Brian Gregory Syron (19 November 1934 – 14 October 1993) was an actor, teacher,
Aboriginal rights activist,
stage director and Australia's first
Indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology)
In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...
feature film director, who has also been recognised as the first First Nations
feature film
A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...
director. After studying in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
under
Stella Adler
Stella Adler (February 10, 1901 – December 21, 1992) was an American actress and acting teacher.
A member of Yiddish Theater's Adler dynasty, Adler began acting at a young age. She shifted to producing, directing, and teaching, founding the ...
, he returned to Australia and was a co-founder of the
Australian National Playwrights Conference, the
Eora Centre
TAFE NSW is an Australian vocational education and training provider. Annually, the network trains over 500,000 students in campus, workplace, online, or distance education methods of education. It was established as an independent statutory bod ...
, the
National Black Playwrights Conference, and the
Aboriginal National Theatre Trust. He worked on several television productions and was appointed head of the
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting
* Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
's new Aboriginal unit in 1988.
Life
Brian Gregory Syron was born on 19 November 1934 in the inner city suburb of
Balmain,
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, New South Wales. His mother, Elizabeth Murray, was from
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
, England, while his father, a general labourer, was a
Birrbay man.
Brian was one of eight children.
Syron also lived an Indigenous life with his paternal
Aboriginal grandmother, Suzie Syron,
[ in his ancestral Birrippi lands at Minimbah, ]New South Wales
New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, up the Coolongolook River from Forster and north of Balmain. Minimbah means in Birrippi dialect "home of the teacher". His traditional country encompassed Taree
Taree () is a city on the Mid North Coast, New South Wales, Australia. It and nearby Cundletown were settled in 1831 by William Wynter. Since then it has grown to a population of 26,381, and commands a significant agricultural district. Situ ...
, Forster and the Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...
area of the Wang Wauk and Coolonglook rivers on the North Coast. His paternal Dreaming was the eagle, although he described himself as a magpie
Magpies are birds of various species of the family Corvidae. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent c ...
– half black, half white. He was also exposed to Aboriginal reserve
An Aboriginal reserve, also called simply reserve, was a government-sanctioned settlement for Aboriginal Australians, created under various state and federal legislation. Along with missions and other institutions, they were used from the 19th ...
life at Purfleet
Purfleet-on-Thames is a town in the Thurrock unitary authority, Essex, England.
It is bordered by the A13 road to the north and the River Thames to the south and is within the easternmost part of the M25 motorway but just outside the Greater ...
and Forster through the 1930s and early 1940s, and spent time as a 14- and 15-year-old in Grafton Correctional Centre. Even with this background, Syron told the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
The Australian Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution of the Commonwealth of Australia, established in 1986 as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and renamed in 2008. It is a statutory body ...
(HREOC) on 15 November 1992:
I have no mortgage on being dispossessed or having a tough life. We've all had it. Every Aboriginal person I know of in my generation has had one hell of a time. Nobody has a mortgage on that. We've all been through it. Our obligation, our mandate, as artists is to communicate with our people first.
Brian Syron died of leukaemia
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...
[ on 14 October 1993 in Sydney and was buried in Botany Cemetery in Matraville.][
]
Theatre
Syron did not identify as Aboriginal through the 1950s and 1960s. He moved to King's Cross in Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
,[ and began his artistic career in 1960 at the ]Ensemble Theatre
The Ensemble Theatre is an Australian theatre company and theatre, situated in the Sydney suburb of Kirribilli, New South Wales.
History
It is Australia's longest continuously running professional theatre group, having given its first perfor ...
in Kirribilli
Kirribilli is a Suburb (Australia), suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. One of the city's most established and affluent neighbourhoods, it is located three kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the Local governm ...
, Sydney under the guidance of New York-trained American actor/director and esteemed teacher of the Strasberg Method, the late Hayes Gordon.[
]
New York and London
Syron decided to go to the United States because he was unhappy with the English style of acting being taught in Australia.[ He was forced to deny that he was Aboriginal in order to obtain an ]Australian passport
An Australian passport is a travel document issued by the Australia, Commonwealth of Australia to individuals holding any form of Australian nationality law, Australian nationality. The document facilitates access to consular assistance from Li ...
. This was because Indigenous Australians were not allowed to have passports. Syron left Australia in 1961 to work in Europe as a fashion model with Dior
Christian Dior SE (), commonly known as Dior, is a French Multinational corporation, multinational luxury goods company that is controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH. , Dior controlled around 42% of ...
, Cardin and Balenciaga
Balenciaga SA ( , , ) is a Spanish Basque luxury fashion house currently headquartered in Paris. It designs, manufactures and markets ready-to-wear footwear, handbags, and accessories, and licenses its name and branding to the American cosmeti ...
. In 1961, he moved to New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, living initially on Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...
with one of Australia's first "supermodel
A supermodel is a highly paid fashion model who has a worldwide reputation and background in ''haute couture'' and commercial modeling. The term became popular in the 1990s.
Supermodels usually work for prominent fashion designers and clothin ...
s", Pauline Kiernan. He was accepted as a student with the Stella Adler Studio, where he studied with fellow students Robert De Niro
Robert Anthony De Niro ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director, and film producer. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of List of awards and ...
, Warren Beatty
Henry Warren Beatty (né Beaty; born March 30, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. His career has spanned over six decades, and he has received an Academy Award and three Golden Globe Awards. He also received the Irving G. Thalberg Memor ...
and Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. He started out his career as a young actor studying under Stella Adler before working as a film critic for ''Fi ...
, and became a teacher himself.[
Completing his American training, he spent 12 months in Britain studying with Cicily Berry as well as Doreen Cannon, head of acting, at the ]Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...
before returning to New York. There, he co-founded a theatre company based around the Caffè Lena[ in ]Saratoga Springs
Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over ...
in 1966,[ upstate New York while touring as a director with the ]Boston Herald-Traveler
The ''Boston Herald'' is an American conservative daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarde ...
's Shakespeare Company and doing stints as a teacher for Adler's studio. Syron then returned to New York, where he worked as an actor on various American Shakespeare festivals and with the Establishment Theatre Company and The New Theatre, and also toured through the southern states.
Return to Australia
Syron returned to Perth
Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
, Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
, in 1968, following the 1967 referendum
Events January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...
. In Perth, he directed at Aarne Neeme's The Playhouse, Perth for a short time, before being invited to return to Sydney and direct '' Fortune and Men's Eyes'' at his old alma mater
Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...
the Ensemble. For this he received the inaugural Drama Critics' Award for Best Production and his leading man Max Phipps
Maxwell John Phipps (18 November 1939 – 6 August 2000) was an Australian actor, known for a number of roles in theatre, films and television during the 1960s until the end of the 1990s. Phipps' most notable roles included portraying Prime Mini ...
received Best Actor for his role of "Queenie". He began teaching master classes to in the Stella Adler method to Aboriginal students.[
Syron was invited to join Sydney's Old Tote Theatre by Robert Quentin, Head of Drama at the ]University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949.
The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...
, and Robin Lovejoy, Artistic Director. He was the first Indigenous Australian to work as a director in the mainstream Australian theatre industry and in 1972 was appointed Theatre Consultant for the Aboriginal Arts Board of the inaugural Australia Council for the Arts
Creative Australia, formerly known as the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia.
The council was announ ...
, headed for the first time by an Indigenous person, the artist Wandjuk Marika.
Australian National Playwrights Conference
The following year, 1973, Syron co-founded the Australian National Playwrights Conference (ANPC)[ with Katharine Brisbane, which continued to take place annually until at least 2006. Lloyd Richards, then head of acting at ]Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
and artistic director of the American National Playwrights Conference wrote to the Aboriginal Arts Board of the Australia Council
Creative Australia, formerly known as the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia.
The council was announ ...
in September 1993:
The National Playwrights Conference of Australia exists because Brian Syron visited the National Playwrights Conference in Waterford, Conn. and recognised it as an important idea for Australia, and he went back to champion the possibility. Others visited and the rest is history."
Syron returned to the theatre again in 1976 with his direction of '' Dimboola'' (written by Jack Hibberd
John Charles Hibberd (12 April 1940 – 30 August 2024) was an Australian playwright best known for his plays '' Dimboola'' (1969) and '' A Stretch of the Imagination'' (1972). He was also a physician.
Biography
John Charles Hibberd was bor ...
) in Newcastle
Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
as well as at Bonapartes Theatre Restaurant, Kings Cross, Sydney, where his stage production ran continuously for the next two years and four months. He followed "Dimboola" with a production of the American play ''Falling Apart'' by Monte Merrick
Monte L. Merrick (October 6, 1949 - March 24, 2015) was a screenwriter, playwright and novelist most notable for his long career in theatre and his feature film screenplays, including 1990's ''Memphis Belle (film), Memphis Belle''.
"My plays ar ...
at the New Theatre, Newtown, Sydney, and in 1978 he played the role of "The Actor" in a production of Maxim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an aut ...
's ''The Lower Depths
''The Lower Depths'' (, literally: ''At the bottom'') is a play by Russian dramatist Maxim Gorky written in 1902 and produced by the Moscow Arts Theatre on December 18, 1902, under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski. It became his first ma ...
'' which ran for six weeks at the Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...
. In this same year, he opened the New Group Theatre at the All Nations Club, Kings Cross, where he directed among other productions ''A Tribute to Tennessee Williams'', before the ongoing costs of keeping an independent theatre going forced Syron to close after 12 months.
Eora Centre
In conjunction with the Aboriginal Educational Unit of TAFE, Syron founded the Eora Centre
TAFE NSW is an Australian vocational education and training provider. Annually, the network trains over 500,000 students in campus, workplace, online, or distance education methods of education. It was established as an independent statutory bod ...
in Redfern, Sydney. He co-founded the Aboriginal Theatre Company (ATC) in 1981 with scriptwriter/playwright/director Robert Merritt in order to tour Merritt's play ''The Cake Man
''The Cake Man'' is a 1975 play by Aboriginal Australian writer Bob Merritt, notable for being the first play written by an Indigenous Australian person to be published, televised and to tour out of Australia. A telemovie was made of a 1977 p ...
'', under Syron's direction, to the 1982 World Theatre Festival in Denver, Colorado
Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
, where the play received a tremendous audience response. Following this success, the play then toured various colleges around the United States. ''The Cake Man'' was performed at the World Theatre Festival in Denver, Colorado
Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
, Returning to Australia, Syron directed a season of ''The Cake Man'' at the Universal Theatre in Fitzroy, Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
after which it was funded by Australian federal government's Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs to play at the 1983 ''Warana'' – Commonwealth Arts Festival, Brisbane in Queensland where it was performed at the Edward Street Theatre.
In 1986, Syron, on behalf of the Aboriginal Arts Board, published a "Questionnaire seeking support for establishment of National Aboriginal Theatre Company", ahead of a National Black Playwrights Workshop at James Cook University
James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cair ...
in Townsville
The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...
.
National Black Playwrights Conference
In January 1987, Syron founded the National Black Playwrights Conference (NPBC), which was held at the Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...
, Canberra. In an interview with Angela Bennie, Australia's leading Indigenous actress Justine Saunders
Justine Florence Saunders (20 February 1953 – 15 April 2007) was an Australian stage, television and film actress. She was a member of the Woppaburra, an Australian Aboriginal people, from the Kanomie clan of Great Keppel Island in Queenslan ...
commented :
It was Brian Syron, in fact, who was the instigator not only of the first National Black Playwrights Conference but the National Playwrights Conference. Syron always said our culture is an oral one, it comes through our painting, through our singing, through our stories that's how we pass down our laws, that's how we have passed down our history for 60,000 years
Eva Johnson was writer/director of the conference. During the conference, the delegates awarded Syron the 1987 inaugural Harold Blair Award for his Lifetime Achievements in the Performing Arts, which brought with it the additional honour of the title "Elder".
ANTT
As a result of the first NBPC, Syron, as a member of a steering committee
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...
which included Rhoda Roberts, Kevin Gilbert, Lydia Miller (later executive director of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts at the Australia Council), Michael Johnson (who presented two SBS Television
The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from tax revenue. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World Movies, SBS ...
series in 1989 and 1991), Suzanne Butt, and Lesley Fogarty, with Justine Saunders
Justine Florence Saunders (20 February 1953 – 15 April 2007) was an Australian stage, television and film actress. She was a member of the Woppaburra, an Australian Aboriginal people, from the Kanomie clan of Great Keppel Island in Queenslan ...
as adviser, proposed and co-founded the Aboriginal National Theatre Trust (ANTT).[
ANTT was constituted as a ]limited company
In a limited company, the Legal liability, liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a c ...
in May 1988, and was staffed by Aboriginal artists who were committed to the promotion and protection of all Aboriginal arts. It founded a National Aboriginal Theatre, and provided advice to a number of Aboriginal and non-Indigenous production companies, theatre companies and educational institutions, and individuals.[
In May 1988 ANTT staged ''The Keepers'', by ]Bob Maza
Robert Lewis Maza (25 November 1939 – 14 May 2000), known as Bob Maza, was an Aboriginal Australian actor, playwright and activist.
Early life and education
Robert Lewis Maza was born on Palm Island in North Queensland on 25 November 1939, ...
, at the Belvoir Street Theatre, which was the first all-Aboriginal production staged in Australia.[
The Second National Black Playwrights Conference was held in 1989 at ]Macquarie University
Macquarie University ( ) is a Public university, public research university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the Sydney metropolitan area. ...
, which gave rise to the Corroboree of Aboriginal National Storytellers.[
In March 1990 ANTT staged the world premiere of ''Munjong'', by ]Richard Walley
Richard Barry Walley (born 1953) is a Nyungar man and an Aboriginal Australian performer, musician and writer, who has been a campaigner for the Indigenous cause. Walley is also a visual artist.
Life and career
Walley, born in 1953 in Meekat ...
and directed by Vivian Walker (son of Oodgeroo Noonuccal), at the Victorian Arts Centre
Arts Centre Melbourne, originally known as the Victorian Arts Centre and briefly called the Arts Centre, is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, located in the central M ...
.[ The actor David Field (brother of Rhoda Roberts' partner Steve Field) played a violent husband of Roberts' character, a woman who doesn't know that she's Aboriginal. Roberts later related a story about an elderly Aboriginal woman, who had never been in a theatre before and was sitting in the front row, who got up to help protect the actress from the husband's blows. Roberts said: "That was when I realised we'd really made a point. Aboriginal people were seeing art that mirrored their lives".
In June 1991, after its board of directors in protest against the lack of financial support from government, the ANTT ceased operations.
]
Last work
Syron carried out a two-week workshop, a stage reading, plus a production in 1991 at the Belvoir Street Theatre, Redfern, Sydney of Mudrooroo Narogin's "courageous and brave new play"[Syron, Kicking Down the Doors: 370] ''The Aboriginal Demonstrators Confront the Declaration of the Australian Republic on 26 January 2001 with the Production of " Der Auftrag" by Heiner Muller'' and starring Justine Saunders, Michael Watson, David Kennedy, Pamela Young, Ray Kelly and Graham Cooper. The play and the production are also the subject of Mudrooroo Narogin's book ''The Mudrooroo/Muller Project – A Theatrical Casebook'', with a chapter by Syron and edited by Gerhard Fischer in collaboration with leading Indigenous academic Paul Behrendt and Syron. Syron was too ill to do more than direct the stage reading of the play.[
]
Teaching
Following the success of "Fortune", Syron was approached by Sydney drama professionals to set up the Actors Master Class for those interested in studying the Stanislavski/ Adler technique and for which Syron had applied to his award-winning production. Following the success of the Master Class, Syron was requested to introduce an Intermediate classes and then a Beginners class, both of limited numbers. The School was kept open on an ad hoc basis over the next 23 years and moved many times between 1969 and 1992.
In 1969 Syron taught the first group of urban Aboriginal actors to every study Stanislavski or acting from an Indigenous perspective. The classes were held at the Foundation of Aboriginal Affairs, George Street (near Central railway station), Sydney CBD
The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or ...
and the actors included political and cultural historian/actor Denis Walker and actor/director/historian Gary Foley
Gary Edward Foley (born 1950) is an Aboriginal Australian activist of the Gumbaynggirr people, academic, writer and actor. He is best known for his role in establishing the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra in 1972 and for establishing an Ab ...
. The situation was still so bad that at the end of each evening the actors had to be ferried back by taxi to their homes in Redfern, about 10 minutes' walk away, to avoid arrest by the police.
He followed this in the early 1972 with workshops and acting classes held at the Black Theatre Arts & Cultural Centre (aka Black Theatre), Cope Street, Redfern where his pupils included Jack Davis, Hyllus Maris, Lester Bostock, Maureen Watson and Gerry Bostock.
In 1973, as a foundation member of the Peter Summerton Foundation, Syron organised with his mentor Stella Adler to travel to Australia and conduct a series of master class
''Master Class'' is a 1995 play by American playwright Terrence McNally, presented as a fictional master class by opera singer Maria Callas near the end of her life, in the 1970s. The play features incidental vocal music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giac ...
es for people from all areas of the Australian entertainment industries. He then instigated The Artists' Group Theatre, with the first workshops being held in the sculpture studio of Ron Robertson-Swann
Ronald Charles Robertson-Swann (born 20 February 1941) is an Australian sculptor, best known for his controversial abstract public sculpture '' Vault'' (1980), located in Melbourne. He is also known for the sculpture '' Leviathan Play'' (1985) ...
before moving to The Stables, Kings Cross. During this year he was invited to teach drama to The Resurgent Society inmates of Parramatta Gaol
The Parramatta Correctional Centre is a heritage-listed former prison, medium security prison for males on the corner of O'Connell and Dunlop Streets, North Parramatta, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was in operation between 1798 and 201 ...
, and became involved with the Society for the next 12 months. His group included playwrights Jim McNeil and Robin Thurston
Robin most commonly refers to several species of passerine birds.
Robin may also refer to:
Animals
* Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae
* Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), includ ...
, and Syron is believed to be the first drama teacher to work in the prison system of New South Wales.
At the end of 1974 Syron went to Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
to take up a Adler's invitation to work at the Stella Adler Los Angeles Acting Studio on Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It runs through the Hollywood, East Hollywood, Little Armenia, Thai Town, and Los Feliz districts. Its western terminus is at Sunset Plaza Drive in the Hollyw ...
.
Leading Indigenous academic and Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
graduate Roberta Sykes set up the Black Women's Action
Roberta "Bobbi" Sykes (16 August 194314 November 2010) was an Australian poet and author. She was a lifelong campaigner for Indigenous land rights, as well as human rights and women's rights.
Early life and education
Born Roberta Barkley Pat ...
(BWA) group in 1976 with Syron as a foundation member, joining other Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in the support of the educational advancement of Indigenous women in their pursuit of academic success at leading international universities.
Over the period 1986–1987 Syron became the first Indigenous Australian to lecture at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School
The Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS), formerly Australian Film and Television School, is Australia's national screen arts and broadcast school. Opened to students in 1973 as Film and Television School (FTS), after accredita ...
(AFTRS). In Australia's Bi-Centennial Year, 1988, Syron, as representative of actors and the Aboriginal National Theatre Trust, was invited back to AFTRS as a guest lecturer for the "Writing '88" Course.
Television
Syron was employed as children's dialogue coach on ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to:
*ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or
*ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia
ABC Television or ABC ...
's award-winning television production '' Seven Little Australians'' (1974), a series adapted from the Ethel Turner
Ethel Turner (24 January 1872 – 8 April 1958) was an English-born Australian novelist and children's literature writer.
Life
She was born Ethel Mary Burwell in Doncaster in England. Her father died when she was two, leaving her mother Sarah ...
novel of the same name. In 1976 Syron was cast as Sweet William in the television adaptation of the Robert Merritt play ''The Cake Man'' (1977). Almost immediately after this production Syron was cast as Ray in "Ray's Story" a one-hour episode of ''Pig in a Poke
A ''pig in a poke'' is a thing that is bought without first being inspected, and thus of unknown authenticity or quality. The idiom is attested in 1555:
A "poke" is a sack, so the image is of a concealed item being sold.
Starting in the 19th ce ...
'' (1977) a five-part series screened on ABC TV starring Justine Saunders, Athol Compton, Gary Foley and Paul Coe, and described as the first modern urban Aboriginal drama screened on Australian television. Syron then played the leading role of "The Wife Abuser" in director Stephen Wallace's telemovie ''Women Who Kill'' (1983) which screened on ATN Channel 9.
In 1987 Syron was executive producer of the documentary-drama film production ''Karbara: First Born'' (1987), directed and produced by Richard Guthrie, during and following the 1987 Australian National Playwrights Conference. The film featured Lydia Miller and Ernie Dingo
Ernest Ashley Dingo Member of the Order of Australia, AM (born 31 July 1956) is an Indigenous Australians, Indigenous Australian actor, television presenter and comedian, originating from the Yamatji people of the Murchison (Western Australia), ...
and screened at the Sydney Film Festival
The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize.
, the festival's director is Nashen Moodley.
Histo ...
in 1987 and on ABC TV.
In 1988 he was appointed head of the ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting
* Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
's new Aboriginal unit.[ Syron and Saunders were co-presenters of the ABC TV Aboriginal entertainment series ''The First Australians'' (1988–1990). This series of 18 × 1-hour programs featured leading Aboriginal people in the fields of performance, music and art, and presented Indigenous Australian political and commercial leaders in discussions on various topics important to Indigenous Australians.
]
Film
In 1970 Syron left Australia for the USA where he took up a position as Attachment / Assistant on the feature film '' What's Up Doc?'' directed by Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. He started out his career as a young actor studying under Stella Adler before working as a film critic for ''Fi ...
. Syron's next film project was the short film ''Jeremy and Teapot'' (1976) starring Patrick Thompson
Hugh Patrick Thompson (born 21 October 1935), known as Patrick Thompson, is a British Conservative Party politician.
Early life
Educated at Felsted School and Emmanuel College, Cambridge, Thompson was a schoolmaster, teaching physics. From 196 ...
as Jeremy and Syron as Teapot with the Narrator Jack Thompson, shot on location at Thompson's property at Upper Bo Bo, via Ulong, northern New South Wales. The film went on to win Best Film, 1982 Women's International Film/Video Festival, Tucson, Arizona
Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
, USA.
Syron was employed on director Peter Weir
Peter Lindsay Weir ( ; born 21 August 1944) is a retired Australian film director. He is known for directing films crossing various genres over forty years with films such as '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), '' Gallipoli'' (1981), '' The Y ...
's feature film '' The Last Wave'' (1977) as a consultant.
The Australian Film Commission
The Australian Film Commission (AFC) was an Australian government agency was founded in 1975 with a mandate to promote the creation and distribution of films in Australia as well as to preserve the country's film history. It also had a product ...
awarded Syron a grant in 1980 for his script ''Australian Aboriginal Achievers'' (1980), which was a biographical documentary recounting the achievements of seven leading Aboriginal achievers: actor/historian Gary Foley
Gary Edward Foley (born 1950) is an Aboriginal Australian activist of the Gumbaynggirr people, academic, writer and actor. He is best known for his role in establishing the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra in 1972 and for establishing an Ab ...
, potter Thancoupie, artist Jean Jimmi, bureaucrat Charles Perkins, academic Miriam Rose Ungunmeer-Bauman and artists Jimmy Bienderry and Stumpy Martin Jempijimpa. The script never received production funding and was later used as the basis for the Clare Dunn book ''People Under the Skin – An Irish Immigrant's Experience of Aboriginal Australia''.
In 1981, Syron played a small role of "The Neighbour" in '' The City's Edge'' (1983) (aka ''Running Man'' ''Edge of the City'')", co-written by Robert Merritt the first Australian Indigenous scriptwriter of a feature film and the Nightclub Manager in '' Coolangatta Gold'' (1983).
''Backlash
Backlash may refer to:
Literature
* '' Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women'', a 1991 book by Susan Faludi
* ''Backlash'' (Star Wars novel), a 2010 novel by Aaron Allston
* Backlash (Marc Slayton), a comic book character from ...
'' (1986) directed and produced by Bill Bennett
William Richards Bennett, (April 14, 1932 – December 3, 2015) was a Canadian politician who was the 27th premier of British Columbia from 1975 to 1986.
Early life
Bennett was the son of Annie Elizabeth May (Richards) and former premier W. ...
featured Lydia Miller with Syron in the role of The Executioner or Kadachi Man. Syron and the lead actors were the co-writers of this production although they were uncredited by Bennett. The script improvisation by the actors is confirmed by ''Encore''
"Bill Bennett's "Backlash", for instance, is a film for which the principals improvised their dialogue...in this his latest effort he tested this technique to its limit" (''Encore'', 24 April – 7 May 1986 : 6)
Syron and Rosalie Kunoth-Monks were employed as Co-Aboriginal Consultants on the television production '' Naked Under Capricorn'' (1989) directed by Rob Stewart, produced by Syron's brother-in-law Ray Alchin and starring Nigel Havers
Nigel Allan Havers (born 6 November 1951) is an English actor and presenter. His film roles include Lord Andrew Lindsay in the 1981 British film ''Chariots of Fire'', which earned him a BAFTA nomination; as Dr. Rawlins in the 1987 Steven Spielb ...
.
From 1990 to 1992 Syron directed the first feature film
A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...
by an Indigenous Australian, '' Jindalee Lady'' (1992), and he is recognised as being the first First Nations director of a feature film. Nearly all cast and crew were also Aboriginal, and one scene featured the Bangarra Dance Theatre
Bangarra Dance Theatre is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance company focused on contemporary dance. It was founded by African American dancer and choreographer Carole Y. Johnson, Gumbaynggirr man Rob Bryant, and South African-bor ...
.[ ]Lowitja O'Donoghue
Lowitja O'Donoghue (August 1932 – 4 February 2024), also known as Lois O'Donoghue and Lois Smart, was an Australian public administrator and Indigenous rights advocate. She was the inaugural chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait I ...
, Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) (1990–2005) was the Australian Government body through which Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders were formally involved in the processes of government affecting thei ...
wrote saying Mr Syron is held in high esteem by both indigenous and non-indigenous Australians for his work as our first indigenous feature film director..He has made a valuable contribution to indigenous art in this country and has been a strong and articulate advocate in the movement to raise and promote the status of indigenous theatre and film as an integral part of Australia's cultural heritage" (O'Donoghue, letter to Russell Mulvey, Edmonton, Canada, 8.12.1992)
Briann Kearney and Syron applied in a joint application for a Literary Fellowship from the Australia Council and were awarded $20,000 to co-write ''Kicking Down the Doors – a History of Indigenous Filmmaking from 1968–1993 including non-Indigenous films for and about Indigenous people'', based on research collected by Syron for his submission to the 1992 HREOC
The Australian Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution of the Commonwealth of Australia, established in 1986 as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and renamed in 2008. It is a statutory body fu ...
submission.
Founder / member
* Black Theatre Arts & Cultural Centre (1972) – artistic director / foundation member
* Bondi Pavilion
The Bondi Surf Pavilion in Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia, is an outstanding beach cultural icon of Australia, together with the beach, park and surf lifesaving club. The structure is listed on the NSW State Heritage Register 01786 as ...
Theatre (1973) – co-founder / artistic director
* Peter Summerton Foundation (1969) – foundation member / organiser "Stella Adler Master Classes" (1973)
* The Artists' Group Theatre (1973) – foundation member
* The Australian National Playwrights Conference (1973) – co-founder
* The New Group Theatre(1978) – founder
* The Aboriginal Theatre Company (1981) – co-founder
* Black Women's Action Group (1985) – foundation member / honorary secretary
* The Australian Black Playwrights Conference (1987) – founder
* The Aboriginal National Theatre Trust (1987) – co-founder / co-director
Recognition
* 1969 Winner, Inaugural Drama Critics Award – Best Production, ''Fortune and Men's Eyes''
* 1970 Polish Government Scholarship to study with Jerzy Grotowski
Jerzy Marian Grotowski (; 11 August 1933 – 14 January 1999) was a Polish theatre director and theorist whose innovative approaches to acting, training and theatrical production have significantly influenced theatre today. He is considered one ...
in Wrocław
Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...
($10,000)
* 1978 Script development grant, Australian Film Commission
The Australian Film Commission (AFC) was an Australian government agency was founded in 1975 with a mandate to promote the creation and distribution of films in Australia as well as to preserve the country's film history. It also had a product ...
, "Cape Hawk – A Work in Progress"
* 1978 Department of Aboriginal Affairs, Aboriginal Overseas Study Grant
* 1978 BBC TV
BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios ...
Specials Directors' Course for Emerging Nations
* 1987 Winner, inaugural Harold Blair Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Performing Arts
* 1987 Awarded the title of "Elder" by BNPC Delegates
* 1990 Ikkeman Sacred Feather, International First Nations Film and Art Festival, Canada
* 1992 Best Feature Film and first feature film by a First Nations Director, Dreamspeaker International Film and Arts Festival, Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...
, Alberta, Canada
* 1992 Nominee, East West Award – Best Feature Film, Hawaii International Film Festival
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only state not on the North American mainland, th ...
, Hawaii, USA
* 1993 Co-recipient, Literary Fellowship – Australia Council, for "Kicking Down the Doors: A History of Australian Indigenous Filmmakers: 1968 to 1993"
Selected publications
* ''Entertainment Arts in Australia'', 1968, Ed. John Allen, Paul Hamlyn, Dee Why, Australia, 81:82
* ''People Under the Skin – An Irish Immigrant's Experience of Aboriginal Australia'', Clare Dunne, Lotus Publishing House, Carlingford, Australia. 1988 : vi:viii +
* ''Aboriginal Voices – Contemporary Aboriginal Artists, Writers and Performers'' 1990, 138:142, Liz Thompson, Simon & Schuster, Brookvale, Australia,
* ''Voices of the First Day – Awakening in the Aboriginal Dreamtime'', 1991, 1 : 5, Robert Lawlor, Inner Traditions International, Vermont, USA,
*Interview – 23 June 1993 – Brian Syron with Trevor Ellis, National Films Canberra, ACT, Australia – 16 mm – Last Interview
* "Screening the Past : The Sixth Australian History & Film Conference Papers – Aboriginal Cultural Identity", 1993, 54 : 58, Media Centre, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Melbourne, Australia,
*
Kicking Down the Doors – A History of Indigenous Filmmakers from 1968-1993
', 1996, with co-author Briann Kearney, Donobri International, Hawaii/Sydney, (2nd Edition 2007. Lulu Inc. )
* ''Mudrooroo/Mueller Project – A Theatrical Casebook'', Edited by Gerhard Fisher, Paul Behrendt, 1993, New South Wales University Press, Kensington, Australia,
* ''Media Ethics, an Aboriginal Film and the Australian Film Commission'', 2002, Thomas G. Donovan, Brody T. Lorraine, Universe, Lincoln, U.S.A.,
Papers
* "The Population Future of Indigenous Peoples", 1983 United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations, Representative of the Aboriginal Arts Board of Australia Council, Bucharest Romania
* "Colonialism, Loss of Land & Our Legal Rights", 1988 Fifth Festival of Pacific Arts, Representative of the Aboriginal National Theatre Trust, Townsville, North Queensland, Australia
* "Indigenous Feature Filmmaking", 1991 World Festival of Indigenous Motion Pictures, Pincher Creek, Canada
* "Indigenous Fimmaking in Australia". 1991 AFC Film Funding Policy Conference, Institute of Cultural Policy, Griffith University, Brisbane, Qld. Australia.
* 1992 Human Rights & Equal Right Commission submission dealing with Australian Film Commission's denial of Equal opportunity in the Australian feature film industry.
* "The Making of an Indigenous Feature Film", 1992 Hawaii International Film Festival, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
* "Aboriginal Films in Focus", The 1993 Writers Festival, Mitchell Library, Sydney, NSW, Australia
* "History of Indigenous Oppression", 1993 Pacific Islanders in Communication, Honolulu, Hawaii
* "Aboriginal Theatre in the 90s – Still Working from the Fringe", 1993 National Playwrights Conference, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
References
Further reading
*
* (About photographer and filmmaker Michael Riley, but gives lots of background.)
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Syron, Brian
1934 births
1993 deaths
Indigenous Australian writers
Male actors from Sydney
20th-century Australian non-fiction writers
Australian film directors
Australian Aboriginal culture