Belvoir Interval Magazine 2017 by Belvoir

INTERVAL

BURNS

04 ROVER 06 T

T H E 12 BOOKBINDER

ATLANTIS

HIR

GHOSTS

08 10

BARBARA AND THE CAMP DOGS 16

INTERVAL A DAY AT OUR BELVOIR 18 DONORS ACCESS & UNWAGED PERFORMANCES 25

All images by Daniel Boud except where credited. Design by Alphabet Studio.

CONNECT WITH BELVOIR 24

CALE N DAR 26

Friends,

Photo: Brett Boardman.

It’s a mad world and it gets madder. When we put this season together last year it seemed unthinkable that the man – whose name sounds like a cartoon tycoon (which he is) – would ever be it. And yet there he is in the White House. It’s a turn of events which makes most plays seem unimaginative and plain-minded. The world, in fact, is crazier than the theatre.

People like Mary-Ellen Field and Mark Colvin, whose extraordinary generosity supplied the beauty of Tommy Murphy’s play last month. Vale Mark, a great and good man.

But far from resolving to make a whole lot of plays about the guy and his insane regime, we’re more determined than ever to do the opposite, and make shows about dignity, and compassion, and intelligence, and joy, and being ordinary in life and very human and mortal. Between Trump and Putin and Kim Jong-un, it could well be that taking yourself too seriously is now the most lethal personal trait on the planet. Well to hell with that. We’re going to declare a theatrical war on excess self-regard. The people we put in our plays are all just shitty, wonderful people struggling along.

Or the helpless, sad, utterly fantastic lovers of The Dog / The Cat.

Or people like Pacharo Mzembe’s Moses in Prize Fighter back in January. Or the wonderful cast of Jasper Jones kicking that terrific can down the road again.

Or the little group of survivors in the superb and intriguing Mr Burns – a little group of post-apocalyptic Rude Mechanicals who, in the midst of catastrophe, take what little means they have and do the best thing they can think of in the circumstances: they put on a show. Onwards.

Mr BURNS A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY After dazzling critics and audiences in New York and London, Anne Washburn’s “downright brilliant” (NY Times) post-electric play arrives in Australia. Cartoon characters, pop music, high art and a nuclear meltdown collide in a post-apocalyptic world where The Simpsons become the new global religion.

19 MAY – 25 JUNE UPSTAIRS Writer Anne Washburn Score by Michael Friedman Lyrics by Anne Washburn Director Imara Savage

AN INTERVIEW WITH MITCHELL BUTEL The multi-talented MITCHELL BUTEL is acting, singing and dancing his way through the apocalypse and its aftermath in Mr BURNS, A POST-ELECTIC PLAY. Okay, Mr Burns is one pretty wild play! How would you describe it to someone who wasn’t familiar with the work? I’d describe it as the ultimate theatrical smorgasbord – part action thriller, part psychodrama, part high comedy farce and part rock concert. It follows a group of survivors after a series of nuclear fallouts who, in their attempt to remember their past and keep surviving, become the most bizarre and wonderful group of travelling performers the world has ever known. They are the Simpsons family on crack. Can you tell us a little bit about your character/s in the play and how they fit into the story? Into the initial group of survivors depicted in the play comes my character, Gibson. He’s initially swathed in mystery but it’s soon revealed that he’s a very cluey and unique survivor himself with some deeply hidden secrets and talents. Once the gang of survivors decide to enact the stories from The Simpsons, Gibson assumes the role of Bart’s nemesis Sideshow Bob. In the third act, which takes

place 100 years in the future, I play another actor who takes on the role of Mr Burns, but a new, mutant, expanded version of Mr Burns. He’s a compendium of all the villains and monsters who have ever lived. How do you say no to a role like that? The Simpsons is the starting point, but the play taps into bigger issues and themes – everything from nuclear destruction to our need to tell stories in times of crises. What’s at the heart of this play for you? The play is ultimately a celebration of theatre in its most basic form – the act of storytelling and the ineffable and blissful transaction between a performer and an audience. A celebration of community and complicity. A celebration of wit and daring and myth. In its depiction of a very possible nuclear winter for earth, it’s a clarion call to us all to wake the hell up and take care of this brilliant planet that we’re lucky to have. It’s also a homage to some of the greatest works of art and stories the world has ever seen. And it’s whip smart, deeply compassionate and bloody funny.

THE

ROVER Toby Schmitz returns to Belvoir to tackle the swashbuckling titular role in this classic battle of the sexes from Aphra Behn, widely considered the first professional female playwright. It was an absolute sensation when it premiered in 1677, and remains just as wild, provocative and immensely entertaining three and a half centuries later.

1 JULY – 6 AUGUST UPSTAIRS Writer Aphra Behn Director Eamon Flack

The Rover is supported by the Nelson Meers Foundation.

We’re thrilled to have TOBY SCHMITZ back at Belvoir for THE ROVER. He’s certainly no stranger to playing a charming rogue, as he writes here… I first found John Wilmot, on whom Willmore, the character I’m playing in The Rover, is based, in Graham Greene’s book Lord Rochester’s Monkey. It’s a ripping account of the man, who was a phenomenally clever and dangerous liver of life. A friend of the King, locked in the tower for kidnapping his future wife, a theatre rat, a brave soldier, and such a committed sack artist that he died from it. The title of the book references Rochester’s scandalous decision to have his portrait painted with a monkey. Even today it’s a relevant punky idea, that anti-establishmentfrom-within fire. I played Rochester in a NIDA production of The Libertine, and got my teeth into my first rake. I had a blast. I first read The Rover prepping for that production. Rochester was lampooned and homaged often, during and after his time, but Aphra Behn has seized intelligently on the horror and the allure of a talented Cavalier, a debauched wit, a romantic nihilist, and run with the idea in her own soldier’s romp. She understood that a lasting rake must have spikes as well as charm, a complex cocktail for writer, actor, director and audience to navigate. This insight ricochets around the play, in all the moment to moment human contradictions. I feel a great fortune in being able to keep unlocking this man, in a new way, with a dram more wisdom in my system.

TEENAGE KICKS

Performing The Rover for students will be quite a ride, and that’s exactly how it should be according to the actor. “School shows are a thrill,” Toby says. “They were a thrill when I was at school. The electricity of wagging school combined with the pagan ritual of theatre is a heady one. All that energy comes rushing at you on stage and it’s a delicious wave to ride. Any play of worth has something racy or dark or troubling in it. I saw Romeo and Juliet when I was at school, and it profoundly shifted me. “If students are challenged by the more horrible things some of these characters do in The Rover, it will be rewarding to think about the time they lived in. How men really ruled the roost. How women knew no more liberated a time than the one they were in, yet could dream of it. If there’s something students find unkind, brutal or scary, even in the safe space of a theatre story, they should ask why. The theatre is as close to a democratic space as you will find, and everyone’s allowed a voice.” For more on our Education Program, turn to pages 18-20 or visit belvoir.com.au/support-education

HIR A young marine returns to the suburbs to help take care of his sick father. But even the battlefield hasn’t prepared Isaac for what awaits him at home: his younger sibling has come out as transgender and his mother is on a crusade to overthrow the patriarchy.

12 AUGUST – 10 SEPTEMBER UPSTAIRS Writer Taylor Mac Director Anthea Williams

IN CONVERSATION WITH HELEN THOMSON HELEN THOMSON is preparing to cut loose as the fiercely liberated matriarch at the centre of HIR. The play’s director, ANTHEA WILLIAMS, sits down with her leading lady to talk about what audiences are in store for with Taylor Mac’s hit play. Anthea: Why did you want to do the show? Helen: Eamon [Flack] came up to me at a closing night party and said, ‘I have a fantastic role for you’. He said it was a lead role and my ears pricked up. True to his word, he sent me the script. I had my fingers crossed that I was going to enjoy it. My heart initially sank because it was the weirdest script that I’ve ever read. My husband kept asking, ‘Is it good?’ And I didn’t know. I kept reading, and I thought, ‘You know what? I think it’s good. No, it’s really good. I love it’. I’m also terrified by it because I haven’t done a character like this before, but I absolutely had to do it. Anthea: And you can do a character like this.

Hir is supported by the Creative Development Fund, which you can learn more about on pages 18–20. 8

Helen: Yes, sadly. [Laughs]. I do like characters that are life-affirming even if they’re morally dubious. I like characters that have hutzpah and this woman has hutzpah. She’s really been through the ringer and has every reason to be angry and

bitter, but she’s not. I admire her so much. Having said that, she’s a little loopy. But she’s fun loopy. I hope that the audience love her despite her flaws because she has a big heart. Anthea: I think the audience will love her. She’s loopy but she has an internal logic. Helen: Yes she does, it’s just a logic that takes a little while to hook on to. [Laughs]. Anthea: Audiences are going to be like, where the hell are we?! [Laughs]. What are you most nervous about? Helen: That’s a good question. I suppose the biggest anxiety is always, can you take the audience with you the whole way without losing them at all? I want to keep just a little bit ahead of them so that they come with me. The role is also a fairly intense one. I’m doing a lot of talking the whole way through so I will have to be match fit, but the rehearsals will knock me into shape!

AN INTERVIEW WITH EAMON FLACK EAMON FLACK is adapting one of Ibsen’s most controversial works in GHOSTS, and has gained a new appreciation for the famed playwright in the process. Why did you want to adapt Ghosts and what do you feel it holds for a modern audience?

GHOSTS After collaborating so memorably on The Glass Menagerie, Eamon Flack and Pamela Rabe reunite for Henrik Ibsen’s 19th century masterpiece about a woman determined to conquer her past, only to realise some ghosts can never be exorcised.

16 SEPTEMBER – 22 OCTOBER UPSTAIRS Writer Henrik Ibsen Director Eamon Flack

Ghosts is supported by the Nelson Meers Foundation. 10

this adaptation over the past six months and discovering just how brilliant a dramatic writer he really is. The more closely that you work Pam and I wanted to work on Ibsen’s play, the bigger and together again after The Glass more remarkable it becomes and Menagerie. There was an attraction the more extraordinary every line to working on another great becomes. Every moment carries chamber play like The Glass you forward into this great human Menagerie. Ghosts is one of those struggle. It’s been about living with great chamber plays with one of Ibsen line by line and working out those great roles for an actress of how to make vivid to our ears what Pam’s stature. I also love the way was vivid to the ears of Ibsen’s in which we never escape the past. audiences. We always think we’re cutting free of it, but we’re always discovering You and Pam both came to this how stuck we are with the past. play independently? I mean that on a personal and I’d been thinking of programming political level. This play is about the play with someone else both those things. directing it so it had been on my When Ghosts was first published, mind. Pam had been thinking it outraged critics and was about the play as well so when banned from public performance. we were in Geelong on tour for Does it still have the power to The Glass Menagerie, we had this shock audiences today? conversation about what we might do, and we both said, ‘What about I don’t think it’s shocking in the Ghosts?’ To be honest, I’d never same way, but it may well be if you really seen myself as a very Ibsen really climb into the play. It’s like kind of director or writer, but I’ve standing on the cliff edge in some been surprised by how much I’ve ways. This woman that Pam plays connected to [Ghosts]. The last is thinking about doing something time I adapted something where I really radical and completely was this enamoured of the source smashing the patriarchal line in was Antigone years ago. It’s one of her world. There’s something those plays where when you enter still a little scary to our world, into it, it becomes towering. The about women taking power in Glass Menagerie is like that too. It that way. I also think Ibsen has a seems so plain and obvious on the visceral poetry that’s dramatically surface but the life inside is huge thrilling. I’ve loved working on and the ideas are towering.

THE

BOOKBINDER

They say you can get lost in a good book, but what if it’s a dangerous one? Shadow play, paper art and puppetry are intricately woven into an original fairytale about a bookbinding apprentice who finds himself swept into the pages of a mysterious tome.

26 SEPTEMBER 8 OCTOBER DOWNSTAIRS A Trick of the Light production Based on a story by Ralph McCubbin Howell & Hannah Smith Writer Ralph McCubbin Howell Director Hannah Smith

The creative duo behind THE BOOKBINDER, writer/performer RALPH McCUBBIN HOWELL and writer/director HANNAH SMITH, reveal how this spellbinding story came into being… RALPH

HANNAH

The Bookbinder was borne out of a series of happy accidents. We’d just come out of a big show, and wanted to make something small. We’d found a venue in a bookshop, and wanted to make something to suit. Then a friend of ours happened to meet a bookbinder by the name of Michael O’Brien. We went for a cuppa with Michael, who proved an excellent spinner of yarns. Slowly an idea began to take shape – a story about binding books but also about weaving tales…

I love it when I read a book or hear a piece of music and the experience is intimate and affecting and internal – when you listen to a song on headphones that you haven’t heard in stereo before and you understand how it’s put together for the first time. Or when you’re reading and someone speaks to you and you’re called back from another world. I think that work you do as a reader or listener to fill in the gaps is really significant.

We made the show fast – in our living room, using props we had at hand. Then we threw it in front of an audience for twenty odd shows in a fortnight. Each night we cut bits that didn’t work, and added bits that did, and to this day it remains an ever-evolving beastie. This isn’t a work for little children. It’s wordy and funny and delightfully dark. It’s something less easily categorised (and more of a headache for marketing teams) – a cross-over work, for adults and older children. It’s a genre familiar in literature but rarer on the stage, and owes a debt to authors like Neil Gaiman and Susanna Clarke.

Theatre is special because it trusts an audience to do that work, and to be artists who help create the performance through active listening and interpretation. A script is a blueprint of a play, and the play is the blueprint of a performance which shifts, shimmers, and is a different experience inside every person’s head. It is magic. That is the ethos I wanted for this show. Spare, elegant, signposts for the imagination. Simplicity. Clean outlines that the performers and audience could colour in together, making a slightly different picture every time.

Photo: Philip Merry / axolotl photography

ATLANTIS The fabulous Lally Katz once again mines her life – real and imaginative – for a funny, heartfelt and occasionally catastrophic journey lined with unforgettable encounters and romantic dilemmas. A grand adventure through cynical times, but infused with Lally’s unwavering optimism.

28 OCTOBER – 26 NOVEMBER UPSTAIRS Writer Lally Katz Director Rosemary Myers

AN INTERVIEW WITH LALLY KATZ Playwright LALLY KATZ talks about merging the real and the imaginative in ATLANTIS, and why she’s okay with sharing her secrets with the world. Can you tell us a little bit about what inspired Atlantis? I’ve always loved sharing the characters that I meet with audiences. Often the most honest way to write about them is to write about my relationships and friendships with them. Also the thing that has brought me joy my whole life is connecting my imagination to other people’s imagination. To me, that’s where theatre is at its best. There has been stuff that has been living in my imagination for a long time about rising sea levels; cities like Miami, Venice and many others that may one day be gone. I was interested in writing about climate change, but in a personal way. Not everything in Atlantis is true. Some is true and some is imagined. But all the characters are inspired by real people. Hopefully I don’t get sued or hopefully they won’t see the show. Or if they do… they like it! Is it challenging to write so openly about your life?

Atlantis is supported by The Hive and The Honey Bs. For more information on these donor programs, turn to page 18–20. 14

It’s not challenging when I’m writing it because it’s stuff that I’m burning to write. The challenging thing is showing how I feel about characters and events instead of just showing them. I get embarrassed and think, ‘Who cares how I feel about it?’ But you have to be specific in order for it

to be universal. But the actual writing – even the stuff that should be quite humiliating – doesn’t really bother me. I’ve always been missing a filter that stops me from wanting to share my secrets with the world. Atlantis reveals how much your work is fuelled by what’s happening in your life, particularly your relationships. As an artist, do you resign yourself to these two worlds overlapping? Yes, I totally resign myself to it now. I used to plan not to write about my boyfriends so that the relationship could have a chance without me being an observer in it. But it never worked! My aunt said that I should stop dating people I wanted to write about and date boring people instead and I would be happier. She was right in one way, but it made me realise that the reason I wrote about my boyfriends so much was that I couldn’t actually communicate with them. It was my way of working stuff out with them. I got married recently and my husband is always making me communicate. I didn’t realise that I was a big part of the problem. So much of my life is in my imagination and I could play out my relationship in my imagination too. But now he makes me talk about everything and it’s very useful!

BARBARA AND

THE CAMP DOGS

Ursula Yovich isn’t just a gifted actress and writer, she’s one hell of a singer too. She and Casey Donovan will be letting rip in our final 2017 production, an electrifying musical, fuelled by rage, love and rock ‘n’ roll.

2 – 23 DECEMBER UPSTAIRS Writers Ursula Yovich & Alana Valentine Songs by Alana Valentine, Ursula Yovich & Adam Ventoura Director Leticia Cáceres

Writer and actor URSULA YOVICH is preparing to unleash her alter-ego in BARBARA AND THE CAMP DOGS, the story of a gutsy front woman burnt out by city life. Bringing this character to stage has been quite a journey, as she writes here… Barbara and the Camp Dogs has a long history. Barbara is my alterego; she has come out a few times on a big night out. She’s the side of me I wish I could tap into more often – in a controlled way of course, because she’s wild and sometimes dangerous. Barbara came before the story or the songs. Music is a massive part of my identity. Throughout my life, music has given me a way out and also a way in. It’s given me opportunities and it helps me to dig deep and selfanalyse. It’s easy not to see your own flaws and only those of others, but if you want to write music that reflects who you are, you have to be unafraid of saying that you are imperfect. Barbara is not based on myself or my story. Barbara doesn’t budge or compromise and sometimes it’s to her own detriment. She can be fearless but she is damaged so she can be a very hard pill to swallow. When women are being assertive, we get labelled difficult. That’s the case with Barbara but she doesn’t care about the “difficult” title that others place on her.

I wanted to write this piece with [playwright] Alana Valentine because I love her use of language. I can be a little too rough and sometimes I limit myself because of it. So I am learning a lot in the writing process. Barbara was inspired by the women I’ve worked with over the years. Many of whom have this wildness and a fight I just don’t see in the fellas often enough. It’s difficult being a woman on the cusp of 40. You notice things you never did before. You start to become invisible. How do you navigate the later years of your career as a woman in this industry? Barbara and the Camp Dogs has been over four years in the making. Barbara has gone through a few changes and the things I felt were important back when Alana and I first started writing the show have since changed. I feel far more comfortable with myself in some aspects but have picked up other insecurities during that time also. Barbara gives me permission to say what I want to say.

Barbara and the Camp Dogs is supported by The Balnaves Foundation, who have been generously funding Belvoir’s Indigenous theatre program for the past six years. 16

A DAY AT BELVOIR Ever wondered what a day in the Belvoir office is like? Let us take you on a tour…

In THE WRITERS ROOM, a new play is being workshopped by five actors, a writer and our Associate Director of New Work, Anthea Williams – from what we can hear through the wall, it’s powerful stuff.

Our ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, Eamon Flack is gesticulating across a trestle table (his desk) to Shakthi (S. Shakthidharan – Artistic Director, CuriousWorks) in an impassioned conversation over the development of A Counting & Cracking of Heads. It’s a massive undertaking to bring an epic story like this one to the stage.

THE PRODUCTION OFFICE is empty. Check the theatre up the road (where they’re in tech week for The Dog/The Cat), the workshop (set building), Melbourne Theatre Company (bumping out Faith Healer), Riverside Theatre in Parramatta (bumping in Mark Colvin’s Kidney) or State Theatre Company South Australia (gearing up for Mr Burns). Needless to say, they’re a busy bunch. If you see someone from that department, just get out of their way, or buy them a coffee.

Our EDUCATION DEPARTMENT is sprawled across their office floor, negotiating the annual jigsaw puzzle of maximising the ticket allocation for our Priority Schools Program – it’s a happy/sad exercise as many students from low socio-economic schools will benefit from this program, but we can’t as yet meet the demand of all who apply.

THE BOX OFFICE AND CUSTOMER SERVICE TEAM are multitasking as usual; on the phones, online, managing data and customer queries, juggling our new customer relationship system Tessitura and helping us develop meaningful connections with our valued audience – there is a lot of good humour in this department.

Then there is THE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT… There is so much that goes on within our four walls (in Surry Hills, around the corner or around the world) that a day in the office can make a visitor’s head spin. However what is easy to explain is that all of these activities, and more, are enabled by the generous support of individuals like you.

Funds raised through Philanthropic gifts, Trusts and Foundations and Corporate Sponsorship raise almost a quarter of the company’s income. There is very little within our company that is not touched by your support. If we put some figures against our activities happening in the building today:

$800 $3,700 $5,000

To provide free tickets through our Priority Schools Program to 30 students costs $800 A new play reading with five actors, a writer and our Associate Director costs $3,700 per day

YOU BUILD US $

3,462,407

Other Earned Revenue (e.g. Bar Sales & Venue Hire)

2,692,915

Government

2,124,626

Trusts & Foundations

493,000

INCOME 2016 Box Office

Corporate Sponsorship

725,997

Your Donations

1,103,819

10,602,764

Creative Development of a new work of scale can cost anything from $,5000 per day

And that’s just one day…

BOX OFFICE INCOME 32%

OTHER EARNED REVENUE 25%

TRUSTS & FOUNDATIONS 5% GOVERMENT FUNDING 20%

CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP 7%

YOUR DONATIONS 11% 19

HERE’S HOW TO HELP B KEEPERS provide a reliable, ongoing source of income that underpins all of Belvoir’s core activities including our Unwaged Program and new Indigenous work. Donations to the B Keepers program begin at $1,000. THE HIVE is a group of tenacious young philanthropists, whose annual contribution helps actors, writers, directors and other creatives strike out on new adventures in content and form. Support one new work each year. Donations to The Hive begin at $2,500 per pair. EDUCATION DONATIONS give socially and geographically disadvantaged young people opportunities to participate in theatre workshops and see our productions. Donations of any size are welcome.

THE CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT FUND supports emerging directors, script development, commissions, longer rehearsal periods, touring and works of scale. Donations to the Creative Development Fund are $10,000 for one off donations or $5,000 a year for four years (total $20,000). HONEY Bs comprise a group of influential female business leaders supporting their artistic counterparts at Belvoir; women in business leadership supporting women in arts leadership. The Honey Bs is an invitation only syndicate funding a production led by female theatre-makers. Interested women are asked to pledge a minimum $2,000 each.

IN THE

REHEARSAL

RO OM Our patrons, supporters and friends are right there behind us, backing Belvoir in bringing to life the great old theatrical crafts of acting and storytelling. Thank you.

Japser Jones

GENERAL DONORS AND SUBSCRIBER DONATIONS support projects most in need throughout the year. Donations of any size are welcome.

WANT TO BE PART OF IT? Contact the Development Team on 02 8396 6209 or send an email to development@belvoir.com.au to talk about what aspect of Belvoir’s program you are most passionate about. Or if you’re ready to donate right now visit belvoir.com.au/support

Mr Burns

The Dog / The Cat

Thank you – we know what it means and others know it too. Here are a few examples of the wonderful feedback we’ve received recently: “The greatest challenge facing me as an English/Drama teacher is the students’ lack of cultural experiences. A program like this gives them the exposure they need to be able to develop their analytical skills, think about the world more critically and deeply, and have a new experience and a rewarding one too!” Teacher on our Priority Schools Program “Sometimes I have to decide between a bill and eating. What Belvoir provides with its free shows is fantastic. I get to watch quality theatre… I am really appreciative of it.” - Unwaged attendee

Mark Colvin’s Kidney

Prize Fighter

LEARN MORE ABOUT SUPPORTING BELVOIR: BELVOIR.COM.AU/SUPPORT-BELVOIR Credit: All photos taken by Brett Boardman except Prize Fighter taken by Dylan Evans.

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EDUCATION DONORS $10,000+

Anonymous (3) Ian Barnett* Andrew Cameron AM & Cathy Cameron** Estate of the late Angelo Comino Ari Droga Julie Hannaford* Judge Joe Harman Bill Hawker Olivia Pascoe**

$500 – $1,999 32 Edward St Anonymous (4) Len & Nita Armfield AB* Arrow Commodities Art House Gallery David Bennett AO & Anne Bennett Judy Binns Sue Capon Michael & Colleen Chesterman* Esther Helen Cossman Tracey Clancy Karen Cooper & Simon Tuxen Erin Devery

$10,000+ Anonymous (1) Andrew Cameron AM & Cathy Cameron** Ross Littlewood & Alexandra Curtin*

$2,000 – $4,999 Anonymous (2) Richard Evans Brenna Hobson Anita Jacoby* Raymond McDonald Ralph Myers Patricia Novikoff* Lynne Watkins & Nicolas Harding*

$500 – $1,999 Anonymous (5) Victor Baskir Baiba Berzins* Christine Bishop Allen & Julie Blewitt Mr Dennis Bluth & Dr Diana Marks Keith Bradley AM

Ian Breden & Josephine Key* Anne Britton** Angela Bowne Trevor Carroll Colleen & Michael Chesterman Esther Helen Cossman Tim & Bryony Cox* Jane Diamond* Elizabeth Fairfax Gillian Fenton Sandra Ferman Jono Gavin Tim Gerrard Peter Gray & Helen Thwaites Priscilla Guest* Dr Cheryl Hanbury Kim Harding & Irene Miller Harrison & Kate Higgs* Dorothy Hoddinott AO** Clyth Hoult Robert Kidd Daniel Knight Wolf Krueger & José Gutierrez* Franz Lauenstein Lisa Manchur Wailyn Mar Julianne Maxwell E.J.R McDonald Julian Meagher Irene Miller Dr David and Barbara Millons Irena Nebenzahl Louise & Michael Nettleton Patricia Novikoff* Anthony Nugent Judy & Geoff Patterson* Dr Natalie Pelham Georgina Perry Kathirasen Ponnusamy* Kim Rosser Leigh Sanderson Elfriede Sangkuhl Abhijit & Janice Sengupta Dr Agnes Sinclair Eileen Slarke & Family** Alexia Smyth-Kirk Andrea Socratous Dr Titia Sprague Paul Stein Yael Stone Axel & Diane Tennie Mike Thompson Tom Tilley Gayle Tollifson Helen Trinca Suzanne & Ross Tzannes AM* Jane Uebergang Louise & Steve Verrier Chris Vik & Chelsea Albert Sarah Walters* Mark Warburton Louisa Ward & Tim Coen Dr Rosemary White Brian & Trish Wright * 5+ years of giving ** 10+ years of giving *** 15+ years of giving List correct at time of printing.

ACCESS

DONORS CONTINUED SPECIAL THANKS We would like to acknowledge Cajetan Mula, Len Armfield and Geoffrey Scharer. They will always be remembered for their generosity to Belvoir. We also thank our Life Members, who have made outstanding contributions to Belvoir over more than thirty years. They have changed the course of the company and are now ingrained in its fabric: Neil Armfield AO, Neil Balnaves AO, Andrew Cameron AM, David Gonski AC, Rachel Healy, Louise Herron AM, Sue Hill, Geoffrey Rush AC, Orli Wargon OAM and Chris Westwood. These people and foundations supported the redevelopment of Belvoir St Theatre and purchase of our warehouse. Andrew & Cathy Cameron (refurbishment of theatre & warehouse)

The Gonski Foundation & Nelson Meers Foundation (Gonski Meers Foyer)

Russell Crowe (Downstairs theatre & purchase of warehouse)

Andrew & Wendy Hamlin (Brenna’s office)

CONNECT

WITH

BELVOIR Between shows, we love to keep the conversation going. Keep connected in one (or all!) of the following ways. BELVOIR PODCAST We regularly produce a podcast for our Upstairs shows featuring interviews with members of the cast and creative team. It’s an excellent way to get up to speed with what a show’s about, who’s making it, and other bits of exclusive trivia. Dig into our podcast archives at belvoir.com.au/podcast

Hal Herron (The Hal Bar) Geoffrey Rush (redevelopment of theatre) Fred Street AM (Upstairs dressing room)

BELVOIR BRIEFINGS Prior to each of our Upstairs productions opening, we present a Briefing that provides you with a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how the work is taking shape in the rehearsal room. Join with Belvoir’s theatre makers, and various special guests, for an exclusive insight into each work before it hits the stage. You’ll also have the chance to ask your own questions – and maybe even continue the discussion in the bar afterwards. Belvoir Briefings are free, simply book online at belvoir.com.au/ belvoirbriefing or call Box Office. Please find the dates below for the remaining 2017 Briefings. THE ROVER 3pm, Sunday 25 June

GET SOCIAL

HIR 3pm, Sunday 6 August

Like us, follow us and sign up to our e-news to access behind-the-scenes content, special offers, events and more.

GHOSTS 3pm, Sunday 10 September

/belvoirst @belvoirst 24

@belvoirst

ATLANTIS 3pm, Sunday 22 October BARBARA AND THE CAMP DOGS 3pm, Sunday 26 November

PERFORMANCES

We’re committed to providing everyone who visits our theatre in Surry Hills with the same experience regardless of age or ability. The theatre has lift access, a hearing loop, and we offer a range of audio-described and mobile-captioned performances – please find the dates below. AUDIO-DESCRIBED PERFORMANCES For vision impaired patrons, we present audio-described performances:

members of our community. “The unwaged performance is always one of my favourite performances of a Belvoir season,” says Mitchell Butel, star of Mr Burns. “Its audience has been queuing for the in-demand tickets since 9am. They’re desperate to be there and be a part of it. The resulting energy in the house is always crackling and very vocal. I love these performances too because they’re a chance to tell a story to some people who really need stories – people who may not have the cash to see many shows – but who are still great lovers of the theatre. Long may the tradition continue.”

HIR 2pm, Saturday 9 September GHOSTS 2pm, Saturday 21 October CAPTIONED PERFORMANCES For hearing impaired patrons, we provide a mobile device captioned service for: Mr BURNS 2pm, Saturday 24 June HIR 2pm, Saturday 2 September GHOSTS 2pm, Saturday 14 October For more information, visit belvoir.com.au/access

UNWAGED PERFORMANCES Unfortunately not everyone in the community can afford to attend theatre on a regular basis. For more than twenty years, Belvoir has provided a free-of-charge matinee performance of every Upstairs production to unwaged

The dates for the remaining 2017 unwaged performances are below. Mr BURNS 2pm, Thursday 22 June THE ROVER 2pm, Thursday 3 August HIR 2pm, Thursday 7 September GHOSTS 2pm, Thursday 5 October ATLANTIS 2pm, Thursday 23 November BARBARA AND THE CAMP DOGS 2pm, Thursday 21 December For more information about Belvoir’s Unwaged Performance Program, visit belvoir.com.au/about/communityaccess-program 25

CALENDAR Mr BURNS MON

TUE

WED

GHOSTS

19 MAY – 25 JUN

THU

FR I

SAT

SUN

19 8PM PREVIEW

20 8PM OPENING

21 5PM

23 6.30PM

24 6.30PM

25 8PM

26 8PM

27 2PM & 8PM

28 5PM

30 6.30PM

31 6.30PM

8PM

6 6.30PM

8PM

9 8PM

10 2PM & 8PM

11 5PM

13 6.30PM

14 6.30PM

15 8PM

16 8PM

17 2PM & 8PM

18 5PM

20 6.30PM

21 6.30PM

22 UNWAGED 2pM & 8PM

23 8PM

24 2PM

25 5PM

6.30PM

THE ROVER MON

TUE

8PM SPONSOR PREVIEW

WED

8PM OPENING

FR I

6.30pm PREVIEW

2PM & 8PM

5PM

11 6.30PM

12 6.30PM

13 8PM

14 8PM

15 2PM & 8PM

16 5PM

18 6.30PM

19 6.30PM

20 8PM

21 8PM

22 2PM & 8PM

23 5PM

25 6.30PM

26 6.30PM

27 8PM

28 8PM

29 2PM & 8PM

30 5PM

TUE

WED

8PM

2PM & 8PM

FR I

SAT

SUN

12 8PM PREVIEW

13 6.30pm PREVIEW

15 8PM SPONSOR PREVIEW

16 8PM OPENING

17 8PM

18 8PM

19 2PM & 8PM

20 5PM

22 6.30PM

23 6.30PM

24 8PM

25 8PM

26 2PM & 8PM

27 5PM

29 6.30PM

30 6.30PM

31 8PM

8PM

2PM

& 8PM

6 6.30PM

8PM

2PM

& 8PM

10 5PM

6.30PM

UNWAGED 2PM & 8PM

21 8PM

SAT

22 8PM

17 6.30PM PREVIEW

23 2PM & 8PM

24 5PM

26 6.30PM

27 6.30PM

28 8PM

29 8PM

30 2PM & 8PM

5PM

6 8PM

5PM

6.30PM

UNWAGED 2PM & 8PM

2PM & 8PM

10 6.30PM

11 6.30PM

12 8PM

13 8PM

14 2PM

& 8PM

15 5PM

17 6.30PM

18 6.30PM

19 8PM

20 8PM

21 2PM

& 8PM

22 5PM

THE BOOKBINDER MON

TUE

WED

THU

26 SEP – 8 OCT

FR I

SAT

28 11AM & 6.15PM

29 11AM & 6.15PM

30 11AM & 6.15PM

2.15PM & 5.15PM

6 11AM & 6.15PM

2.15PM & 5.15PM

11AM & 6.15PM

ATLANTIS TUE

31 8PM SPONSOR PREVIEW 6.30PM

WED

8PM OPENING

WHICH WILL TAKE PLACE IN EARLY SEPTEMBER.

11AM & 6.15PM

28 OCT – 26 NOV

THU

8PM

FR I

8PM

SAT

SUN

28 8PM PREVIEW

29 6.30pm PREVIEW

2PM & 8PM

5PM

6.30PM

9 8PM

10 8PM

11 2PM & 8PM

12 5PM

14 6.30PM

15 6.30PM

16 8PM

17 8PM

18 2PM & 8PM

19 5PM

21 6.30PM

22 6.30PM

23 UNWAGED 2PM & 8PM

24 8PM

25 2PM & 8PM

26 5PM

5PM

BARBARA AND THE CAMP DOGS TUE

WED

THU

FR I

Audio-Described Performances Captioned Performances

8PM SPONSOR PREVIEW

6 8PM OPENING

8PM

2 – 23 DEC

SAT

2018 SEASON LAUNCH

SUN

26 6.15PM OPENING 27 11AM & 6.15PM

MON

STAY TUNED FOR INFORMATION ABOUT OUR

SUN

16 8PM PREVIEW

5PM

12 AUG – 10 SEP

FR I

MON

THU

20 8PM OPENING

16 SEP – 22 OCT

THU

HIR MON

8PM

WED

19 8PM SPONSOR PREVIEW

SUN

8PM PREVIEW

UNWAGED 2PM & 8PM

SAT

1 4

6.30PM

8PM

& 8PM

5PM

TUE

1 JUL – 6 AUG

THU

2PM & 8PM

6.30PM

8PM

MON

8PM PREVIEW

SUN

6.30pm PREVIEW

9 2PM & 8PM

10 5PM 17 5PM

12 6.30PM

13 6.30PM

14 8PM

15 8PM

16 2PM & 8PM

19 6.30PM

20 6.30PM

21 UNWAGED 2PM & 8PM

22 8.30PM

23 2PM & 8PM

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We acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation who are the traditional custodians of the land on which we share our stories.

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Administration +61(2) 9698 3344 Goodlet St Box Office +61(2) 9699 3444 Box Office email mail@belvoir.com.au Box Office fax +61(2) 9698 3688

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18 & 25 Belvoir St Surry Hills NSW 2010 Australia

Correct at time of printing.

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Learn more about supporting Belvoir at belvoir.com.au/support-belvoir

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Our patrons, supporters and friends are right there behind us, backing Belvoir in bringing to life the great old theatrical crafts of acting and storytelling. Thank you.

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For more information on partnership opportunities please contact our Development team on 02 9698 3344 or email development@belvoir.com.au

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Coca-Cola Australia Foundation Nelson Meers Foundation Gandevia Foundation Thyne Reid Foundation The Greatorex Foundation

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Cast members from The Rover by Daniel Boud.