William Yang

sydney april

2008-05-06T23:48:00.000-07:00

Arrived back in Sydney from Norway via Oslo, Stockholm, Bangkok, and my bag made al;l the flights as well. Bad jetlag for 10 days.

Gabrielle Gittoes called that George was moving to a new studio in town, and that Fulla had come back in to their lives. I visited them in Surry Hills.

Harley, their son, was looking great, he'd lost weight and he seemed happy.

Sleaze Ball 0ct 06

2007-01-08T20:21:00.000-08:00

The theme of this years Sleaze Ball was Ghetto Fabulous. New Mardi Gras consulted members of the community and this idea was thought of be the most inclusive.
A continuing crisis in the community is how to get young people involved. This event tried top reach out to young people and by and large it was successful. Lots of people there, mainly gay men, and there was a wide distribution of ages.
The shows were sparse in number, a trend in todays cost cutting world. Many featured rap dancers and I saw none of the frocked up drag numbers of the past. Nor was there much flesh on display on stage, something I missed, but there was lots of eye candy to behold just walking around.
The event was deemed a success. I wouldn't argue with that but everything seems sanitized these days. The dinasaur in me longer the sleaze balls of the past which were at least sleazy.

keating at belvoir

2007-01-08T20:02:00.000-08:00

Keating the musical at Belvoir has been one of their successes at the box office this year. I series of songs with characters such as Keating, Bob Hawke, Malcolm Fraser and John Howard, the play zips along with 3 actors and a five piece band.

Me, Myself, I and Me

2007-01-04T13:13:00.000-08:00

Born William Young in North Queensland in 1943, he changed his name to William Yang in 1983. His grandparents migrated from China to Northern Australia in the 1880's. He worked as a playwright from 1969 to 1974, and since then as a freelance photographer. His first solo exhibition in 1977, Sydneyphiles, caused a sensation because of its frank depiction of the Sydney gay and party scene. Later these photographs became part of a larger exhibition, Sydney Diary, which was published as a book of the same title in 1984. In the mideighties, William Yang began to explore his Chinese heritage which had hitherto been lost to him by his complete assimilation into the Australian way of life. His photographic themes expanded to include landscapes and the Chinese in Australia. During this period he made visits to China.William Yang integrated his skills as a writer and a visual artist in 1989. He began to perform monologues with slide projection in the theatre. These slide shows were a form of performance theatre and have become his favourite way of showing his work. The third one, Sadness, wove together two themes: the discovery of his Chinese heritage, and the rituals of dying and death in Sydney. The piece has toured successfully nationally and internationally as has all his subsequent pieces. William has done seven full length monologues in all, including Shadows, Blood links, and Objects For Meditation.