A group of barristers headed by Victorian Bar president Matt Collins, QC, have helped finance a new Australian play that is one of the highlights of the Melbourne Arts festival.
The Barristers Consortium (BA) stumped up more than $60,000 for the development and staging of Anthem, a follow-up to the 1998 play Who’s Afraid of the Working Class?
Train drama … Osamah Sami in Anthem. Pier Carthew
Both plays involve four interwoven vignettes by writers Andrew Bovell, Patricia Cornelius, Melissa Reeves and Christos Tsiolkas, with music by Irene Vela.
Dr Collins said the consortium members “believe the arts can transform public discourse and society” and that Anthem had that potential.
After two previews, they gathered for the official opening on Thursday night and Dr Collins said they could identify with all the characters as they travelled on Melbourne trains.
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“It goes to what it means to be Australian at a time of huge political, technological and social disruption,” Dr Collins said.
It is the third production at the Melbourne festival involving the consortium. Last year, it presented Flight, which told the story of two Afghan refugees trying to reach London. In 2017, it put Hamlet on trial for the murder of Polonius in Please Continue, Hamlet, with a different barrister in the key roles each night. Dr Collins prosecuted on the opening night.
He said the consortium was formed after a discussion a few years ago with the artistic director of the Melbourne festival, Jonathan Holloway, about the difficulty in obtaining reliable arts funding.
Dr Collins said the exercise was “pure philanthropy”. For Anthem, he and his partner contributed about $10,000, while four other QCs contributed $6000. Twenty-three others gave between $500 and $3000.
Celebrity clients: Rebel Wilson with Matt Collins, QC, centre, and solicitor Richard Leder. Penny Stephens
The play will run till Sunday and then be part of the Sydney festival in late summer. The cast includes Eryn Jean Norvill, who accused Geoffrey Rush of inappropriate behaviour in a defamation case last year that ended in a $2.9 million payout for the Oscar-winning actor.
Dr Collins has represented a number of actors, including Rebel Wilson, in his role as one of Australia’s top media lawyers.
He agrees with the adage that barristers are frustrated thespians.
“Yes and not only that, we are on stage every day but we don’t have a script and we wear the same costume for every performance.”
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