Now on his own selection – Steele Rudd’s grave (Arthur Hoey Davis) at Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane, Queensland. Photo PD.
Watchwords
Dad and Dave live at
the Museum of Brisbane! And it's over 100 years on...
In 2012 we come full circle with a studio performance of the Dad and Dave radio serial at the
Museum of Brisbane, featuring episodes taken from the original radio scripts and read by four of Brisbane’s favourite actors from the Forgetting of Wisdom collective (with sound effects).
In the Museum’s gallery space on Saturday, 13 October 2012 and Sunday, 14 October 2012, audience members will cluster around a Radiola (an early RCA radio much loved by fanatical collectors) just as many of them, their parents and their
grandparents did so long ago.
This forty-five minute performance entitled ‘Dad Buys a Car’ is an amalgam of several episodes of the radio show. It will be presented
around a centre stage microphone to replicate the making of a radio serial by a very experienced cast well versed in radio drama and radio voice-overs.
Leo Wockner plays
Dad, Bob Newman plays Dave and other voices, and Kay Stevenson and Penny Everingham alternate as Mum and Mabel on Saturday and Sunday.
This MoB event is produced and coordinated
by the collective’s Errol O’Neill, who received a Centenary Medal for Service to the Arts and to the Entertainment Industry, the Playlab Award for services to new writing, and the Alan Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award from the Actors Benevolent
Fund.
Between them, these five actors have garnered enough awards to sink the Titanic; certainly there are far too many achievements to be listed here. They will probably
be familiar to many Australians through their numerous appearances in radio, theatre and television over the years.
In 2003, along with other senior theatre artists and arts
workers, these performers met for a script creation and development exercise. Following this, the Forgetting of Wisdom collective was formed, inspired by a shared belief in the importance of maintaining the culture and tradition of theatre and passing on their
extensive experience to younger generations.
Members of the collective were also concerned that there was little support and few avenues for senior, experienced artists to
make a contribution, and became convinced that the most effective solution to that problem was to produce theatre using the best elements of ensemble style.
Penny Everingham
encourages young actors to persevere. She has worked in both film and television but, for her, singing the high notes, yelling, putting on accents and wearing colourful costumes is far more exhilarating.
After 50 years in the industry Penny has a few words of advice for prospective actors who might be blinded by visions of a glamorous life (usually followed by deep disappointment when riches and fame fail to eventuate): ‘You have to
be open – as soon as your ego gets in the way you’re in strife. Don’t ever fall into the trap of thinking you’re wise.’
When acting jobs were
scarce Penny worked at a series of part-time jobs including one at David Jones. ‘Take the acting jobs – anything to begin with,’ Penny says. ‘I’d rather be working in the theatre mopping the stage than working for David Jones
and pining to be in the theatre.’
And now, without further ado (as they say in the classics) – on with the show!
The Event: ON OUR SELECTION (The Adventures of Dad and Dave)
Date and time: Saturday, 13 October
2012 at 12.00 noon and Sunday, 14 October 2012 at 12.00 noon. Duration is approximately one hour with no interval.
Venue: Museum of Brisbane. The MoB is
temporarily located on the ground floor of 157 Ann Street in the City, just around the corner from King George Square and directly opposite the Brisbane School of Arts.
Ticket
price: Entry is FREE but bookings are required. Ring the Museum of Brisbane on (07) 3403 6363 between 10.00 a.m. and 5.00 p.m. and tell them how many are coming so that they can arrange seating.
What’s happening: Gather around the Radiola and experience a performance in the gallery space of the radio serial Dad and Dave transcribed from the original episodes and performed by a cast of some of Brisbane’s
favourite performers from the Forgetting of Wisdom collective.
For more information on this and future events visit the MoB website at http://www.museumofbrisbane.com.au/whats-on/events
and for general information go to http://www.museumofbrisbane.com.au.