Holding the Man
Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, The Edge, Auckland
07/08/2009 - 29/08/2009
Production Details
I HEART THE CAPTAIN OF THE FOOTY TEAM
Life affirming, bold and yet bittersweet, Holding The Man encapsulates the pain of losing a loved one while still managing to be uplifting and downright wet-your-pants funny. Timothy Conigrave’s celebrated autobiographical memoir opens August 7th at the Herald Theatre.
Voted one of Australia’s Favourite 100 Books and winner of the 1995 United Nations Human Rights Award for Non-Fiction, Holding The Man was adapted for the stage by Tommy Murphy in 2006, transforming it into a bold theatrical work. Met with widespread acclaim, it sold out before it opened and went on to complete three return seasons in Sydney and a national tour. Its overwhelmingly positive reviews and unique relationship with its audiences led it to win the NSW Premier’s Literary Award, the Australian Writers’ Guild Award and the Sydney Theatre Award for Best Play in 2007.
"…HOLDING THE MAN is something of an impossible miracle. A brilliant play that delights and entertains, teasing you from the distractions of life’s cruelties only to slug a full-force hit to your heart as a reminder that life is, if anything, double-edged…" Sydney Morning Herald
Holding The Man depicts the true story of Tim Conigrave and his life-long relationship with John Caleo, the captain of the school "Aussie Rules" team. Meeting at a staunch all-boys Jesuit school in Melbourne in the mid 1970s, their relationship is coloured by love, joy, disapproval and temptation – and irrevocably changed when the AIDS epidemic hits Australia in the early 1980s. Covering a span of twenty years, the personal and the political deftly intersect, avoiding sentimentality and self-pity as the play journeys toward its inevitable and tragic conclusion.
Silo Theatre have programmed this work not only because of its status as a modern classic but to create a new conversation with their audience. At a time when HIV transmission is at an all-time high in NZ, staging this work could trigger and enable social change, particularly amongst an audience who believe they are immune to the outcomes of this most pernicious of diseases.
"The New Zealand AIDS Foundation is delighted to be involved with Silo Theatre’s production of Holding the Man. Last year New Zealand had a record number of new HIV diagnoses. In New Zealand the HIV epidemic primarily affects gay and bisexual men’s communities. Holding The Man is a timely reminder of the realities of living with HIV. While Tim and John’s diagnosis in 1985 predates the advent of antiretroviral treatments, it’s important to recognise that for people living with HIV it continues to adversely affect them every single day." – Simon Harger-Forde, Director, HIV Prevention and Communications : New Zealand AIDS Foundation
Silo Theatre Artistic Director Shane Bosher reunites with two of the performers from his celebrated 2008 hit The Little Dog Laughed, Charlie McDermott and Alison Bruce. McDermott takes on the challenging role of Conigrave’s lover, partner and best mate John and is joined by hot new thing Dan Musgrove (The Ensemble Project 2009) as Tim. Matt Whelan (Go Girls, Show of Hands), Andrew Laing (Berlin; Twelfth Night) and Michelle Blundell (The Ensemble Project 2007; The Crucible; The Real Thing) join Alison Bruce to play a hilarious kaleidoscope of human experience: playing 52 different characters between them, from snooty gay man to Aussie battler mum to hormonal teenage boy.
Augmented with a pumping disco soundtrack, puppets (!!) and the very worst/best collection of 1970s facial hair seen since this side of Movember, Holding the Man is a celebration of life that speaks across generations, sexual preferences and cultures.
HOLDING THE MAN
August 7 – 29
Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, THE EDGE®
Tickets: $20.00 – $39.00 [service fees will apply]
Book now through THE EDGE® – www.the-edge.co.nz or 09 357 3355
CAST
DAN MUSGROVE: Timothy Conigrave
CHARLIE McDERMOTT: John Caleo and Houston Mission Control
MICHELLE BLUNDELL: Phoebe, Eric, Bartender, Philip, Candidate, Voice Tutor and Valerie Bader
ALISON BRUCE: Neil Armstrong, Mary-Gert Conigrave, Juliet, Rhys, Rose, Queen, Lois Caleo, Harry, NIDA Director, Actor, Doctor, Gia Carides and Doctor Shepherd
ANDREW LAING: Neil Armstrong, Scarecrow, Dick Conigrave, Bob Caleo, Derge, Woody, Queen, Franco, Candidate, Actor, Doctor and Peter Kingston
MATT WHELAN: Kevin, Marie, Biscuit, Lee, Door Bitch, Peter Craig, Candidate, Fuck Actor, Paul, Richard, Ben Franklin and Waiter
direction: SHANE BOSHER
set design: RACHAEL WALKER
costume design: ELIZABETH WHITING
lighting design: JEREMY FERN
sound design and composition: ANDREW McMILLAN
stage management: LAURYN WATI
properties management: BECS EHLERS
technical operation: JONATHAN CROSS
set construction: 2 CONSTRUCT
production assistance: RICKY BEIRAO
graphic design: CONCRETE
production photography: AARON K, ANDREW MALMO
publicity: ELEPHANT PUBLICITY
Love in the time of Aids
Review by Frances Edmond 19th Aug 2009
Holding the Man is the stage adaptation of Timothy Conigrave’s book of the same name: a memoir of growing up gay (and Catholic) in 1970s Melbourne, and an evocation of the tragedy that was the devastating Aids epidemic of the 80s.
Adapted by Tommy Murphy, the award-winning play tracks the 15-year relationship between Tim (newcomer Dan Musgrove giving an easy and engaging performance in a demanding role) and his lover, John (played by Charlie McDermott with an affecting emotional intensity). Their relationship begins while they are still at Jesuit school – with all the attendant angst, humour and youthful passion – and evolves as they come out to their parents, discover gay rights, clubbing and saunas, and follow separate career paths: Tim into theatre and John into chiropractic. The shocking discovery that they are both HIV-positive throws them into a world of heartbreak and loss. [More]
The full text of this article appeared in the NZ Listener (August 22-28 2009).
The full text will be available online on 5-Sep-2009.
Subscribe online to the NZ Listener.
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Aids awareness theatrified
Review by Nik Smythe 08th Aug 2009
In 1995 Australian writer, actor and activist Timothy Conigrave’s personal memoir Holding the Man was published to wide acclaim. In 2006 award-winning playwright Tommy Murphy adapted it for the stage and this month Silo Theatre Company, in association with the New Zealand AIDS Foundation, mounts it in Auckland.
Dan Musgrove plays Tim, narrating the eventful tale of his life beginning in the mid 70s with his initial infatuation with the captain of the high school’s first fifteen, John (Charlie McDermott). This soon develops into a deep and ultimately lifelong love partnership.
The remaining characters are portrayed by the impressively versatile and at times impossibly quick-changing quartet of Michelle Blundell, Alison Bruce, Matt Whelan and Andrew Laing, who each make a hearty meal of their variant roles, often hilarious and at times shameless.
Although they face the disappointment and wrath of their parents, the 1st act sees Tim and John’s badly-kept secret gay love story on the rise, going from strength to strength. If anything the various dramas in which they get cornered wind up strengthening their bond even further, and much laughter is had during the adventures that ensue.
As well as pursuing his acting career, Conigrave gets involved with a leftist political activist movement and enjoys a casual, philanderous lifestyle in the name of freedom and exploration.
Act Two kicks off with perhaps the funniest stereotypical send-up of many throughout the two hours: Tim’s absurdly new-age drama class at the National Institute of Dramatic Art.
Quite quickly the reality check of a positive HIV test result is introduced and the humour turns black. It’s not an uncommon story and the tragic inevitability, once the disease passes the critical stage, can’t really be shown as anything but the dark, grim truth of it.
The last quarter is almost painfully slow-moving, and the fact we are engaged to the end is testament to the cast and director’s sterling work in creating believable characters we really care about.
There’s more to think about here than the old story of misunderstood lads being persecuted for their sexuality by a judgmental society – particularly John’s conservative parents, whose worst fear, besides their son’s homosexuality itself, ultimately comes to pass. The fact that Holding the Man is a personal tribute from an irresponsible man to the lover he (probably) infected gives the piece more complexity and weight than your standard movie of the week.
The veteran design team of Rachel Walker, Elizabeth Whiting, Jeremy Fern and Andrew McMillan once again makes excellent use of the Herald’s tricky geography. The natural wood stage and photo-collage wall effect a sentimental realism appropriate to the work, and Whiting’s 70s and 80s period costume detail must have seen her laughing all the way back from the op-shop.
Shane Bosher’s direction employs some abstract theatre forms, notably the grotesque puppets of the emaciated late-stage AIDS sufferers which offer a more detached insight to the most horrific effects of their terrible affliction. With no programme credit I am unable to commend the puppetmaker by name.
The New Zealand Aids Foundation are out in force promoting this season, including a condom on every seat reminding us that with all its humour and tragedy, this is a cautionary tale.
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For more production details, click on the title above. Go to Home page to see other Reviews, recent Comments and Forum postings (under Chat Back), and News.
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
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