Victorian AIDS Council – Theatre Press

Profoundly affecting

By Myron My

BalletLab Artistic Director Phillip Adams and visual artist Andrew Hazewinkel’s current production, Live With It: we all have HIV,is a compilation of various performance pieces centred on living with HIV/AIDS. Each of these are unique in their own right and provide profoundly different perspectives on how the disease has affected the participants’ lives.

There are highly interesting pieces throughout, including one from a young dancer called George who takes us through the daily contents of his bag. His experience with HIV/AIDs is mentioned casually and flippantly but his words still drive a strong message home. Another one by John shows us a number of photographs depicting captured moments in the fight for equality for homosexuals, with a poignant final impression.

However, the one that created the biggest impact on me was Michelle, a white straight woman, who tells us how she contracted HIV/AIDs via the bundle of hospital tags she has acquired over the years of treatment. She manages to powerfully convey the fear and ignorance of people around her and the frustration, helplessness and determination that she has endured.

I did find some performances difficult to connect with and was left wondering what the significance might have been or what the artist was trying to have me feel. Given these pieces are so personal and intimate, and considering there is such creativity on display, it’s not surprising that not every one is going to impact every member of the audience.

Throughout Live With It: we all have HIV, there is a projection listing various events from the late 70s to today. Some are world-changing events such as 9/11 and others are pop-culture references like the release of Strictly Ballroom. Interspersed are facts on the HIV/AIDS epidemic with some frightening statistics on reported cases and death each year (which has steadily been on the rise) showing that we have all been “living with it” for decades.

As someone who has been fortunate enough to not have been personally affected by HIV/AIDS, Live With It is a stark and stirring reminder of how we all need to come together and open up discourse not only to stop the discrimination and stigma faced by people with HIV/AIDS, but to work towards a world where this disease is no longer present. A powerful piece indeed.

Venue: Arts House, Meat Market, 5 Blackwood Street, North Melbourne.
Season: Until 27 July | Tue – Sat 8:30pm, Sun 27, 3.00pm
Tickets: $25 Full | $20 Conc | $15 Student
Bookings: www.artshouse.com.au or 9322 3713

The life and death of a silver screen star

By Myron My

It always seems to shock us when celebrities die. They exude a sense of invincibility that we are not as lucky to own. So when beloved movie legend Rock Hudson died in 1985 from an AIDS-related illness, the grief was on a grand scale. Such was the effect of his death that the US government doubled its funding towards AIDS research.

In his debut play, Playing Rock Hudson, Cameron Lukey looks at how Hudson’s diagnosis affected his relationships with close friends, such as Elizabeth Taylor (Odette Galbally), and also his secret romances and loves. On a deeper level, it also looks at the stigma attached to what was then referred to as ‘gay cancer’ and how Hudson’s diagnosis played a pivotal role in future research into and attitudes towards the illness.

Some of the casting selections are questionable but Bartholomew Walsh as Rock Hudson is truly the perfect choice. He has the smouldering looks and physique of Hudson, and his performance of the character’s inner turmoil and showy bravado is well balanced. There is an old brat-pack Hollywood appeal to Walsh that Lukey was very fortunate to find.

With the cast playing a variety of characters there is every possibility that the story may get lost in the confusion of who is who when, but it works well here for the most part. In particular, Andrew Carolane and Sam Lavery made notable and then lasting impressions with their ability to play the nuances of their different characters convincingly. It is however problematic to have Walsh portray any other character but Hudson. He is our leading man and as such, needs to hold onto that power. Making him switch characters lessened his credibility.

Much of Playing Rock Hudson is told after Hudson’s death and based around a court room with Hudson’s ex-lover, Marc Christian (Shane Savage) seeking compensation for Hudson’s non-disclosure of his illness. I enjoyed Lukey’s direction and there are a number of well-timed and balanced monologues and confessionals by the various people involved in Hudson’s life. The story is elegantly paced and the intrigue and the tension remain constant throughout.

Playing Rock Hudson is a poignant love story of life and death and with the rate of HIV diagnosis’ gradually increasing, it is very much a story that still needs to be told.

Venue: Malthouse Theatre, 113 Sturt Street, Southbank

Season: Until 4 December | Tues-Wed, Sat 8:00pm, Thurs-Fri 7:00pm, Sat 3pm*, Sun 5:30pm

*The November 30 performance will be a benefit show, with half the ticket price going to the Victorian AIDS Council.

Tickets: $35 Full | $30 Conc

Bookings: 9685-5111 or http://www.malthousetheatre.com.au