Performed at Regent Cinema 1, Adelaide, South Australia as part of the Umbrella Event 1986 Adelaide Festival of Arts : 7-22 March 1986.
Contributors
John Baylis Actor
Elizabeth Burton Actor
Stephen Champion Actor
Ludmilla Doneman Actor
Nikki Heywood Actor
Bruce Keller Actor
Arthur King Actor
Glenda Lum Actor
Robert Perrier Actor
Jan Simmons Actor
Mark Ford Assistant Stage Manager
Malcolm White Assistant Stage Manager
Martin Armiger Composer
Peter Carey Devisor
Mike Mullins Devisor
Mike Mullins Director
Derek Nicholson Lighting Designer
Nigel Kellaway Movement Director
Oliver Strewe Photographer
Christine Dunstan Production Manager
Marguerite Pepper Production Supervisor
Glenn Heaton Sound Operator/Engineer
Ruth Catlin Stage Manager
David Caesar Video Artist
'It was 30 years ago, but you can still feel the anger rising off the page. Writer Peter Carey and theatre producer Mike Mullins were working together on a big-budget musical for the 1986 Adelaide Festival of the Arts, a “political, surrealistic rock pantomime”, in one critic’s description, called Illusion. The show would prove to be a famous flop. But Carey and Mullins’ collaboration was clearly unravelling, letter by typewritten letter, well before Illusion opened. “You accussed [sic] me of trying to blackmail you,” Carey protests, “… blackmail is so wide of the point as to be an insult.” “Now to the severity of your attack on my artistic integrity,” begins Mullins, in his fierce reply. Things only get worse when they start talking about each other’s wives.' (Introduction)
'It was 30 years ago, but you can still feel the anger rising off the page. Writer Peter Carey and theatre producer Mike Mullins were working together on a big-budget musical for the 1986 Adelaide Festival of the Arts, a “political, surrealistic rock pantomime”, in one critic’s description, called Illusion. The show would prove to be a famous flop. But Carey and Mullins’ collaboration was clearly unravelling, letter by typewritten letter, well before Illusion opened. “You accussed [sic] me of trying to blackmail you,” Carey protests, “… blackmail is so wide of the point as to be an insult.” “Now to the severity of your attack on my artistic integrity,” begins Mullins, in his fierce reply. Things only get worse when they start talking about each other’s wives.' (Introduction)