Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 10 : Record of press coverage, March 1982 - May 1984

I ·, The courier-Mail September 1982 JUST In 11ml for lhl lhouaand• of 11rang1r1 to Brl1ban1 her• for lh1 commonw11llh GamH la "lrl•• ban• by Public Tranaporl," • ~.SO- '. a-copy guide to the lnlrlcac111 of Brl1ban1 travel put out by the dlrec• tory people, Gr.1gory'1. But thtrt could bt confusion/or anyont using tht guldt in finding tht Quteru_land Ari Gallery, the SiB million focal P?int of tht South Bank cultural centre which of- ficic;lly opened on Junt 21 ., . . Page 31 of the Gregory s guide d,rects visitors to the gal/try on the fifth floor of thf' MIM Building in Ann Street -pum– ises the gallery quit on October 4, 1981 . The author of the guide, .Mr Pete_r Spence, who prepared a si"!1lar publ!c traruport guide 011 Sydney, will be ,n Bris– bane 10 launch the local hand-bo~k ~n Thursday and Friday. Look for him 1n Ann Street, trying rofin.-1 the art gal/er}'· risbane sure knows ' . . ·ow to put on ..a show BRISBANE - It was the best of all possible worlds for the people of Queensland, hosts or the Common– wealth Games and Festival 82. All sorts of exotic folk thronged Its streets, its pr.•rks and its bottle shops. Canada :.ent Margaret At– wood, four Mount~es. a whole con– tingent or swimmeN!, 92 representa– tives of the Canadian ,8roadcasting Corp. end one drama cr:•lc. The drama critic concei,trated on the cultural festival, pan of the Games every since Sri Lank,' sent dancers instead or a team. The fes– tivat's aim this year is to match Edmonton's, declared Tony Gould, director of the unfinished Perform– ing Arts Centre. (The art gallery part Is finished, however; a great ornament to the town and the festi– val.) Mostly, Festival 82 Is a folk festi– val, with a strong representation of Pacific nelghbors and some African charmers. But there were some more conventional festival attrac– tions, too. Sydney's dance company 1 came early, and the Hong Kong dance company and orchestra. Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet was a late arrival. The Canadian Brass new In from Alaska and Canada was also represented by Hank Smith, country vocalist, and fiddler Graham Townsend. Miss Atwood was part of an outlying wrltei;s' conference. A solitary actot In a one-man show represented British theatre, and Australian Keith Mitchell starred In a big, futurist, outdoor production of The Tempest, sup. ported· by a good Queensland the– atre cast. Musically strong, Queensland staged the opera, Albert Heering, at the Conservatorium In • fashion which confirmed the view that Australia's ·genius Is vocal, .not theatrical. Benjamin Britten's War . Requiem and J}ls children's opera, No es Fludde·, were also heard, along with Cosl Fan Tutti, and L.a Belle Helene. Por Australian theatrical charac– ter, I had to go out to the suburbs. At La Bolte, I found a pop1,1lar local rewe, The Queensland Game, which hit the Identical note of To– ronto's old The Fann Show. In town, A Night at the Movles, played limply to an audience or three. The aborlglnals took the opportu– nity to march for land rights, so some of their supporters took to the stage. There was a question as to whether the aboriginal drama, The Cake Man, would make It, so some University of Queensland students revived The White Man's Mission, st(';l)ngly suggesting that had they been alive a century ago, the a~ originP.s would have kept Australia for themselves. Two children's shows were note– worthy, Jack Undsay's classic, The Magic Pudding, was don,: as a puppet show. (When I ac:!.ed a fel– low critic why Its ch21acters were all male, he said he had never no– ticed.) The Oz People Productions staged the canadian classic, Anne of Green Gables, In a rambunctlous staging that made me homesick for Charlottetown. • Certainly, Queensland's biggest and · most typical show was the opening of the Games, with .eo,ooo braving the strong wind WWc;h held the nags rigid~ whipped tl'le bal– loons about and discombobulated the pigeons. But the CUn slllone on Brisbane that day, and Waltzing Matilda was saluted three limes. Matilda, the Games' ymbol, circled ·the field l'n the tht-e-ton effigy, winked, get l00.1e lied Ma– tlldas who did their hopping on trampolines, folk dancers danced, 6,000 school children held up splen– didly against the high winds and the Queen'.s message was delivered on time, to be read by Prince Philip. Cooclusion: Brisbane knows how to put on a show, when It comes to sports. The Toronto Globe and Mail 5 October 1982 ~-