Robyn Archer AO (b. 1948), performer, writer and director, became a star with her shows, Kold Komfort Kaffee (1978), The Conquest of Carmen Miranda (1978) and Tonight: Lola Blau (1979), for all of which she wrote the songs and performed. Her hit one-woman show A Star is Torn (1979–1983) toured Australia and ran for a year in London's West End. She is internationally renowned for her interpretations of classic European cabaret and won the Helpmann Award for Best Cabaret Performer 2013. In the 1990s she began her distinguished career as director of various artistic festivals, which have included the National Festival of Australian Theatre, the Adelaide Festival and the Melbourne Festival; she initiated the Tasmanian festival, Ten Days on the Island, and Melbourne's The Light in Winter, and was the Artistic Director of the Centenary of Canberra. In 2021 Archer performed Mother Archer's Cabaret for Dark Times in Hobart, Melbourne and Adelaide, and released her eleventh album Classic Cabaret Rarities.
George Gittoes' portrait is a striking representation of Archer that alludes to her cabaret performances and the inspiration provided by the political satire of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. Gittoes has evoked the drama of Europe in the 1920s and 1930s by incorporating the words 'A Pre War Portrait' and a fiery devil creature.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Robyn Archer AO 2012
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
© George Gittoes/Copyright Agency, 2021
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