Bulletins

Bulletin Number 2, 11 September 2006

Dear Close Relations Presenters,

Greetings to all.

This is the second of the Close Relations bulletins that I am sending to you all before the conference begins next week. The conference is looking very exciting and we are all looking forward to it immensely.

Venues

The venue for a great deal of the conference (and where morning coffee, tea and registrations will be available) is: the Open Stage Theatre, Arts Centre Building, University of Melbourne, on the corner of Grattan and Swanston Streets, Carlton. The entrance to the building is on Swanston St, just north (ie away from the city) of the corner. After ascending a few shallow steps, you will see the registration desk and Open Stage theatre.

Your conference kits will include maps and other local information, but in the meantime you can download the main University of Melbourne campus map. The Arts Centre Building is building number 199, reference K21.

We will use two other venues during the conference, and these will be in your conference kits.

Program

The second draft of the program should be online by the end of Tuesday September 12th. Please check your own date and time, and let me know immediately if you are unable to present where you are listed. Please remember that the program has taken quite some working out, so only those changes that are absolutely necessary can be accommodated.

Please note that the conference proper will finish on Friday 22nd. The Saturday is devoted to a regional tour to the Dandenong Ranges (see below) and a visit to a local outdoor Greek theatre on the banks of the Yarra River.

Extra Public Lecture by Dmitry Trubotchkin: 'Stanislavski in Contemporary Russia'

Dmitry Trubotchkin, one of our keynote speakers for the conference, will also give a Free Public Lecture on Monday September 18, 6.30pm, in the Open Stage theatre. The lecture will address the prevalence and interpretation of the Stanislavski system of acting in Russia today.

Please come along if you are in town already. We will no doubt go for drinks and dinner after the lecture, and all are welcome to join us. It will be a chance to meet others as well as hear an extremely interesting lecture by Dmitry.

Registrations

Some of you have not yet registered for the conference. You can do so on the days of the conference itself, but of course we would prefer you to register this week if you can for reasons of catering and to avoid hold-ups in the mornings.

Publications

We have negotiated one publication outcome and are in the process of negotiating a second one. Firstly, an issue of Didaskalia will be devoted to our conference. We hope to get that issue online next year. We are also negotiating with Cambridge Scholars Press, who invited us to submit a proposal. More information will be forwarded to presenters both during and after the conference. Different presenters will be invited to submit to one or the other publication. All articles will be peer reviewed, and submission does not guarantee acceptance.

Conference Dinner

Thanks to all those who have ticked the dinner box on the registration form. The dinner will be at University House, and the cost will be just under $50, plus about $15 to cover the alcohol. If you do not drink alcohol you will not have to pay for it. Money for the dinner will be collected during the first few days of the conference next week.

Tour to the regional Victoria, Saturday September 23

On Saturday 23rd we are planning a tour for anyone interested to the Dandenong ranges. The cost depends on numbers, but we now think it will be around $40-50. We will stop somewhere in the mountains for lunch, and at an outdoor Greek theatre on the banks of the Yarra River on the way back. Perhaps someone will recite a speech or two in the orchestra?

The day will be a chance to chat about issues that have arisen at the conference at leisure, or of course about anything that takes your fancy. We will be back in Melbourne late in the afternoon.

Accommodation

Don't forget to let us know where you have booked once you have done so. We will be organising a number of social events and would like to be able to let everyone know. It is also useful to know where others are staying, especially when some are at the same location as yourself.

That's all for now. If there is anything you would like to know, just drop me a line.

Regards,

Paul Monaghan
on behalf of the Close Relations convenors