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Heidelberg Theatre Company THE PAIN KILLER 2 3 HEIDELBERG THEATRE COMPANY (HTC) BOOKINGS 03 9457 4117 ENQUIRIES 03 9455 3039 EMAIL [email protected] WEB www.htc.org.au HTC is a member of the Victorian Drama League. HTC acknowledges financial assistance from the City of Banyule. HTC Artspace Exhibition Marie Mackrell Marie received her training in painting at RMIT and in Education at Latrobe and Melbourne Universities. From there she took up a career teaching art and art education at educational institutions ranging from Primary to Tertiary. For many years up until 2006 Marie was a very active member of Heidelberg TheatreCompany. Together with her husband Roy, Marie displayed her versatility, ingenuity and depth of research in rendering sets and backdrops for productions that spanned a wide variety of genres and periods including those for ‘Arcadia’, ‘Molly Sweeney’, ‘Born Yesterday’ and the spectacular Melbourne skyline for ‘Scenes from a Separation’ . Now living at Rosebud, Marie’s current paintings indulge her love for rendering seascapes and landscapes of the Mornington Peninsula. These are exhibited at local galleries and shows. Leanne Cole, Curator To assist those with hearing difficulties, a hearing loop is installed in the theatre—seats 1 to 10 in all rows. HTC gratefully acknowledges a City of Banyule grant for this service. 4 About the play The origin of ‘The Pain Killer’ is the stage play ‘The Contract’, written and directed by Francis Veber in 1971. Two years later the play was adapted into a film and rechristened ‘L'Emmerdeur’ by director Edouard Molinaro. It starred the famous French duo Jacques Brel as love-lost photographer François Pignon and Lino Ventura as hitman Ralph Milan. In 2005 the play was refreshed and had a very popular theatrical run with Patrick Timsit (Pignon) and Richard Berry (Milan). Building on this success, Veber created a modern film adaptation using these same theatre actors that was released in 2008. About the playwright Francis Veber first made his name penning a series of farcical comedies during the '70s. The son of writers, he originally worked as a journalist, but soon dedicated himself solely to writing comedy – sketches, stories, and plays. Veber had his first major success with his 1972 screenplay for ’Le Grand Blond Avec Une Chassure Noire’, a most popular comedy of errors based on mistaken identity. Veber continued working steadily throughout the decade, enjoying particular success for ‘L'Emmerdeur’ with director Molinaro, as mentioned above, and the internationally acclaimed farce ‘La Cage Aux Folles’, for which Veber earned an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. Veber first took up directing in 1976 with the comedy drama ‘Le Jouet’, for which he also wrote the screenplay. After earning raves for his directorial effort, the detective comedy ‘La Chèvre’ (1981), Veber had an offer for his French film, ‘Les Fugitifs’ (1986) to be remade in America with him directing. Unfortunately, the U.S. remake was not a critical or commercial success. Veber continues to work on both sides of the Atlantic as a screenwriter and director. In 1998, he had one of his greatest international successes to date with ‘Le Dîner de Cons’ (The Dinner Game). Adapted from Veber's own long-running play of the same name, it was a spirited, witty farce that was enormously popular in France. Veber was nominated for a Best Director César for the film, and won a César for its screenplay. 5 The pain killer by Francis Veber BELLHOP John Cheshire FRANCOIS PIGNON Laurie Jezard RALPH Bruce Carboon LOUISE Catherine Christensen Dr WOLF David Creedon COP Steven Anastasi The play is set at the Hôtel du Palais, Montpellier, France in the near present time. We see two neighbouring guest rooms on the fifth floor. There will be a 15 minute interval between Act 1 and 2 during which refreshments will be available in the foyer. 6 Production Team DIRECTOR Joan Moriarty ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Karen Wakeham PRODUCTION COORDINATION Chris McLean STAGE MANAGER Basileia Paras ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER David Carey SET DESIGN & DECOR Leanne Cole PAINTINGS Marie Mackrell SET CONSTRUCTION Owen Evans, Doug McNaughton Dennis Pain, Paddy Moriarty, Des Harris, Neville Wilkie, Jim Thomson & HTC Members WARDROBE Di Brennan PROPERTIES Bronwyn Parker LIGHTING DESIGN Craig Pearcey LIGHTING OPERATION Owen Evans /John Rowe SOUND DESIGN George Bissett SOUND OPERATION Jess Wilcox / Bruce Akers PHOTOGRAPHY Patricia Tyler PROGRAMME Chris McLean PUBLICITY Lena Minto POSTER DESIGN James Hutson BOX OFFICE June Cherrey, Toni Tyers FRONT OF HOUSE Patricia Tyler and HTC members 7 Director: JOAN MORIARTY “This is my 21st direction for HTC. Last year I directed ‘The Dinner Game’ by Francis Veber and the cast and audiences all had such a fun time we decided to do another Veber farce. My latest offering follows the further misadventures and pitfalls of the hapless Francois Pignon, so settle down for a rocky and hilarious ride. Cheers, Joan” LAURIE JEZARD (Francois Pignon) Having played Francois Pignon in last year's HTC production of ‘The Dinner Game’. Laurie is delighted to be back playing the madcap Frenchman along with a cast suffering an outrageous French accent epidemic. It has been said that the Jezard name travelled from France to England with William the Conqueror, second boat, third oar on the left, which goes some way in explaining Laurie's claim to having French blood and giving him an ever so slight edge in being cast as Pignon . BRUCE CARBOON (Ralph) Bruce is savouring the opportunity of playing the villain in this great French farce and to work under Joan Moriarty’s direction. Bruce also appreciates working with such a talented cast and dedicated crew; they are all insightful and energetic and contribute significantly to the overall success of the production. 8 CATHERINE CHRISTENSON (Louise) Cathy has been with HTC for 30+ years and involved in more than 50 shows - acting, backstage, costumes and one terrifying stint in the lighting box. Favourite roles include Moira in ‘Translations’, various characters in ‘Nicholas Nickleby’, Julia in ‘Fallen Angels’ (playing Joan Moriarty's best friend from school days) and the vicar's wife in ‘See How They Run’. Last year she played in that other Veber farce ‘The Dinner Game’ and it's a delight to be tangled once again with the hapless Pignon. BELLHOP (John Cheshire) After graduating in Performing Arts at Deakin Uni, John worked professionally at Arena Theatre for a number of years, creating plays and touring them to schools and festivals. Leaving the arts for social work, John took to amateur theatre to keep sane (well, it was worth a try). Earlier this year, John received warm reviews for his diction, exquisite timing and energy when appearing as Garry Essendine in STAG’s ‘Present Laughter’. He is particularly fond of HTC – ‘Noises Off’, ‘Dinner’, ‘The Dinner Game’ and ‘The Philadelphia Story’ – and is therefore delighted to be back. Dr. WOLF (David Creedon) In David’s acting debut he shared a scene with Guy Pearce. David assumed a stellar film career awaited, resembling Guy as he does in all areas except looks, physique and talent. When this did not occur he plunged into the world of amateur theatre. Roles range from balalaika-playing Russian electrician (difficult) to dim-witted Morris dancer (easy). David is well qualified for our play’s Gallic psychiatrist, having studied French for six years at school, medicine for zero years at university, and philandering all his life. 9 HTC P 11 0 2 l l laybi RIL bry P A D ANTE y directo ENCHn McInerne r Barbe 5 March w e Math February * 17 arris H d r icha ay by R ER 1 April - 7 M D R U M r *2 F * O S ES ins directo nett n N I e S B U k B lan - 23 July by A THE * John Jen S BOY r * 7 July arlow Y B R k O c o T atri ober irect HI S by P d e THE ruce Akers d t Oct adap r-1 n e B a b h m * Buc 15 Septe n h o J * by mas ber o or S t h c P T e r E i ylan r - 3 Decem 9 ST ff Hickey d 3 y D b E TH * Geo OD 17 Novembe O W K MIL ector * R E D UN Green dir dy * San e Maure STEVEN ANASTASI (Cop) Steven has taken a number of short courses in acting and recently featured as an extra in a soon-to-be-released Australian film directed by Rob Sitch. Steven has found the appeal of working with HTC is that the generous and talented cast and crew not only make one feel welcome, but also inspire new performers to improve their skills. This is Steven’s first stage appearance. 10 Heidelberg Theatre Company Youth is proud to present Frank L. Baum's timeless classic... Adapted by Alfred Bradley Directed by Elise Dorian Theatre : Heidelberg Theatre Company, Turnham Avenue, Rosanna Evenings : December 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18 @ 7:00 pm Matinees : December 11 ,18 , 19 @ 3pm Tickets : $10 for all ages Info line 03 9457 4117 11 THE PAIN KILLER Heidelberg Theatre Company ♦ Season 2010 ♦ Play 5 12