Occupations

Occupations – "a beautiful production"

Occupations revealed Artistic Director Malcolm Blaylock’s intense interest in political and social issues-based theatre.

Directed by Jeremy Ridgman, Marxist playwright Trevor Griffiths’ Occupations, whose central characters are the Italian communist Antonio Gramsci and the Soviet agent Kabak, was an ambitious choice. Not popular at La Boite’s box office it typified the kind of challenge Blaylock offered actors and production teams and the depth and seriousness of Blaylock’s artistic program at its best. Reviewer Don Batchelor, writing in Theatre Australia, commented:

… it is a beautiful production, not least in Andrew Spier’s elegant design, so tastefully lit by Len Bauska. … but the highlight of the evening is an excellent performance by Stephen Preston as Gramsci. … The play, the production, and the performances together achieve a remarkable tribute to the memory of a man which will live in the mind for a long time. 

Theatre Australia June 1981, p.43

Writer: Dr Christine Comans