Return to Perth

  You may have already seen Jonathan Biggins doing a star turn in The Gospel According to Paul. If not, and if this comedic look at the life of Paul Keating comes your way, do buy a ticket. I have watched Jonathan's performances in shows like The Wharf Review for decades but this is a tour de force of clever writing and engaging performance. Not that Jonathon looks like Keating who is more like a slender stork but he captures some inate physicality that makes you believe every moment on stage.  On the way to the show in the State Theatre Centre, Susan and I were reflecting on the key moments/outcomes that capture Keating's life in politics: Reform of the financial system The banana republic comment The Redfern speech His fierce wit during Question Time The Kirribilli Affair and the agreement (or not) with Bob Hawke His Zenga suits Native Title Legislation Refocusing Australia to the Asia-Pacific region His collection of antique clocks Floating of the Australian dollar Attempt ...

In a recent meeting with Nikki Miller, Executive Director of Creative Industries in WA, I was singing the praises of the Mandurah Council for their support of the arts and she said that the City of Melville was another good example of local goverment committent to cultural activities. And luckily for us, that's our council. So far, we've attended Open Studio events, an arts and craft fair, admired murals, been to exhibitions in community art spaces - and joined the library. One branch (albeit one of the smaller ones) is five minutes walk up the road. I have to confess that I love libraries. I worked for the library in Floreat Forum at the end of high school. I love finding new books, ordering ones on my 'to read' list, and reading in both hard copy and on line formats. So I was thrilled to have one so close but not so thrilled to see the way the Melville team organise books. Instead of a good old fashioned A to Z listing, it's in genres - romance/history; murder mys...

I love lying in bed listening to the rain. I think that pleasure started during winter holidays in the Porongorups where, after a night of playing rummy by the light of the kerosene lamp, we'd retire to cosy beds in our flannelette pjamas and go to sleep to the pitter patter of water on the tin roof. For years, I didn't get to enjoy that type of experience because I was downstairs in the Pink House with a whole storey between me and the rain. Now, with a colourbond roof above me, I can enjoy the sound again. [On a side note, I do love the colourbond ad .]And there's been lots of opportunities in Perth. I keep asking people whether the amount of days of rain are common and nobody's quite sure although Google keeps reassuring me that we're receiving average rainfalls.  My first Melbourne rain experience was on a trip down from Sydney. It was my first experience of Melbourne's "four seasons in one day". It was summer and as it was just a day trip for work...

106 Archibald St looks quite modest from the front but has a long passage. Over time, people have randomly put nails in the wall to hang art but we decided to turn it into a proper gallery. We found Hal the Hanging Man (sculptor, woodwork and art teacher as well) to install an art hanging system and, because I can't currently climb up ladders, start to put some of the art up for us as well. Part of the appeal of a flexible hanging system is to be able change the art around, particularly in bedrooms, where both Susan and I change doona covers according to the season. At the moment, I have a bed cover of Australian native plants, blossoms and parrots and so the art - admittedly a somewhat random selection - is all in tones of greens: a travel poster from Malaya, two costume drawings by the amazing Gabriella Tyselova from MTC's production of Cyrano de Bergerac , and a poster from that 1974 production of The Merchant of Venice that I mentioned a few posts ago. When summer comes aro...

In 2012, I attended a conference in Seoul, Korea. It wasn't a country high on my "must visit" list but I confess I had a fascinating time. There were two particular highlights (in addition to kimchi, bbq restaurants and warm toilet seats): a trip to the DMZ and a journey around Seoul.  I signed up for two Intrepid Urban Walkabout tours in the capital and it turns out I was their first customer. Not only did I have Thomas, who had worked in Hobart as a guide for Korean visitors for years, but I also five trainee guides. They included a new tourism graduate who hated the Japanese, a housewife with primary school aged kids, a Canadian-Korean sent back to look after his grandparents, a Korean who had grown up in Australia and 70 year old Mr Kim, a traditional calligrapher who couldn't make a living anymore because no one was interested in his craft and who'd learnt his English as a child during the Korean war. We walked and walked and talked and talked and I was given...

The current Bangarra Dance work, called Illume , is a collaboration between choreography Frances Rings and pearl carver and visual artist Darrel Sibosado . It's a powerful impressive work which both tells the story of the Bard people of the Dampier Peninsular in the north west of WA, their creation stories, their connection to country but also the impact of colonisation and the Lombania Mission. To start with, I wasn't sure about the piece but as each stage occured, the interconnection between body and light was extraodinary and it's an utterly absorbing piece of art.  Mother-of-pearl is at the heart of Bard spiritual life and as I watched I reflected on the carved mother-of-pearl shell that I should have been brave enough to buy in Broome a few years back.  These days, Broome, this Western Australian town which is beloved of many, seems to me to be a slightly weird combination between a Disney town, a resort village and a retirement get away for people from the cold sout...

  Have you heard the work of AVE, the Australian Vocal Ensemble? They did a couple of performances at the Heritage Collective, the old Wearne House, in Cottelsoe. Wearne House was built in the late 1890s as a convalescent home for children but when we knew it, it was an aged care hostel and Alan, my father, spent some time there in respite. The site has now been redeveloped with new aged care facilities but they've kept the historic buildings. If I win the lottery, I might just sign up for one of the prestige suites with Indian Ocean views for my later years.  We had time to explore the building with its art and stained glass windows, prosecco in hand with canapes to hand, in the lead up to the concert where a small group of us sat in room with a view of the ocean listening to some exquisite music. AVE is Katie Noonan (Artistic  Director and Soprano, QLD), Fiona Campbell (Mezzo Soprano, WA),  Louis Hurley (Tenor, WA/NSW) and Andrew O'Connor (Bass-Baritone, WA/NS...

Susan, Sebastian, our friend Barry and I had a delightful if slightly odd mini-break in the historic town of York, 90 kilometres west of Perth. It was one of the earliest villages created by colonists and an impressive number of 19th and early 20th century buildings and houses remain intact. We stayed in a house built in 1910, with those wonderful all encompassing verandahs that I love. A perfect place to sit and catch the sun on a winter morning or watch the flocks of pink and grey galahs and the ring necked parrots flying into nearby gum and olive trees.  The "odd"-ness of our holiday was that almost nothing that might have been of interest to tourists was open on Tuesday or Wednesday and in some cases Thursday and Friday. The Residency Museum wasn't open. The Holy Trinity Church with the Robert Juniper stained glass windows wasn't open. The Courthouse Art Gallery wasn't open. The other two galleries weren't open. The bookshop did (hurrah) open on Thursday s...

For those of you empathic enough to wonder how I'm going with my fractured foot, the answer is: it's now the knee. Mind you, I'm still in the moon boot sandal for another three weeks and the bone healing pain is constant. [Bizarrely, the  Advanced Scope Physiotherapist  at  Fiona Stanley Emergency Department Diversion Clinic and Virtual Fracture Clinic had never heard what I'm wearing called a 'sandal'. Honestly, men with no fashion sense!] Moving on from that shoe diversion,  because the foot was the most obvious problem, I didn't take enough notice (and neither did any of the doctors I've seen) of my right knee. When I missed the step, I twisted the foot but came down heavily on the knee. The first attempt at diagnosis via an xray didn't work. It showed that there was no fracture but I didn't believe it. The pain continued and there was/is a lack of balance and slowness in walking as I totter about with my walking stick. The next challenge was ...

It seemed appropriate that in NAIDOC Week I finally got to see the beautifully crafted theatre piece 7 Stages of Grieving  created by Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman. It was first performed 30 years ago, and like Fran, it's hard to believe that many of the stories still play out for indigeneous people. In the words of the Yirra Yaakin programme for this new production: From the Stolen Generations to protest marches, funeral rites to silent mourning, she gives voice to the collective stories of her ancestors, her family, and her people. The play shifts between moments of anger, humour, sorrow, and strength, as she becomes a vessel for memory and truth. Structured around seven phases of grief, Dreaming, Invasion, Genocide, Protection, Assimilation, Self-Determination, and Reconciliation, the work invites you to reflect on what has been lost, and to bear witness to what endures: culture, connection to Country, and the resilience of First Nations people.  Each of the issues are s...

After three and a half years of hard work, Sebastian has submitted his PhD thesis on the illegal trade of Australian reptiles and amphibians. I've just finished reading it...which is probably a slight exaggeration. Anything section with a whiff of statistical analyis or latin taxonomies, I avoided. But it's still an impressive collection of reading, research and analysis. Susan and I even feature in the acknowledgement, albeit with a slightly backhanded compliment: Finally, I'd like to extend my deepest thanks to my mum and aunt, Susan and Ann Tonks. You've supported me through this like you've supported me all my life, for which I am immeasurably grateful. Thank you for always being by my side (metaphorically) and for only occasionally interrogating me about my progress and future plans, especially towards the end. It did make me smile. Of course, Sebastian has to wait for the thesis to be marked but given that a number of chapters have already been peer reviewed a...

I’ve always been the wrong shape. The wrong shape for jeans. The wrong shape for mini-skirts. The wrong shape for bikinis. But the one piece of clothing that I always regretted being the wrong shape for, even in my thinner days, was a kimono. They are usually made of such exquisite fabric - silks and cottons, embroidered and printed. Images of flowers and birds, mountain and temples, moons and lakes. In the past, I have owned a couple - black silk with gold leaf embroidery of flowers; deep red silk with printed abstract patterns. But for a kimono to drape well, you have to have slim hips and modest breasts and that just isn’t me. They end up gaping and hanging awkwardly. In Japan in 2023 where many of the hotels provide kimonos for breakfast and onesen (bath) wear, the problem was the same. Sadly. So it was both depressing and thrilling to see the brilliant kimonos that are part of an exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria when we were back for a minute for a memorial service. ...

  In addition to the usual array of Spanish/British/Scandanavian/Italian/German Film Festivals that Susan and go to, Perth has the Revelation International Film Festival. It's a rather odd combination of short films, feature films (most of which seem to be of genres such as horror), and documentaries (most of which seem to be about musicians). In other words, I haven't quite worked out the logic underlying the Festival. But amongst this odd collection of films, I spotted one which I had to go and see. It was the 40 anniversary of Fran, written and directed by Glenda Hambly, staring Noni Hazelhurst and filmed in Perth - in Hamilton Hill to be precise. Fran is the story of a single parent, struggling to balance looking after three children, with a need to find pleasure in her own life. With a background of growing up in foster homes, she's determined to keep her family together but doesn't have the life skills to manage that. It's a story about challenging aspects of ...

  The port of Fremantle, minutes walk from the city itself, is full of stories: - a fishing & gathering place for the Noongar people - created by the brilliant CY O'Connor (more about him later) by blowing up a rocky bar that prevented access to the Swan River - the site of WA's only major riot over the use of 'black leg' workers to unload a ship in 1919 during which one man died - the starting point of a new life in Australia for thousands of migrants - the largest submarine port in the southern hemisphere during World War II - a near-disaster in 1945 where a ship caught fire next to a ship full of munitions and there was fear that if the latter caught fire, half of Fremantle would be destroyed - battles over the introduction of container shipping in the 1970s - and the battles continue with the live sheep export including signs up and down Leach Highway (near us) during the recent Federal elections saying 'keep the sheep' which in fact meant send them away...

I've just had my fourth trip back to Melbourne since January, the second for a memorial. In this case, it was John O'Grady, a friend in the 1990s and early 2000s.  He died, tragically, in a fire in his Box Hill apartment aged 63. Sadly, his elderly parents are having to deal with this loss when they are facing their own life challenges. It was a small gathering with people (including me) full of regret about not being able to do more for John when he was alive because in the last years, he suffered considerable mental and physical problems. However, a small group of (ex) Melbourne Symphony Orchestra members and Susan and I celebrated the good years of John's life in the pub after the memorial service.  I met John, through his partner at the time, John Jackson (JJ), who had been my Economics lecturer and then an academic colleague. I came to know John well when I was working for the ABC in Sydney but forever on planes to Melbourne where I usually stayed with them in Richmond...

Susan and I went for a wander along George St in East Fremantle, looking for a place to have lunch. But clearly it's not a place to go on a Tuesday. There were a couple of small cafes and shops open but there was hardly anyone walking the streets and most places didn't open until Wednesday. However, the walk was pleasant and the environment, full of terrace houses and historic buildings, reminded me of parts of North Adelaide and Carlton. One particular row of houses must have been built by a Victorian, perhaps someone like our grandparents who moved to WA to chase gold when the Victorian fields had dried up. The houses are named Glenlyon (the Brunswick street we'd stayed in before moving to Perth and also a country village), Kyneton, Daylesford and Hepburn. All are names are of charming towns in the goldfields region of Victoria. We've had many happy holidays and adventures the area. Hepburn is famous for its spas, Daylesford as the LGBTQI heart of Victoria, and Kyneto...

I'm trying to reflect back to what my parents were like in their 70s.When did they stop playing golf? When did they stop going out at night? When did they give up their subscription to symphony concerts and the theatre? What do the next 10 years look like? Alan's last trip was to Victoria in 1998, at 81, to visit Sebastian as a baby. Betty's last overseas trip was to Spain with me in 2004 at 83 (with walking stick and neck brace) and there was a final trip to Melbourne in a wheelchair a couple of years later. So there's still time to keep travelling. 1998 - Alan & Sebastian in Portsea 2004 - Betty in the Alhambra Palace, Granada These thoughts crossed my mind as I enjoyed celebrating another friend's 70th birthday. Susan and I were honoured to be invited to a family lunch in Guildford for Barry Strickland's anniversary. Barry and I have known each other since 1973 and there's even a photo to prove it. Can you spot me in the crowd? He's the handsome y...

  One of the enjoyable aspects of being in Perth is having access to student productions and performances at the WA Academy of Performing Arts. Every musical you see in Australia will have some WAAPA students performing in it and of course some of them have gone on (and will go on) to be famous. So it's a joy to see them with their skills in development on stage.  Roundhouse Theatre, WAAPA 2025 Our most recent excursion to Mt Lawley where WAAPA is currently housed as part of Edith Cowan University was to see a production of Stephen Sondheim's musical Merrily We Roll Along.  If you haven't seen it/listened to it, it's the story of three artist friends - a novelist, a librettist and a composer - told backwards. it was initially a failure on Broadway with only 16 performances after opening night. People either couldn't follow the story line or got confused about the characters. We Sondheim experts have never had that problem and thoroughly enjoyed the energy of the WAA...

In the last post but one, I discussed the the Agatha Christie play And Then There Were None currently playing in Perth. One of the best performances in the play is by Nicholas Hammond. You may remember Nicholas as the 14 yeard old Friedrich von Trapp in The Sound of Music. Susan and I, with theatre loving friends Barry and Gabrielle, caught up with Nicholas for lunch. He's a charming man, now 75 years old, mentoring the young people in his cast, and still enjoying the thrill of the stage.  Gabrielle and Barry told stories of when they'd first seen The Sound of Music. In one case, a whole Catholic primary school plus nuns pouring onto buses for an excursion. In another, a special trip to a nearby country town. I remember having the music at home as well as a record and learning all the songs. And it's still a film that captures a new generation. Sebastian, my nephew, claims to have watched it a dozen times in his youth. Nicholas is heading back to Europe for the film's 6...