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<p class=MsoNormal>Dear Showtuners, <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>I am very excited about the recent developments with
Showtune Productions and our alignment with Diane Cilento. Diane has become a
great teacher for me, and I am very excited about where we are going with our
alignment. I have always been attracted to UNIQUE venues, with my five
years at THE KIRK in Surry Hills and all those mad kabarett venues after
that. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>To now be involved with a venue like KARNAK and to be in a
place like the Daintree Rainforest is something else, the vision that Diane and
Tony have for this place is something the arts community should embrace 100%. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>I just love the concept of going back to the roots of our
artform, I actually already practised it in Showtune’s work. I took the
entire team for the original Hedwig to Katoomba and created it at The
Clarendon, all staying in the one place and creating with no outside
distractions. So when the opportunity came up to start Hedwig this time in a
similar fashion I jumped at it, then I started to realise Diane and my philosophy
on our craft was VERY aligned and the plot thickened. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>I thought it would be nice to share the media release with
our list as this is pretty special, and it WILL give birth to some wonderful
stuff that I can bring to my old hometown of SYDNEY. Plus now all our artists
can experience what a select few have had the fortune of already experiencing,
creating and performing in a totally eco environment.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>I must thank LORNA LUFT for insisting we play KARNAK on her tour,
she is friends with Diane and had been to KARNAK and knew I would fall in love
with it as she had. Below the release are a few pix of Karnak, and
one of Diane, Jeanie Pratt and I, as a funny thing happened the other day I was
in Port Douglas and Jeanie Pratt was sitting at a cafe on the main strip, we recognised
each other and said hi and I arranged to meet and then yesterday she came to
see KARNAK and met Diane. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>It is an amazing journey we have both embarked on filled
with lots of magic and love for our art form. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Sincerely<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>David Hawkins<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%'>Diane
Cilento and David Hawkins
present
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:22.0pt;line-height:115%'>A NEW
MOVEMENT IN AUSTRALIAN THEATRE<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%'>Two
Australian performers have united and are joining forces with their unique
resources. Tony Award winning and Academy Award nominated Australian legend <b>DIANE
CILENTO</b> with her 200 Acre property and theatre <b>KARNAK</b> in the
Daintree Rainforest, and <b>DAVID HAWKINS</b> artistic director of Helpmann
Award, Sydney Theatre Critic Award and Green Room Award winning maverick music
theatre company <b>SHOWTUNE PRODUCTIONS</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%'>LIVE theatre
is the most ancient of rituals dating back to the beginning of man, theatre as
we know it today had its birth with the Greek Theatre. Early Greek
theatre was a month long excursion, they used to gather a troop of players and
all go to a UNIQUE, often beautiful natural amphitheatre in the outdoors. The
players would set up camp and get to work constructing, rehearsing and
discussing their performance. The audience would then be invited to this
beautiful magical place and be entertained.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%'>LIVE theatre
will always remain no matter what new fad is placed in society, it is live now
and in the moment, audience and players are united in the ritual together and
no night is ever the same. Theatre is constantly going through changes
and new eras and more and more the commercial theatre moves away from the roots
and creation of the art form/ritual of theatre. Often its creators wonder
bemused at the demise or lack lustre response to a show when placed in front of
an audience (even shows that have had multi millions thrown at them). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%'>In the
commercial age we live in it is becoming harder and harder for theatre
(especially music theatre) to be adventurous and exciting in its creation and
choices. Therefore audiences and artists are missing wonderful opportunities to
explore the art form and help it grow to exciting heights of enjoyment and
entertainment. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%'>Cilento and
Hawkins found a common ground on their philosophy during a recent tour of LORNA
LUFT in May when Showtune presented Luft at KARNAK. Immediately the two
recognised the serendipity of their meeting and since that time have been
working towards a common goal of invigorating the Australian cultural landscape
with a fresh new concept for our artists.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%'>Showtune
Productions will program the cabaret and concert seasons each year during May
and November at KARNAK with Cilento, and each year we will create a new theatre
production at KARNAK uniquely housing an entire company in one of the four
houses on the property before it tours the nation. Not only does this
assist with living away costs that normally cripples budgets, but it will
enable the creative’s and artists to be in a wonderful inspiring eco
location to create a WHOLE experience that is totally in touch with nature and
back to roots of humanity and our ritual of theatre. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%'>KARNAK was
created by Diane Cilento and her late husband the playwright Tony Shaffer
(Sleuth), the vision always for KARNAK was for it to be a place to nurture new
work before it was presented to the world at large with a huge wink to our
Greek ancestors. Since its official opening in 1992 it has played host to many
international and local artists and many plays have been written at KARNAK by
such writers as TONY SHAFFER, and MICHAEL GOW. Michael Gow dedicated his most
recent play ‘Toy Soldier’ to KARNAK “For Diane and the WHOLE
idea of Karnak, where this was written”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%'>The theatre
piece for 2008 will be the remounting of the hugely successful and critically
acclaimed <b>HEDWIG and the ANGRY INCH</b> in September, with a new cast and
our original creative team the show will then move to the Cremorne Theatre,
QPAC Brisbane. A series of concerts of both international and local artists
will be announced in late July. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%'>Cilento and
Hawkins are now pulling all their resources together in the arts industry and
community to ensure seasons for the next three years are secured. Rights to the
2009 theatre piece have been secured to a very exciting new Australian
production of a forgotten cutting edge musical from the 1950’s that will
be announced later this year.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%'><img
width=783 height=588 id="Picture_x0020_0"
src="cid:image001.jpg@01C8E160.75355A80" alt="camera 117.JPG"></span><span
style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%'><img
width=783 height=588 id="Picture_x0020_1"
src="cid:image003.jpg@01C8E160.75355A80" alt="camera 120.JPG"></span><span
style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%'><img
width=783 height=588 id="Picture_x0020_3"
src="cid:image009.jpg@01C8E160.75355A80" alt="camera 136.JPG"></span><span
style='font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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