little Nell without dissolving into tears - of laughter," Oscar Wilde.

More to come.........

Sir Reginald Carey 'Rex' Harrrison, Sir Donald Wolfit and Lord Olivier

Wicked Wit

In Dak’s Weekend Trivia, featured on twitter account @101Kennedy on Saturday (March 17), I dipped into the wealth of witty one-liners, which have peppered the history of the British theatre.

This one was actress Hermione Gingold’s famous bon mot, Olivier

was a tour-de-force but Wolfit was forced to tour, which dates back to the 1930s.

It came about because Donald Wolfit, later Sir Donald, had decided to finance his own tour of the British provinces after the Shakespeare Memorial Company had refused to bankroll him.

While  Laurence Olivier, later Lord Olivier,  was the toast of the classical British Shakespearian stage winning hearts and minds at the Old Vic, which would eventually become the National Theatre.

Gingold had a witty disposition, as other quips such as, ‘I have tried everything but incest and folk dancing,’ and ‘I suppose I shall drop dead in the theatre, to a full house, I hope,’ attest.

The Wolfit crack belongs to what, I consider, to be a long British tradition of Wicked Wit, which has both coloured and enhanced commentary and even at times critiquing.

Although it seems a long way from the Australian stage in the 21^st century, I decided to offer this bit of trivia as a reaction to some of the comments which we see today in everything from reviews to social networking.

I fear (sometimes) that in bid to be tight, shiny and hip or cool, we are in danger of loosing sight of composition. On the one hand reviewers are binging on terms like ‘masterpiece’ and ‘genius’, while other forms of expression are just down right insulting.

I saw three seperate advertisements in the review section of a national newspaper recently where the marketing machine had (quite rightly) plucked the word ‘masterpiece’ from a review, while rubbishing maybes, couldbes, wannabes and allmosts at award nights, on twitter, has become de rigueur.

Harking back to the past, I would conclude with two favourite examples of seemingly Wicked Wit, which maybe not turn out to be as bad as they first appear.

My Fair Lady’s first and, best, Professor Higgins, Rex Harrison, seemed affable enough from a distance, but had a reputation for being rude and even down right obnoxious.

His co-star, Stanley Holloway (Doolittle), emerged from the London theatre where the show was playing only to see a little old lady who had been waiting to get Harrison’s autograph in the pouring rain being told to, ‘Sod off.’

Rather then simply slipping away, having been suitably dismissed, she took affirmative action and began beating the star over the head with her umbrella.

“Ah a first,” quipped Holloway. “The fan hitting the shit.”

Then there’s the classic encounter – one of many – between painter James Whistler and the irrepressible Oscar Wilde where Wilde responded to a Whistler quip with, “I wish I’d said that,” and Whistler retorted, “You will, Oscar, you will.”

I can’t knock that because in this article my humble words are simply the vehicle transporting other entertaining observations and, if you’ve enjoyed this piece, that’s thanks to them.

  

Romeo and Juliet: A picture is worth a thousand words.

Bombshells, Broads and Ballet.

I am looking forward to a weekend of Bombshells, Broads and Ballet in the most anticipated three-day entertainment bonanza of my theatre-going year thus far.

Originally, I was going to call Bombshells, Dickens’ Women and the Australian Ballet’s Romeo and Juliet a trifecta, but after dipping into the Good Book (dictionary) discovered that meant nominating a first, second and third.

Impossible and maybe ultimately unfair.

I won’t know if Joanna Murray-Smith’s celebration of Australian women, Miriam Margoyles’ insight into the Victorian Bard’s magnificent characters or Graeme Murphy’s much acclaimed new working of the star-crossed lovers is the best until we know who runs Queensland.

All I can predict is that theatrical three-way contest is bound to be much closer than any political dramas being played out on Saturday (with the possible exception of the race for Ashgrove).

Bombshells, featuring a singing, dancing and acting Christen O’Leary, comes hot-on-the-heels of Murray-Smith’s Songs for Nobodies, which blew audiences away at the Powerhouse last year.

Indeed Bernadette Robinson, who presented some of the 20^th century’s great divas from Garland to Callas in that show, is returning with Nobodies to the Cremorne Theatre in May.

And that’s where O’Leary, under the direction of the Queensland Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Wesley Enoch, will be presenting characters from a housewife running on empty to a yearning sexagenarian will be playing until April 21.

In the meantime, the commanding English actress Miriam Margoyles will be introducing Dickens’ Women to a wider audience at the Playhouse, but sadly only until Saturday (March 24).

I heard Miss Margoyles say in an interview recently that Dickens was the last great talent to appeal across the whole class spectrum, until The Beatles came along in the 1960s.

She has also been reported as saying that the Dickens show allows her be  Over the Top (OTT), which is often frowned upon in her mainstream performing life. There’s plenty to read about Ms Margoyles, but I particularly liked an interview on-line with Andrew Denton.  http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/transcripts/s2045234.htm

Last, but certainly not least, is Graeme Murphy’s return to Brisbane with the new Australian Ballet outing of Romeo and Juliet. This time, I’ll shut up and let this wonderful picture at the top of the story speak for itself. Romeo and Juliet continue at the Lyric Theatre until Wednesday (March 28).

It seems whatever happens elsewhere, the Queensland Performing Centre (QPAC) will be the big winner this weekend.

   

Scene from Bloodland

Bloodland Review

This is a scene from a new major ingidenous work, Bloodland, which received thunderous applause when it opened at the Queensland Performing Art Centre's 880-seat Playhouse on Thursday evening.

This multi-meadia show, which features dance, music, drama, comedy and tragedy, is the brainchild of Bangarra Dance Theatre's artistic dirctor Stephen Page and a large creative contingent, including storyteller Kathy Balngayngu Marika and writer Wayne Blair.

Ironically this production is the complete antithesis of the popular, mainstream Disney musical, Mary Poppins, playing next door at the Lyric Theatre. There is room on the menu for both shows and more.

 Briefly, it tells the story of two indigenous families living in a remote community who have to come to terms with their heritage and life in the 21st century. It is a challenging and powerful examination of black-on-black conflict as worlds collide and there's no easy answers.

The work is both moving, and sometimes funny, but at its core is a delicate forbidden story of love, which leads to tragedy and ultimately ritual. The work, which features a cast of 12 indigenous actors and runs for about 90 minutes, is the product of a remarkable united effort.

Among the individuals and organistions involved in bringing it to the stage are Page, the Queensland Theatre Company's artistic director,Wesley Enoch, the Sydney Theatre Company, the Adelaide Festival and Allens Arthur Robinson in association with the Bangarra Dance Theatre.

It is a sometimes difficult work - not least because it fuses traditional languages and Pidgin English - and audiences need to lean forward and really focus. It is also useful to read the Bloodland program notes, which are given out freely in a quality high glossy program.

Talking on Spencer Howson's 612 ABC breakfast radio show on Friday (March 16), I drew a comparison with the Summer of the 17th Doll.

I meant that when the Doll first came out in 1955/56 audiences were blown away to hear and see their story, their language and their everyday icons talked about on the stage in mainsteam Australia and later overseas.

Likewise, there were many indigenous groups at the Bloodland Brisbane premiere to hear their stories told in their voice. It is okay to be proud of your own voice. Bloodland continues until Sunday. It looks good,sounds good and in my opnion is very good theatre.

News

Pleased to learn that actor  John Wood's portrait by Raelne Sharp took out the Archibald Packing Room prize this year. John was the special guest on the first (or thereabouts) theatre segment Sue Gough and myself did with Kelly Higgins-Devine back in (I think) May 2010.

I remember saying to John that I was a bit nervous and him telling me to get over it. Good advice John. I did.

About the same time I was watching re-runs of the wonderful Power Without Glory TV series, based on Frank Hardy's classic yarn about John Wren. The show featured Martin Vaughan and a young John Wood. Magnificent. Funny how one short news item brings back so many memoriesSky News link.

Titbit

My good friend Rosemary (Walker), who is now a major force in the Matilda Awards, wants to see this 25-year-old tradition in the Playhouse Theatre within five years.

 She says, and I believe this to be correct, that there's nothing else like it in Australia. The event at the Judith Wright Centre, known as The Judy, was a magificent success.

There were about 300 industry representatives there and it was a tight, torte and terrific show. My only reservation was that 13 (great) identities were inducted into the Hall of Fame in one go.

They all had won more than three Matildas. Rosemary says in future only one will be inducted each year. Good move.

OCS : An Introduction

This is my first my On Centre Stage blog. Who was Shakespeare? He was the man next door who delivered the milk each day.

Someone once said it doesn't matter who Shakespeare was as long as the plays were written.

This is the approch I am taking to this blog. Like breakfast radio it will be snape, crackle and pop, I'll leave the meat and potatoes to others.