Archive for February, 2012

This month Armidale is set to experience a new out-door theatre event, OutDoorDrama (ODD). The Felt Tip Theatre Company, who are producing the performance, are hoping it will become a popular annual event. The inaugural ODD production will be Oscar Wilde’s much-loved classic comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest.

The 2012 ODD season will consist of two performances on the lawns of the Booloominbah homestead at the University of New England. According to the producers, the homestead, which was built within the decade of the first performance of Earnest (1895), will serve as a stunning and fitting backdrop to this late nineteenth-century romantic comedy.

Felt Tip Theatre Company was founded by two University of New England graduates in Theatre Studies, Christopher Curcuruto and Alex Robson, in early 2011. Their vision is to perform in regional theatres, town halls and school auditoriums – wherever there is an interest in the performing arts – as well as staging regular productions in Armidale.

Felt Tip partner and producer of Earnest, Christopher Curcuruto, said: “We are very proud to be bringing this exciting venture to the New England region. Armidale has seen nothing like this in some time, and we think audiences will really enjoy it.” 

Director of the production and fellow Felt Tip partner, Alex Robson, said of the choice of play: “We wanted something grand yet timeless to suit the location, so Wilde’s play was the obvious choice. Whilst only one act is set in a garden, I believe the style of production lends itself beautifully to either an in-door or out-door performance.”

Complementing the play, the event will be presented as a high tea, with light refreshments for sale through the Booloominbah Collection, before, during, and after the performance.

For ODD’s first year, there will only be two out-door performances, but this will be supplemented by a larger season inside The Hoskins Centre, TAS, so as to acclimatise Armidale audiences to the event.

Executive producer, Pam Menzies, after remarking on the popularity of outdoor performances throughout the world, especially in the United Kingdom, said: “Australians are missing out on a wonderful opportunity by keeping their performances in-doors. Here in Armidale we are spoilt by beautiful landscapes and buildings, and the weather is no excuse.” In the event of bad weather, the performances will move to The Hoskins Centre.

The performance season will commence with a black tie gala on February 24^th at The Hoskins Centre to celebrate Felt Tip’s debut full-scale production followed by ODD on Saturday the 25^th and Sunday the 26^th of February and subsequent performances at The Hoskins Centre. Tickets are priced at $20 for adults, $15 for concessions, and $10 for children, and are available from The Reader’s Companion bookstore or online at www.felttiptheatrecompanay.wordpress.com. Group discounts apply for group bookings of 10 people or more. For further enquiries or for group bookings, please contact Alex or Chris at felttiptheatrecompany@gmail.com or on 0458 386 834.

Historians from the University of New England have put paid to a long-running conspiracy theory surrounding the death of the bushranger Frederick Wordsworth Ward. The outlaw, popularly known as Captain Thunderbolt, was shot by police at Uralla, New England, in May 1870, although there have been persistent doubts surrounding the circumstances of his death.

Dr David Andrew Roberts, a Senior Lecturer in Australian History, and Carol Baxter, an Adjunct Lecturer in the University’s School of Humanities and author of Captain Thunderbolt and His Lady (Allen & Unwin, 2011), have conducted extensive research into allegations that Thunderbolt escaped from NSW and lived out his final days in America.

In March 2010, the NSW Legislative Council demanded the release of archival records that were expected to throw new light on the bushranger’s death. It was thought that these documents could prove that the police had shot the wrong man in 1870, and that the colonial government had engaged in a high-level conspiracy to conceal this from the public. The Parliament’s request for documents was ultimately rejected by the NSW Lieutenant Governor, James Spigelman, on the grounds that Thunderbolt’s death had no bearing on the conduct of the current State Government.

The exhaustive research of Roberts and Baxter, to be published in detail in the next issue of the International Australian Studies Association’s Journal of Australian Studies, has proved the allegations of a conspiracy to be entirely baseless. “There is no supportable evidence that secret documents concerning the death of Thunderbolt exist, or any reasonable grounds for assuming that they might,” the researchers conclude.

“It’s quite remarkable that the powers of the Parliament should have been used to investigate a 140-year-old episode from the colonial past,” Dr Roberts said. “What’s even more remarkable is that those powers were used to elevate a wild conspiracy theory that had been put forward in an historical novel.”

In their novel Thunderbolt: Scourge of the Ranges (Phoenix Press, 2009), Hamilton and Sinclair claimed that the police had manipulated the official inquiry into the capture of the bushranger by falsifying documents and witness statements. They further accused the then NSW Labor government of perpetuating the conspiracy by keeping the documents hidden from the public.

Roberts and Baxter suggest that the conspiracy theory presented in the novel, and then promoted in the NSW Parliament, was built on a misrepresentation of the nature and practice of State record-keeping in NSW. “It’s not unusual for historical literature to offer sensational alternatives to historical fact,” Dr Roberts said. “But it’s quite another matter for the powers of government to be used in an attempt to validate such radical and serious claims. Some will feel that there are questions to be asked of senior NSW politicians who supported those allegations. What did they hope to achieve?”

The paper by Roberts and Baxter is being published in advance of a documentary-drama on the controversy, titled Empty Grave: the Thunderbolt Mystery, made by the Queensland-based filmmakers Evolution Studios.

Ben Crough, a third-year pharmacy student at the University of New England, is helping to shape the future of rural health.

Ben has been elected as secretary of the National Rural Health Students Network (NRHSN) for 2012.

The network represents more than 9,000 medical, nursing and allied health students who belong to 29 Rural Health Clubs at universities around Australia. At the local level, Ben is co-president of UNE’s Rural Health Club, NERCHA (New England Rural Club for Health Alliance).

Ben and his colleagues on the NRHSN executive oversee the activities of the entire nation-wide network, which comprises five portfolios: medical, nursing, allied health, Indigenous health, and community and advocacy. “We’re working to increase professional development opportunities for health students – with a focus on rural and regional experience,” he said.

“As only a few of the Rural Health Clubs are based – like UNE’s – in country areas,” Ben said, “the network helps city-based health students make country connections and gain opportunities to experience rural life. It’s a great way for students to connect with other people who share a passion for the country.

“And we’ll be continuing to encourage our members to visit rural high schools and Indigenous festivals to talk to students about the opportunities for health-related careers in rural Australia.”

“We are the future of rural health,” he said, “and there’s a huge need for more of us out there in the regions. As soon as I graduate I want to go out and start helping those regional communities.”

The student network is supported by Rural Health Workforce (RHW), a national not-for-profit organisation dedicated to improving community access to primary health care. RHW is the national peak body for the State and Territory Rural Workforce Agencies that recruit and support health professionals in rural and remote Australia.

Ben is enjoying UNE’s Bachelor of Pharmacy degree program, which he joined in its inaugural year in 2010. When he graduates he’d like to work in a regional hospital pharmacy, acquiring skills that would equip him to work in smaller, more remote communities.

“Having grown up in Tamworth, I’ve always had a connection with rural life,” he said.

The Parramatta Eels left Armidale today after three days of training at altitude and meeting many of their New England supporters.

The University of New England is a jersey sponsor of the Eels this year, and the National Rugby League team arrived in Armidale on Tuesday 31 January for their pre-season training camp at UNE.

Staying at UNE’s Mary White College, the team members trained at SportUNE as well as meeting hundreds of fans at a civic reception in the Armidale Mall, conducting a coaching clinic in town for more than 100 junior Rugby League players, and dining with more than 400 community members at a “Dinner with the Eels”.

UNE and Armidale Dumaresq Council sponsored the Eels’ visit to Armidale, giving the team an opportunity to connect with regional supporters and to experience the international-standard sports training and playing-field facilities at the University.

The Vice-Chancellor of UNE, Professor Jim Barber, said that the University was proud to sponsor the Eels, and that the team’s visit to Armidale had been a great success.

“It has been an exciting week in Armidale, and we were delighted to see hundreds of fans coming from all over the New England region to welcome the team to town,” Professor Barber said. “The sponsorship of the Eels is intended to highlight the University’s developing expertise in sport science teaching and research. It also allows UNE to showcase its campus – including its state-of-the-art sports training facilities.”

The Eels’ head coach, Steve Kearney, said he thought the sponsorship relationship was “a wonderful arrangement”, and had “benefits for both parties”.

Among the benefits for Eels team members, he said, were the “outstanding” training facilities and playing fields at SportUNE, and the opportunities they might offer for an ongoing relationship with the University.

“This has been a wonderful opportunity for the team to get away as a group,” he said. “Living at close quarters they enjoy each other’s company, and that’s important when you’re heading into an NRL season.”

“The interaction with the rural community has also been very important,” Steve Kearney continued. ” Seeing how many supporters were at the civic reception on Tuesday made the players realise that they have an impact outside Sydney.”

And he added that the session with junior Rugby League players had been an opportunity for the team, as representatives of the NRL, to promote the game in a positive way.  “We’ve received good feedback from the junior coaching clinic,” he said. “The kids really enjoyed it.”