Archive - Jacobsen Entertainment Group
Sydney Mardi Gras Season (1999)
Theatre Production: Making Porn
Role: Choreography and Movement Direction
Selected Archive Credit
During the 1999 Sydney Mardi Gras season, Jacobsen Entertainment Group presented the Australian production of Making Porn at the Downstairs Theatre, Seymour Centre, Chippendale.
Written by Ronnie Larsen and directed by Michael Darragh, Making Porn was an established international theatrical work by the time of its Australian season, having played extensively in the United States, including Off-Broadway, and across multiple major cities. The Sydney production formed part of the official Mardi Gras performance landscape and was positioned as a professionally staged, limited-season event aligned with the festival’s cultural and social energy.
The production was a satirical and irreverent theatrical work exploring performance, sexuality, identity, and spectacle through humour, theatricality, and physical expression. While provocative in title, the work functioned as a sharp, comedic examination of intimacy, masculinity, and theatrical illusion, balancing overt playfulness with unexpected moments of tenderness and self-awareness. Its tone aligned strongly with the spirit of Mardi Gras audiences of the period, combining bold presentation with accessible comedy and strong physical performance.
The season attracted consistently high audience numbers throughout its run, with previews sold out and multiple performances reaching full or near-capacity attendance. The production drew both general audiences and industry attendees, reflecting its visibility within the festival program and broader theatre community.
Raymond Mather’s role
Raymond Mather was engaged as Choreographer and Movement Director for the Australian production.
He worked across the full rehearsal and development process, shaping the physical language of the work and developing movement sequences that supported character, rhythm, and visual clarity. His contribution focused on translating the script’s themes into embodied performance, integrating choreography into the production’s theatrical structure while maintaining a tone of playfulness, satire, and precision appropriate to the work and its Mardi Gras context.
Raymond collaborated closely with the director and creative team to ensure the movement vocabulary reinforced comedic timing, ensemble cohesion, and the production’s balance between spectacle and narrative intent.
Venue and season details
Production: Making Porn
Producer: Jacobsen Entertainment Group
Writer: Ronnie Larsen
Director: Michael Darragh
Role: Choreographer and Movement Director
Festival context: Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
Season: February 1999
Venue: Downstairs Theatre, Seymour Centre
Location: Chippendale, Sydney
Opening-period industry performances, invitations, and associated social events accompanied the season, reflecting the production’s profile within the festival calendar.
Archival notes
Surviving materials from the production include:
Original printed programs and cast listings
Promotional posters and venue advertising
Magazine features and editorial spreads
Formal opening night and industry invitation materials
Festival branding and sponsor acknowledgements
These materials document the production’s presentation as a professionally mounted Australian staging of an established international work during the 1999 Sydney Mardi Gras season.
Contemporary reviews were published at the time, though copies have not yet been located within surviving archival material.
Making Porn, Australian production program cover, Sydney Mardi Gras season, 1999.
Interior pages from the Australian production program for Making Porn, Sydney Mardi Gras season, 1999, featuring Producer’s Foreword and Director’s Note.
Interior program pages for Making Porn, Sydney Mardi Gras season, 1999, documenting the work’s international performance history and critical reception.
Cast and production credits page from the Australian production program for Making Porn, Sydney Mardi Gras season, 1999.
Cast biography pages from the Australian production program for Making Porn, Sydney Mardi Gras season, 1999.
Additional cast and creative biographies from the Australian production program for Making Porn, Sydney Mardi Gras season, 1999.
Music, administration, production, and acknowledgements pages from the Australian production program for Making Porn, Sydney Mardi Gras season, 1999.
Complimentary opening-night ticket for Making Porn, Downstairs Theatre, Seymour Centre, Sydney Mardi Gras season, 9 February 1999.
Media coverage of Making Porn in Outrage magazine, Sydney Mardi Gras Festival edition, 1999.
ART1 Archive Context
This page forms part of the ART1 Archive, documenting professional choreography, movement direction, and cultural production work undertaken prior to the launch of ART1.
View other related works and historical material in the Selected Credits.