Please share your favourite Miranda moments in comments – if you paste a youtube url into the comic then the video should auto-embed.

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To recap, the episodes were:

Joely Richardson on Twelfth Night and As You Like It

Ethan Hawke on Macbeth

Derek Jacobi on Richard II

Trevor Nunn on The Tempest

Jeremy Irons on the Henry IV and V plays

David Tennent on Hamlet

Only one woman, and the comedies (which have the larger female roles) given less individual attention, which is typical. Still worse, on the website the episode is listed as Richardson discussing “Shakespeare’s Women”, which is not what she did; she talked about Rosalind and Viola. I would rather have the episode listed by play like the others. I don’t like the sense that women are a separate group, that all female characters can be lumped in together, or that a female narrator is only qualified to talk about women, not plays. But seeing Joely Richardson talk to her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, about the latter’s phenomenally famous Rosalind – priceless!

Trevor Nunn was the only director to narrate an episode, although others made appearances for commentary. It made me curious about the process used in drawing up the plan for the episodes. Did the producers just ring around their chums until they could pin down six big enough names? Or did they start out with a strategy resembling, “Let’s see if we can get one director, one American and one woman”?

It was obviously going to be glorious to watch David Tennant sit down with Jude Law to discuss Hamlet, but the unexpected, very super-special bonus for me was seeing Tom Hiddleston give the St Crispin’s Day speech from Henry V. Joy!

They gave Derek Jacobi the space to trot out his belief that the Earl of Oxford wrote Shakespeare’s plays, but I thought the response they included from Jonathan Bate was exactly the right approach. He pointed out that the plays were written for a working theatrical company, with a very specific group of actors, and it is impossible to imagine that someone not involved right in the thick of it, in the day to day business of getting a play up, could have written something that worked for those people in those circumstances.

I enjoyed the additional opinions brought in very much, and think the producers did a great job of sourcing a range of voices. For example, I find Stephen Greenblatt too hyperbolic for my taste, but Bate balanced that nicely. It is quite an impressive thing to do, to create a series on Shakespeare that will be appealing for the novice or the casually interested, but that still provides thoughtful material for those who already know something of this field. So what did everyone else find for themselves in the series?

P.S. A special note to Trevor Nunn: when you think you’ve discovered the character who speaks with Shakespeare’s own voice, what you’ve actually done is found the character who most reminds you of yourself.

David Tennant as Hamlet

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Related posts:

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2. Life at 7: discussion thread
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Free to Air:

A family favourite: RocKwiz returns Saturday 25th May 8:30pm on SBS

Doctor Who, of course, continues weekly on ABC on Sundays.

Pay-TV:

Looking forward to watching Kevin Spacey chew the scenery in the US reboot/reworking of House of Cards.

The “re-imagining” of the iconic Aussie TV show Prisoner (aka Cell Block H in the UK) in new series Wentworth looks intriguing, and is a fantastic opportunity to watch some of Australia’s top actresses get their teeth into some meaty drama.

The first episode of the new season of The Borgias was full-on action and intrigue – excellent.

The Season 8 premiere of Dexter airs in the US on 30th June, so here within the week presumably.

What are you looking forward to most?

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2. Ooh
3. Whoydensday: movie speculation

Two women placing ears on top of the head of an enormous chocolate Easter bunny.

A teeny tiny tennis ball for a teeny tiny puppy. Although in keeping with the Easter theme it does look a little like a rabbit.

This is a rabbit. No really.

An extremely fluffy brown and grey rabbit facing the camera.

This post is for things that have recently amused or delighted you. Think of it as a brain bleach repository. Share the images or links in comments and I will do my best to remember how admin magic works.

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1. Manhattan Dreaming by Anita Heiss
2. Butterfly Song by Terri Janke
3. Me, Antman and Fleabag by Gayle Kennedy (non fiction) Ed: Thanks Gayle!
4. Too Flash by Melissa Lucashenko (YA)
5. Mum Shirl by Shirly Smith (non fiction)
6. The Flying Emu and other Australian Stories by Sally Morgan (Childrens)
7. Wandering Girl by Glenyse Ward (non fiction)
8. Is that you Ruthie? by Ruth Hegarty (non fiction)
9. Home by Larissa Berhendt
10. Swallow the Air by Tara June Winch

Except for The Flying Emu, all of these stories deal with young girls and Aboriginal families finding their way in a white world. Many of the stories are heartbreaking and gave me a whole new perspective on how Aboriginal people were treated and how Aboriginal families and in particular girls were dealt with often harshly for nothing more than being Aboriginal. These books should be school reading lists. I had no idea how harsh the conditions were that some children grew up in after they were taken from their families and I grew up in a town that had an Aboriginal mission although when I was a child it was no longer a mission but somewhere that Aboriginal families could choose to live (as I understood it). But I know people who can’t or won’t go back because of what happened there.

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Related posts:

1. #AWW 2013: Mum Shirl book review
2. Australian Women Writers Challenge 2013
3. Book Review: Am I Black enough for you? #AWWC2012

Steven Moffat, executive producer and lead writer, said:

“It’s the 50th year of Doctor Who and look what’s going on! We’re up in the sky and under the sea! We’re running round the rings of an alien world and then a haunted house. There’s new Cybermen, new Ice Warriors and a never before attempted journey to the centre of the TARDIS. And in the finale, the Doctor’s greatest secret will at last be revealed! If this wasn’t already our most exciting year it would be anyway!”

For those who like to anticipate pleasures ahead of time, here’s a post at the Doctor Who TV website that lays out what we know about the settings of the episodes, the antagonists, the guest stars and the recurring friends who we’ll be seeing again. I am naturally thrilled to know that Dame Diana Rigg will be starring in Episode 11.

Whee!

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2. Whoydensday: TARDIG (not a typo)
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7pm Thursday the 7th, 14th and 21st March

Red Rattler Theatre, Marrickville, Sydney

Festival Director: Lucy Randall

The full programme can be downloaded from their website. Tickets are $15/$10, or $35 for the full festival. Tickets can be purchased though their site, or at the door. Proceeds go to Life Force Cancer Foundation.

When we complain about the lack of opportunities for women in roles of creative authority in film two common responses are the claim that good ideas and good artists get picked up, so women must just need to do better work, and the injunction “Go and do it yourself. Great artists make things happen.” An event like this demonstrates how much women are already doing this, but also the limits of the strategy. The people involved in this project really are getting up and making things happen, which is wonderful. However, it cannot in itself create any changes in the status quo of mainstream filmmaking: who gets hired, funded, distributed and recognised. They can only hope to make themselves so visible that it would be embarrassing for those with greater power to ignore them. So let’s help them get visible!

From the S&H website:

Seen & Heard is a Sydney-based festival that is coming back for a fourth year of screening exciting new films made by women from around the globe. Whether directing, writing or producing, Seen & Heard promotes the message that films made by women are not just for women, but are films that should be seen by everyone. The films that will be shown during the three day festival address issues relevant to all: race relations within Australia, the treatment of those with disabilities, issues relating to class, gender and sexuality, as well as the everyday challenges of friendship, self-discovery, joy and loss. And some of the films have none of these redeeming features, except for good ol’ fashioned fun!

According to the Centre for the Study of Women in Television & Film: In 2011 women made up only 5% of directors in the top 250 domestic grossing films (U.S.), a 1% decrease from 2010, and almost half the percentage of women directors working in 1998. 38% of films employed no women in any major productions role (writing, producing, directing, editing or cinematography.)

We believe that the lack of women in the film industry is an impoverishment to our culture, one that can only be rectified once we recognise that the dramatic underrepresentation of women amongst both cast & crew is a problem.

Last year’s festival, showing the gorgeous, cosy interior of the Red Rattler

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Related posts:

1. Seen & Heard Film Festival – opens tonight!
2. Mamapalooza is coming to Sydney
3. Open Letter to Melbourne Queer Film Festival attendees

7pm Thursday the 7th, 14th and 21st March

Red Rattler Theatre, Marrickville, Sydney

Festival Director: Lucy Randall

The full programme can be downloaded from their website. Tickets are $15/$10, or $35 for the full festival. Tickets can be purchased though their site, or at the door. Proceeds go to Life Force Cancer Foundation.

When we complain about the lack of opportunities for women in roles of creative authority in film two common responses are the claim that good ideas and good artists get picked up, so women must just need to do better work, and the injunction “Go and do it yourself. Great artists make things happen.” An event like this demonstrates how much women are already doing this, but also the limits of the strategy. The people involved in this project really are getting up and making things happen, which is wonderful. However, it cannot in itself create any changes in the status quo of mainstream filmmaking: who gets hired, funded, distributed and recognised. They can only hope to make themselves so visible that it would be embarrassing for those with greater power to ignore them. So let’s help them get visible!

From the S&H website:

Seen & Heard is a Sydney-based festival that is coming back for a fourth year of screening exciting new films made by women from around the globe. Whether directing, writing or producing, Seen & Heard promotes the message that films made by women are not just for women, but are films that should be seen by everyone. The films that will be shown during the three day festival address issues relevant to all: race relations within Australia, the treatment of those with disabilities, issues relating to class, gender and sexuality, as well as the everyday challenges of friendship, self-discovery, joy and loss. And some of the films have none of these redeeming features, except for good ol’ fashioned fun!

According to the Centre for the Study of Women in Television & Film: In 2011 women made up only 5% of directors in the top 250 domestic grossing films (U.S.), a 1% decrease from 2010, and almost half the percentage of women directors working in 1998. 38% of films employed no women in any major productions role (writing, producing, directing, editing or cinematography.)

We believe that the lack of women in the film industry is an impoverishment to our culture, one that can only be rectified once we recognise that the dramatic underrepresentation of women amongst both cast & crew is a problem.

Last year’s festival, showing the gorgeous, cosy interior of the Red Rattler

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Related posts:

1. Seen & Heard Film Festival – opens tonight!
2. Mamapalooza is coming to Sydney
3. Open Letter to Melbourne Queer Film Festival attendees

If white people hear of it, then they think the same of all Black people.

The only thing they don’t seem to think is if something good happens. Then they think it is an ‘exception’.

Many people have told me that they think I am an ‘exception’, but I’m not. I have about the same as everybody else has. The difference now is that they do think I am an exception, which has come to mean that many times I am allowed to do things that they would not let another Aboriginal person do. But there are many fine Aboriginal people who, with half a chance, would be doing what I am now doing, and many of them would be able to do it better because they have an educated mind. The difference seems to me to be that they are rarely given the chance.

Reading this book is like having a cosy chat with MumShirl. She gently but unflinchingly reveals how white policies, perhaps well meaning but misguided perhaps intentional, had devastating effects on Aboriginal communities. She talks of her early life at Erambie Mission in Cowra with her family, discovering she had epilepsy and her early struggles with it when medication was still unavailable to treat it, marrying, child rearing and losing her marriage and giving up her child to the care of relatives. She also talks about the extensive efforts she went to to support prisoners, family and anyone and everyone in need of help. She was a founding member of both the Aboriginal Legal Service and the Aboriginal Medical Service. Throughout her determination to do her best is her motivation, no matter the cost to her personally. She really was an amazing person (she passed away in 1998). She was awarded an MBE in 1975, an Order of Australia in 1985, Aborigine of the Year in 1990, and named as a National Living Treasure shortly before her death.

When he met me, he asked me, ‘What sort of work do you do?’ I told him I visited people in their homes and in prisons, and he said, ‘Oh, do they call you a social worker?’ and I said, ‘No, they call me a sticky beak.’

I can see the parallels between what MumShirl speaks of as happening in the past and what is happening now. I’m not claiming that this somehow gives me a understanding of what Aboriginal people experience, just that my eyes have been opened somewhat to the continuing crap that white society heaps upon the Aboriginal community (and refugees etc etc) while we like ask ourselves naval gazing questions like “Is Australia really racist?” answer is hell yes in case you were wondering; and pretend that The Apology and Sorry Day make all the past misdeeds and present crap somehow all better like a bandaid over a gaping wound instead of being just a couple of steps in the right direction. Nor do I want to downplay the importance of those things, what I’m trying to get at is that we, as a society, seem to be dusting off our hands as if the job has been done and everything is fine now while the Intervention, black deaths in custody an over representation of Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system etc. still goes on.

I’m still not sure what to do with this new found knowledge. I still feel like I need to shut up and learn more first. If you want to learn more too I think that Anita Heiss’ 100 book list of Aboriginal authors is a fantastic place to start.

SotBO: parts of this post deal with generalisations. Not all of these generalisations will be true for everyone. If it’s not about you, it’s not about you.

I’m reading books by female Aboriginal authors for the Australian Women Writer Challenge 2013 and it is turning out to be quite an education. I have previously read Manhattan Dreaming (reviewed) by Anita Heiss;  Butterfly Song by Terri Janke;  Me, Antman and Fleabag by Gayle Kennedy; and Too Flash by Melissa Lucashenko.  Mum Shirl is number 5 out of ten I plan to read in 2013 and the second review of six.  I am only counting one book from each author, although once I started reading Anita Heiss’ ‘Chocklit’ I had to read them all.

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Related posts:

1. #AWW 2013 – Challenge completed
2. Australian Women Writers Challenge 2013
3. Book Review: Am I Black enough for you? #AWWC2012

Developed through the 2013 director’s residency at Malthouse Theatre

About the project: Theatre director & writer Roslyn Oades is currently researching a new theatre project exploring the experiences of 18 and 80 years, and what can be learnt from these two very different viewpoints. Her idea is to talk to local 18 and 80 year olds (in small casual groups of 2-4 people) and make audio recordings of their conversations. These recordings will then be used word-for-word as the source material for a stage play performed by professional actors. The interviews will be fun and cover many subjects including loves, fears and dreams. Participants can remain anonymous and will receive free tickets to see the final show. They can also request a free CD copy of their recording.

The first stage of the project (Feb-June 2013) will focus on the 80 year and over age group. Roslyn is currently looking for interested community members to participate in conversation groups as well as community workers who may be able to assist her in this process.

About the artist: Roslyn is the 2013 Director in Residence at Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne. She is well known for her pioneering work in headphone-verbatim theatre and has created two new works with acclaimed Sydney company, Urban Theatre Projects: Stories of Love & Hate in 2008 (STC Education season, 2011) and Fast Cars & Tractor Engines in 2005. Her play I’m Your Man, premiered at Belvoir Theatre as part of the 2012 Sydney Festival. I’m Your Man was nominated for two Sydney Theatre Awards and will tour nationally with Mobile States in 2013 including a season at Arts House, North Melbourne, September 4-8. Most recently Roslyn created a new site-specific work called Cutaway: A Portrait (2012) for South Australian company Vitalstatistix. She also works as a performer and community artist. For more info visit her website.

Contact: If you are able to assist in any way or if you yourself would like to be part of a recorded conversation please contact Roslyn: email rosoades[at]yahoo[dot]com

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