first day at skool

(tt) we started rehearsals for "Earnest" today!
I got off this tram at Flinders St .

 I was too early to go all the way to the very front door of the MTC's spanking new headquarters so I got off and walked.   In the distance you can see the War Memorial. An Aztec deco cake.

Shamefully hidden in the shadows of Flinders St station, a diarrhea - coloured monolith, which you will be bound to be assaulted with at a later stage, is this glorious Mirka Mora mosaic.

The childlike artist should be commissioned to design tiled facades for every disgusting concrete horror in every city in Australia - especially Telstra buildings.
I crossed the Yarra which flows into Port Phillip Bay. Its brown waters have led to the  locals calling it  the river that "flows upside down"

The spire and the theatre building of the Victorian Arts Centre..the powers that be say that the 'erection' was not covered with its planned copper cladding because it had proved to be too heavy. Bull..they knew that sooner or later gangs of thieves would shinny up and prise it off for scrap.

A scene of one or two little perfs by yours truly. The last on here was "The 39 Steps" with Helen Christinson, Marcus Graham and the insane Grant Piro. It was directed by Maria Aitken who is now a dear friend.

The fierce little bugger on the left is one of a series of Angels and Demons sculptures ( from Russia's AES &F) planted around the city as part of the Arts Festival.

A worker fixes the poster of the latest exhibition in the Art Gallery. A retro of German Weimar artists called "The Mad Square". Missed it in Sidders so glad to be able to go here.

The popular 'fish shop window' at the entrance that was to have been demolished during the last makeover. An outcry ensued.

The St Kilda Rd facade looking back up to the city

Docklands development with the Eureka Tower

The MTC complex where "Earnest" will be playing

The brand new headquarters of the MTC - admin, rehearsal rooms, workshops. Despite the newness it has the same feeling as the mad old tin sheds it inhabited further into South Melbourne. Just before I took this pic I heard a toot and Geoffrey Rush hung out the car window and gave me a wave.

 The traditional welcome breakfast that is thrown on the first day of every new play.

Simon Phillips, whose last production this is as Artistic Director, stood on a milk crate and introduced the entire cast with healthy doses of gentle sarcasm and humour. The entire staff at the MTC is required to attend and it is a fine tradition. I could not eat one thing from this groaning board and  mercifully there were no cucumber sandwiches.
This is the rehearsal room set up with a mock book which is the set, designed by the late Tony Tripp (realised by Richard Roberts)  Simon is recreating the original production which was his debut with the company.

Here is the set model. The original is in the museum and the powers that be there would not release it!!

 It's a celebration of Aubrey Beardsley and Lane (Bob Hornery) pushes the pages across to reveal each scene

Here is the garden Chasuble trips into

We inspect the mechanism in the workshop

 Some detail from the garden scene. Geoffrey pointed out that in the original the scenic artists would have painted the entire set by hand. These are scanned, blown up and adhered in a giant photo machine then rendered later.

Tony Tripp's costumes are being recreated by Tracy Grant Lord.  That's Chas on the right.

I don't thnk they will give me a wig.  So the hat is staying on!!  Even inside!!!!!!

The reading and the discussion which ended the working day were relevatory.  No one mugged or over acted and the play could have been recorded for radio in one take!!  This is going to be a very fine experience.