In a 2-hour performance with George acting as narrator, playing the piano and giving an audio visual presentation made up of family photographs, documentary pictures (Cuba) and newspaper clippings, George takes the audience on a roller-coaster ride which starts in Cuba and ends in Sydney and keeps it spellbound.
All the material in the play is factual and is based on George's relationship with his father.
The director and co-writer of the play is Mark Winters.
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| From the Director |
"My Father's Hands" is an epic 'storytelling show'. It traces comedian
George Smilovoci's father's journey from wartime Romania to British
Palestine to Cuba and onto Australia, and in particular the eastern
suburbs of sydney, where once more he has to make a new life for
himself.
George was five when they fled Cuba after Fidel Castro and Che
Guevarra's socialist revolution transformed the country. George's
father was a pianist, composer, artist, chef - a handsome and
charismatic man who had the ability to make something from nothing
wherever he went.
Indeed, like many European Jews of his generation,
the ability to start again, and making something from nothing was a
prerequisite for survival. Children of our generation, baby boomers
like George, often say how difficult it was for them to grow up in the
shadow of the those incredible achievements and tales of survival.
This was because they grew up up in post-war Australia where life was
so easy going - more so on the beaches of Sydney.
And this becomes the great family dilemma and what's at the heart of
the show- how do people of George's generation speak to their parents
generation, what language do they use, what shared experiences do they
have? And the sad and mad ways they have of attempting this is what
makes the show tragically funny.
It's a tale of what the shrinks call
'transgenerational haunting' - you can be sure every family has their
own version of it. But what makes the show so uplifting is that it is
written and performed without sentiment or pity, no good guys and no
bad guys - just the pathos of life and love.
The show is a great look at the postwar migrant experience, but in
particular the journey of european jews in Australia. It offers
insights into their relationship with their baby boomer kids - from the
history of wartime Europe, growing up jewish in 60's and seventies
Australia, how comedians became today's modern philosophers and of
course, the real story behind those Che Guevarra T-shirts.
And it's all
done to the accompaniment of beautiful music throughout, georgeous
lighting, and extraordinary black and white photo images from George's
father's photo archives. It's a journey which gives people 'emotional
room to move', as it were, to explore their own lives, the times they
live in and hopefully to understand the experiences, the lives and
loves of those who came before them." |
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| From George |
Two years ago I began to write my father's story...I thought it was funny HOW EVERYBODY was WALKING AROUND WEARING CHE Guevara T SHIRTS, listening to CUBAN music, dancing to Cuban rhythms.
Now it's the MOTOR CYCLE DIARIES, Che lives!....well, the truth is I was ACTUALLY THERE WHEN CHE WAS COMING INTO HAVANA with Fidel Castro. Had the Cuban revolution not happened I'd probably be still in Cuba today.
My father was a musician in the Cuba of those days, he ran a hot club called L'Atelier. His journey to Cuba had begun in his native Romania and onto war torn Palestine.
My earliest memories are the sounds of him practicing with his band in our house with musicians some of who now feature in the Buena Vista Social Club...But all that was lost and after a journey through other Latin American countries going the way of revolution we ended up in sixties Australia.
And so began a whole other story about family , about starting over so many times that family madness is the end result.
Turning to comedy, well that was my survival story.
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Venue:
Phoenix Theatre
101 Glenhuntly Rd., Elwood (03) 9531 9566
Melway Map 67 B3
Dates:
September 27, 28, 29 and October 1, 2 @ 8pm
Tickets:
$25
Purchase tickets from:
Makor Library (03) 9272 5611
Sunflower Bookshop (03) 9523 6405
NCJW (03) 9523 0535
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| Enquiries: Mark Silver Mob 0411 876 695 Esther (03) 9528 2368 |
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