June 22. Day 173. Life imitating art

Okay, disclosure. Half of these photos were taken yesterday. But yesterday my focus was clearly on the once in a lifetime balloon trip over the Gold Coast hinterland. My brain and my blog has no room to process any more than that. But you know what it's like? You can wait two hours for a bus only to have three come at once or your only six social invitations for the year are all for events on the one night? Life is a bit it never rains but it pours. Today was a bit like that. Balloon ride in the morning. Theatre in the evening. Anyway this is my Project 365 so I will do with it as I please. The rules are one photo a day for a year. Now clearly there is always more than one photo a day and the year was up on December 30, 2012. I'm not much one for following rules. So if as well as today's photos I choose to mix in a gallery from yesterday this is my right. I call it art with nature photos from today strategically selected to mimic theatrical photos from yesterday. Let's call it overachieving rather than cheating. It sounds much nicer.

City of Angels by Beenleigh Theatre Group

The play within a play is a dramatic device used so frequently it has almost become cliched. Shakespeare used it (at least three times in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Love's Labours Lost, and Hamlet) and so have countless others since. A movie within a play is a variation on the theme which runs the risk of being same but different. City of Angels is anything but. in the play we have an author whose novel is being turned into a Hollywood blockbuster with all the trimmings of film noir - guns, dames and hats. His colourful life is reflected in the lighting, the costumes and the characters. The film scenes are all black and white like the films of the period. Clever both artistically and as a visual clue to where we are as the cast slide between play and film. Throw in a revolving set that moves through three different scenes and accommodates oh so many prop changes. It is extremely ambitious. But no amount of clever lighting, costuming or set design is worth a cent if the script, acting, musicians and score aren't up to the task. Fortunately this production excelled in these areas too. It was a rollicking good time from beginning to end. Do you want to see or movie or a play? why don't we have both? 
City of Angels continues at the Beenleigh Theatre Group's Crete Street Theatre until July 8. You can hear our podcast here.