The Wire

Since September 11 it’s been no easy task getting out positive stories about Arab and Muslim Australians. It seemed that task got a lot harder last December when White and Middle Eastern Australians clashing violently on the beaches of Cronulla in Sydney. But out of the divisions highlighted by those events came the idea for a variety show that aimed to show a positive side to Middle Eastern Australians. So on Friday and Saturday night, the New Theatre in Newtown in Sydney put on a show called “Chicken, beef or Lamb, a cultural kebab, celebrating 125 years of Middle Eastern Immigration to Australia”. Balancing satirical comedy acts with history lessons, musical performances and a multi-media slide show, a cultural kebab was an ambitious project as well as a well-intentioned one, with all proceeds going to the reconstruction effort in Lebanon. Erica Vowles went a long to the Saturday night performance and got behind the curtain to speak with the participants, starting with director Lyn Collingwood.