Page 1935 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 15 June 1994
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Madam Speaker, I had only a passing acquaintance with Ralph Wilson during his very long and productive career in the arts in the ACT, and also, as the Chief Minister has pointed out, in education. In this role particularly, I recall, with the Canberra High School, he made an enormous contribution in both those fields. He was one of those legendary figures, or semilegendary figures, in the Canberra arts scene, and one of those people who were constantly talked about and whose work was a reference point for others who attempted to do similar sorts of things. As members have indicated, he had the rare privilege of having a theatre named after him - something which is a special honour which can only be aspired to.
I attended some of his productions and I found them always to be challenging, always to be unexpected. The results were always something to talk about afterwards. He had, as members have indicated, a special obsession with the theatre. He made the mastery of the many facets of the theatre his special task, his special role in the ACT. He had an enormous range of interest within the theatre - not just a particular period or a particular playwright, but everything from Greek tragedies to absurdist plays, to farces. He directed and produced everything from Ibsen to O'Casey, to Beckett to Brecht. He had a total commitment to exploring all that theatre had to offer, and to sharing that experience with the people of Canberra. All who have experienced that work of his have been enriched by that process.
I want to read one paragraph from an obituary written in this month's edition of Muse by another celebrated Canberran, Ric Throssell, about Ralph. He wrote as follows:
For those who worked with him, there were special gifts. Beyond the understanding that his slow unravelling of a text allowed, there was inspiration sometimes, and the promise of growth to new command of the magic that allows an actor to stand before an audience of strangers, and often more fearsome friends, amuse them, make them laugh, or move them with another's words; or with any luck, the hardest job of all, persuade some of them to ask questions, doubt old lies and think new truths. Ralph's productions did it all. It was good to be in a Ralph Wilson play - whether as the self-anointed lead destined to play the king, or as a walk-on bit player with a handful of parts of Ralph's varying choosing. There were actors made by Ralph; many who recognised the skills they owed to him.
Madam Speaker, I think we all owe a debt to Mr Wilson. It was sad to see him pass on, and his role will be hard to fill by any who follow in his footsteps.
Question resolved in the affirmative, members standing in their places.
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