Sara Hardy Writes

Greetings – and especial thanks to my Followers for joining me on this journey. Much appreciated! Here’s the first of occasional updates regarding my ‘Debut Novel’ and its journey toward publication (one way or another). My novel is called Cecilia’s Hatbox and follows the life of Cecilia Toris through the 20th century. Her adventures are set against the rise of Communism, Fascism and budding Gay Liberation, with the backdrop of London, Weimar Berlin and Melbourne. The novel draws on the real lives of lesbians of the time – from Dolly Wilde (Oscar’s niece) to Margareta Webber (of Melbourne bookshop fame). Cecilia’s Hatbox  is a bold, sexy antidote to Radclyffe Hall’s doom-laden Sapphic novel,  The Well of Loneliness , famously banned as obscene in 1928 – a novel that becomes a touchstone throughout Cecilia’s life. The Tricky Navigation... These days a Debut Novelist needs a Literary Agent to pick the locks of all those closed Publisher’s gates forbidding...

Cameron Woodhead in The Age today gives The Ghetto Cabaret four stars **** He says Evelyn Krape, as the MC in dusty tux promises to make us laugh and cry. He says, 'it might be Krape's finest hour: whether she's crooning through a megaphone or lighting up comedy routines, she's a commanding presence.' Hear, hear! (- though I'd add her finest hour may well be her one-woman performance in  Female Parts ). Woodhead says ' The Ghetto Cabaret doesn't turn it's eye from the darkest material, and flows with artistry that entertains and moves, doing justice to the memory of the Holocaust and the spirit of the Jewish culture that survives and transcends it.' [production photo by Jeff Busby] Here's a reprise of my recent review of this terrific show: Last Sunday night we saw  The Ghetto Cabaret  created by Galit Klas and directed by Gary Abrahams. This is a fortyfive downstairs production in collaboration with Kadimah Yiddish Theatre. Prov...

Three good pieces of theatre in the last four weeks - all seen at fortyfive downstairs , Flinders Lane, Melbourne. An unusual production of A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf was   presented by Sentient Theatre - it's an adaptation of Woolf's lectures given to the women of Cambridge University in 1928. Somewhat surprisingly, this production had a cast of four, three women and one man. Each was an aspect of Virginia's argument. They tossed Woolf's ideas around the space, challenging each other with her witty, literary, feminist teasings. It took a while to get used to four voices, but it worked, cleverly keeping the pace of Woolf's playful propositions afloat - though not always tapping into her mischievous wit. This production is going on regional tour - do see it - the ideas are as fresh as they were when Virginia Woolf first penned them - which does not say much for the progress of women's place in society. It's good to see Virginia Woolf...