Workshops Begin In Australia On WikiLeaks Opera

Hugh Pickens writes "Betrayal, lust, secrecy, power: there's no shortage of dramatic intrigue in the story of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. Perhaps that's why work has begun on an opera based on the life of Julian Assange in Melbourne. Opera Australia held – with Julian Assange's approval – a series of in-house workshops last month after its artistic director, Lyndon Terracini, came up with the idea and asked composer Jonathan Dreyfus to write the music. 'It's got everything that a dramatic musical work needs,' says Eddie Perfect, who played Assange in the initial process. 'It's got heroes and villains. In fact, it's got a hero and villain combined in one.' The company has not yet committed to a full production, but if the opera goes ahead it will be the second time the WikiLeaks story has been presented on stage in Assange's native Australia. Stainless Steel Rat played at the Seymour Center in Sydney last June."

Comments

Sounds perfect

[Anonymous Coward]

Since Julian loves to be center stage and has a flair for the dramatic, an opera sounds about right.

I'm not going to talk about whether I agree or disagree with Wikileaks, but I hope people can agree that Julian himself is not the most humble of individuals.

Re:Sounds perfect

[Anonymous Coward]

Since Julian loves to be center stage and has a flair for the dramatic, an opera sounds about right.

I'm not going to talk about whether I agree or disagree with Wikileaks, but I hope people can agree that Julian himself is not the most humble of individuals.

Why can't you people judge the man by his actions and not his personality? I see this same shit whenever someone talks about Stallman. You aren't going to be friends with them and you don't have to deal with them ever, so it doesn't matter if they have "good" personalities, are narcissistic, are fun or whatever.

Fuck you, please die.

Re:Sounds perfect

[Anonymous Coward]

Exactly. One doesn't have to have too much bearing on the other. And being a narcissist or a rapist (whether or not one is one) shouldn't detract from the idea that the large scale misdeeds of governments and powerful corporations should be exposed. Reversely, being a knight in shining armor in the battle for truth and justice on a global scale doesn't mean you can't be a pain or even a rapist on a small personal scale.

Re:Sounds perfect

[Anonymous Coward]

Since Julian loves to be center stage and has a flair for the dramatic, an opera sounds about right.

I'm not going to talk about whether I agree or disagree with Wikileaks, but I hope people can agree that Julian himself is not the most humble of individuals.

Why can't you people judge the man by his actions and not his personality? I see this same shit whenever someone talks about Stallman. You aren't going to be friends with them and you don't have to deal with them ever, so it doesn't matter if they have "good" personalities, are narcissistic, are fun or whatever.

Fuck you, please die.

Julian isn't a media whore, the media are Julian Assange whores. They focus on him, he focusses on the war crimes his work exposes. Listen to him - he speaks very clearly and it's NOT about him at all.

Re:Sounds perfect

[cavreader]

His work has definitely exposed somes crimes but the question is which ones? I'm guessing Manning would have preferred a little less "crime" exposure. As far as his actions go why does it require millions of dollars to support the release the purloined data when he could have dumped the entire cache across the Internet for the cost of an Internet connection? And please don't say he gave a damn about any consequences for people included in the data because he didn't and doesn't. His colleagues at Wiki-leaks who raised this issue were either fired or quit the organization. Wiki-leaks certainly didn't pay for the information so why should anyone else have to pony up for access. His shakedown of the global media services doesn't really seem compatible with the picture of someone who just wants to set the truth free. Of course if Wiki-leaks did pay for any of the information upfront I imagine there might be some uncomfortable legal questions raised since prior knowledge could have been considered espionage which would have really created a shit storm where things like extradition and warrants become options.

Who Cares About Wikileaks

[virb67]

This focus on Wikileaks is ridiculous. Why does information have to leaked by Wikileaks? It doesn't. What's so fucking special about this site? One can leak information anywhere on the web, including the established media, a personal blog, or even Slashdot. This idea that only Wikileaks' site can disseminate sensitive information is fucking retarded. I find this obsession whacky. Who really gives a fat rat's ass about this bullshit drama?

Re:Who Cares About Wikileaks

[Anonymous Coward]

This focus on Wikileaks is ridiculous. Why does information have to leaked by Wikileaks? It doesn't. What's so fucking special about this site? One can leak information anywhere on the web, including the established media, a personal blog, or even Slashdot. This idea that only Wikileaks' site can disseminate sensitive information is fucking retarded. I find this obsession whacky. Who really gives a fat rat's ass about this bullshit drama?

Anyone who recognizes the monumental ramifications of having large corporations like Paypal and Visa cut off the ability for private individuals to give money to a purely grassroots private information revelation organization like Wikileaks cares pretty strongly about keeping a focus on Wikileaks, or rather, all the stuff around it. Why do you seem to have an exposed nerve about it?

Re:Who Cares About Wikileaks

[Anonymous Coward]

Because Wikileaks has proven to be able to market the information out to the news media in ways other sites haven't been able to replicate. It has also established itself with a reliable reputation. You clearly hate wikileaks for its success, for whatever reason.