Fiona Macleod By Catherine Watson
MID-WINTER readings have been a feature of local life since 2010, when local theatre director and writer Gill Heal decided we needed something to lighten the winter gloom.
Twice a year since then, some 60-70 people have braved the winter chill to come together and share the pleasures of listening to skilled readers bring the written word alive.
MID-WINTER readings have been a feature of local life since 2010, when local theatre director and writer Gill Heal decided we needed something to lighten the winter gloom.
Twice a year since then, some 60-70 people have braved the winter chill to come together and share the pleasures of listening to skilled readers bring the written word alive.
The event started in the dining room of the Royal Mail Hotel in Archies Creek but became so popular that it was moved to the roomier Old Dalyston Deli in late 2012.
The catering is modest but excellent (dips, soup and bread), the wine flows freely, and the readings are by some of the best in the business.
More than 40 readers have shown their skill over the six years of the winter readings. Well known actor/readers include David Tredinnick, best known for his role as bar owner Simon Trader in the television series The Secret Life of Us; Francis Greenslade, sidekick to Shaun McCalleff in Mad As Hell; Bryan Dawe; Rob Meldrum, brother of Molly; Daniela Farinacci, award-winning actor in Lantana and our own highly accomplished Stephanie Daniels, best known for her recordings of the Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries, who read for us every year until she died of cancer two years ago.
Gill says what impresses her most is the commitment and pride the readers bring to their performance of short stories and excerpts from larger works.
“They love to read. Invariably it’s the experience of reading to a rapt audience that they comment on. It’s a long way to come and even longer to drive home but most are really happy to return.”
There was one performer who forgot to turn up. Gill shuffled the readers, but as the night wore on and there was still no sign of him, she rang to check that he hadn’t run off the unfamiliar road in the dark night, his wife answered and said he must have thought the reading was on another night. Gill never heard from him again.
“We were rescued by the magnificent Paul English who just happened to have a spare story and read twice.”
Tickets are $28. Book on 0427 511 507. Tickets must be paid for and collected in the arcade next to The Coffee Collective Cafe, McBride Ave. Wonthaggi 1-3pm on Wednesday, July 29, or 10am-noon on Saturday, August 1.
The catering is modest but excellent (dips, soup and bread), the wine flows freely, and the readings are by some of the best in the business.
More than 40 readers have shown their skill over the six years of the winter readings. Well known actor/readers include David Tredinnick, best known for his role as bar owner Simon Trader in the television series The Secret Life of Us; Francis Greenslade, sidekick to Shaun McCalleff in Mad As Hell; Bryan Dawe; Rob Meldrum, brother of Molly; Daniela Farinacci, award-winning actor in Lantana and our own highly accomplished Stephanie Daniels, best known for her recordings of the Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries, who read for us every year until she died of cancer two years ago.
Gill says what impresses her most is the commitment and pride the readers bring to their performance of short stories and excerpts from larger works.
“They love to read. Invariably it’s the experience of reading to a rapt audience that they comment on. It’s a long way to come and even longer to drive home but most are really happy to return.”
There was one performer who forgot to turn up. Gill shuffled the readers, but as the night wore on and there was still no sign of him, she rang to check that he hadn’t run off the unfamiliar road in the dark night, his wife answered and said he must have thought the reading was on another night. Gill never heard from him again.
“We were rescued by the magnificent Paul English who just happened to have a spare story and read twice.”
Tickets are $28. Book on 0427 511 507. Tickets must be paid for and collected in the arcade next to The Coffee Collective Cafe, McBride Ave. Wonthaggi 1-3pm on Wednesday, July 29, or 10am-noon on Saturday, August 1.