By Emily Iannello
WHILE Australian students learn Shakespeare some of their counterparts in London study Gwen Harwood.
The standing of the Australian poet in the UK was a surprising lesson for Australian director Tammie Kite as she worked in London’s education sector.
“I was shocked that we in Australia didn’t know about Gwen Harwood,” Kite told the Independent.
Intrigued, Kite carried out her own studies of Harwood’s poetry.
The result was The Lion’s Bride, a production based on 18 Harwood poems for an insight into her life.
“This piece really came from that moment when I started finding out about her,” Kite said.
“We dabble in the fact she was also known as a literary hoaxer. She often saw that a lot of males were selected to have their poetry published, so she made up a male pseudonym, Walter Lehmann.”
Harwood won more fans with a cheeky hidden note for an editor who previously rejected one of her sonnets for publication in Sydney’s The Bulletin.
“After that she was banned from having her poetry published in the paper. She’s a really complex character,” Kite said.
Kite described The Lion’s Bride as less a biography about Harwood as a story on the fictional poet she created.
The “struggles of a female writer finding the time to write poetry” was another theme, Kite said.
“It also goes into memories of her while she was in school and having to deal with her teachers, who were quite keen to punish.
“Then it goes into romantic love and the passing of time and her having more wisdom and being able to look back at her lifetime.”
A cast of three appears in The Lion’s Bride: Amanda Knights, Gareth Trew and musician Déborrah Morgan.
“Some of the poems have been shaped into songs – Harwood’s poetry has themes of music,” Kite said.
Blank paper inspired the set design.
“We’re very much looking at the idea of a blank piece of paper coming to life,” Kite explained.
“We use some silhouette work. It has a paper feel to it because of the importance of writing on paper.”
The title of the play comes from one of Harwood’s poems, which deals with marriage.
“It’s the idea of when you get married what masks do you wear and how do they change throughout your life time,” Kite said.
“Also, the idea of writing under different names is like putting on a mask.”
Geelong’s Courthouse Arts hosts The Lion’s Bride on September 4.
