Humans Doing ─ Kate Mulvany's Curtin University Commencement 2017
Kate Mulvany studied theatre at scriptwriting at Perth's Curtin University, and graduated to a career in which she has won national awards in both categories. She won a Helpmann Award for her season as Richard III at the Sydney Opera House. She won a Phillip Parsons playwriting award for her debut play, The Seed, which drew on her real life experiences as a childhood cancer survivor resulting from her conscripted father's exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. When she was asked to return to deliver a commencement to humanities students in 2017, she wrote a beautiful tribute to the humanities, in all their broad, life-affirming glory, binding the various disciplines together using a bridge called 'imagination'.
It's this episode Kate tells the story of the speech, how it was written, what she was hoping to achieve, as well as fleshing out the autobiographical detail that make this commencement such a delight. At the speech's conclusion, Kate quotes Albert Einstein, 'For all of us here, no matter who you are, "Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will get you everywhere."
This speech is a love letter to imagination, to the humanities, and to 'humans doing'.
Episode supported by GreenSkin™ and PurpleSkin™ avocados at http://lovemyavocados.com.au.
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Kate Mulvany stars in the series Hunters opposite Al Pacino, which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
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