MAN ABOUT TOWN

I've held off from blogging about the mob currently baying for Bill Henson's blood for a variety of reasons, not least because I've been sick since Saturday, the day after this furore erupted (which is also why I haven't blogged about some of the Next Wave shows I saw late last week, though I heop to get around to that later today or tomorrow). Having taken today off work to try and sleep through the worst of my current fog and fever, I thought it due time to catch up with things, Henson included. The other reason I didn't blog about the situation is because I hoped, perhaps foolishly, that it would all blow over quite quickly. Far from it. Instead, it's only spurring on additional attacks on the arts and artists. There are two main points I'm been thinking about as I read the papers in recent days. One being the fact that I feel truly sorry for people who can't seperate nudity from sex - and in this case, sexual abuse of children by adults. There is, ...

Due to the general malaise engendered by my Saturday morning hangover, and sleeping on a mate's couch and not actually waking up until midday, I didn't make it out to North Melbourne Town Hall in time for my 2pm show. Consequently, the first production I saw today wasn't until 7pm... Perth's PVI Collective were back in Melbourne for the second time in as many years with a production called reform ; an interactive work staged live on Swanston Street which explored issues around surveillence and social control. Following a briefing session at North Melbourne Town Hall, the audience were equipped with headphones through which was a live radio broadcast was fed, and escorted out by our guide from the 'Loyal Citizens' Underground' to the tramstop outside. Carefully walking between the lines, and not jaywalking, we crosed the road and awaited the tram - all acting as inconspicuously as possible, which is tricky when you're a group of 20 people wearing identi...