All, This posting relates to a play, and hope I'll get away with this content. The play, Damaged Goods, does work through some interesting ethical ideas, so I hope it would be relevant to this list.
We're planning a reading of this play at the Tap Gallery in Darlinghurst on the 5th of September, and there are some positions available if you'd like to read : George, Woman, Man and Girl. Please let me know if you're interested. (The parts Henriette, Mrs Dupont, Nurse, Narrator/Manager, Doctor and Loches have already been taken). I'm happy to email a cast list and brief outline to anyone who is interested - we'll be doing a practice reading beforehand. I've also put a brief promo below. If you're not able to join us as a reader, I hope you'll be able to join us as a member of the audience. Thanks, John August. -- Damaged Goods, By Brieux - A play reading at the Tap Gallery, Darlinghurst In the early 1900's a French play, Damaged Goods, was performed in Sydney and Melbourne. This play had been banned in Paris, but the forces of censorship acted in reverse to what you might think. This long lost play made a mark in our history, and has been re-discovered by the Tap Gallery for a one day reading - at this stage, planned for Friday 5th September. For this was the time of syphilis; doctors and priests joined together to fight a common cause. Sexual behaviour was discussed more openly than ever before, and for a brief window of time the world became just a little more open, a little more enlightened. The Argus newspaper in Melbourne was the first non-medical publication in the world to call the disease by name - not the 'specific disease', the 'social disease', the 'red plague' or the 'social evil' - but rather its medical name - syphilis. It was an age whose significance is lost to us - the time before we had HIV / AIDS, but society nevertheless had to wrestle with both itself and a silent, invisible invader which respected no social lines and opened up moral contradictions for all to see. For Syphilis too, was fatal at one stage, and was then difficult to treat; the Arsenic based drug Salvarsan, also known as Arsphenamine or even "606", was in short supply. Opportunists stockpiled it and the original manufacturer was accused of profiteering. Salvarsan, for those lucky, wealthy or well-connected enough to obtain it, was, indeed ... salvation. "Damaged Goods" was written in 1901 (a time even before Salvarsan). It is set in Paris and is a time capsule from this forgotten past, whose echoes nevertheless resonate today. Here, we witness the adventures of George, who has tragically caught the disease, but is also engaged to be married, and one day visits his doctor. We see his domineering, self- assured father in law, who must look within himself to realise that that the hand of fate is arbitrary, operating without fear or favour on anyone. And then there's George's wife Henriette and daughter, who are caught in the crossfire. We see the social contradictions of the time, as people struggle to deal with the world around them, wringing their hands and passing judgement on others, reflecting on blame, fate, justice and guilt. We see a parade of the dispossessed, and witness the systemic injustice of the time. We watch a doctor who must make his own difficult ethical judgements as he struggles to keep the threads from unravelling further. Yes, we've come a long way since then. ... But how far, really ? "Damaged Goods" is a play with its own unique power and significance, and the Tap Gallery, rather than hosting a full production, invites you to a reading of this play for one night only. Journey with us back to Paris a century past, and witness the world that was, the reality of its moral struggle and contradictions. And perhaps also, pause to reflect on our on. _______________________________________________ SydPhil mailing list [email protected] List Info: http://lists.arts.usyd.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/sydphil NEW LIST ARCHIVE: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
