News location:

Canberra Today 15°/17° | Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Clingan’s ‘Wayfarers’ score rave reviews at Edinburgh Fringe

Judith Clingan
Judith Clingan

JUDITH Clingan is one of Canberra’ most enduring arts figures, so no one is surprised to learn that she’s just spent a week heading up performing two shows in the St Mark’s Unitarian Church Artspace at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Announced as the first ever Canberra Artist of the Year in 1991, the composer/conductor/singer/playwright/designer has received an AM for her services to the arts and many other honours during her long career.

In recent years she has been working with her ‘Wayfarers’ group of young vocal artists. The ‘Waldorf Wayfarers’ who went to Scotland were 28 performers drawn from as far afield as Australia, Taiwan, Italy and Scotland. They did everything, in a mighty group effort, several of them also playing in the small orchestra.

Little Prince and Aviator
Little Prince and Aviator
Critic Thomas Moore described her production of “The Little Prince” as “wonderful performance… great use of puppetry and live music,” singling out  Siggy Nock (who studied at Orana School in Canberra) for his performance as the prince as “a highly gifted young actor”.

The script was Clingan’s, translated and turned into a script by her from the book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. She wrote new music for the show, including songs for the Aviator, the Prince, the Roses and the Fox. She also designed “The Little Prince”, and shared the direction with Rohan Vicars from Melbourne, who has been performing with her since he was a boy and who also played the Aviator.

Prince and Rose
Prince and Rose

The puppets (Birds, Snake, Rose and Fox) were made by Raphaela Mazzone, an Adelaide artist now living in Melbourne, who has also been working with Clingan for many years. Lighting was by Gawain Davey, another Melbourne Wayfarer.

Of the second performance, “So Good a Thing”, hard-to-please Fringe reviewer/blogger, Mark ‘Divine’ Calvert, wrote, “The performance held me in its entirety, I closed my eyes and meditated bringing full attention to my sense of hearing. With Judith Clingan explaining each piece before it was performed. the evening proved educational and lush ear candy. The acoustics of Saint Marks perfectly complimented and enhanced what was being presented. Demonstrating how versatile the human voice can be, from a traditional choir to being surrounded by tropical birds in a rain forest. There was also a piece inspired by the witches of Macbeth which was both disturbing and beautiful.”
As Clingan told “Citynews” in the understatement of the season, “I haven’t yet retired to my rocking chair.”

Who can be trusted?

In a world of spin and confusion, there’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in Canberra.

If you trust our work online and want to enforce the power of independent voices, I invite you to make a small contribution.

Every dollar of support is invested back into our journalism to help keep citynews.com.au strong and free.

Become a supporter

Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

Helen Musa

Helen Musa

Share this

One Response to Clingan’s ‘Wayfarers’ score rave reviews at Edinburgh Fringe

Karin Schulz says: 22 August 2016 at 9:48 am

Wayfarers overwhelmed me when I came to one of their 1st performances at the Canberra Centre for Christianity. They raised as it were a rainbow of sounds and colours over us inspired by nature’s treasure chest. They then travelled to share their passion across continents….and now in Edinburgh. Wishing Judith and all Wayfarers joy and health and a safe return.

Reply

Leave a Reply

Related Posts

Follow us on Instagram @canberracitynews