M/C Reviews: Stage X: BrizArts - It is what it isn't, isn't it?

	Stage X: BrizArts - It is what it isn't, isn't it? Felicity Meakins
	The cancellation of Part 3: The Suitcase in Brisbane, September 2001	8 Feb. 02

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Bit 1		Brisbane arts are more often defined by what it is not than what it is. Brisbane is not Sydney, and it's not Melbourne. It seems that the cultural cringe is alive and well in our own city as well as Australia as a whole. Indeed how many times have you heard Brisvegans complaining about the lack of good arts; hanging out for Chunky Move to visit and complaining when well known bands don't include Brisbane in their 'Australian' tour. Instead of waiting for the southerners, it is worth looking in our own backyard for the less publicised but fab Briz-eois arts scene.
Bit 2		By this stage, you may think that I am going to redefine Brisbane arts as what it is rather than what it isn't. A worthwhile exercise, but you would be wrong. It's the end of the year and I'm too tired to take part in any counter hegemonic brain twisting. So in the spirit of the slogan "Brisbane - it is what it isn't,” I thought I'd have a look at a show that we were supposed to see as a part of the Stage X festival but due to bizarre circumstances, we didn't.
Bit 3		On the September 11, I received a phone call from the Queensland Performing Arts Trust to inform me that I could not attend the Part 3: The Suitcase, a Real TV project, based on the discovery of a man in the Valley with a suitcase of bones (28 January 2001). Apparently, it had been pulled due to a concern that it would interfere with the perp's trial. In fact 20 minutes before the preview performance of The Suitcase, the Federal Police shut down the performance and the Crown Magistrate found the production in contempt of court. This all seemed a bit over the top for a small, not widely advertised production, so I was interested in what comments the writer of The Suitcase must have been making to provoke such a response.
Bit 4		When I talked to Leticia Caceres (director), Angela Betzien (writer) and Pete Goodwin (composer) they told me that the breakdown of communities, abandonment of children in cars and homelessness in the Valley were just three issues that they were working on in their Real TV project. Their latest piece, Part 3: The Suitcase, dealt with the latter and used Living Newspaper, a form of theatre derived from turn-of-the-century Russia to disseminate news to the illiterate masses.
Bit 5		Angela suggested that Real TV seen in, say, the six o'clock commercial news, is a contemporary version of Living Newspaper. However, her aim was to go further into the issues only touched on by news and current affairs programmes, aiming to tell stories of the people who have fallen by the wayside of public discourse. The Suitcase took the report of a man found with a suitcase of bones and turned it into a narrative of Brisbane homelessness and four individuals which moved through Centrelink, a bedsit, and the TAB to dig beneath the trendy club facade of the Valley and reveal a darker underside.
Bit 6		Another of the aims of The Suitcase was to bring theatre and electronic music together, hoping that this cross-fertilisation of art forms would help draw electronic music audiences to theatre and vice versa. Pete said that the characters were given another dimension through his use of electronic music. For instance, flashback sequences were presented through a soundscape where music was reversed and reflected the emotional state of the character.
Bit 7		Um so what's the deal you may ask? (And from here on in, I am speculating.) Presumably, the courts were concerned that this short play might bias the jury. Similar situations have occurred with talkback twats and their scandal mongering commentary. John Laws last year (note: he was of course acquitted) and Derrin Hinch a while ago are the most obvious examples. However, how the Crown Magistrate thinks a play about four people that merely takes this story as stimulus might influence the jury is another question. Having no more access to material than the media, this play couldn't divulge any more info than could be found in the local rag. So presumably, it is the social commentary that the courts are concerned about. Heaven forbid that jurors (if indeed they got a whiff of The Suitcase) might be convinced that society's disenfranchisement of certain groups might have been a contributing factor to this man's actions. Heaven forbid that the homelessness, loneliness, isolation and mental illness experienced by an individual might be a part of the larger narrative around a deviant act which is born out of this marginalisation. Surely, this sort of social contextualisation is essential information for a jury to come to a reasonable judgement about an individual's crimes. In the end, I think this over reaction and censorship by the Magistrate's Court is more a reflection of the ability of independent theatre in Brisbane to react quickly to topical social issues than their intention to sabotage a trial. And it seems that Angela and Leti are treating this censorship with the disdain it deserves and turning it into publicity for their next production, Cooking Up a Princess.

Bit 8		Details The cancellation of Part 3: The Suitcase in Brisbane, September 2001

Bit 9		Citation reference for this article MLA style: Felicity Meakins. "Stage X: BrizArts - It is what it isn't, isn't it?" M/C Reviews 8 Feb. 02. [your date of access] <http://www.media-culture.org.au/reviews/events/brizarts.html>. Chicago style: Felicity Meakins, "Stage X: BrizArts - It is what it isn't, isn't it?" M/C Reviews 8 Feb. 02, <http://www.media-culture.org.au/reviews/events/brizarts.html> ([your date of access]). APA style: Felicity Meakins. (2001) Stage X: BrizArts - It is what it isn't, isn't it?. M/C Reviews 8 Feb. 02. <http://www.media-culture.org.au/reviews/events/brizarts.html> ([your date of access]).

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Links:
Part 3: The Suitcase