Actor Kate Kendall (Neighbours, Stingers) will take to the stage at RMIT Gallery in a production based on Marguerite Duras' novel, The Lover.
Kendall will be reprising her role in the play, based on the novel about a young girl's affair with an older man. Kendall's performance in the 2007 Stork Theatre production was hailed as being "forged in erotic fire", which is a dignified way of saying a lot of theatregoers got a lot of boners in 2007.
This time around, the play is part of an exhibition, Peter Corrigan: Cities Of Hope, which features a raised, boxed-in stage that appears to have floated in from another planet. Constructed for the Corrigan exhibition, it reflects the humour that Corrigan, an architect and set designer, is known for. In fact, it was Corrigan — a notorious provocateur — who insisted Kendall reprise her role.
RMIT Gallery Director Suzanne Davies believes a university art gallery is the perfect venue for the performance.
"In the context of Duras' novel, Kendall's nakedness in front of a live audience will reveal a layer of vulnerability and the hidden, secret desires of the story that cuts across sexual and racial boundaries," she said.
"Within the context of Corrigan's own architectural drawings and vast personal art collection, the obvious references to an artist laying their work and life bare before an audience are given added poignancy."
Director Greg Carroll agrees, stating that he's excited to restage The Lover on Corrigan's stage within the exhibition.
"Corrigan is an artist first, and his vision is an artist's vision, whether it is for a set or a building," he said.
"Duras was an absolutely fearless writer of truth and staggering beauty. She broke a lot of boundaries — she had balls. This production follows in those footsteps."
