Review: Queensland Theater Company’s The Pitch

The Queensland Theater Company has opened its 2013 season with a bang. Wait. Make that a double bang. Two one act plays (The Pitch and The China Incident) that showcased the best there is in Australian writing, direction and well.. acting.

Both plays are written by Peter Houghton but have separate directors. The Pitch has Hugh Parker playing a down on luck screenwriter about to pitch to Hollywood biggies, while The China Incident has Barbara Lowing trying to keep communication lines between the big power players from breaking down. The Pitch starts the evening off and after a 20 minute break, The China Incident plays.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we were unable to stay for The China Incident so this review basically covers The Pitch.

The Pitch works like a satire on the modern Hollywood movies and the way they end. Hugh Parker plays Walter Weinermann, a screenwriter who was unlucky in love, to talk himself up about a “pitch” he is about to give to a couple of Hollywood biggies for a script that he has been working on for some time but he is yet to finish. With only a couple of hours to go till the big meeting, he has to psych himself up to come up with plots and characters to fill the holes in the story. He draws inspiration from his own (love) life and tries to make a mish-mash of what a Hollywood script should look like. So you have cameos from Clint Eastwood, Robert De Niro, Sean Connery, Chris Tucker, Catherine Zeta Jones and the crowd (and personal) favorite Rupert Everett.

With a one man show, this is hard to achieve and Hugh Parker does a remarkable job of capturing the mannerisms and the styles of each of these actors (except Catherine Zeta Jones) as he goes through his script playing out the scenes and the part the actors play in it. To not only remember the lines, but to capture the essence of an actor so that the audience can instantly identify the characterization is a stupendous feat. Hugh Parker as the actor, Catarina Hebbard as the director and Melissa Agnew as the dialect coach all deserve a standing ovation for this.

CraftGossip.com received complimentary tickets to see the show.

What? The Pitch and The China Incident (two one person plays separated by a 20 minute interval)

Where? Cremorne Theater, QPAC, SouthBank, Brisbane.

When? 2nd Feb-9th March 2013.

Tickets: QPAC

Lots of Americans seem to think that May 5 is Mexican Independence Day, but that holiday actually falls on Sept. 16.

May 5 is the celebration of the Battle of Puebla, in which the Mexicans defeated the French in 1862. Independence Day marks the beginning of their fight for independence from Spain in 1810. That was the day of what’s known as El Grito de Dolores, or the cry of Dolores, for when the Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang the church bells at his church in Dolores and declared that Mexico should be free from Spanish rule.

They would fight for their freedom until 1821 when they finally gained independence.

Fabulous Classroom has a little of the history and ideas for celebrating the holiday for all age groups. There’s also a link to a good video in that post about the real story of Mexican Independence Day.

Twinkl also has a good tops about the history and different activities, discussion ideas, crafts and foods that can be incorporated into lessons at school or used at home.

I also found a few pins that no longer link to a website but include good information on Mexican Independence Day, including some questions for students to answer based on the reading. You can find more printables and questions for kids from TX Homeschool Mama on Etsy (also available in Spanish).

You can find a lot more paid resources about Mexican Independence Day at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Mexican flag crafts are a fun option for celebrating Mexican Independence Day (though the current iteration of their flag has only been in use since 1968). Kids Activities Blog has a free Mexican flag printable and a few different ideas for decorating it including dot markers and torn tissue paper.

You can also find some great Mexican crafts at Red Ted Art. The post includes all sorts of Mexican inspired projects including Day of the Dead crafts, Frida Kahlo pinatas and upcycled musical instruments. I love the giant paper flowers they shared from Honestly WTF.

Have you read?