EDMUND. THE BEGINNING won Best Performance at The Annual Melbourne Green Room Awards, and was nominated for Best Writing after its premiere at Arts House Melbourne in 2015.
It had a successful season at Somerset House London in 2016 and can be seen at Sydney Writers' Festival in May 2018
EDMUND. THE BEGINNING is currently available for touring.
"Delectably rich ... a rare show, something lovely, poignant and archival ..."
The Australian Stage On Line
A beautifully written text... carried by Lipson's precisely-judged performance."
ABC News On Line
"mesmeric ..." ****
The Melbourne Age and Sydney Morning Herald
THREE REVIEWS:
One: The Melbourne Age and The Sydney Morning Herald -
Edmund. The Beginning review: Brian Lipson makes his mark in mesmeric performance
Date: November 12, 2015 by Owen Richardson
Brian Lipson plays a host of characters in his solo show Edmund. The Beginning.
THEATRE
EDMUND. THE BEGINNING ★★★★
Arts House North Melbourne
Until November 22
At the start of Edmund. The Beginning the rehearsal room at the Arts House is so sparse it suggests nothing of what is to come. By the end, though, Brian Lipson has literally made his mark, writing on the walls and partly divesting his elaborate, grotesque costume to improvise what he calls an orrery, wigs and ties and shoes spread around on the floor.
These not so heavenly bodies represent people. There is Edmund, Shakespeare's brother, whose name he gave the bastard in King Lear; Daniel is the estranged son of Harold Pinter and Pinter's first wife, the actress Vivien Merchant, who was destroyed by Pinter's infidelities; Nicholas and Frieda are Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath's children. It's a show about being a satellite and the misery of living in the shadow of greatness; about how to renounce one's past, and if this can even be done.
It's about distance from the centre in other ways: Lipson grew up in London, and his monologue summons up the home of his youth. The Shakespearean city is powerfully evoked in a description of Edmund's funeral, as is the London of another great period for British theatre, the sixties, as Lipson recounts with nostalgic total recall the Tube itinerary bringing him from the suburbs to the Aldwych Theatre to see Merchant in The Homecoming.
Directed well by Peter Evans and Susie Dee, it is a mesmeric performance, in which the compelling or self-consciously fruity setpieces are offset and undermined by conversational, self-deflating asides. Lipson also does an excellent Pinter impersonation, as funny and sinister as it should be.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/theatre/edmund-the-beginning-review-brian-lipson-makes-his-mark-in-mesmeric-performance-20151112-gkx6ct.html#ixzz41MMPo8OC
Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook
Two: ABC News On Line:
North Melbourne Arts House: New productions challenge categorisation of Australian theatre By Alison Croggon
Updated 28 Nov 2015, 12:23pm
Photo: Brian Lipson in EDMUND. THE BEGINNING at North Melbourne Arts House. (Supplied: Sarah Walker)
External Link: The perfect storm: playwright vs director
Map: Melbourne 3000
When is a playwright not a playwright? When is a play not a play?
Since Aristotle, human beings have been categorising things because it makes it easier to think about them.
But useful as they can be, categories can also obscure detail or diversity: it is easier to adhere to lazy generalisations.
These days the categories are more likely to fall into "text-based theatre" (or "plays"), which is set in opposition to everything else. Devised theatre, circus, performance art, cabaret, experimental adaptations of Shakespeare, are shovelled into the category of "other".
This division does not reflect the multiple ways in which contemporary playwrights actually work in the theatre: as sole composers of text, in the traditional sense; as collaborators and co-devisors; or even as performers.
More seriously, it marginalises some of the finer writing being made in Australian theatre. I sometimes can't help wondering if, in the unlikely event that Samuel Beckett turned up in Melbourne today as an unknown writer, he would even be considered a playwright.
These thoughts were prompted by a mini-season at the North Melbourne Arts House, which featured some of the most brilliant, and certainly some of the most poetic, writing I've seen this year.
They were all performances of texts that I'd like to read at leisure: thoughtful, literate, and formally adventurous theatrical writing.
Were they plays? Of course they were, if plays are texts for performance. But they were written by people primarily known as performers or theatre devisers. Are these artists really playwrights? Some of them would flinch at the thought. When is a playwright not a playwright? When is a play not a play?
Brian Lipson's Edmund: The Beginning is a beautifully written text.
Lipson's previous shows — A Large Attendance in the Antechamber (2000) and Berggasse 19 — The Apartments of Sigmund Freud (2005) — were products of his fascination with historical figures Francis Galton and Sigmund Freud.
Lipson's work is always highly reflexive, turning its impertinent gaze back on itself, and Edmund: The Beginning is no exception.
It is, in part, an essay on acting. Using only the light (both natural and street light) that falls through the three large windows in the Rehearsal Room at the North Melbourne Town Hall, Lipson presents us with the exposed figure of the actor, the person who represents the lineaments of other people.
Lipson enters in a caricature of a costume. He is wearing a crown over half a long, blonde wig; one leg is femininely shaved and in high heels, the other clothed in Elizabethan bloomers; half a schoolboy's jacket.
As he performs the various characters these costumes represent, items are discarded and placed carefully on the floor, creating a solar system — what Lipson calls an "orrery" — of allusion.
Lipson is particularly fascinated by the casualties who hide in the shadow of fame: the reclusive son of Harold Pinter, Daniel Brand, and his mother; the actor Vivien Merchant, who died of acute alcoholism after divorcing Pinter; Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes's children, Frieda and Nicholas Hughes; Shakespeare's young brother, Edmund, who died at 27.
Through this Lipson traces a narrative of misery appropriated or overshadowed, and an underlying sense of abuse.
The show opens with Lipson making three "embarrassing confessions", the first of which is that he is an actor.
Embarrassment — the reaction to confusion or shame, or an uncomfortable self-consciousness, or being faced with obstacles or questions — is the emotional key to the show.
It's comic, of course, opening the gap between how we are perceived and how we perceive ourselves, but it is also an expression of how the soul rubs against a world hostile to its fragilities.
All these meanings trace through this fascinating intellectual biography, carried by Lipson's precisely-judged performance.
These three very different shows fall outside the conventional definitions of plays, but they are all profoundly "text-based".
It is perhaps not a coincidence that they are more poetic, even more literary, than most Australian plays.
They might be sidelined as works of theatrical literature, but this also means that the artists can escape institutional assumptions about what plays are supposed to be. And this escape from conventional inhibitions is, of course, how exciting new work gets made.
Three: The Australian Stage On Line:
Melbourne » Reviews »
Edmund: The Beginning | Antechamber Productions
Written by Liza Dezfouli
Tuesday, 17 November 2015 10:56
An actors'/theatre lovers' work is Edmund: The Beginning – a show where Brian Lipson offers a delectably rich performance which will resonate most deeply with his peers.
Edmund. The Beginning is a one-man investigation of the emotional range of performance in the traditional vein, an exploration of fascination and despair at human limitations. Lipson comes into a nearly empty space and it’s a while before he says anything; he engages in a ritualistic setting up about him of various objects which later come to represent characters.
Among the things Lipson sets out on the ‘stage’ are a glass of milk and a plate of bread and butter. After the show you recall that Sylvia Plath, one of the characters he references, set out exactly these things for her two children before she gassed herself. Nicholas and Frieda Hughes appear as well as their parents. Other characters are a publican/theatre director Daniel Brand, along with the playwright Harold Pinter’s son, undone by his famous father’s treatment of his mother (actor Vivien Merchant), Edmund, the younger brother of William Shakespeare, who we know even less about than we do the playwright. What we do know is that although Edmund was an actor he was never on the books of The Kings Men, Shakespeare’s own company, or mentioned in any documentation of performance by said company, and that his name was, unkindly, given to the ‘base bastard Edmund’ in King Lear.
Why these things might be so, and the impact of his status as an ‘outer’ on Edmund (and indeed of this on all the characters) are given voice in this work. As well, Lipson stretches out the notion of wit, with words and action; he makes visual jokes, beginning with a quote he writes on the wall with chalk. The best thing to do is let the performance twirl you off emotionally, as it does. Lipson’s performance range is deep and impressive. Lipson makes clever and beautiful use of the twilight, with the tone of the piece shifting as the sun goes down. A rare show, something lovely, poignant and archival, if that makes sense.
Arts House and Antechamber Productions present
EDMUND. THE BEGINNING
by Brian Lipson
Director Peter Evans
Venue: North Melbourne Town Hall, 521 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne
Dates: 10 – 22 November 2015
Tickets: $30 – $15
Bookings:artshouse.com.au | (03) 9322 3713
http://www.beat.com.au/arts/edmund-beginning
http://www.au.timeout.com/melbourne/theatre/events/15738/edmund.-the-beginning
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/theatre/from-shakespeares-brother-to-sylvia-plath-brian-lipson-channels-14-characters-in-edmund-the-beginning-20151105-gkrcn3.html
Melbourne » Reviews »
Edmund: The Beginning | Antechamber Productions
Written by Liza Dezfouli
Tuesday, 17 November 2015 10:56
An actors'/theatre lovers' work is Edmund: The Beginning – a show where Brian Lipson offers a delectably rich performance which will resonate most deeply with his peers.
Edmund. The Beginning is a one-man investigation of the emotional range of performance in the traditional vein, an exploration of fascination and despair at human limitations. Lipson comes into a nearly empty space and it’s a while before he says anything; he engages in a ritualistic setting up about him of various objects which later come to represent characters.
Among the things Lipson sets out on the ‘stage’ are a glass of milk and a plate of bread and butter. After the show you recall that Sylvia Plath, one of the characters he references, set out exactly these things for her two children before she gassed herself. Nicholas and Frieda Hughes appear as well as their parents. Other characters are a publican/theatre director Daniel Brand, along with the playwright Harold Pinter’s son, undone by his famous father’s treatment of his mother (actor Vivien Merchant), Edmund, the younger brother of William Shakespeare, who we know even less about than we do the playwright. What we do know is that although Edmund was an actor he was never on the books of The Kings Men, Shakespeare’s own company, or mentioned in any documentation of performance by said company, and that his name was, unkindly, given to the ‘base bastard Edmund’ in King Lear.
Why these things might be so, and the impact of his status as an ‘outer’ on Edmund (and indeed of this on all the characters) are given voice in this work. As well, Lipson stretches out the notion of wit, with words and action; he makes visual jokes, beginning with a quote he writes on the wall with chalk. The best thing to do is let the performance twirl you off emotionally, as it does. Lipson’s performance range is deep and impressive. Lipson makes clever and beautiful use of the twilight, with the tone of the piece shifting as the sun goes down. A rare show, something lovely, poignant and archival, if that makes sense.
Arts House and Antechamber Productions present
EDMUND. THE BEGINNING
by Brian Lipson
Director Peter Evans
Venue: North Melbourne Town Hall, 521 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne
Dates: 10 – 22 November 2015
Tickets: $30 – $15
Bookings:artshouse.com.au | (03) 9322 3713
http://www.beat.com.au/arts/edmund-beginning
http://www.au.timeout.com/melbourne/theatre/events/15738/edmund.-the-beginning
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/theatre/from-shakespeares-brother-to-sylvia-plath-brian-lipson-channels-14-characters-in-edmund-the-beginning-20151105-gkrcn3.html
ABOUT THE SHOW
A funny, engaging solo show about the permeability of identity. Several characters are represented on stage but it is often unclear how they relate to each other or to the performer. Characters include William Shakespeare, Harold Pinter, Vivien Merchant (Pinter’s first wife), Daniel Brand (their son), Brian Lipson aged 15, Brian’s cousin Martin (aged 17), Frieda Hughes (the daughter of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes). All of these people are highly fictionalised versions of themselves.
The play is called EDMUND. THE BEGINNING in reference to William Shakespeare’s younger brother Edmund and his bastard son – also called Edmund. William, Daniel, and Brian share an obsession with these two Edmunds both of whom died young – the son when he was 4 months old and the father, four months later, when he was 27. There are innumerable diversions and slippages in style and the contrasting vivid fragments of performance all contribute to a kaleidoscopic, bewildering, and engaging entertainment. The aim is to stimulate and provoke the audience both intellectually and emotionally. A combination of stand-up comedy, literary anecdote, philosophical debate, and performance art, this work is unlike anything Brian has attempted before and will certainly be unlike any other show you have seen.
EDMUND. THE BEGINNING has two easily defined sources of inspiration. The first is Brian Lipson’s viewing of Harold Pinter’s great play The Homecoming. Brian saw this play when it premiered in London in 1965 when Brian was 15. This was a life changing experience for Brian and his introduction to the power of theatre. He was particularly struck by the enigmatic sexuality of Pinter’s wife Vivien Merchant who performed the part of Ruth in the play.
The second great influence arose from over three years of research funded by the Australia Council Fellowship that Brian was awarded in 2011. The overall title for this fellowship was “Doing Good”. Between 2011 and 2014, Brian elected to work for a week with 20 significant colleagues that he had encountered in the course of his 40-year career in theatre. Each week-long collaboration had no pre- planning and was entirely open-ended, but several common themes emerged: Shakespeare, Pinter, Poetry, Theatre, London, and Misery were the most prevalent. These themes inform and infuse EDMUND. THE BEGINNING.
ABOUT THE COMPANY
Brian Lipson studied Theatre Design in London at The Central School of Art and Design. He designed for Lindsey Kemp, Ballet Rambert, and others. In the 1970s and 80s he was key member of three important English experimental companies: Lumiere and Son, Rational Theatre, and Hidden Grin. He later acted regularly at National Theatre, Old Vic, Royal Court, etc.
He moved to Melbourne in 1997 and acts often at The Melbourne Theatre Company, Malthouse, Sydney Theatre Company, Belvoir, Bell Shakespeare etc., and with many independent companies including: The Family, Hayloft, Eleventh Hour, Stuck Pigs Squealing, Chunky Move, Back to Back, etc. He also directs and has taught frequently at the Victorian College of the Arts, The University of Melbourne. His first solo show A Large Attendance in the Antechamber – which he wrote, designed, and performed – toured widely and was acclaimed at festivals in Australia, UK, and USA.
He has been nominated for nine Green Room Awards and won four. He has received numerous grants from Creative Victoria and the Australia Council, including an Australia Council Fellowship in 2011.
AWARDS for EDMUND. THE BEGINNING
2015 WINNER Best Male Performer (Independent Theatre)
2015 NOMINEE Best Writing (Independent Theatre)
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer, Performer, and Designer Brian Lipson
Director and Co-Creator Peter Evans
Outside Eyes Susie Dee (Melbourne) & Lucy Bailey (London) Costume Designers Brian Lipson and Mel Page
Originally produced by Wendy Lasica
Promotional Video Justin Batchelor
Publicity and Production Imagery Sarah Walker
PRODUCTION HISTORY
2014 (development)
Bell Shakespeare, Sydney, Australia
Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne, Australia
2015
Arts House, Melbourne, Australia
2016
Somerset House, London, UK
ISPA conference (invited performance for delegates), Melbourne, Australia
2017
Performances in private houses, Melbourne, Australia
2018
Sydney Writers’ Festival, Sydney, Australia
MARKETING INFORMATION & ACKNOWLEDGMENT REQUIREMENTS
BILLING
[The Presenter]
presents
EDMUND. THE BEGINNING by Brian Lipson
ARTISTS CREDITS
Writer, Performer, and Designer Brian Lipson
Director and Co-Creator Peter Evans
Outside Eyes Susie Dee (Melbourne) & Lucy Bailey (London) Costume Designers Brian Lipson and Mel Page
Originally produced by Wendy Lasica
Promotional Video Justin Batchelor
Publicity and Production Imagery Sarah Walker
Copy
(50 word version)
A thrilling exercise in distorted biography and a confessional torrent. Brian Lipson summons a disordered array of characters from the impatient past and the murky present: some are familiar, some are famous, some are known only to Lipson. None are comfortable.
In EDMUND. THE BEGINNING, literary giants, sirens, reprobates, and infants cavort in existential quadrille
Copy
(100 word version)
For season brochures/flyers, program guide listings
EDMUND. THE BEGINNING is both an exercise in distorted biography and a confessional torrent. Brian Lipson summons a disordered array of characters from the impatient past and the murky present: some are familiar, some are famous, some are known only to Lipson. None are comfortable.
Fifteen years ago Lipson’s acclaimed solo show, A Large Attendance in the Antechamber, won two Green Room Awards before touring the world for the next seven years. Brian is now considerably older and considerably less wise, but he can still talk very fast.
EDMUND. THE BEGINNING is even more intriguing than its predecessor, and each of its many characters is both a real person and an imaginary figure. But who imagines whom? Who is Whom? Who is Alive? Who is Dead? And Why?
In EDMUND. THE BEGINNING, literary giants, sirens, reprobates, and infants cavort in existential quadrille. A few you will recognise, others you won’t. All will ring bells.
Acknowledgements
This production was originally supported by Arts House, the City of Melbourne, the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, and Bell Shakespeare. Acknowledgements must be included in addition to logos where space allows, including, but not limited to, season brochures, flyers, web pages and programs. These should also be acknowledged in speeches and announcements where appropriate.
Images
All imagery by Sarah Walker available for download from:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0fuj8oo9n5lebrp/AADFosdIIk26_EjeS6SqRqdha?dl=0
PROMO by Sarah Walker:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/de6kh27zf83t6mm/AABw1mOlIsaRih2ywdqXDtcPa?d l=0
PRODUCTION by Sarah Walker:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wtwzophiqb01lbu/AAClM6JuFvfvAkCxyEJ997qma?dl= 0
Video links
Available to download at:
Promotional:
https://vimeo.com/131395743
Entire performance:
Full length video available on request
Duration
80mins
Warnings
Coarse language
Age recommendation
15+
Creative Notes
FROM BRIAN LIPSON:
I would like to thank all of the subjects of this show, living and dead, who have unknowingly contributed so much to it: they are all much more interesting people than I am and it has been my privilege to associate with my re-inventions of them.
Only one of the subjects of the show knows he is included in it and his response has been disgruntled but very funny.
Here’s a bit of background:
Towards the end of 2010 I found myself to be in a creative quagmire: my acting career continued to rumble along but my ability to make work was moribund. As a last ditch attempt to revive the patient I applied to the Australia Council for a two year Fellowship. To my astonishment they responded positively to my cry for help (thinly disguised as a grant application). Between 2011 and 2014 I elected to collaborate with 25 significant colleagues with whom I had worked during the 4 decades of my theatrical career. Each little collaboration was to last one week, had no pre-planning and was entirely open ended. Despite this, several common themes emerged – Shakespeare, Pinter, Poetry, Theatre, London and Misery were the most prevalent. These themes inform and infuse EDMUND. THE BEGINNING. Those who will recognise their contribution to this show are: Lally Katz, Luke Mullins, Anna Tregloan, Matt Lutton, John Bolton and, of course, Peter Evans and Susie Dee; but all of my collaborators have had a huge influence on the re-awakening of my creative confidence and in fact there are now several other productions in the pipeline that have been inspired by work with my other collaborators.
I thank the Australia Council for a truly life changing experience. Let us hope that this vital institution can recover from the severe insult and disruption it has recently suffered. I feel confident that it will.
Artist Biographies:
for use online, in printed programs, etc.
Brian Lipson (Writer, Designer and Performer) studied Theatre Design in London; designed for Lindsey Kemp, Ballet Rambert, etc. In the 1970s and 80s he was key member of three important English experimental companies. He later acted regularly at National Theatre, Old Vic, Royal Court, etc.
He moved to Melbourne in 1997 and acts often at MTC, Malthouse, STC, Belvoir, Bell Shakespeare etc, and with many independent companies: The Family, Hayloft, Eleventh Hour, Stuck Pigs Squealing, Chunky Move, Back to Back Theatre, etc. He also directs. His solo show A Large Attendance in the Antechamber which he wrote, designed and performed – toured widely and was acclaimed at festivals in Australia, UK and USA.
He has been nominated for 9 Green Room Awards and won 4. He received an Australia Council Fellowship in 2011.
Peter Evans (Director and Co-Creator) was Bell Shakespeare’s Co-Artistic Director with John Bell from 2012 to 2014. He has now been appointed Artistic Director. For Bell Shakespeare he has directed Phèdre, The Dream, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, The Two Gentlemen Of Verona, The Tempest and Intimate Letters with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. He worked as Associate Director with the Company in 2005.
Peter was Associate Director at Melbourne Theatre Company from 2007–2010, directing Clybourne Park, A Behanding In Spokane, Life Without Me, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, The Ugly One, The Grenade, God Of Carnage, Savage River (co-production with Griffin Theatre Company), Realism, The Hypocrite, Blackbird, Don Juan In Soho, Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, The History Boys, Don’s Party, The Give And Take, Dumbshow and The Daylight Atheist. His other theatre credits include Pygmalion, The Great, Fat Pig and The Give And Take for Sydney Theatre Company; Hamlet, Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, King Lear, Copenhagen, Proof, Muldoon and The Christian Brothers for New Zealand’s Court Theatre; The Daylight Atheist for Queensland Theatre Company; The Yellow Wallpaper and A Poor Student for the Store Room at the Malthouse Theatre; Jesus Hopped The A Train for Red Stitch Actors Theatre; Sexual Perversity In Chicago for Theatre Jamb at the Bondi Pavilion; Kiss Of The Spiderwoman for Theatre Adami at the SBW Stables; and The Dumb Waiter for the Studio Company at Belvoir St Theatre.
In 2014 Peter directed The Dream and Tartuffe for Bell Shakespeare; 2015 As You Like It; 2016 Romeo and Juliet and Othello; 2017 Richard III.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
VENUE
VENUE TO SUPPLY
• 1 x venue technician/ASM (to assist with costume)
STAGING
The staging of Edmund. The Beginning is very simple, in a room with natural light, and ideally, west-facing windows. The performance space is set approximately 2 meters from the front row of seating. A plate of bread and butter and a glass of milk are set. A bread-making machine is used to perfume the air prior to the audience entering. The hot bread is prepared by Brian the afternoon of each performance, baked on a timer in the bread-maker in the space to be ready just before the house is opened.
TOURING COMPANY TO SUPPLY
excess baggage allowance. The box for the sword is 16cm x 9cm x 101cm and weighs approximately 2.5 kg.
SCHEDULE & CREWING (two-day setup – open on DAY TWO)
Note - this is a minimum generic bump-in schedule designed for Australian touring and included for indicative purposes. Subject to change to suit circumstances.
Time
Activity
Crew
Crew Hrs
Bump-in Day 1
0900 – 09.30
Set up blackboard or white board if required
1 x venue tech
.30
09.30 – 12.00
Rehearse/spacing for performer
1 x venue tech
2.5 hrs
12.00 – 13.00
LUNCH
All
13.00 – 14.10
Tech dress rehearsal
1 x venue tech
1hr 10
14.10 – 16.00
Fix-ups as required
1 x venue tech
1hr 50
16.00 – 18.00
BREAK
ALL
18.00 - 19.00
Show call/Bread maker
1 x venue tech
1 hr
19.00 – 20.10
Dress performance
1 x venue tech
1hr 20 mins
Please note performance times are
7.5 hours
subject to the time of the setting sun
Opening/Standard Show Day.
A funny, engaging solo show about the permeability of identity. Several characters are represented on stage but it is often unclear how they relate to each other or to the performer. Characters include William Shakespeare, Harold Pinter, Vivien Merchant (Pinter’s first wife), Daniel Brand (their son), Brian Lipson aged 15, Brian’s cousin Martin (aged 17), Frieda Hughes (the daughter of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes). All of these people are highly fictionalised versions of themselves.
The play is called EDMUND. THE BEGINNING in reference to William Shakespeare’s younger brother Edmund and his bastard son – also called Edmund. William, Daniel, and Brian share an obsession with these two Edmunds both of whom died young – the son when he was 4 months old and the father, four months later, when he was 27. There are innumerable diversions and slippages in style and the contrasting vivid fragments of performance all contribute to a kaleidoscopic, bewildering, and engaging entertainment. The aim is to stimulate and provoke the audience both intellectually and emotionally. A combination of stand-up comedy, literary anecdote, philosophical debate, and performance art, this work is unlike anything Brian has attempted before and will certainly be unlike any other show you have seen.
EDMUND. THE BEGINNING has two easily defined sources of inspiration. The first is Brian Lipson’s viewing of Harold Pinter’s great play The Homecoming. Brian saw this play when it premiered in London in 1965 when Brian was 15. This was a life changing experience for Brian and his introduction to the power of theatre. He was particularly struck by the enigmatic sexuality of Pinter’s wife Vivien Merchant who performed the part of Ruth in the play.
The second great influence arose from over three years of research funded by the Australia Council Fellowship that Brian was awarded in 2011. The overall title for this fellowship was “Doing Good”. Between 2011 and 2014, Brian elected to work for a week with 20 significant colleagues that he had encountered in the course of his 40-year career in theatre. Each week-long collaboration had no pre- planning and was entirely open-ended, but several common themes emerged: Shakespeare, Pinter, Poetry, Theatre, London, and Misery were the most prevalent. These themes inform and infuse EDMUND. THE BEGINNING.
ABOUT THE COMPANY
Brian Lipson studied Theatre Design in London at The Central School of Art and Design. He designed for Lindsey Kemp, Ballet Rambert, and others. In the 1970s and 80s he was key member of three important English experimental companies: Lumiere and Son, Rational Theatre, and Hidden Grin. He later acted regularly at National Theatre, Old Vic, Royal Court, etc.
He moved to Melbourne in 1997 and acts often at The Melbourne Theatre Company, Malthouse, Sydney Theatre Company, Belvoir, Bell Shakespeare etc., and with many independent companies including: The Family, Hayloft, Eleventh Hour, Stuck Pigs Squealing, Chunky Move, Back to Back, etc. He also directs and has taught frequently at the Victorian College of the Arts, The University of Melbourne. His first solo show A Large Attendance in the Antechamber – which he wrote, designed, and performed – toured widely and was acclaimed at festivals in Australia, UK, and USA.
He has been nominated for nine Green Room Awards and won four. He has received numerous grants from Creative Victoria and the Australia Council, including an Australia Council Fellowship in 2011.
AWARDS for EDMUND. THE BEGINNING
2015 WINNER Best Male Performer (Independent Theatre)
2015 NOMINEE Best Writing (Independent Theatre)
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer, Performer, and Designer Brian Lipson
Director and Co-Creator Peter Evans
Outside Eyes Susie Dee (Melbourne) & Lucy Bailey (London) Costume Designers Brian Lipson and Mel Page
Originally produced by Wendy Lasica
Promotional Video Justin Batchelor
Publicity and Production Imagery Sarah Walker
PRODUCTION HISTORY
2014 (development)
Bell Shakespeare, Sydney, Australia
Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne, Australia
2015
Arts House, Melbourne, Australia
2016
Somerset House, London, UK
ISPA conference (invited performance for delegates), Melbourne, Australia
2017
Performances in private houses, Melbourne, Australia
2018
Sydney Writers’ Festival, Sydney, Australia
MARKETING INFORMATION & ACKNOWLEDGMENT REQUIREMENTS
BILLING
[The Presenter]
presents
EDMUND. THE BEGINNING by Brian Lipson
ARTISTS CREDITS
Writer, Performer, and Designer Brian Lipson
Director and Co-Creator Peter Evans
Outside Eyes Susie Dee (Melbourne) & Lucy Bailey (London) Costume Designers Brian Lipson and Mel Page
Originally produced by Wendy Lasica
Promotional Video Justin Batchelor
Publicity and Production Imagery Sarah Walker
Copy
(50 word version)
A thrilling exercise in distorted biography and a confessional torrent. Brian Lipson summons a disordered array of characters from the impatient past and the murky present: some are familiar, some are famous, some are known only to Lipson. None are comfortable.
In EDMUND. THE BEGINNING, literary giants, sirens, reprobates, and infants cavort in existential quadrille
Copy
(100 word version)
For season brochures/flyers, program guide listings
EDMUND. THE BEGINNING is both an exercise in distorted biography and a confessional torrent. Brian Lipson summons a disordered array of characters from the impatient past and the murky present: some are familiar, some are famous, some are known only to Lipson. None are comfortable.
Fifteen years ago Lipson’s acclaimed solo show, A Large Attendance in the Antechamber, won two Green Room Awards before touring the world for the next seven years. Brian is now considerably older and considerably less wise, but he can still talk very fast.
EDMUND. THE BEGINNING is even more intriguing than its predecessor, and each of its many characters is both a real person and an imaginary figure. But who imagines whom? Who is Whom? Who is Alive? Who is Dead? And Why?
In EDMUND. THE BEGINNING, literary giants, sirens, reprobates, and infants cavort in existential quadrille. A few you will recognise, others you won’t. All will ring bells.
Acknowledgements
This production was originally supported by Arts House, the City of Melbourne, the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, and Bell Shakespeare. Acknowledgements must be included in addition to logos where space allows, including, but not limited to, season brochures, flyers, web pages and programs. These should also be acknowledged in speeches and announcements where appropriate.
Images
All imagery by Sarah Walker available for download from:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0fuj8oo9n5lebrp/AADFosdIIk26_EjeS6SqRqdha?dl=0
PROMO by Sarah Walker:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/de6kh27zf83t6mm/AABw1mOlIsaRih2ywdqXDtcPa?d l=0
PRODUCTION by Sarah Walker:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wtwzophiqb01lbu/AAClM6JuFvfvAkCxyEJ997qma?dl= 0
Video links
Available to download at:
Promotional:
https://vimeo.com/131395743
Entire performance:
Full length video available on request
Duration
80mins
Warnings
Coarse language
Age recommendation
15+
Creative Notes
FROM BRIAN LIPSON:
I would like to thank all of the subjects of this show, living and dead, who have unknowingly contributed so much to it: they are all much more interesting people than I am and it has been my privilege to associate with my re-inventions of them.
Only one of the subjects of the show knows he is included in it and his response has been disgruntled but very funny.
Here’s a bit of background:
Towards the end of 2010 I found myself to be in a creative quagmire: my acting career continued to rumble along but my ability to make work was moribund. As a last ditch attempt to revive the patient I applied to the Australia Council for a two year Fellowship. To my astonishment they responded positively to my cry for help (thinly disguised as a grant application). Between 2011 and 2014 I elected to collaborate with 25 significant colleagues with whom I had worked during the 4 decades of my theatrical career. Each little collaboration was to last one week, had no pre-planning and was entirely open ended. Despite this, several common themes emerged – Shakespeare, Pinter, Poetry, Theatre, London and Misery were the most prevalent. These themes inform and infuse EDMUND. THE BEGINNING. Those who will recognise their contribution to this show are: Lally Katz, Luke Mullins, Anna Tregloan, Matt Lutton, John Bolton and, of course, Peter Evans and Susie Dee; but all of my collaborators have had a huge influence on the re-awakening of my creative confidence and in fact there are now several other productions in the pipeline that have been inspired by work with my other collaborators.
I thank the Australia Council for a truly life changing experience. Let us hope that this vital institution can recover from the severe insult and disruption it has recently suffered. I feel confident that it will.
Artist Biographies:
for use online, in printed programs, etc.
Brian Lipson (Writer, Designer and Performer) studied Theatre Design in London; designed for Lindsey Kemp, Ballet Rambert, etc. In the 1970s and 80s he was key member of three important English experimental companies. He later acted regularly at National Theatre, Old Vic, Royal Court, etc.
He moved to Melbourne in 1997 and acts often at MTC, Malthouse, STC, Belvoir, Bell Shakespeare etc, and with many independent companies: The Family, Hayloft, Eleventh Hour, Stuck Pigs Squealing, Chunky Move, Back to Back Theatre, etc. He also directs. His solo show A Large Attendance in the Antechamber which he wrote, designed and performed – toured widely and was acclaimed at festivals in Australia, UK and USA.
He has been nominated for 9 Green Room Awards and won 4. He received an Australia Council Fellowship in 2011.
Peter Evans (Director and Co-Creator) was Bell Shakespeare’s Co-Artistic Director with John Bell from 2012 to 2014. He has now been appointed Artistic Director. For Bell Shakespeare he has directed Phèdre, The Dream, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, The Two Gentlemen Of Verona, The Tempest and Intimate Letters with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. He worked as Associate Director with the Company in 2005.
Peter was Associate Director at Melbourne Theatre Company from 2007–2010, directing Clybourne Park, A Behanding In Spokane, Life Without Me, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, The Ugly One, The Grenade, God Of Carnage, Savage River (co-production with Griffin Theatre Company), Realism, The Hypocrite, Blackbird, Don Juan In Soho, Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, The History Boys, Don’s Party, The Give And Take, Dumbshow and The Daylight Atheist. His other theatre credits include Pygmalion, The Great, Fat Pig and The Give And Take for Sydney Theatre Company; Hamlet, Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, King Lear, Copenhagen, Proof, Muldoon and The Christian Brothers for New Zealand’s Court Theatre; The Daylight Atheist for Queensland Theatre Company; The Yellow Wallpaper and A Poor Student for the Store Room at the Malthouse Theatre; Jesus Hopped The A Train for Red Stitch Actors Theatre; Sexual Perversity In Chicago for Theatre Jamb at the Bondi Pavilion; Kiss Of The Spiderwoman for Theatre Adami at the SBW Stables; and The Dumb Waiter for the Studio Company at Belvoir St Theatre.
In 2014 Peter directed The Dream and Tartuffe for Bell Shakespeare; 2015 As You Like It; 2016 Romeo and Juliet and Othello; 2017 Richard III.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
VENUE
- the minimum stage size required is 5m wide x 5m deep
- the piece is best suited to a rehearsal space or town hall style venue; ideally west-facing
- natural light is required through windows; there is no AV or SX
- suggested capacity is between 60 and 120 persons, depending on seating and sightlines (risers are
required if more than 60 persons) - there is no set; ideally the walls can be drawn on with chalk, if this is not possible venue to supply a
chalk or white board on a stand (minimum: 1.5m high x 1 m wide) - access to dressing rooms for 1 person
- access to washing machine/dryer and iron with ironing board.
PERSONNEL
TOURING COMPANY: 1 person
VENUE TO SUPPLY
• 1 x venue technician/ASM (to assist with costume)
STAGING
The staging of Edmund. The Beginning is very simple, in a room with natural light, and ideally, west-facing windows. The performance space is set approximately 2 meters from the front row of seating. A plate of bread and butter and a glass of milk are set. A bread-making machine is used to perfume the air prior to the audience entering. The hot bread is prepared by Brian the afternoon of each performance, baked on a timer in the bread-maker in the space to be ready just before the house is opened.
TOURING COMPANY TO SUPPLY
- Chalk &/or whiteboard pens
- x 1 drinking glass
- x 1 standard bread and butter plate
VENUE TO SUPPLY
Performance space including (but not limited to)
- West-facing windows if possible.
- Seating for 80 – 120; risers if more than 60 persons
- Blackboard or white board (1.5m high x 1m wide) on stand if walls cannot be chalked
- Bread-making machine, plus ingredients (2 kg bread-making flour – strong white flour; 3 x dry yeast
sachets; salt; x 3 sticks butter; x 1 packet unrefined sugar); x 1 container milk; x 1 container cream
LIGHTING
No lighting is required beyond external windows.
AUDIO
No audio is required. It is ideal if the performance room has a good acoustic for spoken word.
FREIGHT
Edmund. The Beginning has minimal touring freight. All necessary costume and props can be carried with the performer’s personal luggage, with the following addition:
EXCESS BAGGAGE
excess baggage allowance. The box for the sword is 16cm x 9cm x 101cm and weighs approximately 2.5 kg.
SCHEDULE & CREWING (two-day setup – open on DAY TWO)
Note - this is a minimum generic bump-in schedule designed for Australian touring and included for indicative purposes. Subject to change to suit circumstances.
Time
Activity
Crew
Crew Hrs
Bump-in Day 1
0900 – 09.30
Set up blackboard or white board if required
1 x venue tech
.30
09.30 – 12.00
Rehearse/spacing for performer
1 x venue tech
2.5 hrs
12.00 – 13.00
LUNCH
All
13.00 – 14.10
Tech dress rehearsal
1 x venue tech
1hr 10
14.10 – 16.00
Fix-ups as required
1 x venue tech
1hr 50
16.00 – 18.00
BREAK
ALL
18.00 - 19.00
Show call/Bread maker
1 x venue tech
1 hr
19.00 – 20.10
Dress performance
1 x venue tech
1hr 20 mins
Please note performance times are
7.5 hours
subject to the time of the setting sun
Opening/Standard Show Day.
AND FINALLY:
A LETTER FROM MARTIN LIPSON TO SIR PETER HALL
Sir Peter Hall,
Director,
c/o The Home for Aged Thespians,
Common Lane,
Aylesbury
Bucks
SH11TSR November 16th 2013
Dear Sir Peter,
I do hope you won't mind me writing to you again.
When I heard you were planning to come out of retirement to direct Brian Lipson in his new play, I felt that I had no option other than to write to you with my analysis of this pretentious new piece.
You will of course have realised, now that you have started working with Brian, that my earlier letter (dated 16th August 1965) was in fact entirely written by myself, and not as it might have seemed from the joint signatures, a collaborative work by the two of us. I am certain that you will have noticed, now that you have started working with him, that Brian's powers of analysis are – shall we say - wanting, and it was of course yours truly that took pity on him and allowed his signature to appear at the foot of my letter alongside my own. We both know, do we not, that authorship is a serious matter, and I'm sure you will understand my wishing to set the record straight. Indeed it may come as a relief to you after all these years during which no doubt you have been puzzling over the matter.
Before turning to my critique of the piece, may I be allowed to express my surprise at your choice of playwright to work with in what may in fact turn out to be your very last Act of Directing. Now that you are in your 90s, your health must come first, and the stress that you must inevitably be encountering attempting to direct my poor cousin into some form of cohesion can only shorten your illustrious life. I can not be alone in wishing that you had chosen either to go down more quietly, resting on your not inconsiderable laurels, or if not, with a bang. This choice can only be, to put it at its best, a whimper.
I do not want you to think, incidentally, that my feelings are in any way influenced by your curt refusal in 1981 to take up the position of Guest Director of the Steeple Aston Players' annual festival, a decision which I am sure you have since regretted, knowing as you must do that the Players, under my guidance, won the coveted National Village Players of the Year Award in both 1982 and 2012, against stiff competition from the other village.
Now, turning to “Edmund the Beginning”.
Well, honestly, where should I begin? The title? Or titles, should one say – unresolved even at this late stage - demonstrating the uncertain hand that hovers over almost every page of the play. Where my earlier letter regarding Mr. Pinter's play quite properly pointed out the clarity of purpose and intent of the work, the simmering sexuality of the ensemble, here instead we have......what? I see only confusion, a narrator so unsure of himself that he keeps changing from one character to another, and conceit.........what conceit. To dare to write a passage purporting to be penned by the Bard himself.......something not even his contemporaries felt able to do, is arrogance enough. But to imagine himself to be a dead brother, whose very existence is doubted by the theatrical cognoscenti (amongst whom I may number my goodself), this is rank impudence.
I have also scoured the piece for any sign of sexual symbolism, something which has remained close to my heart, and elsewhere, for many years. There is none. I can only imagine how you, a director of such upright standing, must feel attempting to erect a play with a complete absence of sexual symbolism, at your advanced age.
I could go on.
However.
Please be kind enough to respond point by point at your earliest opportunity.
Yours in thespian brotherhood,
Martin Lipson
(aged 66)
A LETTER FROM MARTIN LIPSON TO SIR PETER HALL
Sir Peter Hall,
Director,
c/o The Home for Aged Thespians,
Common Lane,
Aylesbury
Bucks
SH11TSR November 16th 2013
Dear Sir Peter,
I do hope you won't mind me writing to you again.
When I heard you were planning to come out of retirement to direct Brian Lipson in his new play, I felt that I had no option other than to write to you with my analysis of this pretentious new piece.
You will of course have realised, now that you have started working with Brian, that my earlier letter (dated 16th August 1965) was in fact entirely written by myself, and not as it might have seemed from the joint signatures, a collaborative work by the two of us. I am certain that you will have noticed, now that you have started working with him, that Brian's powers of analysis are – shall we say - wanting, and it was of course yours truly that took pity on him and allowed his signature to appear at the foot of my letter alongside my own. We both know, do we not, that authorship is a serious matter, and I'm sure you will understand my wishing to set the record straight. Indeed it may come as a relief to you after all these years during which no doubt you have been puzzling over the matter.
Before turning to my critique of the piece, may I be allowed to express my surprise at your choice of playwright to work with in what may in fact turn out to be your very last Act of Directing. Now that you are in your 90s, your health must come first, and the stress that you must inevitably be encountering attempting to direct my poor cousin into some form of cohesion can only shorten your illustrious life. I can not be alone in wishing that you had chosen either to go down more quietly, resting on your not inconsiderable laurels, or if not, with a bang. This choice can only be, to put it at its best, a whimper.
I do not want you to think, incidentally, that my feelings are in any way influenced by your curt refusal in 1981 to take up the position of Guest Director of the Steeple Aston Players' annual festival, a decision which I am sure you have since regretted, knowing as you must do that the Players, under my guidance, won the coveted National Village Players of the Year Award in both 1982 and 2012, against stiff competition from the other village.
Now, turning to “Edmund the Beginning”.
Well, honestly, where should I begin? The title? Or titles, should one say – unresolved even at this late stage - demonstrating the uncertain hand that hovers over almost every page of the play. Where my earlier letter regarding Mr. Pinter's play quite properly pointed out the clarity of purpose and intent of the work, the simmering sexuality of the ensemble, here instead we have......what? I see only confusion, a narrator so unsure of himself that he keeps changing from one character to another, and conceit.........what conceit. To dare to write a passage purporting to be penned by the Bard himself.......something not even his contemporaries felt able to do, is arrogance enough. But to imagine himself to be a dead brother, whose very existence is doubted by the theatrical cognoscenti (amongst whom I may number my goodself), this is rank impudence.
I have also scoured the piece for any sign of sexual symbolism, something which has remained close to my heart, and elsewhere, for many years. There is none. I can only imagine how you, a director of such upright standing, must feel attempting to erect a play with a complete absence of sexual symbolism, at your advanced age.
I could go on.
However.
Please be kind enough to respond point by point at your earliest opportunity.
Yours in thespian brotherhood,
Martin Lipson
(aged 66)