Tales of the Revolution

at the Republic Bar & Café
Saturday 6th September, 3pm – 5pm

Provocative tales of dissent, revolution and general ‘ratbaggery’.
Storytellers include former ASIS agent, author and linguist Warren Reed, Donna Jacobs-Sife’s with ‘A sage in Sodom’, Gail Robinson with tales of sex and politics in the 1960s. Tony the publican will be the MC and will share a few tales of his own activist days.

$10 full or $8 conc. at the door.

Biographies:
Warren Reed (NSW)
Warren Reed was born and raised in Hobart, graduating from the University of Tasmania in the early 1970s, after which he studied in the Law Faculty of Tokyo University. He was later recruited into the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) and after training in London with MI6, spent ten years as an intelligence officer in Asia and the Middle East. He has also been chief operating officer of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA). He is also an author and his last two books are a fictional spy thriller Code Cicada (HarperCollins) and, co-authored with Lance Collins, a non-fiction book about intelligence agencies Plunging Point (HarperCollins). Warren has long been interested in Tasmania’s maritime history and will be talking about early links with Japan.

Donna Jacobs Sife (NSW)
Donna Jacobs Sife is a writer, award-winning storyteller, educator and peace-worker. From the United Nations to Woodford Folk Festival her considerable international reputation is built on her capacity to bridge difference – be it within our societies, our communities or ourselves. For nearly two decades she has travelled widely throughout the world teaching and telling stories that speak to the perennial challenges of humanity.

Gail Robinson (QLD)
Gail Robinson has told stories all of her life… Born in an English village in 1953, that’s a lot of talking. She’s a beekeeper’s wife! A talent in itself and with family history tracking from Cornwall, Liverpool and Cockney London, there was a genetic certainty that she would be a storyteller! Working as a professional Storyteller and a community consultant, for over 20 years, each of Gail’s storytelling performances is a unique experience! Telling myth, folk-tales or her own stories…expect the unexpected… expect to laugh a lot …expect to be entranced!

Description of Stories:

A Sage in Sodom, Donna Jacobs Sife (NSW)
Traditional and personal stories from a social activist storyteller! (right up her alley this one!)

1960’s – A mix of sex Politics and Social Change, Gail Robinson (QLD)
A unique exploration of the 1960’s era when social dissent and activism became fashionable. From the pill to space travel, from assassination (JFK, Martin Kuther-King)to the Antranet (the beginnings of the internet), from the Vietnam Moratorium to the mini-skirt, this was an era of dissent, social change and unforgettable music. Opportunities for audience participation.

From Warren Reed (NSW)
“Growing up in the flower power days in Hobart, with all the anti-Vietnam marches etc. we were all aware of ASIO surveillance etc. Intelligence had a pretty bad name, understandably. It was seen to be very pro-Establishment and anti-the people. Then I ended up in it myself – at least, the overseas spy service (our equivalent of the CIA).

I was in that game for 10 years and have been doing all sorts of other things since. I often speak publicly about the need for accountability in these things, let alone in government in general, and did some talks last year and before at “Politics in the Pub” in Newcastle on that topic. Newcastle has one of the gutsiest, raunchiest, meaningful programs of any of the Pubs around the Sydney area. Anyhow, the Newcastle Trades Hall picked up what I was saying and last year invited me to do their annual May Day Address, which was a great experience. The banquet hall was done out in red flags etc.”