Three-sided stories

At 5 a.m. at Hobart airport I come face to face with a sticker, on the neck of an expensive guitar case, which reads “Reduce Greed”. On the plane, two men sitting beside me are going to the mainland for a butchers’ conference. I’m flying in to see the Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of Moonlight and Magnolias, which sounds interesting, chiefly because it is the first stage play directed by the film-maker Bruce Beresford.

On stage is a traditional three-walled set. This is the plush, golden-wooded office of David O. Selznick (Patrick Brammall). Huge windows take up most of the back wall and through them we see the imposing colonnaded frontage of the Selznick studios. The producer is making Gone with the Wind and has closed down production for desperate want of a good script—which is what Beresford should have done.

Into his office Selznick brings scriptwriter Ben Hecht (Nicholas Hammond) and director Victor Fleming (Stephen Lovatt). For five days the men are locked in…