Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
Wednesday 23rd March 2011
My first ever mime class this morning! With Andrew teaching. AMAZING. Why didn't we do this at drama school? These skills would give me confidence in self-devised work. We begin with rolling up and down the spine, precisely arriving down or up to counts of 8, 7, 6 decreasing to 2. Also working with breath.
A warm up exercise in a circle: one person runs quickly to another, makes eye contact and jumps together, working again for precision. Another person is added, so that 4 people are now jumping together, using peripheral vision to time the jump exactly. And so on until the whole group is jumping in unison.
Isolation and co-ordination work followed. Moving hands, arms, shoulders in different ways, different directions, different speeds. Try flapping one hand up from your side to above your head, while you shake the other hand from above your head, down to your waist. Lots of giggling. But also incredible focus from the cast. And me!
Working with stop point, or suspension. I loved the idea that you enjoy the journey before coming to a stop-point or suspension. As opposed to pushing and forcing to the stop, which in me, often caused a little rebound of energy. Some of these moves were like a refined, healthy version of some of my best efforts on the dance floor.
FLYING: a rotation of the shoulders, elbows, wrists, keeping the elbows up as the hands mover through 'shell', 'claw' and 'flower'.
WATER RIPPLES: more flow and smaller movements through the arms and hands.
ROPE-PULLING: too complicated to explain the hands crossing over and weight shifting... I'm just going to have to practice this one to remember!
After movement class, we did a full read of the pre-edited text Dion had found online, that was correlating with the cuts Dion and I had been making independently. It was a slow read, but the precision was preferable to rushing through as it was clear the actors were alive in thought, though struggling with some of the phrasing. I had made a point of stressing the lack of performance-obligation in the first read, and it was encouraging to witness this professional and curious approach. Smart actors. Brilliant.
After lunch we began table-work, continuing to whittle the play down as we went, moving through the text scene by scene with the actors, aiming for total understanding, and a clear reading of each scene for sense. I love this work - glossary and dictionary out, and the pure joy of discovery and knowledge. Thank you Shakespeare for the most beautiful expressions of thought and character, such richness in layers, wit and filth. This is brain heaven for me. In no other mental pursuit am I so consistently engaged and inspired. ...Aside from lengthy discussions with my girlfriends about how we can fix each other's career and relationship dilemmas, of course.
A warm up exercise in a circle: one person runs quickly to another, makes eye contact and jumps together, working again for precision. Another person is added, so that 4 people are now jumping together, using peripheral vision to time the jump exactly. And so on until the whole group is jumping in unison.
Isolation and co-ordination work followed. Moving hands, arms, shoulders in different ways, different directions, different speeds. Try flapping one hand up from your side to above your head, while you shake the other hand from above your head, down to your waist. Lots of giggling. But also incredible focus from the cast. And me!
Working with stop point, or suspension. I loved the idea that you enjoy the journey before coming to a stop-point or suspension. As opposed to pushing and forcing to the stop, which in me, often caused a little rebound of energy. Some of these moves were like a refined, healthy version of some of my best efforts on the dance floor.
FLYING: a rotation of the shoulders, elbows, wrists, keeping the elbows up as the hands mover through 'shell', 'claw' and 'flower'.
WATER RIPPLES: more flow and smaller movements through the arms and hands.
ROPE-PULLING: too complicated to explain the hands crossing over and weight shifting... I'm just going to have to practice this one to remember!
After movement class, we did a full read of the pre-edited text Dion had found online, that was correlating with the cuts Dion and I had been making independently. It was a slow read, but the precision was preferable to rushing through as it was clear the actors were alive in thought, though struggling with some of the phrasing. I had made a point of stressing the lack of performance-obligation in the first read, and it was encouraging to witness this professional and curious approach. Smart actors. Brilliant.
After lunch we began table-work, continuing to whittle the play down as we went, moving through the text scene by scene with the actors, aiming for total understanding, and a clear reading of each scene for sense. I love this work - glossary and dictionary out, and the pure joy of discovery and knowledge. Thank you Shakespeare for the most beautiful expressions of thought and character, such richness in layers, wit and filth. This is brain heaven for me. In no other mental pursuit am I so consistently engaged and inspired. ...Aside from lengthy discussions with my girlfriends about how we can fix each other's career and relationship dilemmas, of course.
Monday 21st March 2011
Today I was invited to lunch with the director, Dion Van Niekerk. As it was a public holiday (Human Rights Day, soon, hopefully to become a world-wide Anti-Racism Day) many places were closed, so Dion generously offered to make lunch for me. I took a couple of mini bottles of wine courtesy of Qantas, and we drank and ate and spent a number of hours chatting enthusiastically, getting to know each other and sharing our ideas for Romeo and Juliet. We discussed casting ideas, design concepts, rehearsal hours, rehearsal modes, approaches to vocalising and physicalising the text, and practical issues such as the logistics of touring the show to the various school festivals.
I learnt that I will be traveling across the country with the cast which is very exciting news - from KwaZulu-Natal (where Durban is) to the North West Schools festival, Mafikeng. I am quite thrilled that I will get to see more of South Africa through the very-legit excuse of being on the job! Dion addressed the impact that touring has on our design limitations, but after seeing 'Door', I'm confident our designer Barati, is up for the challenge. Dion also has a background in design.
One of the less welcome pieces of information is that our show is only to be 1 hour in length. I thought we had an hour and a half! I can already feel the trauma of cutting more of Shakespeare's beautiful words.
It was particularly interesting to me to learn that not one of the 6 actors in the company is an English as first language speaker. The mother tongue of the actors is predominantly Xhosa, with one Zulu and one Afrikaans speaker in the mix. Dion informed me that the differing vowel sounds in the African languages actually means that some English sounds are not in the daily repertoire of these performers. In talking of the first folio and long spellings revealing elongated pronunciation of words, Dion responded: "How do you get an actor to extend a vowel sound when he has never made that sound before in his life?" Good question. But more-so than concern, I think bi-lingual actors are an asset to a production which aims to reach a wide cultural spectrum, and this is one of the main reasons I am here to investigate Shakespeare in community theatre. The impact on the actors' exploration of Shakespeare's language, and how we exploit this multi-lingual talent base are all things to unearth over the coming weeks. I sent an email to Dion a few weeks back, explaining how a multi-lingual Shakespeare production was one of the motivators for my Churchill fellowship application. The following is what I emailed him:
On a different note... a moral issue was raised for me today: I have a sneaking suspicion that despite being informed by Janet and myself of my veganism, Dion served me a lunch with animal ingredients. (I know that to vegan new-comers, the mistakes are easily made, so this is forgivable and in no-way a judgement on Dion!) After his elaborate preparation, I didn't have the heart to question the make up of the chick-pea pancakes. I ate one, out of a politeness and manners which Jonathan Saffron Foer describes as the "fellowship of the table" - our community spirit and love of sharing food and conversation with friends and family as a daily ritual, integral to our humanity. The dining table is a place where we share stories. A hub of communication. In kitchens around the world this fellowship of the table is 'justification' for unconscious compliance with the vastly unethical and inhumane practice of factory farming (no one can successfully rebut the last 8 words, they are FACT, only to be acknowledged or ignored as you wish).... But enough of my rant, though it is my blog, so there.
But how do I shift my mind set to make my values as important as my relationships and to turn the conversation to one of connection rather than compliance... without seeming rude or ungrateful? I'm going to be strong in resolve for future such encounters. I hope it's the last time I compromise my fundamental beliefs for ingrained manners.*
I don't want to lose my vegan super(iority)-powers :)
* I'm not ruling out the hopeful possibility that the pancakes were made with soy milk and egg-replacer!
I learnt that I will be traveling across the country with the cast which is very exciting news - from KwaZulu-Natal (where Durban is) to the North West Schools festival, Mafikeng. I am quite thrilled that I will get to see more of South Africa through the very-legit excuse of being on the job! Dion addressed the impact that touring has on our design limitations, but after seeing 'Door', I'm confident our designer Barati, is up for the challenge. Dion also has a background in design.
One of the less welcome pieces of information is that our show is only to be 1 hour in length. I thought we had an hour and a half! I can already feel the trauma of cutting more of Shakespeare's beautiful words.
It was particularly interesting to me to learn that not one of the 6 actors in the company is an English as first language speaker. The mother tongue of the actors is predominantly Xhosa, with one Zulu and one Afrikaans speaker in the mix. Dion informed me that the differing vowel sounds in the African languages actually means that some English sounds are not in the daily repertoire of these performers. In talking of the first folio and long spellings revealing elongated pronunciation of words, Dion responded: "How do you get an actor to extend a vowel sound when he has never made that sound before in his life?" Good question. But more-so than concern, I think bi-lingual actors are an asset to a production which aims to reach a wide cultural spectrum, and this is one of the main reasons I am here to investigate Shakespeare in community theatre. The impact on the actors' exploration of Shakespeare's language, and how we exploit this multi-lingual talent base are all things to unearth over the coming weeks. I sent an email to Dion a few weeks back, explaining how a multi-lingual Shakespeare production was one of the motivators for my Churchill fellowship application. The following is what I emailed him:
In 2007 in Stratford Upon Avon, I saw the RSC's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Tim Supple and performed by Indian and Sri Lankan actors and physical theatre artists. The text was played in 7 different Indian languages amongst the dominant English. I was unable to understand the foreign languages, however followed the story easily through the highly physical storytelling and expression. I saw the show with a group of 5 other people I had met in the ticket line, a couple of whom were completely unfamiliar with the play or story. They also followed the plot and characters with ease. The show was utterly alive, playful, cheeky, rollicking, silly, sexy, and dangerous all at once. It was the only play I have ever witnessed a leaping standing ovation for - at the show's conclusion, the ENTIRE audience leapt to their feet in unison to applaud the show. It was this energy, the physicality and playfulness of that production, that inspired me to explore a more physical and culturally expansive approach to Shakespeare, hence working with Ubom!
On a different note... a moral issue was raised for me today: I have a sneaking suspicion that despite being informed by Janet and myself of my veganism, Dion served me a lunch with animal ingredients. (I know that to vegan new-comers, the mistakes are easily made, so this is forgivable and in no-way a judgement on Dion!) After his elaborate preparation, I didn't have the heart to question the make up of the chick-pea pancakes. I ate one, out of a politeness and manners which Jonathan Saffron Foer describes as the "fellowship of the table" - our community spirit and love of sharing food and conversation with friends and family as a daily ritual, integral to our humanity. The dining table is a place where we share stories. A hub of communication. In kitchens around the world this fellowship of the table is 'justification' for unconscious compliance with the vastly unethical and inhumane practice of factory farming (no one can successfully rebut the last 8 words, they are FACT, only to be acknowledged or ignored as you wish).... But enough of my rant, though it is my blog, so there.
But how do I shift my mind set to make my values as important as my relationships and to turn the conversation to one of connection rather than compliance... without seeming rude or ungrateful? I'm going to be strong in resolve for future such encounters. I hope it's the last time I compromise my fundamental beliefs for ingrained manners.*
I don't want to lose my vegan super(iority)-powers :)
* I'm not ruling out the hopeful possibility that the pancakes were made with soy milk and egg-replacer!
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Tuesday 22nd March 2011
First day with the cast. We met at the Masonic Hall, which is to be our rehearsal space for the next two months due to lack of space at Rhodes -a problem the world over? We began with introductions and I got to know a little about Thami, Sisonke, Ilana, Nox, Tshego and Thamba (probably incorrect spelling of these mostly much-abbreviated names). I made a point of repeating the names back to each actor in an effort to learn the correct pronunciation. Nox took great delight in saying her full name followed by a big grin in anticipation of my sorry attempt to repeat it.
The magnificent plan that Dion had concocted to watch two movie versions of Romeo and Juliet as a gentle easing into the project was seeming thwarted by the power blackout that began the night before and was continuing with no approximate time to be rectified. (Andrew explained that after' 94 - the end of apartheid- the towns expanded and number of people using electricity increased, yet rather than building new power stations, the power became more widely distributed. As a result, blackouts became fairly frequent and in some cases deliberate, with public announcements of ordained times. But this one was unexpected). We had heard that power was on at Rhodes so wandered the 10 minutes up to the Drama department, only to discover no power. While we re-thunk, the power flickered on, only to black out again before we had even re-grouped.
Returning to plan A, we walked down the hill again towards Dion's place. The 8 of us huddled in Dion's lounge room around my laptop which was perched on a chair. By Act 2 of the somewhat tedious 70's version, the power finally returned and we shifted our viewing to the large (ex-Rhodes) projection screen. A long couple of hours, even for the most ardent Shakespeare fan. Fortunately, chips, sweets and softdrinks got us through to the end. Little comment from the actors on what they had seen. A bit of giggling at the hammy acting. A silent patient tension and curiosity over which role they are to be cast in. Lunch break in the garden and on to Baz. Lights, volume, pace and colour lifted the energy of the group, and not a break all the way through. Complete engagement. Yet I was the only one crying at the end of the film. Again.
Afterwards a discussion of what was enjoyed and why, leading into a sharing of ideas for our own version. Some ideas we are tossing about:
-that the play (Shakespeare's moral revision of the original Italian story), reveals less to us about young love than it does about the futility of our "ancient grudge"s.
-looking at tribal division, the city/rural divide/ xenophobia from the mass Zimbabwe immigration.
-soldiers in the township, taxi violence, and the tradition of violence without question.
-hip-hop vs pantzula dancing street groups
-traditional vs modernised ideas (children vs parents?) - one of the actors told the story of some people in townships, continuing their tradition of animal slaughtering out the front of their homes, and their neighbours with modern notions of animal cruelty finding this offensive (that's a tough one!)
-using the actors to create scenes, eg the balcony, so it can move, it is alive and responds: looks to the audience in cahoots, shakes head at Romeo, moves him farther away when he tries to kiss Juliet etc.
-elements of technology, to engage the student audiences eg. facebook, twitter, skype.
...perhaps Friar John can't deliver the letter to Romeo because the power is out? Or the network down?
There is a wonderful Anne Frank diary entry that I believe is especially relevant for our locally-flavoured version of the play. I came upon it in the program for the 1993 Queensland Theatre Company production of Romeo and Juliet (the beginning of my serious love affair with Shakespeare):
"Anyone who claims that the older ones have a more difficult time here certainly don't realize to what extent our problems weigh down on us, problems for which we are probably much too young, but which thrust themselves upon us continually, until, after a long time, we think we've found a solution, but the solution doesn't seem to be able to resist the facts which reduce it to nothing again. That's the difficulty in these times: Ideals, dreams, and cherished hopes rise within us, only to meet the horrible truth and be shattered".
Anne Frank was Juliet's age when she wrote this.
After the cast left, Dion and I had a meeting with our designer/stage manager Barati, a tall gorgeous Botswanian woman. Although Dion comes from a design background himself, he was careful to leave ideas and images open to allow Barati's own inspiration. Can't wait to see what she comes up with - she's a stylish woman! (I want to find earrings like hers, and chop off all my hair again...)
Barati gave me a lift home to a delicious vego meal made by Andrew and a couple of glasses of a tasty South African pinotage. I am fast learning that I should blog immediately when I get home when I am bounding with energy and inspired and before the pinotage and exhaustion kicks in.
Hayfever is CRAZY here. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the wine or weimeraners.
The magnificent plan that Dion had concocted to watch two movie versions of Romeo and Juliet as a gentle easing into the project was seeming thwarted by the power blackout that began the night before and was continuing with no approximate time to be rectified. (Andrew explained that after' 94 - the end of apartheid- the towns expanded and number of people using electricity increased, yet rather than building new power stations, the power became more widely distributed. As a result, blackouts became fairly frequent and in some cases deliberate, with public announcements of ordained times. But this one was unexpected). We had heard that power was on at Rhodes so wandered the 10 minutes up to the Drama department, only to discover no power. While we re-thunk, the power flickered on, only to black out again before we had even re-grouped.
Returning to plan A, we walked down the hill again towards Dion's place. The 8 of us huddled in Dion's lounge room around my laptop which was perched on a chair. By Act 2 of the somewhat tedious 70's version, the power finally returned and we shifted our viewing to the large (ex-Rhodes) projection screen. A long couple of hours, even for the most ardent Shakespeare fan. Fortunately, chips, sweets and softdrinks got us through to the end. Little comment from the actors on what they had seen. A bit of giggling at the hammy acting. A silent patient tension and curiosity over which role they are to be cast in. Lunch break in the garden and on to Baz. Lights, volume, pace and colour lifted the energy of the group, and not a break all the way through. Complete engagement. Yet I was the only one crying at the end of the film. Again.
Afterwards a discussion of what was enjoyed and why, leading into a sharing of ideas for our own version. Some ideas we are tossing about:
-that the play (Shakespeare's moral revision of the original Italian story), reveals less to us about young love than it does about the futility of our "ancient grudge"s.
-looking at tribal division, the city/rural divide/ xenophobia from the mass Zimbabwe immigration.
-soldiers in the township, taxi violence, and the tradition of violence without question.
-hip-hop vs pantzula dancing street groups
-traditional vs modernised ideas (children vs parents?) - one of the actors told the story of some people in townships, continuing their tradition of animal slaughtering out the front of their homes, and their neighbours with modern notions of animal cruelty finding this offensive (that's a tough one!)
-using the actors to create scenes, eg the balcony, so it can move, it is alive and responds: looks to the audience in cahoots, shakes head at Romeo, moves him farther away when he tries to kiss Juliet etc.
-elements of technology, to engage the student audiences eg. facebook, twitter, skype.
...perhaps Friar John can't deliver the letter to Romeo because the power is out? Or the network down?
There is a wonderful Anne Frank diary entry that I believe is especially relevant for our locally-flavoured version of the play. I came upon it in the program for the 1993 Queensland Theatre Company production of Romeo and Juliet (the beginning of my serious love affair with Shakespeare):
"Anyone who claims that the older ones have a more difficult time here certainly don't realize to what extent our problems weigh down on us, problems for which we are probably much too young, but which thrust themselves upon us continually, until, after a long time, we think we've found a solution, but the solution doesn't seem to be able to resist the facts which reduce it to nothing again. That's the difficulty in these times: Ideals, dreams, and cherished hopes rise within us, only to meet the horrible truth and be shattered".
Anne Frank was Juliet's age when she wrote this.
After the cast left, Dion and I had a meeting with our designer/stage manager Barati, a tall gorgeous Botswanian woman. Although Dion comes from a design background himself, he was careful to leave ideas and images open to allow Barati's own inspiration. Can't wait to see what she comes up with - she's a stylish woman! (I want to find earrings like hers, and chop off all my hair again...)
Barati gave me a lift home to a delicious vego meal made by Andrew and a couple of glasses of a tasty South African pinotage. I am fast learning that I should blog immediately when I get home when I am bounding with energy and inspired and before the pinotage and exhaustion kicks in.
Hayfever is CRAZY here. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the wine or weimeraners.
Sunday, 20 March 2011
The journey so far...
A shaky start when my alarm didn't go off at the set time of 4.30am friday morning (or perhaps I turned it off in my sleep, but I'm not prepared to confess this conclusively). Fortunately my amazing mother and father were on the ball, and mum knocked on my door to wake me, and shortly afterwards drove me to the Brisbane domestic airport. Delays in Sydney and then Johannesburg meant arrival in Grahamstown was pushed back to 10pm. I slept on the shuttle from Port Elizabeth to G-town, so was well ready for the wine upon arrival at The Yellow House, near Rhodes University, where Janet and Andrew met me with an assortment of theatre and university types. One wine was enough and my eyes were drooping, so we left for my beautiful home for the next 2 months, where I promptly fell asleep for 11 hours.
Saturday was an indulgent day with a G&T-accompanied lunch, and hours spent acquainting myself with my canine housemates. I tried to find Shakespeare relevance to justify the afternoon I spent creating a photographic journal of Pi and Beatrix, the weimeraners: the opening scene of Romeo and Juliet mentions a dog. "A dog of the house of Montague moves me". It's all research.
Blog Dog.
Saturday night I saw Ubom's production of Door directed by Jori Snell. It was a moving, surreal piece of work inspired by Kafka's The Trial - the 'Before the Law' chapter. The performers were the actors who will be beginning Romeo and Juliet rehearsals on tuesday, and they are an extremely talented group. Incredibly vocally and physically present and skilled. I'm really looking forward to getting to know them and to start working with them. It was inspiring and encouraging to see in the show the physical theatre approach I hope to access within the Shakespeare work. So many stories are told through the body. Physicality enhances language; whether it is reading with or against the spoken text, it reveals characters' stories.
I'm meeting with the director Dion Van Niekerk tomorrow for lunch and long discussions of ideas, can't wait.
Saturday was an indulgent day with a G&T-accompanied lunch, and hours spent acquainting myself with my canine housemates. I tried to find Shakespeare relevance to justify the afternoon I spent creating a photographic journal of Pi and Beatrix, the weimeraners: the opening scene of Romeo and Juliet mentions a dog. "A dog of the house of Montague moves me". It's all research.
Blog Dog.
Saturday night I saw Ubom's production of Door directed by Jori Snell. It was a moving, surreal piece of work inspired by Kafka's The Trial - the 'Before the Law' chapter. The performers were the actors who will be beginning Romeo and Juliet rehearsals on tuesday, and they are an extremely talented group. Incredibly vocally and physically present and skilled. I'm really looking forward to getting to know them and to start working with them. It was inspiring and encouraging to see in the show the physical theatre approach I hope to access within the Shakespeare work. So many stories are told through the body. Physicality enhances language; whether it is reading with or against the spoken text, it reveals characters' stories.
I'm meeting with the director Dion Van Niekerk tomorrow for lunch and long discussions of ideas, can't wait.
G-town Goals
I want to learn how to encourage interest in Shakespeare's plays, and how to inspire appreciation of the value of Shakespeare's work, through community theatre. I hope to gain new skills in developing a rehearsal, performance and publicity process for Shakespeare's plays, with particular consideration of cultural diversity, socio-economic and educational background. With these in mind, I hope to discover new ways to make Shakespeare accessible, dynamic, relevant and engaging to a wide variety of community groups.
....and then I aspire to apply all my new skills and knowledge back home in Australia.
....and then I aspire to apply all my new skills and knowledge back home in Australia.
"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."
OPERATION G (for Gratitude)
I have arrived in Grahamstown, South Africa on a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship to investigate Shakespeare and Community Theatre. Over the next two months I will work with the Ubom! Eastern Cape Drama Company, under the mentorship of Artistic Director, Janet Buckland. I will be assisting in the direction of two separate productions of Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'; one with the Ubom! Company which will tour to the North-West and Eastern Cape Schools' Festivals; the other with a Grahamstown community theatre group, which will tour to local schools.
On the flight over, I tackled the cryptic crossword in the Qantas magazine, and the first clue I was successful in answering was: Winston is sick behind the cathedral (9 letters)
I took this as a sign.
So I thought I'd begin my blog with a little info on the great man and the inspiring story of how the Trust came into being:
I have arrived in Grahamstown, South Africa on a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship to investigate Shakespeare and Community Theatre. Over the next two months I will work with the Ubom! Eastern Cape Drama Company, under the mentorship of Artistic Director, Janet Buckland. I will be assisting in the direction of two separate productions of Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'; one with the Ubom! Company which will tour to the North-West and Eastern Cape Schools' Festivals; the other with a Grahamstown community theatre group, which will tour to local schools.
On the flight over, I tackled the cryptic crossword in the Qantas magazine, and the first clue I was successful in answering was: Winston is sick behind the cathedral (9 letters)
I took this as a sign.
So I thought I'd begin my blog with a little info on the great man and the inspiring story of how the Trust came into being:
ABOUT SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill has been described by historians as “the greatest statesman of the 20th century”. Early in his military career he was a war correspondent and saw action in Cuba, Egypt, India and Sudan. At the age of 25 he entered the British House of Commons and began his political career which would span nearly sixty years across the reigns of six sovereigns. His roles included First Lord of the Admiralty, Minister of Munitions, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
From a seemingly hopeless position in World War II, Churchill’s leadership rallied the British people to prepare to resist invasion and sustain air attacks on their country during the Battle of Britain and then the Blitz. His inspiration led to the Commonwealth, Empire and eventually American Forces building the combined Allied strength to achieve final victory over Hitler some five and a half years later.
Those who lived through the years of World War II are unlikely to forget the vital role Churchill played in ridding the world of a tyranny the full magnitude of which was only revealed after the final victory was won.
Churchill was known as an avid reader and scholar, painter, journalist and author. In addition to his newspaper articles he wrote books, a novel, biographies, memoirs and histories. . Churchill is also known for his love of cigars, brandy, the famous V for victory salute and his outstanding oratory skill.
How the Trust came about:
After World War II many honours were conferred on Sir Winston Churchill from all over the world and many physical memorials were erected in the form of statues and buildings. In 1962 the Duke of Edinburgh asked Sir Winston what type of memorial he would like so that the world could remember him. The concept of an unusual type of memorial, to be set up after his death, pleased him very much and Sir Winston suggested something like the Rhodes Scholarships, but available to all people and on a much wider basis.
This led to the concept of travelling Fellowships, bearing his name, to give opportunity to enable ordinary people from the participating countries to travel overseas to meet people and to learn. The concept was developed jointly by the English-Speaking Unions of the Commonwealth and of the United States. Australia was among the countries that laid plans for a nationwide appeal on the death of Sir Winston Churchill to set up a National Churchill Trust.
Although Churchill had thoroughly approved the project when it was first cleared with him by the English-Speaking Union in the 1950’s, in order not to upset Sir Winston in his declining years about planning for actions after his death, it was kept secret at Lady Churchill’s request, until Churchill died. The planning for the appeal to raise funds for the establishment of a Churchill Trust in Australia nevertheless continued under the code name Operation “G” (for Gratitude) under the leadership of the then Counsellor (later Sir) William Kilpatrick. It was so thorough that immediately on Churchill’s death on the 24th of January 1965, a nationwide appeal for funds was launched by Sir Robert Menzies with Counsellor Kilpatrick as the Chairman of the Appeal Committee. There was a generous response by the Commonwealth and State Governments and by Australian companies and individuals. The Returned Services League brilliantly planned and executed a nationwide doorknock on ‘Churchill Memorial Sunday’ Sunday the 28th of February, 1965 – only four weeks after Churchill’s funeral.
The very willing national response of Australia’s Returned Servicemen in conducting what was the greatest one-day doorknock in Australian history showed the admiration and respect that Australian fighting men and women of World War II held for Churchill.
The very generous response of the Australian people to this appeal was undoubtedly due to their admiration for and gratitude to the great world figure in whose memory the Trust was being established. The one-day doorknock raised 911,000 Pounds ($1,822,000). By the time the contributions and pledges from the Commonwealth and State Governments, Australian companies, institutions and individuals had been collected, the Appeal target had more than doubled. 2,206,000 Pounds ($4,412,000) was raised.
The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust was established to administer not only the total funds raised by the 1965 Appeal, but also the Churchill Fellowship award scheme.
The aim of The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust is to honour and perpetuate the memory of Sir Winston Churchill. Another key goal of the Trust has always been to help Australians gain experience, information and skills in their chosen area of expertise and to translate that into real gains for Australia.
You can learn more about the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust at:
http://www.churchilltrust.com.au/
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