Café Debris
Close your eyes and see. A listening experience of a lost world
Café Debris A revolution of the stage in the 70s
First staged as both PUNK THEATRE and ARTHOUSE MUSICAL in the late 1970s London, Toronto and Edinburgh Festival, the production evolved into its most consummate and beguiling in Sydney, November 1979. It was the first and pivotal creation by actor/director Michael Matou and composer/librettist Martin Raphael.
In Sydney it was staged in an old, derelict hotel on William Street awaiting demolition, the ideal venue embodying Café Debris, the end of the line, in which the habitués are each condemned to be themselves under the viperous grip of la patron, Queen of Trash, Goddess of Garbage, Madam Flash.
The Sydney cast included the now legendary performance artists Michael Matou, Fifi L’Amour, Simon Reptile, Kevin English, Cigarette, Zero, Tommy Gun and Ari Erlich portraying the characters Madam Flash, Rancine Furburger, Connie Lingus, Ennui, Syphilla, The Duchess, Baudet and Master Bates.
Café Debris The legendary Cult Classic returns in a unique listening experience
The original music for The Café’s three-piece house band now transmogrified to full orchestral arrangement bringing the magic soundtrack of this unique theatre event back to its diabolical dynamism. Like wine, honoured by time.
Composer Martin Raphael creates his Thirteen Note Orchestra from the piano in this studio recording. Close your Eyes and See!
Now reborn in full orchestral glory, Café Debris invites you to return after almost 50 years, so come, have a drink, dim the lights, and let Madam Flash hold court one ... more ... ... time
Doors open at 6pm. Foyer Bar open for drinks and snacks plus a signature cocktail.
What will happen at Café Debris?
- 6:45 pm
Meet the Composer Martin Raphael in Conversation with Greg Khoury
The Composer shares the extraordinary stories and original photographs behind the formulation of this pivotal theatre experience in a conversation facilitated by Greg Khoury, Advocate for arts, culture & Australian theatre history
- 7:15 pm - 9:00 pm
Listen and emerge your senses in Martin Raphael's Café Debris orchestrated soundtrack
Settle in for a sonic experience like no other. No visuals, no subtitles. Just you, your ears and your imagination. “The original score is almost a character in itself. And you too are a patron of this mouldy café.” Rolling Stone (Australia) Two 40 minute listening sessions with a 15 minute interval.
- 9:00 pm - 9:15 pm
Q & A
A time to cap the event off with questions
Lineup
Martin Raphael - Composer
Raphael has enjoyed a lifetime within the magic world of music, beginning aged five studying classical piano. For his tenth birthday, his father asked him what he would like for a present and he answered “a guitar please”. That changed everything! Through his teens, he also dabbled with cello, sitar, organ, percussion and studied composition. After graduating in Fine Arts, and touring the country with his band Sticky George, he gained a commission as Composer-in-Residence sponsored by the Gulbenkian Foundation that incorporated the prestigious Dartington School in Devon. His focus was that of music in theatre and dance. In London, he became musician for the then unique god of theatre, Lindsay Kemp, during which he met legendary Australian actor, director Michael Matou. Working with Matou brought him to Australia and he’s still here, now living in O'Connell, just northwest of Oberon. Raphael has composed music for theatre, dance, mime, film, rock, Expos and international festivals. In addition, he published ‘Sideshow Theatre Company - The Book’ chronicling the history, life and times of the company he co-founded with Matou, and soon to publish a second book ‘Around The World in a G-String’, the biography of Miss Elizabeth Burton, the foremost Australian artiste of Burlesque and Striptease.
Greg Khoury
Executive Director, Century Venues. Champion and advocate for performance venues, arts and culture and Australian theatre history
Read more of the Café Debris vibe
Step inside! Inside! Aren’t you sick of always being outside? Leave your inhibitions behind, like so much soiled linen … There’s a door, nothing fancy, more a hole in the wall … … … and all at once, quite suddenly, you’ll find you’ve stepped inside … !
As portrayed in Café Debris, since the beginning of time, there has been the thought that More is, in fact, Less.
“Potential customers should be forewarned that its contents and message put ‘Cabaret’ in the ‘Sound of Music’ class by comparison. A real virtuoso display this by Mr Raphael in which he marries the classics, hard rock and jazz.”
The Scotsman
Gallery
Tickets for good, not greed Humanitix dedicates 100% of profits from booking fees to charity
