Entertainment
3 September, 2021
When two worlds collide, Myth Propaganda & Disaster is the result
WHAT do you get when you combine a lifetime in the theatre with a lifetime questioning what you see around you? You have the ideal script and production designed to challenge and provoke the audience to think.
Myth, Propaganda and Disaster in Nazi Germany and Contemporary America by Stephen Sewell is the latest production produced and directed by Cairns local Kevin West.
West has spent the past 40 years working in and around the theatres, performing and directing, and in recent times he has specialised in Australian scripts with a social conscience.
In 2019 West directed The Chatroom in Cairns. A production tackling the sensitive topic of internet grooming.
West’s first foray into directing was an adaption of an Alfred Hitchcock short story called See How They Run. West adapted the short story for the production, as it had not been written for live performances.
Interestingly the story is now under production in the US with Starlight Pictures due for release next year.
Myth Propaganda and Disaster as a script attracted West due to the controversial nature of not just the title, but the subject matter.
“It really was an awful human tragedy and also one where the US government appeared not to have recognised their own failures.”
Myth Propaganda and Disaster is a highly awarded script, winning the AWGIE (Australian Writers Guild) Stage award.
This production opening next Friday at the Rondo Theatre will challenge and may provoke the audience.
Myth Propaganda and Disaster tells the story about Talbot, an Australian Professor of Political Science in New York. As a freethinker he takes a stand against President Bush’s “War on Terror”. His controversial stance places Talbot at odds with sections of society.
After a violent attack by a mysterious man, perhaps a CIA operative or ‘right-wing’ thug, Talbot’s life to turned on its head. His downfall as a result of this mysterious attack is remarkable.
Almost ‘Orwellian’ in style, Myth, Propaganda and Disaster is the 1984 of the stage. A production with relevance today, a remarkable journey through current events and modern tragedy.
Be aware, this is a long production, but well worth attending. Be prepared to be challenged and provoked. The title is indeed a controversial one, to draw parallels between modern America and Nazi Germany should lay a good foundation for the theatre experience we will be treated to.
Opening Friday September 10 and running for a season of 8 nights, tickets are available from ticketlink.
