The Extraordinary Shapes of Geoffrey Rush
A free exhibition celebrating characters created by an Australian icon
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Extended until 3 November 2013.
Geoffrey Rush will be signing copies of the catalogue accompanying the exhibition The Extraordinary Shapes of Geoffrey Rush at Arts Centre Melbourne at 2pm, Sunday 20 October.
Curated and developed by Arts Centre Melbourne with the assistance of Geoffrey Rush, a new free exhibition in Gallery 1 opened on 6 July 2013, The Extraordinary Shapes of Geoffrey Rush reflects on his many achievements to date and explore his ability to inhabit characters through a remarkable physical and verbal dexterity.
Featuring costumes, photographs, moving image and personal items, the exhibition highlights roles created by Geoffrey Rush in plays including Exit the King, The Diary of a Madman and The Importance of Being Earnest, and in films such as Shine, Quills, Pirates of the Caribbean and The King’s Speech.
Throughout his prolific and distinguished career, Geoffrey Rush has earned international acclaim for his work on both stage and screen. The focus of the exhibition is Geoffrey Rush’s talent as a great character actor. Arranged according to character types played by Rush, the exhibition provides an insight into his skills and techniques in both theatre and film.
The exhibition title relates to Geoffrey Rush’s approach to developing characters through specific shapes of their appearance, such as posture, costume components or overall silhouette. The concept of shape is also reflected in the physicality of Rush’s performances.
Highlights of the exhibition include costumes worn by Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa in Pirates of the Caribbean, Philip Henslowe in Shakespeare in Love, the Marquis de Sade in Quills, Poprishchinin The Diary of a Madman, King Berenger in Exit the King and Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest. Also on display will be Rush’s ‘triple crown of acting’: his Academy Award, Emmy Award and Tony Award.
The exhibition items are drawn from Geoffrey Rush’s personal collection, film studios and theatre companies, as well as from the Arts Centre Melbourne’s Performing Arts Collection, Australia’s largest and most important collection of performing arts history and traditions. This collection comprises more than 510,000 items documenting nearly 200 years of performance in Australia across theatre, music, dance, circus and opera, and is featured in exhibitions that attract over 600,000 visits a year.
Arts Centre Melbourne presents
The Extraordinary Shapes of Geoffrey Rush
Arts Centre Melbourne, Gallery I
From 6 July 2013. Extended until 3 November A FREE exhibition
Read Coral Drouyn's article about her behind-the-scenes tour of Arts Centre Melbourne’s Performing Arts Collection in the July / August 2013 edition of Stage Whispers, now on sale online or at newsagents..
Top Image: Geoffrey Rush as King Berenger in Exit The King, 2009 Photograph by Hugh Hartshorne.