Paul Michael Davies

Broschiertes Buch

Storming St. Kilda By Tram

One Man's Attempt To Get Home

Beschreibung

The world's second play set and performed on board a typical Melbourne tram as it makes its way from the St. Kilda terminus to the City and back. An audience gathers at the terminus where the tram soon arrives carrying a conductress and a sleeping drunk. As the 'connie' struggles to get a fare from the old man various characters come on board her tram. There's a Brighton socialite who's just split up from her husband and never been on public transport before, then a punk with a plastic dog (used for collecting money for the Blind Society) which he's obviously stolen, followed by a couple who had a relationship six years ago and now find themselves bitterly arguing over the paternity of "their son". Just before arriving at the city an overzealous ticket inspector adds to the crazy mix of strangers and promptly sacks the connie for dereliction of duty. After interval at a hotel in the city the return journey sees the return of the old derro (who had been thrown off the tram on the way in by the punk) as well as the return of the bickering couple and the socialite who has just confronted her husband in the foyer of the Melbourne Theatre Company. As matters reach a climax the derro attempts to hijack the tram starting an altercation with the ticket inspector who staggers off into the night thinking he's stabbed the old man (but only hit his pie and tomato sauce). Eventually the police arrive, the wrong people are arrested and the punk makes an amorous play for the connie's affections. By the time the audience return to the terminus where it all started they know the lives of these characters will never be the same again.

Autor

Paul M Davies is an award winning screenwriter, script editor and playwright who sharpened his quill on over a hundred episodes of television series from Crawford classics such as Homicide (1974-5), The Box (1975-76) and The Sullivans (1976-78) to Skyways (1979), Rafferty's Rules (1985), Blue Heelers (1997), Pacific Drive (1996), Stingers (1998-2003), Something in the Air (1999-2001) and Headland (2005). He also helped spark the site-specific performance revolution in Melbourne in the 1980s with TheatreWorks' production of his first play Storming Mont Albert By Tram (1982). What became known as The Tram Show played across a dozen years to packed trams in both Melbourne and Adelaide, travelling a total distance that would have taken the show halfway round the world. Its success lead to an outbreak of 'location theatre' in Melbourne throughout the 1980s including three other plays in real places: Breaking Up In Balwyn (1983, on a riverboat), Living Rooms (1986, in an historic mansion) and Full House/No Vacancies (1989, in a boarding house). These works became the subject of his book Really Moving Drama. Both The Tram Show and On Shifting Sandshoes (1988) were awarded AWGIES, along with Return of The Prodigal (2000) an episode of Something In The Air (ABC). Paul co-wrote the feature Neil Lynn with David Baker in 1984, and the docu-fiction Exits (1980) with Pat Laughren and Carolyn Howard. His novel, 33 Postcards From Heaven was published by Gondwana Press in 2005. Numerous articles, reviews, stories and interviews have been published in Metro, Cinema Papers, Cantrill's Filmnotes, Australasian Drama Studies, Community Theatre In Australia, The Macquarie Companion to the Australian Media and Theatre Research International (Cambridge University). He has also given courses in literature and creative writing at various colleges and universities including: Southern Cross, James Cook and Melbourne State.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Paul M Davies
• Seitenzahl: 208
• Erscheinungstermin: 30. November 2019
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 229mm x 152mm x 11mm
• Gewicht: 309g
• ISBN-13: 9780648599876
• ISBN-10: 0648599876
• Artikelnr.: 58355711