Emma Buzo’s introduction to
The
2008 Alex Buzo Memorial Lecture
August 14 2008
Click
here
to listen to a podcast of the event.
In the 1970’s, one of the first things my father, the late
playwright, author, journalist and UNSW alumnus Alex Buzo
instilled in me was an appreciation, for sport. In fact, I
remember staring wide-eyed at this usually restrained and
unemotional man beating his brow and falling off his seat
during rugby league matches. Although any long-suffering
supporters of the tragic-comic North Sydney Bears present
this evening are probably thinking “well what did you
expect?”
It wasn’t until I was listening to his occasional address
on receiving an Honorary Doctorate from UNSW in 2005 that I
realised there was a bigger, and far less tragic path of
enlightenment in his life: his education. He spoke of how,
decades after his arts degree, he realised how much he had
learned at this place and became more involved in Alumni
affairs. “It was time to give something back.” he declared.
Backing ”Team University” is not a new idea and there are
many thriving alumni organisations around the world. But
I’m sure many will admit that they harbour no special
feelings for their alma mater and they’ve never looked
back. Australians are naturals at backing sporting teams.
But this doesn’t always translate to our education. Often,
students have the attitude of “get in, get your degree and
get out” when it comes to university education. Why?
Perhaps it’s become just another product. Another service.
Another box to be ticked. Plus, students pay big money for
it in contemporary times, sometimes leaving little time or
inclination to stop and smell the roses. And when you pay
for something, people are more likely to think to
themselves “what will I get?” rather than “what can I
learn?”
In contemporary times, a degree can feel more like
something you consume, rather than experience , one of the
many things you can get online while in your pyjamas -
along with shopping for groceries, and finding a life
partner. For many new students, sitting in a lecture
theatre with hundreds of others is an overwhelming
experience, and they may well wish they’d stayed at home in
their pyjamas.
However.
Great things can happen at uni and great people get
inspired. If Buzo hadn’t been downing beers with his mates
in the uni bar, he would never have witnessed the incident
that inspired and led to the on-campus premiere of his most
famous play “Norm and Ahmed” now studied in universities
and schools around the country.
Even if we don’t realise it at the time, university
education plays a significant role in shaping lives and
it’s in our best interests to strengthen these roots. Why?
Because it gives this often disjointed life a through line.
A history. A shared history. As Bentley from Buzo’s play
“Rooted” says “You’ve got to have a point of reference.”
In preparation for the inauguration of The Alex Buzo
Memorial Lecture, I’ve been studying Alex’s 2005 address on
receiving his Honorary Doctorate entitled “Memoirs Of An
Unswonian” in which he says:
“At Orientation Week we were welcomed in the Science
Theatre by an address from the Vice-Chancellor, and then a
Students’ Union representative asked us to file out
respectfully and go down to the Village Green for the
funeral of a student who had died in the holidays. We
thought this was a bit odd and in questionable taste, but
we complied and when we had followed the coffin down to the
Green we were told that the student had “died of apathy”
and not to let this happen to us. It had been a successful
hoax and they had, in the argot of the day, “got us a
beauty”. I think we responded well, and the students of the
sixties could not have been accused of apathy”
1.
It soon became apparent that this university was no ivory
tower or “Little Europe” like some of its rivals. It
introduced courses in Australian Studies, and in History we
were urged to do some Australian material because that was
where the primary sources were. In English we did Phonetics
and it taught us to listen to what people were saying
before writing it down in sound language. Not surprisingly,
I ended up writing a play about Governor Lachlan Macquarie.
Alex goes on to describe two great “Unswonian” moments that
arose because of his play “Macquarie.” “Unswonian” was a
term coined by one of Alex’s classmates who thought that
“the University of New South Wales” was a mouthful so why
not call graduates “Unswonian” after all, people who went
to Oxford are known as Oxonians.
The first “Unswonian” moment was when the play was
presented at Government House in 1997. Alex said:
The Governor of the time was former UNSW Chancellor, the
late Gordon Samuels and he was the first holder of this
office not to live at Government House. “Macquarie” was the
first play to be produced at this historic site and after a
performance I introduced the Governor to the actor playing
Macquarie, who happened to be one of the first NIDA
students enrolled at the little white cottage on High
Street. “You realise I’m the entrepreneur of this
production,” said Governor Samuels To Governor Macquarie.
“If I hadn’t agreed to move out you wouldn’t have been able
to move in.”
The second “Unswonian” moment was out at Old Government
House in Parramatta when the manager said to Alex and the
cast: “It’s been a pleasure having you all here. You’ve
brought this place alive.” Apparently, the only other
historical attraction in the area at the time was an
exhibition of nineteenth-century honey jars and in Alex’s
words:
“we had succeeded in our aim, to provide something along
the lines of life, people, the human factor … which is what
dramatic art is supposed to do.”
It’s Alex’s Unswonian/Macquarie moments that inspired Alex
to become more involved in alumni affairs and then in turn,
his inspiration is the energy behind the inauguration of
The alex buzo memorial lecture. Alex was an
advocate of many things – free speech critical thinking and
constructive questioning. His acclaimed career spanned four
decades, many literary genres and since his epiphany in the
90’s he has frequently and publicly referred to the
influence of his university career and how it shaped him as
an artist and a thinker.
Alex’s father, Zihni Buzo, revered his own university
education and encouraged Alex to do the same. Very few
young Albanian boys in the 1920’s were able to leave the
country through a series of academic scholarships, study at
Harvard University and migrate to Australia. So for Zihni
university education was a rare and precious privilege and
something to be very grateful for.
It’s in all our interests though, to strengthen the team
that educated us. To look more closely at where
people came from and the experiences that shaped them. My
vision is to illuminate the path from education to life and
the wonderful things that can and do happen along the way.
If you’re looking out for them, that is.
Alex also recalled during that 2005 address, which,
incidentally, was only months before he died:
“With all the ego of the young, i had set out
single-handedly to transform the australian theatre into a
truthful, idiomatic reflection of the society around it. I
failed, of course, but I take some comfort from the words
of the poet, “say not that the struggle nought
availeth.”
1.
It’s true, a life in the arts is…well it exhausts me to try
and define it. But I can define Alex Buzo’s canon no sweat.
It is complete and assured. His plays, novels, books and
articles form an extraordinarily enjoyable course of
education: One that reflects contemporary life with
unswerving honesty and integrity and maps contours of the
human heart.
Alex tried to instill many… respectful and useful things in
me during his lifetime, just as his father instilled in
him. Unfortunately, I’m not the “instillable” type.
However! All has not been lost as in the spirit of those
great words “say not that the struggle nought availeth”
early last year, I was bitten by the most ferocious desire,
not only to be associated with Alex’s extraordinary canon,
but to assist it, guide it, and most importantly, be
educated by it. This led to the launch of The Alex Buzo
Company to administrate and promote his literary estate.
On a mission of advocacy last year, and spurred on by
Alex’s public pride in his alma mater, I took the good Dean
of FASS, James Donald to a performance of Alex’s famous
play “Norm and Ahmed” and put to him my idea of
establishing an annual Alex Buzo lecture.
So I feel that my role here is simply to act as a conduit
for Alex’s allegiances and alliances. Very straightforward
stuff really! Alex had planned to live a lot longer, but
thankfully, he was incredibly productive in his lifetime
and I’ve got a lot of…”instilling” to be going on with.
I thank James Donald and the Faculty of Arts and Social
Sciences for listening and sharing this vision through the
inauguration of this event.
It is now my great pleasure to introduce another eminent
“Unswonian” to deliver the first Alex Buzo Memorial Lecture
– Bob Carr.
1.
“Memoirs of an
Unswonian”,
Quadrant Magazine, April 1 2006