UC lecturer's play celebrates Canberra couple
Laura Haddock
10 July 2014: A new play by a º£½ÇÉäÇø academic examines the relationship of the couple who designed Canberra, Walter and Marion Griffin, and explores the influence of Marion on her husband Walter's work.
The play Lines of Light was written by senior lecturer Peter Copeman and shows Marion as the woman whose great talent, personal power and eccentricity were the central force behind the public face of Walter's genius.
 |
|
UC lecturer Peter Copeman. Photo: Michelle McAulay |
"Without Marion there would be no Canberra as we know it. Walter needed her for courage and confidence, for the detail she brought to flesh out his grand concepts, and for her superb renditions to present his designs," Dr Copeman said.
The play also explores the couple's passion for each other and for their collaborative design work.
"Marion and Walter were a couple out of time for the Australian society of their era. Even today, many would find them challenging, but at the time they were highly polarising figures. Conflicts arose around whatever they did, including in their relationship with each other. Yet their love endured," he said.
Canberrans are invited to assist in the development of the play by attending a free reading at The Street Theatre this Friday from 6:30pm – 9:00pm.
The play was written as part of Dr Copeman's creative research project at the University, supported by a Frederick Watson Fellowship from the National Archives of Australia and through script development with The Street Theatre's Hive Program.