This morning the Advertiser leads with a story about aboriginal people in the West Parklands having their stuff confiscated. It's a tricky issue. One dimension of it is that, it seems to me, the Adelaide City Council often likes to sweep these issues under the carpet.
I noticed for example when I used to bus to work in the CBD that at Big Race times, or Festivals aboriginal people were often moved on so that (I suppose) visitors didn't have to confront a social problem that we find intractable.
Went to see Miss Saigon last night. Hellishly expensive tickets (which I didn't buy) for a very indifferent show. Had two wonderances about why this might be so
- Although it'd had rave reviews; are we so starved of top-end theatre that we willcall anything "good" even when it is not
- The production lacked energy, the music is ponderous at the best of times but I thought with the exception of the eponymous Miss Saigon, the principals were poor. The Engineer...around whom much of the show revolves was almost unintelligible and his definition of the role curious to say the least.
- We had the scary thought at half-time that because the last burst of theatre we had was in London have we been spoiled. Are we now witnessing the treue gap between Australian and international theatre? Will nothing ever seem quiet good enough again.
