Like all Australians, I’m thrilled that Sydney Theatre Company’s production of
A Streetcar Named Desire has been
well-received in Washington because I would feel really crushed if it was discovered that Americans think we’re dicks. Luckily though, US audiences seem to love Blanchett as Blanche, and so they should because she is a living angel, sent down from heaven via Hollywood so that theatre producers can get the sort of bums on seats they wouldn’t normally get. Case in point: Ron Barassi, who was in Washington on a business visit and showed up to opening night to heckle the actors during the particularly tense 'Young Collector' scene:
‘Known for his passion and exuberance, Barassi let fly at one point from the audience when Blanchett's character tried to seduce a young man. "Don't go there, mate! he called.’
As a seasoned theatre-goer myself, I was, of course utterly shocked. ‘That’s no way to behave at the theatre!’ I cried out. ‘He must be totally brain-damaged! Malcolm Gladwell has
written about this in the
New Yorker!’
And then someone explained to me that Ron Barassi is famous for playing Australian Rules football, which is apparently different to American Football, even though they are both called football. I KNOW—CONFUSING, HUH? So I sheepishly had to concede that maybe he is just a normal bogan moron and not brain-damaged after all.
And then, so as not to appear even more ignorant and unprofessional, I looked at
his website for about two seconds to try to glean more about the man behind the neanderthal, and was intrigued to learn from his biography that he had what is described as ‘a period of
unappalled success’ when he helped Melbourne win six premierships a few decades ago. And I was starting to wonder why I had never heard of the guy before seeing as he was so famous, and then I remembered that I have been going through my own period of
unappalled failure to have any interest football whatsoever since I was born. Truly, I'm completely unappalled by it. But then I suddenly got distracted by this clip:
And I totally fell head over heels in love with the guy. Seen in this kind of light, I can appreciate Barassi’s stentorian outbursts and respond in a less judgemental manner about his theatrical faux pas, because basically I find swearing really cool. And then, to really top it off, I saw
this review in a local Washington newspaper that describes Barassi’s heckling from an American standpoint:
‘It was a rare outburst for button-upped Washington, but the refreshing Aussie accent seemed to make it OK as the audience rippled with laughter.’
So apparently, because Barassi is one of those larrikin Aussies, his behaviour is perfectly acceptable! It’s all that ‘passion and exuberance’ for which he is so well known! He’s not an uncultured boofhead! He just has a totally irrepressible personality! I bet he’s actually a total theatre nut and has watched
In the Company of Actors about fourteen hundred times, carefully memorising Cate's gushing definition of what theatre IS, and just taking it on board into his own life!:
‘Theatre is a living, breathing, hopefully incredibly dangerous, often offensive, exhilarating, life-affirming place to spend one's time, both as an actor and as an audience member.’
See! He has just taken theatre’s living, breathing, and often offensive spirit and run with it!
I hereby retract everything I said about Ron Barassi being uncivilised because it’s obvious to me now that the guy IS the theatre.