Often he preferred the small and unknown to the productions staged by large and well funded major companies. He diligently reviewed independent works by emerging playwrights and directors, each production receiving as much attention and analysis as the mainstage works. Some proved controversial, and stirred angry debate within the theatre community. His online opinions were occasionally forthright. He reviewed hundreds of productions between 2008 and late 2022. ![]() With the rise of blog culture, Kevin took to reviewing theatre on his Theatre Diary blog. We should really have sold tickets to the rehearsal room, the insights alone were remarkable, encyclopaedic and rigorous. ![]() Sport for Jove’s Artistic Director Damien Ryan told Limelight: “It was a real privilege to have Kevin bring that show to our company, something he cared so deeply about, a wonderful cast he put together and a beautiful show. Robert Jago, company manager of Sport for Jove, which produced Three Sisters, paid tribute: “His values of the discipline and focus required to be an actor, commitment to research, the respect for knowing your script properly and his insistence that the playwright’s vision be upheld are forever imprinted into the minds of those who worked with him.” “I wanted the play to fit the Australian ear and feel good in the mouths of Australian actors.” “I asked Karen to give me a translation, not an adaptation,” Jackson told the Sydney Morning Herald. With typical respect for the playwright’s intentions Kevin commissioned a new, full-text translation of the play from writer Karen Vickery, a former NIDA colleague and a fluent Russian speaker. More recently, his 2016 production of Chekhov’s Three Sisters at the Seymour Centre drew wide critical praise. He was feared, admired, loved, and his advice and insight was embraced by anyone wise enough to realise that here was someone whose passion for the craft of acting and the making of theatre would enrich their practice. His knowledge of plays and playwrights was encyclopaedic. He insisted on a rigorous dissection of text, paying attention to every word, every punctuation mark, every character note or stage direction, because that was where you found the truth of the character. His mantra - the playwright is GOD – informed all his work. He also directed Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind (Bondi Pavilion) and Mother Teresa is Dead at the Old Fitzroy Theatre. He directed 12 productions for Newtown’s New Theatre including Enemies by Maxim Gorky, Queen Christina The American Clock by Arthur Miller Chekhov in Yalta and the first Mardi Gras production for New Theatre The Boys in the Band. His directing work was focused on Sydney’s independent and pro-am sector. He made a difference.”Īfter retiring from NIDA Kevin continued teaching at a host of other organisations. ![]() It was clear he wanted the best from people. ![]() During his almost three decades teaching at NIDA, he was known for a fierce intelligence and phenomenal knowledge of theatre and performance, together with a generous, sensitive and nurturing soul. NIDA CEO Liz Hughes said: "Kevin’s contribution to Australian acting is immeasurable. His experience there informed his teaching at NIDA for the great benefit of the Australian acting profession. Kevin received a NSW government scholarship to study at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco – an association he maintained until 2002. But acting was something he preferred to teach rather than do and he moved into directing and teaching. In 1974 he helped to set up the now legendary Q Theatre in Penrith with Doreen Warburton and a group of friends. I was both, so I had double the opportunities!” He once quipped: “When I was starting out as an actor, there were two theatres where you could ply your craft: if you were Catholic, you went to The Genesians, and if you were a Communist, you went to New Theatre.
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