Theatre’s mixed bag of artists

 

DALIA SABLE

COMMITTED to bringing different people from varied art forms together in the name of contemporary theatre, director and performer Deborah Leiser-Moore will host the third Director’s Cut on June 28.

The unique initiative brings together a variety of artistic performances into one act. Organised by Leiser-Moore’s contemporary performance company Tashmadada,¬† Director’s Cut will see six artists from varied disciplines coalesce to perform a short piece.¬†

Performers include Eddie Tamir with a stand-up comedy routine, author Leah Kaminsky reading aloud from her own work and Leiser-Moore herself performing a piece about Jewish women and sex. To add to the mix, an actor, dancer and singer are also lined up to perform.

“The idea [behind] the Director’s Cut is to bring together people from different art forms. What happens naturally, somehow, is that some sort of theme emerges,” Leiser-Moore told The AJN.¬†”It is not an open mic night. It is short, curated pieces worked through with each performer.”¬†The past two Director’s Cut events, which were both held last year, were well attended and received.

“The good thing is there is something for everyone. The pieces are short and there is always a lot of discussion after with people saying what they liked or didn’t like. What everybody liked was that the quality was really high and that the performers are all professionals,” she says.¬†A high-profile performer returning from touring overseas, whose identity Leiser-Moore won’t reveal, has plans to perform a surprise act on the night.

The Director’s Cut is just one aspect of Tashmadada’s “fractured” offering. Leiser-Moore says it was established a few years ago to create a context to bring lots of different types of artists together. Leiser-Moore also focuses on establishing and carrying out international collaborations, with her most recent having been with¬† Israeli playwright Motti Lerner, who came to Australia last year to work with local theatre artists.

Whether it is through international collaborations or working on performances, Leiser-Moore and Tashmadada are committed to telling stories.¬†”I think art is based on personal story. The stories are all human stories formed in different types of ways through song, or dance or performance. These are all people who are doing things in an interesting sort of way.”