Part One: An interview with Australian author, essayist & poet Kathryn Pentecost
Janice: Kathryn, we seem to have known each other for ages; yet I (until recently) knew so little of your varied accomplishments in theatre and particularly about the New Theatre. Kathryn: Janice, it’s been a while since I was immersed in New Theatre. I spent over a decade there mostly in the 1980s during which time I designed sets, created scenic art and posters, wrote short skits, did stage management, and occasionally, acted. More recently, I’ve been writing an essay about New Theatre for a non-fiction book I’m co-authoring with Liz Hall-Downs. The essay is called ‘Reds under the bed’ and it touches also on the history of the New, not just my time there. Of course, I have recently discovered your own family connections to New Theatre through your relative Norman Slater, who’d met the famous singer Paul Robeson, via his involvement with New Theatre, Sydney. For me, working at ‘the New’ in Newtown was a formative time of my creative life, and it certainly shaped the trajectory o...