Supermarket Pavane

Supermarket Pavane by Elizabeth Jolley

Alison Cotes wrote of La Boite’s unusually patchy all Australian 1995 season: “It was a bad year for the usually feisty La Boite. Its decision to stage only Australian works was a worthy one, but the plays themselves didn’t live up to expectations and only the adaptation of Elizabeth Jolley’s Supermarket Pavane could be classed as outstanding, largely because of Jennifer Flower’s delicate performance”.[i]

Directing the work, Sue Rider invested in the development and production of Supermarket Pavane in response to too few opportunities in the Australian theatre industry for the professional development of senior artists such as Jennifer Flowers. Rider described it as innovative chamber theatre that used live performance, recorded voice, music, movement, lighting and evocative design to evoke Jolley’s “hauntingly sad tale of a retired music teacher”.[ii] Jennifer Flowers’ performance, praised by some as the finest in her career, won her a Matilda Award and Special Commendations were awarded to set designer Bill Haycock and lighting designer Matt Scott.

Writer: Christine Comans