Download 2017 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist

2017 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies
Playlist
The following plays have been selected for study in 2017. This playlist should be used in
conjunction with requirements set out in the VCE Drama Study Design 2014–2018 and VCE
Theatre Studies Study Design 2014–2018. Teachers should select play/s as required for
VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Units 3 and 4 and make bookings in a prompt and timely
manner.
The playlist selection panel has taken into account the requirement for texts to be
appropriate for study by students in senior secondary schooling, and for texts to reflect
community standards and expectations. Teachers and school leaders are advised to
consider carefully the information provided about each of the plays on the 2017 playlist,
which includes an indication of:
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dramatic merit
subject matter and themes
ways in which it supports rigorous and sustained study in relation to the key knowledge
of the Drama or Theatre Studies study design
advice that schools should take into consideration when selecting plays for study.
For VCE Drama Unit 3 and Theatre Studies Unit 4, students are not required to study the
playscript of selected performances. However, the playscript can be a valuable learning
resource in these units. Theatre companies are not obliged to provide copies of these
playscripts.
For VCE Theatre Studies Unit 3, students must study the playscript and the performance
identified in this playlist. The only version of the playscript students are required to study for
Theatre Studies Unit 3 is the one used as the basis for the performance students will attend.
In some cases this playscript will be a ‘working’ or ‘rehearsal’ script.
Teachers should be aware that plays may be added to or withdrawn from the list. For 2017,
VCAA anticipates that an additional play will be included in the VCE Theatre Studies Unit 4
Playlist. An update regarding this possibility will be provided at the earliest possible time.
Further updates may be provided during 2017 as, for example, production details are
confirmed and/or as final scripts become available.
All financial arrangements regarding attendance at playlist performances are a matter for
schools and the theatre company/organisation responsible for the production.
Selecting plays for study
While the VCAA considers all plays on this list suitable for study, teachers should be aware
that in some instances sensitivity might be needed where particular issues or themes that
may be challenging for students are explored. The information provided about each play is
structured to allow teachers and schools to make an informed decision about the play/s that
are most appropriate for study by their students. The entry for each play includes:
© VCAA
2017 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
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Information about the play and the season, including, as appropriate, the play title, the
playwright/s’, detail of works the play is adapted from, the production company, season
details – dates, venues, performance times and duration, booking details and script
availability
Annotations: Background information about the play and personnel involved in the
production, a description of the work’s dramatic merit and features of the production
relevant for study
Advice to schools: Identifies any aspects of the play/production that teachers and others
should be aware of in reviewing the text prior to selection.
The following strategies are suggested to assist teachers to select a play/s from the list:
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take note of the advice provided about specific plays
familiarise yourself with the themes, context and world of the play, with particular
attention to matters identified in the advice
read the playscript and, if available, information such as the director’s vision or creative
concept for the production
research the playscript, the work of the playwright, director and/or company
discuss issues of concern with the theatre company
if possible, attend a preview performance
discuss aspects of the script or performance that may be challenging for your students
with colleagues at your school
identify any issues that may require additional resourcing such as information about
different perspectives on controversial historical, social, cultural or political themes in
particular plays
make your selection/s in consultation with school leaders.
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2017 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
VCE Drama Unit 3 Playlist
The following plays have been selected for study in 2017. This list should be considered in
conjunction with the requirements set out in Unit 3 Outcome 3 in the VCE Drama Study
Design 2014–2018 and the advice provided at the start of this document. Students will
undertake an assessment task for Unit 3 Outcome 3 based on the performance of a play on
the Playlist. Question/s will also be set on the performances of the plays in the end-of-year
Drama written examination.
1. AS TOLD TO ME BY THE BOYS WHO FED ME APPLES by R Johns
Theatre Company: La Mama Theatre
Season: 22 March–2 April
Venue: La Mama Courthouse Theatre, 349 Drummond Street, Carlton
Duration: 85 minutes plus post-show forum
Performance times: Wed matinee 1pm, Wednesday evening 6.30pm, Thu matinee 11am,
Thu evening 7.30pm, Fri- Sat evening 7.30pm, Sunday afternoon 4pm
Tickets: VCE ticket packages (including performance, program notes, post-show forum,
published copy of script) $30 per person, postage of scripts is extra; School tickets (including
performance, post-show forum) $20 per person.
Bookings: Maureen Hartley, Learning Producer, (03) 9347 6948 or
[email protected]
As Told By the Boys Who Fed Me Apples had its first public reading in 2015, at the National
Gallery of Victoria as part of The Horse exhibition. Playwright Rosemary Johns received a
2015 Australian Government Anzac Centenary Arts and Culture Fund Grant to create a
theatrical piece that gave a different slant to the broader community’s understanding of the
issues and impact of WWI on those who took part in the conflict. In November 2015, the play
premiered as part of the Big West Festival, at Beanland Theatre, Victoria University’s
Footscray Nicholson Campus. In 2016 the script was nominated for an AWGIE Award in the
Community and Youth Theatre category.
The action of the play takes place in Gallipoli and Europe during WWI, and returns to
Australia at the end of the war. There are flashbacks to convey aspects such as recruitment,
treatment of warhorses and the soldiers’ nostalgia for home.
One of the main characters is a horse called Sandy. The play is based on a true story about
a horse that hauled bricks in Tallangatta before becoming a warhorse and the favourite of
Major General Sir William Throsby Bridges in Egypt. Sandy was the only horse, out of
136,000 that left Australia, to finally be returned home at the end of the war. Bridges was the
only soldier whose body was repatriated.
Unlike the large-scale UK production War Horse (which also revolves around WW I horses),
this piece relies on just two actors, one of whom plays the horse, using mime and symbolic
costume to portray the animal. The performance style is non-naturalistic and the stage
comprises a set of duckboards, with a pit of earth. Sound and lighting are used for the
transitions between scenes and, as in Poor Theatre, the production relies on the audience’s
imagination to create the scene as interpreted by staging and acting. The text consists of
three episodes, constituting three separate monologues conveyed in Brechtian style.
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2017 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
Many of the boys who went to this war were the same age as today’s VCE students. This
production challenges the audience to think about the dreams of the returning soldier as well
as the meaning of war. Behind its horrors, we see how the human spirit is maintained
through the love between man and horse.
Advice to schools
Content: This production refers to animal cruelty and war zones.
2. CORANDERRK by Giordano Nanni (with additional scenes) by Andrea James
Theatre Company: Ilbijerri Theatre Company
Season: 17 March–3 June
Venues:
Castlemaine Festival: 17–26 March, http://castlemainefestival.com.au/
National Theatre, St Kilda: Tue 18 April 1pm & 7.30pm, www.nationaltheatre.org.au
Her Majesty’s, Ballarat: Thu 20 April 7.30pm, www.hermaj.com/what-s-on/
Whitehorse PAC, Nunawading: Fri 21 & Sat 22 April 8pm, www.whitehorsecentre.com.au/
The Lighthouse Theatre, Warrnambool: Thu 27 April 1pm & 8pm,
www.lighthousetheatre.com.au/explore-all-shows-lighthouse-theatre
Horsham Town Hall, Horsham: Sat 29 April 8pm, www.horshamtownhall.com.au/
Ulumburra Theatre, Bendigo: Tue 2 May 8pm, www.ulumbarratheatre.com.au/Home
The Cube, Wodonga: Thu 4 May 8pm, www.thecubewodonga.com.au/whats_on/
WestSide Performing Arts Centre, Riverlinks, Shepparton: Sat 6 May 7.30pm,
http://riverlinksvenues.com.au/whats-on
ESSO BHP Billiton Wellington Entertainment Centre, Sale: Tue 9 May 8pm,
www.ebbwec.com.au/whats-on
Latrobe PAC, Traralgon: Thu 11 May 8pm,
www.latrobe.vic.gov.au/Our_Services/Arts_Recreation
_and_Leisure/Latrobe_Performing_Arts/Whats_On
Plenty Ranges Arts & Convention Centre, Whittlesea: Sat 13 May 8pm,
http://www.pracc.com.au/
theatre/?nv=hpa
Cardinia Cultural Centre, Pakenham: Tue 16 May 8pm, www.cardinia.vic.gov.au/
page/page.aspx?Page_id=4188
Altona Theatre; Thu 18 May 11am & 7.30pm, www.hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/Arts-ampLeisure/Venues/Altona-Theatre
Frankston Arts Centre: Sat 20 May 7.30pm,
http://artscentre.frankston.vic.gov.au/Whats_On_-_Buy_Tickets
Drama Theatre, Monash University: Tue 23 May 1pm & 7.30pm,
http://artsonline.monash.edu.au/mapa/locations/drama-theatre/
Clocktower Centre, Moonee Valley: Wed 24 May 8pm, www.clocktowercentre.com.au/
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2017 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
Footscray Community Arts Centre: Thu 26 & Fri 27 May,
http://footscrayarts.com/events/category/event/
Kyneton Town Hall, Macedon Ranges: Tuesday 30 May 8pm,
www.mrsc.vic.gov.au/Arts_Sport_Leisure/Arts_Culture/Events_and_tickets
Geelong Performing Arts Centre: Thu 1 June 8pm; Fri 2 June 1pm & 8pm; Sat 3 June 1pm &
8pm, https://www.gpac.org.au/find-a-show/box-office/
Duration: approx. 100 minutes (70 minute show and 30 minute forum)
Tickets: Individual centres set the price. Please refer to venue websites for more
information.
Bookings: Contact venues directly for details.
Coranderrk is produced by Iljiberri Theatre Company and Belvoir Theatre, in association with
the Minutes of Evidence Project. The production is a collaboration between researchers,
performance artists, community, and education experts. It is adapted from the Minutes of
Evidence of the 1881 Coranderrk Inquiry and its journey since 2009 has seen extensive
community consultations, each contributing to the framing of the show. Coranderrk provides
access to high-quality contemporary Australian theatre from a leading Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander theatre company. The production also uses new and engaging materials
including historical photographs for teaching the history of Aboriginal Victoria in secondary
schools.
In 1881 the men and women of the Coranderrk Aboriginal Reserve in the Yarra Valley, northeast of Melbourne, took on the Board for the Protection of Aborigines in a fight for justice,
dignity and self-determination. Coranderrk was a secular government controlled reserve
established for disposed people of the Kulin clans. This production brings back to life the
voices of Coranderrk – both black and white – through a theatrical re-enactment of their
official testimonies before the 1881 government inquiry appointed to address Aboriginal
peoples’ calls for land rights and self-determination.
Throughout this ensemble production, the actors undergo a number of character
transformations, playing the Indigenous residents of Coranderrk, the members of the Board
for the Protection of Aborigines and the European witnesses who provided testimony in
1881. The performers draw on a range of expressive and performance skills. Drama students
will also witness how the use of stagecraft conventions, such as lighting and audiovisual
projection, also contributes to the non-naturalistic conventions of the piece.
Advice to schools
Content: Aboriginal and Torre Strait Islander people should be aware that this production
depicts people who are deceased. It deals with real historical issues. The performers are all
Indigenous Australians.
3. THE LOST WWI DIARY by Damian Callinan
Theatre Company: Hey Boss
Season: 16–18 March
Venues:
Stratford Courthouse Theatre, Mon 6 March at 12.30pm & 7.30pm, (03) 5145 6790 or
www.stratfordcourthouse.com.au/
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2017 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
The Old Fire Station, Bendigo, Fri 10 March at 12.30pm & 7.30pm, (03) 5434 6100 or via
www.thecapital.com.au/Home
Lighthouse Theatre, Warrnambool, Tue 14 March at 12.30pm & 7.30pm, 1300 003 280 or via
www.lighthousetheatre.com.au/
Kew Courthouse Theatre, Kew Mon 16 March–Sat 18 March, 7.30pm daily & 12.30pm on
Thu 16 March & Fri 17 March. Tickets and enquiries: [email protected]
Duration: approx. 75 minutes
Tickets: Individual centres set the price. Please visit the venue websites for more
information.
Bookings: Contact venues directly.
The Lost WWI Diary is a solo performance by Damian Callinan, an award-winning actor,
writer and comedian best known to television audiences for Skithouse and Before the Game.
The three-time Barry Award nominee has written and toured 12 solo shows throughout his
career. One of these, The Merger, is currently in production as a feature film.
Callinan’s style of comedy often invites the audience to tackle thorny issues in a non-didactic
manner. The idea for this play came to Callinan from reading WWI diaries and he has
created his own celebration of the Gallipoli anniversary. The play is based on the folklore
surrounding a mystery family photo of two diggers. Callinan conducted extensive research in
archives and histories to write this script in the form of a diary.
The play is set in the Western District of Victoria and draws on stories from soldiers and
battalion histories of the 7th and 59th Battalions, which were recruited from that area. It is a
deliberate collision of theatrical styles. Using the starting point of interactive storytelling and
stand-up comedy, the audience is invited into the story so that when the pages of the diary
are opened they are inside the theatrical walls with the characters. From this point on, deft
transformations and subtle shifts in mood are used to non-naturalistically ease from one
moment in time to the next. Characters morph before the eyes of the audience using clear
physicality and defined vocal patterns to make the transitions.
The Lost WW1 Diary plays to Callinan’s strengths as a writer and performer: comedic
storytelling, physicality and characterisations. It nimbly leaps from absurdity to pathos,
slapstick to tragedy, all the while walking the line of black comedy that characterised the way
Australian men coped on the front during WWI. The production uses a minimal set and props
to enable touring to a variety of performance spaces. The opening scene features a soundand-light war soundscape. After this point, the war soundscape is abandoned to reflect the
lack of aural accompaniment in a diary. All emphasis turns to the storytelling, with occasional
lighting changes to shift moods. A musical transition (war songs from the era) accompanies
the blackouts that denote changes in year.
Advice to schools
Content: This performance uses mildly offensive language and sexual references.
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2017 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
4. PARASITES by Ninna Tersman
Theatre Company: La Mama Theatre
Season: 19-30 April
Venue: La Mama Theatre, 205 Faraday Street, Carlton
Duration: approx. 75 minutes
Performance times: Wed matinee 1pm, Wed evening 6.30pm, Thu matinee 11am, Thu
evening 7.30pm, Fri-Sat evening 7.30pm, Sun afternoon 4pm
Tickets: VCE ticket packages (including performance, program notes, post-show forum,
published copy of script) $30 per person, postage of scripts is extra; school tickets (including
performance, post-show forum) $20 per person.
Bookings: Maureen Hartley, Learning Producer, (03) 9347 6948 or
[email protected]
Ninna Tersman is one of Sweden’s most successful theatre makers, particularly for young
audiences, and her skill is powerfully demonstrated in the script for Parasites. The writing is
poetic, sparse, and deeply human. It plays with theatrical form in many ways, asking the two
young actors (and their central teenage characters) to take on a number of roles. They play
themselves, as well as several adults who have had an impact on their lives.
The production captures Tersman’s playful approach to very serious, very tough issues. The
play takes place in an asylum-seeking processing centre and reveals the way in which two
young people got there. It explores their hopes and dreams and shows how their lives have
been compromised. This deeply fraught social issue is relevant all over the world and this
production deals with it in a way that does not alienate or marginalise any student in the
audience.
Theatrically, both the script and the production keep moving as the characters find new ways
of expressing themselves and attempting to communicate their needs to each other. Nonnaturalism and stylised (Brechtian) techniques are employed to remind the audience that
what they are watching is a play, with the goal of having the students interact with the work
on many emotional and intellectual levels. Though confronting issues are discussed and
played out, they are done so in innovative ways. Although the scene remains constant,
character transformation is used to bring others into the world of the asylum seekers.
Advice to schools
The setting for this play, which deals with the topic of displacement, is ambiguous, alluding to
no particular nation or race. Rape and terrorism are referred to in the script. The play is
performed by actors whose backgrounds are not Anglo-Australian.
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2017 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
5. MELBOURNE TALAM by Rashma N Kalsie
Theatre Company: Melbourne Theatre Company
Season: 4–20 May at Southbank Theatre, Melbourne; 22 May–9 June regional tour
Venue: Metro: Southbank Theatre, The Lawler, 140 Southbank Boulevard, Southbank;
Duration: approx. 75 minutes
Performance times: Metro 10.30am, 1.30pm & 7pm
Regional tour:
Tue 23 May, Mildura Arts Centre 1pm
Thu 25 May, Lighthouse Theatre, Warrnambool 1pm & 7.30pm
Tue 30 May, Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo 1pm
Wed 31 May, Eastbank Centre, Shepparton 1pm
Thu 1 June, The Cube Wodonga 1pm
Tue 6 June Geelong Performing Arts Centre 1pm & 7pm
Tickets:
Tickets: Metro performances: students $27, one accompanying teacher free of charge per
10 students; additional teachers/adults $43. Contact regional venues for bookings.
Bookings: Please contact Mellita Ilich, Education Ticketing Officer on (03) 8688 0963 or
[email protected]
Rashma N Kalsie is an Indian writer-playwright based in Australia. She is the founder of the
Indian Diaspora Dramatics Association. Her play Melbourne Talam is Melbourne Theatre
Company’s 2017 Education Production and features the same high production values for
audiences at regional venues as presented in The Lawler (metro). Director Petra Kalive led
the development of the script in close collaboration with the playwright and MTC literary
director Chris Mead as dramaturg. Petra Kalive has had extensive experience as a director
and dramaturg, having worked with Arena Theatre Company, Complete Works Theatre
Company, St Martins Youth Arts Centre and Monash University performing arts program.
Melbourne Talam is a play that exists both in imagination and on the streets, offices,
hospitals, apartments, tram stops and train stations of Melbourne - a city where protagonists
live, but also a living character with many faces. Kalsie says, ‘Talam (Tamil) or tala (Sanskrit)
is a term used in Indian music. Talam is the base on which the notes of musical compositions
and poetry rest.’ This central idea of rhythm in the play is reflected in the characters as they
at times struggle and stutter in their attempts to hit their stride in this seemingly smoothrunning city.
Melbourne Talam is a two-act piece for three actors playing multiple characters in multiples
locations across Melbourne and India. It tells the story of three Indian characters on three
different types of visas – spouse, student and work – as they search for belonging in a
foreign city. A train accident at Flagstaff Station disrupts each character’s ‘talam’, redirecting
the lives of all three. The characters in Melbourne Talam face adversity in many forms, both
external and internal, and the conflict between their aspirations and the reality of the migrant
experience drives the play’s drama.
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2017 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
Inspired by real-life events, the dialogue includes use of three Indian languages. Set, sound
and lighting are used to transform time and place to transport the audience to Chandigarh,
Delhi and Hyderabad. The production incorporates disjointed sequences, fragmentation,
narration, and direct audience address. The play follows the lives of three central characters
taking the audience to multiple locations in Melbourne and India. We travel between the past
and present, and meet myriad other characters who offer a wide range of perspectives. Their
conflicts are used to build their resilience. Three actors play all the parts. The production is
highly non-naturalistic, incorporating Brechtian storytelling and conventions of epic theatre.
The design reflects aspects of Grotowski’s ‘poor theatre’. The production also incorporates
performance, movement and dance from Indian performance traditions and practice.
Advice
Three Indian languages and English are used in this production. Characters contemplate
suicide and self-harm, and one character is injured by a train. Teachers are advised to read
the script and discuss the advisability of selecting this play with school leadership before
making a booking.
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2017 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
Theatre Studies Unit 3
The following plays have been selected for study in 2017. This list should be considered in
conjunction with the requirements set out in Unit 3 Outcome 3 in the VCE Theatre Studies
Study Design 2014–2018 and the advice provided above. Students will undertake an
assessment task for Unit 3 Outcome 3 based on the performance of a play on the Playlist.
Question/s will also be set on the performances of the plays in the end-of-year Theatre
Studies written examination. For Theatre Studies Unit 3, students must study the script
identified for each production and the interpretation of that script in performance to an
audience.
1. TWELFTH NIGHT by William Shakespeare
Theatre Company: Australian Shakespeare Company
Season: 20 December–4 March
Venue: Royal Botanical Gardens, Melbourne
Duration: approx. 150 minutes
Performance times: Tue to Sun 8pm
Tickets: Student $25 (one complimentary teacher ticket per 10 student)
Bookings: Please contact Isobel McNamara: [email protected]
Script: Any recognised edition, information about script adaptations available from Australian
Shakespeare Company
The Australian Shakespeare Company (ASC) has been producing high-quality performances
of Shakespeare’s classics in the Botanical Gardens since 1987. These have often featured
on the VCE Play lists.
Twelfth Night is a very old play, but the ASC consistently, throughout its body of work, strives
to remind audiences of the timeless humanity and continued relevance of Shakespeare’s
works. Historically, Twelfth Night – the twelfth day of Christmas, the Feast of the Epiphany –
was a feast of misrule, a riotous festival of eating and drinking and revelling. Illyria is a
mythical world of madness and dream, where fantasies come true for many or, in fact, where
some are punished for daring to have fantasies at all. A world well recognised and, perhaps,
well frequented and desired by young people.
In direct reference to the social and political contexts of these fast-changing and uncertain
times, the ASC’s interpretation of Twelfth Night embraces a contemporary setting, climate
and timeframe that are immediately and inherently accessible, recognisable and meaningful
to the young people of today. Notwithstanding this, the production addresses all the
traditional and accepted conventions of the Shakespearean performance style for VCE
students to study. These include a range of archetypes, heightened language (blank verse
and prose), balance of high and low comedy, comic conventions, influence of commedia
dell’arte, song and soliloquies.
The ASC’s outdoor productions are influenced by Peter Brook’s ‘rough theatre’, staged in
informal and ‘rough’ settings – a ‘popular’ theatre form that is more down-to-earth and
creates a strong link between audience and performers.
Advice to schools
The staging of this play includes bawdy humour in language and action.
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2017 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
2. FAITH HEALER by Brian Friel
Theatre Company: Melbourne Theatre Company
Season: 4 March–8 April
Venue: The Sumner, Southbank Theatre, Southbank Boulevard, Melbourne
Duration: approx. 100 minutes
Performance times: Previews (4–8 March) 8pm; Mon & Tue 6.30pm; Wed 1pm & 8pm; Thu
& Fri 4pm & 8pm, Sat 4pm and 8.30pm
Tickets: Students $27, one accompanying teacher free of charge per 10 students; additional
teachers/adults $44.
Bookings: Please contact Mellita Ilich, Education Ticketing Officer: (03) 8688 0963 or
[email protected]
Script: Any recognised edition.
Irish, British and American theatre critics agree that Brian Friel is one of the greatest
dramatists of the late 20th century. His play Faith Healer has been repeatedly revived on
English-language main stages, including a critically and commercially successful production
on Broadway in 2006 starring Ralph Fiennes. Donmar Warehouse’s recent revival on the
West End earned four- and five-star reviews and it was last presented in Australia as part of
the 2009 Sydney Festival.
Faith Healer focuses on the subtleties, complexities and emotive power of English language
in live performance. The play role-models a style of theatre that focuses on the actor’s craft
and is free of theatrics. This production features three of Australia’s most accomplished
stage actors, Colin Friels (Skylight), Alison Whyte (Summer of the Seventeenth Doll) and Pip
Miller (Death of a Salesman). The director, Judy Davis (The Dressmaker), is one of
Australia’s foremost stage and screen actors.
In Faith Healer, students will have an experience of storytelling theatre. Three characters
deliver four monologues in direct address to the audience. The staging is naturalistic, the
setting appears to be in the recent past, and the characters speak conversationally with the
audience. They speak with specified accents – two Irish, one cockney. They use classic
tropes of storytelling, voicing differently other characters who appear within their narration,
subtly physicalising different characters, re-enacting events with minimal movement and
gestures.
The production design initially locates the play in a specific and recognisable time and place.
The script specifies a few key set and prop elements – empty chairs, a poster advertising
‘Fantastic Francis Hardy’. Over the course of the play, the lighting, sound and performances
at various times introduce an atmosphere of otherworldliness. These increasing intimations
of the spiritual and metaphysical worlds encourage the audience to consider the reality of the
world created by the characters.
On the page, Faith Healer looks and reads like a first-person narrative novella or collection of
interrelated short stories. However, close analysis of the script’s content and format provides
students with ample opportunity to consider the role of actors and a director in building a live
performance from words on a page, with few clues in stage directions or character notes.
Brian Friel notes in the script, ‘Stage directions have been kept to a minimum. In all four parts
the director will decide when and where the monologist sits, walks, stands, etc.
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2017 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
Advice to schools
In this production there is occasional use of strong language, reference to alcoholism and
depression, and an offstage death.
3. THE SEVEN STAGES OF GRIEVING by Wesley Enoch & Deborah Mailman
Theatre Company: Queensland Theatre Company
Season: 10 & 12 May
Venues:
The Memo, Healesville (Wed 10 May),
http://ach.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/Whats_On/Performances
Geelong Performing Arts Centre (Fri 12 May), http://gpac.org.au/find-a-show/
Duration: 70 minutes
Performance times: Healesville 11am and 7.30pm; Geelong 1pm & 7pm.
Tickets: Check venue websites.
Bookings: Check venue websites.
Script: The Seven Stages of Grieving by Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman, Playlab
Productions, available from australianplays.org
The Seven Stages of Grieving is an enduring masterwork of Australian Indigenous theatre,
penned 20 years ago by Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman. It is a one-woman piece
following the journey of an Aboriginal ‘everywoman’ as she tells poignant and humorous
stories of grief and reconciliation.
Structurally, the play is based around seven different aspects of grief (rather than
chronological stages) telling seven different tales, encompassing family funerals, black
displacement, the impact of European wars, and other stories ranging from tragedy to
jubilant celebration. This new adaption of The Seven Stages of Grieving is a Queensland
Theatre and Grin & Tonic Theatre Troupe co-production. The original script has been
skillfully updated to reflect the contemporary political climate, including the addition of current
political references making it relevant to a contemporary audience. The refreshed version of
the play also reflects the changing attitudes of Australian people. It is directed by Jason
Klarwein, artistic director of Grin & Tonic, and showcases the talents of emerging Indigenous
performer, Chenoa Deemal.
The text provides the opportunity to study and explore Indigenous histories and cultures as
well as their theatrical interpretation. Enoch says, ‘This play has been performed, toured,
studied and kept alive through reinterpretation for two decades because it speaks of
universal themes. It is not autobiographical, though it borrows from Indigenous lives. It is not
a traditional piece of storytelling, though it focuses on the evolution of traditional cultural
practices.’
The play’s structure is episodic, drawing together 24 short scenes, each with its own
complication. It challenges the traditional ‘western’ concept of a play’s realistic format
because it does not drive towards a climax and resolution. The dramatic structure allows the
audience to connect to the themes of grief and loss, rather than a central narrative. It enables
the storyteller and audience to jump between past, present and future as well as shifting
between different places – all without relying on a change of set. The text provides a wide
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2017 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
range of material that is rich with opportunities for students to explore time, place, mood,
tension and role.
Advice to schools
This production explores adult concepts of death, grief and discrimination and contains mildly
coarse language. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that the
production does not make direct references to actual people who have died.
4. AWAY by Michael Gow
Theatre Company: Malthouse Theatre Company
Season: 3–28 May
Venue: Merlyn Theatre, The Coopers Malthouse, Sturt Street, Southbank
Duration: 1 hour 45 minutes (no interval)
Performance times: Preview: Wed 3 May 7.30pm; Opening: Thu 5 May 7.30pm, Season:
Fri 5 & Sat 6 May 7.30pm; Tue 9 May 6.30pm TTT (Time to Talk); Wed 10 May 7.30pm; Thu
11 May 12.30pm* & 7.30pm; Fri 12 May 7.30pm; Sat 13 May 3pm & 7.30pm; Sun 14 May
5pm; Tue 16 May 6.30pm; Wed 17 May 7.30pm; Thu 18 May 12.30pm* & 7.30pm; Fri 19
May 7.30pm; Sat 20 May 3pm & 7.30pm; Sun 21 May 5pm; Tue 23 May 6.30pm; Wed 24
May 7.30pm; Thu 25 May 12.30pm* & 7.30pm; Fri 26 May 7.30pm; Sat 27 May 3pm &
7.30pm, Sun 28 May 5pm
*VCE Matinee (followed by VCE post-show discussion)
Tickets: Students: metro $24.50, non-metro $22.50; no charge for up to two teachers per
school; additional teachers $40.
Bookings: Complete the Schools Booking Form online, www.malthousetheatre.com.au, or
email [email protected]. Contact Vanessa O’Neill, Education Program
Manager on (03) 9685 5164
Script: Away by Michael Gow, Currency Press
Away was written in 1986 by Australian playwright Michael Gow and is widely regarded as an
Australian classic. This multi-award-winning play, set in the late 1960s, explores themes of
loss, loneliness and coming of age that are as relevant for audiences today as they were
when the play was first produced.
Malthouse Theatre’s production of Away (co-produced with Sydney Theatre Company) is
directed by Artistic Director Matthew Lutton and features the same creative team that worked
on Night on Bald Mountain. It is a continuation of Matthew Lutton’s commitment to revisit and
reimagine works from the Australian literary canon, such as his recent production of Picnic at
Hanging Rock. The cast includes Marco Chiappi, Glenn Hazeldine, Natasha Herbert,
Heather Mitchell, Liam Nunan, Naomi Rukavin, Julia Davis and Wadih Doha.
Away is a sharply observed, clever, funny and poignant play that begins with a school
performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and concludes with a school performance of
King Lear. The work combines an investigation of three Australian suburban families in the
late 1960s with many of the features of these Shakespeare plays: a spectacular storm, a
shipwreck, other worldly transformations and reconciliation. These contrasting elements give
the piece a dynamic mix of the familiar and the strange, the domestic and the poetic. This
production explores and highlights the interplay of different theatrical styles within this work,
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offering students insight into a range of forms. Michael Gow’s text will remain the same.
Liberties will be taken in the staging, but no new text will be added.
For students studying the interpretation of the playscript in performance, there is much to
investigate throughout Away in relation to the cultural and social contexts of the late 1960s in
Australia, including the impact of the Vietnam War on families, immigration, the rise of
materialism and the emergence of the women’s rights movement.
Advice to schools
Content: this script contains medium-level coarse language. The themes explored in the play
include sexual awakening, depression and extra-marital affairs.
Malthouse Theatre advises that for this production of Away, director Matthew Lutton has
chosen to use the Alternative Final Scene, written by Michael Gow. The main difference is
that the final lines of the play are spoken by Meg instead of Tom. For teachers who may be
interested to know why Michael Gow wrote an alternative final scene, here is a link to a short
interview Michael Gow did for the ABC Splash program:
http://splash.abc.net.au/home#!/media/1976086/changing-the-ending-with-michael-gow.
If you have further questions, please contact Vanessa O’Neill, Youth and Education Manager
at Malthouse Theatre on (03) 9685 5164 or [email protected].
5. SHRINE by Tim Winton
Theatre Company: The Kin Collective
Season: 24 May–18 June
Venue: 45 Downstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Duration: 90–100 minutes
Performance times: 8pm plus school matinees (dates tbc)
Tickets: Student $25, 1 teacher ticket provided per 10 students
Bookings: [email protected]
Script: Shrine – A play in one act, Penguin Plays
Shrine is the third in a series of plays written by Australian literary icon Tim Winton, which
brilliantly captures the loss of a child through senseless tragedy. The Kin Collective formed in
2011 after its members participated in a master class conducted by acclaimed acting coach
Larry Moss. The ensemble is made up of some of Australia’s most well-known and respected
actors, including Noni Hazlehurst, Michala Banas, Ally Fowler and Marg Downey. Their last
production, The Leenane Trilogy, by Martin McDonough, was nominated for three Green
Room Awards.
Shrine throws a spotlight on the heartbreaking effects of a family shattered by the death of
their son, while also subtly exploring the many economic and societal divisions within
Australia today. Tim Winton’s soul-stirring text, set within the breathtaking beauty of the
Australian landscape, conjures up a surreal and fragile world in which lies the possibility of
finding solace from the most unlikely of people.
Winton plays with form, ranging from the direct address of Shakespeare, and devotion to
language of a more formal theatre, to bursts of energy that are less formal. There are shifts
in style, moments of expressionism and heartfelt confrontations. The play is both naturalistic
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and non-naturalistic in equal measure. The lead character freely transforms from one
character to another and back, negotiating changes in time, place and space.
Shrine addresses the all too recognisable issues of the Australian drinking culture, in
particular the devastating consequences of the choices made by young people, and
addresses the waste of so many of our younger population dying in automobile accidents.
The play speaks with simple honesty about grief, and the propensity of the Australian male to
suppress emotions. It provides VCE students with the opportunity to analyse the ways in
which these issues are addressed through theatrical performance.
Advice to schools
This production contains strong language and references to self-harm and sexual assault.
The dramatic action centres on the aftermath of the death of a young man in a road accident.
6. THE YELLOW WAVE by Jane Miller
Theatre Company: 15 Minutes from Anywhere & La Mama Theatre
Season: 10–21 May
Venue: Courthouse Theatre, Drummond Street, Carlton
Duration: approx. 75 minutes plus post-show forum
Performance times: Wed matinee 1pm, Wed evening 6.30pm, Thu matinee 11am, Thu
evening 7.30pm, Fri-Sat evening 7.30pm, Sun afternoon 4pm
Tickets: VCE ticket packages (including performance, program notes, post-show forum,
published copy of script) $30 per person, postage of scripts is extra; school tickets (including
performance, post-show forum) $20 per person.
Bookings: Maureen Hartley, Learning Producer, (03) 9347 6948 or
[email protected]
Regional tour: Produced by Regional Arts Victoria, 24 April–5 May. For all details, see
www.rav.net.au/whats-on/education-and-families
Script: A copy of the script will be available to each student/teacher as part of the VCE ticket
package provided by La Mama or Regional Arts Victoria.
Note: The original novel is available as an ebook to be read online or downloaded to a
device. Visit https://archive.org/details/TheYellowWave. The novel should be used as a
reference and resource. It is not the playscript and there is no requirement for students to
read or study the novel.
The Yellow Wave (subtitled ‘A romance of the Asiatic invasion of Australia’) is an adaptation
of a 19th-century novel by Kenneth Mackay, telling the story of the invasion of Australia by a
Russian-led Mongol force. Director Beng Oh has worked with a range of collaborators,
including the two lead actors, to develop it into a theatrical production with the resulting script
adapted by playwright Jane Miller. The production has had two successful seasons, the first
as part of the inaugural Poppy Seed Independent Theatre Festival, the second at the
Butterfly Club, and it was a recipient of a 2015 Green Room Award nomination for
outstanding ensemble.
Some of the issues explored in the production include, but are not limited to, the impact of
immigration, engagement of international workers, gender and racial stereotyping, equality
and notions of what is ‘other’ or ‘alien’. The production uses humour to explore these issues.
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This is reflected in the choices made by the director in relation to performers and
performance style.
Critical to the subversion of stereotypes is the decision to feature two Asian-Australian actors
playing all of the roles within the show, regardless of age, gender or nationality. Neither actor
changes costume for the duration of the piece, despite transforming continuously into
different characters; nor do they use any props. The production relies exclusively on the
performers using their physicality, and vocal and performative skills as the foundation of their
different characterisations. Students will have ample opportunity to analyse the ways in
which the two actors interpret a wide range of people and places.
The performance style of The Yellow Wave is neither naturalistic, nor does it attempt realism.
A narrator fills in the story elements as the narrative shifts across years and continents. The
production uses minimal lighting states, set and sound design; there are two single props
and one set of costumes. This is a deliberate stylistic choice and demonstrates an
application of stagecraft where the presence of the performers in the space suggest location,
context, character and sound.
Advice to schools
Study of this playscript will require teachers to discuss the populist ‘invasion’ conspiracy
theories prevalent in 19th-century Australia. Teachers should support this discussion by
providing support material about the theatrical/literary device of stereotyping and information
about attitudes to cultural diversity in 19th-century Australia. The discussion may also
compare these views to those held by contemporary Australians. Please refer to the
Additional information and resources provided on the VCAA website’s Theatre Studies
webpage.
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Theatre Studies Unit 4
The following plays have been selected for study in 2017. This list should be considered in
conjunction with the requirements set out in Unit 4 Outcome 3 in the VCE Theatre Studies
Study Design 2014–2018 and the advice provided earlier in this document. Students will
undertake an assessment task for Unit 4 Outcome 3 based on the performance of a play on
the playlist. Question/s will also be set on the performances of the plays in the end-of-year
Theatre Studies written examination.
1. NOISES OFF by Michael Frayn
Theatre Company: Melbourne Theatre Company
Season: 8 July–12 August
Venue: The Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne, St Kilda Road
Duration: approx. 180 minutes
Performance times: Previews Sat 8 July–Tue 11 July 8pm, Mon & Tue 6.30pm; Wed 1pm &
8pm; Thu & Fri 8pm; Sat 4pm & 8.30pm
Tickets: Students $27; one complimentary teacher per 10 students; additional teachers $45.
Bookings: Please contact Mellita Ilich, Education Ticketing Officer on (03) 8688 0963 or
[email protected]
Noises Off has been a resounding success in all its productions since British playwright
Michael Frayn wrote the play in 1982. New York’s Roundabout Theatre Company most
recently presented it on Broadway, to critical acclaim, as part of the company’s 2015–2016
season.
Noises Off is a coproduction between the Melbourne Theatre Company and Queensland
Theatre combining the artistic, technical and organisational resources of both. Noises Off
requires a highly technical production and these two state theatre companies have the
resources to execute this. It is a modern classic that both entertains and draws empathy for
the human characters in the drama.
This is a fast-paced farce that celebrates the dual magic and madness of theatre. The
audience witnesses rehearsals and performances of a play-within-a-play, Nothing On,
experiencing both the on-stage antics and the comic chaos behind-the-scenes with love
triangles, missing actors and sardines, summed up in the (on-stage) director’s line: ‘That’s
farce. That’s theatre. That’s life.’
Several different performance styles are apparent in Noises Off, including elements of
commedia dell’arte, Restoration comedy and farce within the Nothing On play-within-a-play.
Aspects of epic theatre and eclectic theatre permeate the production, as well as the
conventions of musical theatre. Students will be able to analyse many areas of stagecraft,
particularly the set, because the script calls for it to be turned 180 degrees in Act 2 so that
the audience are watching the action from behind. The lighting, costume, make-up,
properties and sound are highly theatrical, and students will be able to discuss how the
‘backstage’ world is contrasted with the ‘on-stage’ world. Similarly, they will engage in
discussion about how the stagecraft area of acting is manipulated to create the ‘actor’
characters and the Nothing On characters.
The unique formatting of the playscript for the second act of Noises Off is particularly
interesting for Theatre Studies students to analyse, as it features both dialogue and stage
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directions for the play-within-the-play as well as dialogue and stage directions for the
‘backstage’ shenanigans. The script as a whole includes clever wordplay, repetition and
heightened language. The stage directions offer lots of non-verbal language to study.
Advice to schools
This script contains sexual innuendo and a few instances of strong language.
2. THE MERCHANT OF VENICE by William Shakespeare
Theatre Company: Bell Shakespeare
Season and venues: Tue 11 July Lighthouse Theatre Warrnambool; Wed 12 July Her
Majesty’s Theatre Ballarat; Sat 15 July Esso BHP Billington Wellington Entertainment Centre
Sale; Tue 18 July–Sat 29 July at Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne; Sat 19 August
Frankston Arts Centre; Tue 29 August Ulumbarra Theatre Bendigo
Duration: approx. 180 minutes
Performance times: Check with venues.
Tickets: Arts Centre only – student matinee $30 (one complimentary teacher per 20
students), check with venues for other ticket prices.
Bookings: [email protected] or 1300 305 730
Bell Shakespeare has been producing and touring William Shakespeare’s plays since 1990,
along with its successful education program. Anne-Louise Sarks directs this production,
working with some of Australia’s finest stage actors and new talent, plus a team of leading
creative designers. The script remains as in Shakespeare’s original text, with some minor
edits.
The Merchant of Venice uses comedy to tackle universal themes of prejudice, tolerance,
greed and love. The central drama of the play is the bond between Antonio (on behalf of
Bassanio) and Shylock. It climaxes in a court scene where the two main groups of the play
meet for the first time. This production does not shy away from the brutality of the courtroom
scene. Students will be able to compare and contrast a range of historical interpretations of
the play, looking at how time and context affect performance styles, characterisation and
creative decisions.
This production provides ample opportunity for students to analyse the characters’ status,
motivation and characteristics. It questions who has freedom and who does not, and it
highlights how having money does not always equate to having power or freedom in society.
Almost all the characters in the play have to deal with these issues. Portia is constrained by
her father’s will. She will be married to a man not of her choosing, despite being an
independent, intelligent, strong young woman. She must find a way to establish equality in
her relationship. Shylock and Jessica and Tubal are all treated differently because of their
religious beliefs. Antonio is a man in love with another man, but clearly afraid to name it or
directly act upon it.
In this production the director highlights the extreme views of both groups in the courtroom
scene and there are no winners at the end of the play. Shylock is robbed of his money, his
religion and his daughter. The lovers Portia and Bassanio, Nerissa and Gratiano, who we
want to respect and celebrate, have revealed a hatred at their core. It is uncomfortable. It is a
complexity that we are often denied in our narratives.
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Although Shylock has no further text after the court scene in The Merchant of Venice, in this
production we see him again as a broken man, recently baptised a Christian; robbed of his
Jewish garb and completely alone. This highlights the emotional costs of the trauma he
experiences and the lack of freedom he is allowed. One new aspect in this production is the
journey of Jessica, Shylock’s daughter. She is constrained by her father and her religion and
in the end rejects both, running away to be with her love, Lorenzo. In deciding to be with this
man Jessica must convert to Christianity. In the final scene Jessica hears of the forced
baptism of her father and his defeat. She hears this from her new friends and family, the
supposedly victorious Christians. Jessica must find a way to reconcile their actions and her
own in this scene.
Advice to schools
This production highlights the theme of anti-Semitism already existent in the original script
and is intended as a springboard for discussion. Teachers are advised to guide students
through information about the play and directorial approaches to the content. Please refer to
the Additional information and resources provided on the VCAA website’s Theatre Studies
webpage.
3. THE WAY OUT by Josephine Collins
Theatre Company: Red Stitch Actors Theatre
Season: Previewing Tue 22 August, closing Sat 23 September
Venue: Red Stitch Actors Theatre, Chapel Street, East St Kilda
Duration: approx. 80 minutes
Performance times: 8pm plus school matinees at 11am or 1pm
Tickets: Students $25 (one complimentary teacher per 10 students)
Bookings: Please contact Kirsty Hillhouse: [email protected].
Red Stitch Actors Theatre is an established artist-driven company with a reputation for
presenting contemporary works from around the world. The Way Out, by Josephine Collins,
is an entertaining and relevant new Australian play developed through the company’s
acclaimed writing program, INK, and directed by award-winning Penny Harpham in
collaboration with audio-visual expert Michael Carmody.
The Way Out uses humour and finely drawn relationships to tackle significant ethical
questions and urgent environmental themes. In a distinctly Australian context, it presents a
community constructed in the aftermath of atrocity. Under the extreme conditions of post-civil
war, the denial of culpability has become a tool for survival.
Set in a small family-run pub in regional Victoria, a local civil war veteran sells moonshine to
a broken town, struggling to survive in a poisoned landscape. His daughter believes in a
different future and sees a way out, but nobody is listening. Then a government inspector
arrives on the same day as a black-market salesman.
The script provides an excellent source for thematic study of family, war, power and
corruption, change versus tradition, man versus nature, heroism and patriotism in a
specifically Australian context, using the near future as a lens through which we can
imaginatively explore our own contemporary reality. Students can analyse ways in which the
production explores these themes.
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The design for the production transforms the Red Stitch stage into what may look at first
glance like a normal little country-town pub, with the use of materials and technical elements
underpinning the themes. Throughout the play these components gradually build unease and
undermine an audience’s sense of where they are. The materials used for set and costumes
are man-made and unnatural, to contrast with a later scene in the play where relics of a
former life are presented, bringing a sense of the past and nature returning to the world of
the play. Sound and lighting are used metaphorically to contrast between the warmer, natural
moments with harsh, technological and bright moments. The overall effect is that of a world
existing uneasily in a present in which the past is both longed for and turned from, and there
is no real vision for the future.
Australian colloquialisms blend with unusual and unfamiliar idioms in the mouths of the
characters in The Way Out, providing an opportunity to investigate the way language is used
to create a world; a song also features in the play. The performance styles are contemporary
Australian realism and heightened naturalism.
Advice to schools
In this play, coarse language is used infrequently. The language use is consistent with the
use of colloquial ‘Australian English’, which is a feature of this play. The opening scene
includes some language that students may find confronting.
4. PIKE STREET by Nilaja Sun
Theatre Company: Epic Theatre Ensemble & Arts Centre Melbourne
Season: Melbourne season 12–17 September; Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne, St
Kilda Road, Southbank; Geelong season: Geelong Performing Arts Centre, 6–9 September.
Duration: approx. 90 minutes
Performance times: In Melbourne: School matinee performances with post-show Q&A
(Nilaja Sun in conversation with Daniel Clarke), Thu 14 September at 1pm, Fri 15 September
at 1pm, Tue 12 September to Sat 16 September at 8pm, Sun 17 September at 5pm. In
Geelong: 6–9 September at 8pm (post-show Q&A on Thu 7 September), also matinee on Sat
9 September at 1pm.
Tickets: Melbourne students $26 [tbc] (one complimentary teacher per 10 students);
Geelong $18 (one complimentary teacher per 20 students).
Bookings: In Melbourne contact Hannah Schneider, Schools Programs Coordinator, and
Bronwyn Hill, Schools Programs Assistant: (03) 9281 8582 or
[email protected] (please note that tickets for this performance will go
on sale from Mon 5 December 2016). In Geelong, contact Kelly Clifford, Education Manager:
(03) 5225 1207 or [email protected] (please note that tickets for these performances will go
on sale from Thu 1 December 2016).
Nilaja Sun returns to Melbourne after her successful, sell-out seasons of No Child in 2012
and 2013. This Obie Award–winning solo piece was a critically acclaimed international
success. In Pike Street, directed by Ron Russell, Sun portrays a host of characters living in
Manhattan’s Lower East Side, ‘bringing each to life with a radiant grace that makes her
virtuosity seem as natural as breathing’ (Charles Isherwood, New York Times).
Pike Street is written like a play, with dialogue between characters moving the action forward
and telling the story, rather than a traditional monologue text. The show consists almost
entirely of scenes between two or more characters. Each scene comes to life as naturally as
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an ensemble-based performance. However, all the roles are played by Sun, who transforms,
physically and vocally, to create a vast array of characters, conversing, arguing, and singing.
This is an opportunity for students to study the use of expressive skills in interpreting a wide
range of characters.
The play uses a minimalist set with the focus firmly on the performer in the space. The
audience–actor relationship is established from the moment the audience enters the space.
Sun starts her performance as Candace, a teenager incapacitated by a brain aneurysm. She
sits in a chair as the audience enters and the sounds from a local news station reporting on a
storm fill the space. Her body is gnarled and her stare is intent. The focus of the performer in
these opening moments absorbs the audience and sets up the world of the play.
The performance style has been described as ‘transformative theatre’. The play uses
elements of magical realism, physical theatre and contemporary performance styles. The
minimalist staging, sound design and direction provide excellent scope for student analysis,
refection and evaluation. The interrelationship between performance, direction and design is
evident in the thoughtful use of space, the building of tension and the creation of setting, time
and location.
Advice to schools
This production uses strong language and refers to drug use, racism and exploitation. There
are sexual innuendos.
5. THE REAL AND IMAGINED HISTORY OF THE ELEPHANT MAN by Tom Wright
Theatre Company Malthouse Theatre
Season 4–27 August
Venue Merlyn Theatre, The Coopers Malthouse, Sturt Street, Southbank
Duration 90 minutes
Performance times
Previews: Fri 4 August & Sat 5 August 7.30pm; Mon 7 August & Tue 8 August 6.30pm;
opening: Wed 9 August 7.30pm
Season: Thu 10 August 7.30pm; Fri 11 August 7.30pm; Sat 12 August 3pm & 7.30pm; Tue
15 August 6.30pm; Wed 16 August 7.30pm; Thu 17 August 12.30pm* & 7.30pm; Fri 18
August 7.30pm; Sat 19 August 3pm & 7.30pm; Sun 20 August 5pm; Tue 22 August 6.30pm;
Wed 23 August 7.30pm; Thu 24 August 12.30pm* & 7.30pm; Fri 25 August 7.30pm; Sat 26
August 3pm & 7.30pm; Sun 27 August 5pm
* VCE Matinee
Tickets: Student metro $24.50; non-metro $22.50; no charge for up to two teachers per
school; additional teachers $40
Bookings: Complete the Schools Booking Form on www.malthousetheatre.com.au. Contact
Vanessa O’Neill, Youth and Education Manager on (03) 9685 5164, or Dan Allemann, Box
Office Manager for bookings enquiries: [email protected].
The Real and Imagined History of the Elephant Man, by Tom Wright, is directed by Matthew
Lutton, artistic director of Malthouse Theatre. Previous collaborations between Tom Wright
and Matthew Lutton include Picnic at Hanging Rock (Malthouse Theatre, 2016), On the
Misconception of Oedipus (Malthouse Theatre, 2012), The Mysteries: Genesis (Sydney
Theatre Company, 2010) and The Duel (Sydney Theatre Company, 2009).
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Joseph Merrick (who became known as ‘the Elephant Man’) first came to public attention in
the 1880s in London. Due to his physical appearance, he was exhibited as a human curiosity
in ‘freak shows’ throughout England and Europe. He also developed an enduring friendship
with Frederick Treves, the doctor who helped provide him with an alternative life at London
Hospital and in whose care Merrick was able to reveal his great intelligence and imagination.
The story of ‘the Elephant Man’ has been retold many times, and is probably most widely
known through the David Lynch film and the play by Bernard Pomerance. Tom Wright’s
script draws on Frederick Treves’ first-hand account of his friendship with Merrick (The
Elephant Man by Frederick Treves), but doesn’t include the character of Treves. It concerns
our contemporary obsession with the body and how contemporary society uses the body to
define our place in society.
One actor will play Joseph Merrick in a variety of different theatrical modes and states. The
central role of Joseph Merrick is an investiagtion of the complexity and humanity of this man
and the contrast between how he appears and is perceived, and his own inner world and
internal thoughts.
A chorus of three female performers will shift between multiple roles – people from the
Victorian era who were part of Merrick’s life (carers, nurses, doctors, performers, and the
general public) through to contemporary commentators in 2017, reflecting on the progression
of medicine and science, sharing perceptions of the body, celebrity, empathy and the notion
of ‘otherness’. The role of Joseph Merrick will be played by Mark Winter, and Julie Forsyth
will be one of the three female chorus members.
The Real and Imagined History of the Elephant Man will provide ample opportunity for
students to observe the actor-audience relationship, as it will explore a variety of theatrical
ways in which the chorus engage with spectators. The audience will see Merrick both
shrouded and unshrouded in the shadows, in full light and interrogation, in the domestic, and
finally in a fantasia state. We will closely follow the shifts in his use of language – from being
barely decipherable, to being increasingly more articulate, to allowing us to experience his
inner poetry.
Advice to schools
Schools are advised to use the resources provided by the theatre company to ensure that
students are familiar with the life of Joseph Merrick prior to seeing the play.
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