By Melissa McArdle
MELBOURNE — Censorship of the arts has come into the limelight once again with an unprecedented move by a local council to ban a theatrical production.
The Essentials, a play exploring the social backlash against cutbacks made by the state and federal governments to essential public services, was banned by the Port Phillip Council merely weeks before it was to be staged at the Gasworks Theatre in Albert Park. The venue is owned by the local council, who pulled the plug on the production after legal advice claiming the play was defamatory and could expose the council to risk of financial damage.
Writer Stefo Dantous believes the attitude comes from "a general climate of fear" produced by the government's economic rationale and that councillors are frightened to speak out because "if you stick your head out it might get kicked in".
"The play is very much about people being shut down, being thrown into the deep end and having to deal with their essential living standards being changed", says Dantous. The pervading pressure on people is the main theme running through the play. "In effect we wanted a three-tiered look at powerlessness; a domestic powerlessness through the eyes of a woman living with domestic violence; occupational powerlessness through the eyes of a bloke working in the ambulance service; and against that, the backdrop of the rapid shift in the community, using the last five years in Victoria where these events are occurring", Dantous said.
This brave narrative came from nine months of interviewing Victorians and discussing the social implications of the privatisation and restructuring of services.
The council were present at many of the public readings of the play and four months of workshops at the Gasworks Theatre. It was only in the final weeks that it moved to censor the company and denied the production the use of the council-owned venue.
The council claimed that it had rejected an "application to perform", even though it had allowed the company to book the venue months before and had been involved in the production's development by providing office space at the theatre.
The council claimed that it had sought legal advice on the issue and believed that the play was defamatory, but this advice has not been made available to the production company. Fear of prosecution and prompting from other organisations caused The Essentials' company to also obtain legal advice — they were informed that there was "no appreciable risk of litigation".
Dantous says that rather than "single out one councillor or any part of the council by saying 'that's the bad apple' ... it's more a sign of the times".
On April 18, a meeting was called at Trades Hall, whose council is presently at loggerheads with the state government regarding financial cutbacks. Representatives from the ambulance service, domestic violence support groups, members of Trades Hall Council, the media and the general public gathered to express their support for The Essentials. It was announced that the production will be staged under the eves of Trades Hall itself.
Dantous says: "It feels like we are back in time 100 years, when Trades Hall really was a safe haven for lots of working-class people, people from the arts, people who were considered outsiders or anarchists.
"[Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary] Leigh Hubbard is conscious of having something in his halls that is controversial, but the fact that the performance is able to be staged so soon after we were ousted has really pulled a lot of people out of the fire in terms of commitment to the project, as well as enabling us to recover from the blow of being banned."
In the current climate, the threat of litigation is another stand over tactic used to silence the community's real sentiments about what is occurring politically. The art world is one of the few remaining mediums for the community to interact and voice its opinions. Show your support by being present at a performance, between Tuesday and Saturday, May 6-17, Trades Hall, corner of Lygon and Victoria Streets.