IN THE NEXT ROOM, OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY by Sarah Ruhl
Original Broadway Production by Lincoln Center Theater New York City, 2009 In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play was originally commissioned and produced by Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Berkeley, CA Tony Taccole, Artistic Director/Susan Medal, Managing Director In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play was developed at New Dramatists
HEATH LEDGER THEATRE
STATE THEATRE CENTRE OF WA DURATION
20 OCT to 4 NOV
2 hours, 35 minutes (including interval)
WARNING Adult themes, haze/ smoke, partial nudity, ages 16+
Please remember to turn off your mobile phone during the performance.
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FEATURING
REBECCA DAVIS
STUART HALUSZ
KINGSLEY JUDD
TARIRO MAVONDO
JO MORRIS
TOM STOKES
ALISON VAN REEKEN
JEFFREY JAY FOWLER
ALICIA CLEMENTS
LUCY BIRKINSHAW
ASH GIBSON GREIG
LUZITA FEREDAY
ANDY FRASER
GEORGIA LANDRE-ORD
GEORGIA SMITH
ISABELLA DONATELLI
JENNY EDWARDS
SARAH FORBES
BEN GREEN
NICOLE MARRINGTON
JULIA ROTHERFORD
MAREK SYZLER
KIM WESTBROOK
Catherine Givings Dr Givings Mr Daldry Elizabeth Sabrina Daldry Leo Irving Annie Director Set & Costume Designer Lighting Designer Composer / Sound Designer Voice Coach Fight Director Stage Manager Assistant Stage Manager Student Secondment (wardrobe) Costume Build Costume Build Set Construction Costume Build Wardrobe Assistant / Dresser Scenic Artist Transport
IN THE NEXT ROOM, OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY IS PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY
PRINCIPAL PARTNER
ASSOCIATE PARTNER
GOVERNMENT PARTNERS
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SYNOPSIS It’s the dawn of the electrical age, circa 1800s. Hysteria was a common medical diagnosis for women and in an ostensibly perfect Victorian home, proper gentleman Dr Givings has pioneered an extraordinary new device for treating the condition: the vibrator. Dr Givings is a cool and rational man of 19th Century science and his modern device for treatment has many vocal advocates. Adjacent to the doctor’s operating theatre, Catherine Givings, his caring and lonely wife, is struggling with new motherhood. Secluded to her parlour, Mrs Givings seeks the companionship of her husband’s patients and her curiosity is piqued about what exactly goes on in the next room. While her husband obsesses over his career, Mrs Givings attempts to nurse their newborn. Though he spends his days providing pleasure with his
“treatments”, Dr Givings cannot do the same for his wife. Craving intimacy, Mrs Givings becomes increasingly interested in things that her social status and polite upbringing did not prepare her to understand. The separation of work and private life begins to shift when a new “hysterical” patient and her husband bring a wet nurse and their own complicated relationship into the doctor’s home. Hilarity ensues as therapy transforms into liberation, and the Givings’ are forced to examine the nature of their own marriage and what it truly means to love someone.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Black Swan State Theatre Company would like to acknowledge the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nations who are the traditional owners and custodians of this land. We pay respect to their Elders; for they hold the history, the cultural practice and traditions of their people. It is a privilege to be together on Noongar country. Black Swan would like to thank Brian Heller and the Arts Angels and Cathy Penglis. We would also like to thank the team at the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia for their support and assistance. Rehearsal images by Philip Gostelow. Antique vibrator collection courtesy of Ian Bersten.
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SARAH RUHL Playwright
Sarah Ruhl’s plays include How to Transcend a Happy Marriage, For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday, The Oldest Boy, In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play, The Clean House, Orlando, Late: a cowboy song, Dear Elizabeth and Stage Kiss. She is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and a Tony Award nominee. Her plays have been produced on Broadway at the Lyceum by Lincoln Center Theater, off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons, Second Stage, and at Lincoln Center’s Mitzi Newhouse Theater. Her plays have been produced regionally all over the US and have also been produced internationally, and translated into over twelve languages. Ms Ruhl received her M.F.A. from Brown University where she studied with Paula Vogel. She has received the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright award, the Susan Smith Blackburn award, the Whiting award, the Lily Award, a PEN award for mid-career playwrights, and the MacArthur “genius” award. Her book of essays 100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to Write was published by Faber and Faber. She teaches at the Yale School of Drama and lives in Brooklyn with her family.
Proud sponsor of Black Swan State Theatre Company 5
A NOTE FROM THE
DIRECTOR The characters of In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play are living in a world on the precipice of revolution (technological, social, and personal). Electricity has arrived and it is changing the big and the small of life. When Mrs Givings and Mrs Daldry sit down in the dark to talk about their fears of the future I hear flecks of the uncertainty that fills my head when I imagine what is to come. How is technology going to change life for us? Who are we going to be in a hundred years? How will we connect with each other? It is of course connection at the heart of this play, not electricity or vibrators or sexual release. Though Ruhl based the play on a curious moment in history, when it is said vibrators were used to help women be cured of “hysteria”, I believe that the centre of the play could have been set in many different eras. It is a play set in the happily ever after. They’re already
married, the baby is here… and what now? How do we keep fulfilling ourselves and the ones we love? What do we have to do to be seen by our partners? What do women have to do to be heard? Ruhl’s writing is comedic but poetic, complex and unusual. The play shifts from laughter to sorrow, slapstick to subtle. She takes the form of the well made play and places women and their thoughts and desires at the front and centre. I have never seen a production of In the Next Room and so had only known it on the page until these last few weeks. The actors have offered up a wealth of insight (some of our discussions have been very enlightening and lively indeed). I hope that what you see tonight stimulates in you questions about how we can connect with each other as the world around us hurtles toward an unknown future. JEFFREY JAY FOWLER
Director
JEFFREY JAY FOWLER Director BLACK SWAN: DIRECTOR: The Eisteddfod, Girl Shut Your Mouth, Blithe
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Spirit, Shadowboxing. ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Honour. OTHER THEATRE: DIRECTOR: The Last Great Hunt: Old Love. WA Youth Theatre: Cloud Nine. WRITER/DIRECTOR: Whiskey & Boots: The One. The Last Great Hunt: Improvement Club, Price Tag. Curtin University: Escape Goat Utopia, WA Youth Theatre: Fish Out of Water. Little y Theatre Company: Second Hands. Mythophobic Productions: Hope is the Saddest, Zen’s Red Mouth. PLAYWRIGHT: The Duck House: Minnie and Mona Play Dead. ACTOR/ PLAYWRIGHT: Mythophobic Productions: A History Of Drinking. The Last Great Hunt: Elephents, FAG/STAG. DEVISER/PERFORMER: The Last Great Hunt: All That Glitters, The Advisors. OTHER: Jeffrey Jay is Director of New Writing at Black Swan. AWARDS: 2017 Performing Arts WA Award Best Director for The Eisteddfod, 2017 FRINGE WORLD Festival: Blaz Award, The Melbourne Fringe Tour Ready Award, The WA winner West Australian Arts Editor Award for The One. 2014 PAWA Best New Play for Elephents, 2013 Martin Sims Award for Minnie and Mona Play Dead, 2012 Fringe World Best Theatre Award for Hope is the Saddest, TRAINING: Graduate Diploma in Directing, NIDA (2010).
A NOTE FROM THE
DESIGNER In the Next Room or, The Vibrator Play is a story of two rooms. The relationship between Catherine’s world, the “Parlour”, and that of her husband, the “Operating Theatre”, is central to the success of the drama (and comedy) of the play.
In this production I have chosen to place Dr Givings’ experimental Victorian laboratory directly behind Catherine’s intimate and comfortable (but lonely) sitting room. Through the large aperture that only the audience is privy to, we can watch extraordinary and eccentric events play out behind polite conversation in the pink parlour room like an elaborate moving painting. As a costume designer, my focus is as much on the UN-dressing as it is on the dressing. Ruhl states that the play is set “circa 1880’s” – an era in which women’s bodies were still sculpted into perfectly tailored silhouettes with tightly laced corsets, bustles and multiple layers
of heavy cotton and silk. Of course, Ruhl asks that we clothe the female characters beautifully, but she also makes the spectacular choice of showing the audience exactly how it is done: by undressing and dressing them over and over again on stage. There are no theatrical “tricks” we can hide behind: we have created every layer of clothing that these Victorian men and women would have worn, right down to their bloomers, and our dexterous performers have had to learn to dress not only themselves, but each other! ALICIA CLEMENTS
Set & Costume Designer
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CAST REBECCA DAVIS Catherine Givings BLACK SWAN: A Perfect Specimen, Dinner, The Seagull, Other Desert
Cities, The Importance of Being Earnest, Arcadia, Boundary Street, Madagascar, The Memory of Water. Black Swan/Queensland Theatre Company: Other Desert Cities. Black Swan/Onward Production: Seven Deadly Sins, Four Deadly Sinners. OTHER THEATRE: Onward Production: Singular Women. Perth Theatre Company: The Big Picture, The Vagina Monologues. Deckchair Theatre: As You Like It. Brainbox Project/His Majesty’s Theatre: The Mercy Seat. Barking Gecko: Skylab. Agelink Theatre: The Greatest Women in the World, Dear Heart, Airswimming. Red Ryder Productions: A Moment on the Lips. Australian Shakespeare Company: A Midsummer Night’s Dream. EHJ Productions: Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Performing Arts Productions: Anne of Green Gables, Miles Franklin. Lookout Theatre: In Lambeth. Shakespeare Globe Theatre: King Lear. CO-PRODUCER: 2016 Shakespeare 400 Festival, Perth. TV: The Heights, Lockie Leonard (Series II), Sleepover Club (Series II), State Coroner, Murder Call. FILM: The Reckoning, The Mystery of Natalie Wood, Victim. OTHER: Proud member of Equity since 1983. Rebecca is a Company Director of Big Sky Entertainment. AWARDS: 2008 Equity Guild Award for Best Actress for The Greatest Woman in the World. TRAINING: 2001 Inaugural International Artistic Fellowship to Shakespeare Globe Theatre, London. STUART HALUSZ Dr Givings BLACK SWAN: ACTOR: Let the Right One In, Angels in America, Dinner,
Laughter on the 23rd Floor, The Importance of Being Earnest, The White Divers of Broome, Rising Water, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, The Memory of Water, Far Away, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Black Swan/Melbourne Theatre Company: National Interest. Black Swan/Big Sky Entertainment: Shakespeare Shenanigans. DIRECTOR: The Lighthouse Girl, A Perfect Specimen, Extinction, The House on The Lake. OTHER THEATRE: Red Ryder Productions: Loveplay. Perth Theatre Company: The Big Picture, Taking Liberty, Marmalade and Egg, Skin Tight, Noble Rot. Deckchair Theatre: Taking Liberty, The Modern International Dead, The Comedy of Errors, As You Like It. Shakespeare Globe Centre: King Lear, Sonnet Stroll. Australian Shakespeare Company: A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Agelink Theatre: Dear Heart, As Ships Pass By, Here to Stay, Christmas Spirit. Belvoir Street Theatre: Essington Lewis: I Am Work. Performing Arts Productions: Homme Fatale – The Joey Stefano Story, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Anne of Green Gables. Ensemble Theatre: Dags. Downstairs at the Maj: Pinter’s People. TV: The Great Mint Swindle, Cloudstreet, The Great Escape, Air Australia, CNNNN, The Secret Life of Us, Blonde, Blue Heelers, Thunderstone, Big Sky, Fallen Angels. FILM: The Reckoning, Victim. DIRECTOR: Agelink Theatre: Between Wind and Water, Spirit of Claremont. WAAPA: The Tempest, Midnite Youth Theatre: Troilus and Cressida.
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WA Youth Theatre Company: Away, Romeo and Juliet. Maelstrom Productions: On A Day in Summer in A Garden. POSITIONS: Formerly Associate Director, BSSTC. AWARDS: 2000 Narrator of the Year. TRAINING: WAAPA, Inaugural International Artistic Fellowship Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre – London, SAFDi Intermediate Stage Combat. KINGSLEY JUDD Mr Daldry BLACK SWAN: In the Next Room marks Kingsley’s debut with the
company. OTHER: Kingsley has performed with various Theatre companies in Perth, and also with companies in Malaysia and Singapore. Spare Parts Puppet Theatre: Tom Vickers and the Extraordinary Adventure of his Missing Sock. MudSkipper Productions: Banned. Happy Dagger Theatre Co: The Cockatoos, The York Crucifixion. Lawson Productions: Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me. Plink Plonk Productions: Death of a Murderer. Attic Theatre Co: A Christmas Carol. Jedda Productions: Anytown. Upstart Theatre Co: The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. Actors Studio KL: Shakespeare’s Men, Cry Havoc: Idea Ex Machina. Kingsley works as a Clown Doctor at Perth Children’s Hospital. FILM: These Final Hours, Thunderstruck, Son Of A Gun. TV: Cloudstreet, Stormworld, The Great Mint Swindle, Desert Rats, The War That Changed Us. AWARDS: 2015 Blue Room Theatre Award for Best Performer. TRAINING: Bachelor of Arts in English majoring in Theatre Arts, Curtin University. TARIRO MAVONDO Elizabeth BLACK SWAN: In the Next Room marks Tariro’s debut with the company. OTHER THEATRE: Bell Shakespeare: Romeo & Juliet (In Schools Learning
Program), Shakespeare is Dead, Wonderful World of Will, Romeo & Juliet: Rewind (Bell Players). Metanoia Theatre: 3 Sisters. The Street Theatre: The Faithful Servant. RL Productions: Doubt. MTC/STC: Jumpy. Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre: Belleville. Belvoir Street: The Baulkham Hills’ African Ladies Troupe. Hayloft Project: Arden v Arden. Melbourne Fringe Festival: Zamunda. Western Edge Youth Arts: Black Face White Mask. FILM: Home (short film), Arrivals (short film). TV: Winners & Losers, Her Words, Other People’s Problems, Sisters, Shakespeare Republic (Anthony and Cleopatra, Arrival, Thomas The Tank Engine. RADIO: ABC Radio National: African Women’s Anthology. OTHER: Award Winning Spoken Word Artist, Writer and Movement Artist. AWARDS: 2011 VCA Irene Mitchell Award. 2015 NYC PictureStart Film Festival – Best Actress. 2016 Dungog Festival Short Film Competition – Best Craft Australian Fiction Short Film Acting/Screenplay Home. 2015 Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival - Best Australian Film Arrivals. TRAINING: VCA graduate 2011, Howard Fine Masterclass, Tamalpa Institute 2015-2016, University of South Africa, Pretoria 2017. JO MORRIS Sabrina Daldry BLACK SWAN: Angels in America, Part One, Blithe Spirit, Laughter on the
23rd Floor, A Streetcar Named Desire, Death of a Salesman, The White Divers of Broome, The Crucible. The HotBed Ensemble: Portraits of Modern Evil, The Caucasian Chalk Circle. Be Active BSX: The Laramie Project. OTHER THEATRE: Produced and performed in Those who fall in
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love like anchors dropped upon the ocean floor, for The Blue Room Theatre, Fringe World 2015 and the 2016 Griffin Independent Season; Barking Gecko Theatre: Bambert’s Book of Lost Stories (Winner 2016 Helpmann Award for Best Presentation for Children), This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing. The Last Great Hunt: Price Tag. Fringe World: Josephine! Alone Outside, The Book of Life, The Pigeons. Blue Room: Between Solar Systems, Latitudes, Welcome to Slaughter. Agelink Theatre: Red Flowering Gums, Cis and Barbiche, The Greatest Woman in the World. FILM: Carmentis, Sororal, Esoterica, The Projectionist. AWARDS: Winner 2017 Fringe World Theatre Arts award for Best Performance (Alone Outside, Price Tag, The Book of Life), Winner 2014 PAWA Award for Best Actress (A Streetcar Named Desire), Winner 2015 PAWA Award for Best Independent Production and the 2014 Blue Room Award for Best Production and Member’s Choice, Those who fall in love like anchors dropped upon the ocean floor. TRAINING: 2003 NIDA graduate. TOM STOKES Leo Irving BLACK SWAN: In the Next Room marks Tom’s debut with the company. OTHER THEATRE: Sydney Theatre Company: Black is the New White (also Queensland Theatre Company), Pygmalion. Bell Shakespeare: Romeo & Juliet. Ensemble Theatre Company: Blood Bank, The Glass Menagerie. Sport for Jove: Of Mice and Men. Griffin Independent: Music, The Pigeons. Tamarama Rock Surfers: I Want to Sleep With Tom Stoppard, Capture the Flag. Cry Havoc: Titus Andronicus, Julius Caesar. Riverside: Shakespeare’s R&J. Perth International Arts Festival: Don’t Look Back. FILM: Destination Maitland, Newness, Equals, The Railway Man, Wasted on the Young. SHORT FILM: Let it Rain, Photocopier, Hunger. TV: Australia: The Story of Us. OTHER: The Big Hoo-Ha Impro Comedy Club. TRAINING: WAAPA. ALISON VAN REEKEN Annie BLACK SWAN: Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Let the Right One In,
The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Blithe Spirit, Dinner, Dust, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Motherf**ker with the Hat, Boy Gets Girl, When The Rain Stops Falling, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Female of the Species, Life x 3, The Crucible, Woyzeck, The Carnivores, A Man with Five Children. BLACK SWAN/QTC: Tartuffe. OTHER THEATRE: Maiden Voyage Theatre Company: Toast. Onward Production: The Deep Blue Sea, 7 Deadly Sins, 4 Deadly Sinners. Kay & McLean Productions: The Graduate. Perth Theatre Company: White Rabbit, Red Rabbit, An Oak Tree, The Turning, Charitable Intent. Red Ryder Productions: Grounded, Dying City, A Moment on the Lips. Class Act: Twelfth Night. Renstar: She Told Me So. TV: The Heights, Three Acts of Murder, The Sleepover Club, Murder Call, All Saints, Water Rats. FILM: Hounds of Love, A Few Less Men, Other Life, These Final Hours, George Jones and the Giant Squid, Middle Children, All the Way. PRODUCER: Dealer’s Choice, The Mozart Faction, Loveplay, Looming the Memory, Dying City, Fat Pig. OTHER: Proud member of Equity since 1996. AWARDS: Best Supporting Actor (Female) 2017 PAWA for Let the Right One In, Best Actor (Female) 2016 PAWA Award for Grounded, Best Supporting Actor (Female) 2015 PAWA Award for Dinner, Best Actor (Female) 2011 Equity Guild Award for The Deep Blue Sea, Best Supporting Actor (Female) 2006 Equity Guild Award for The Carnivores. TRAINING: Diploma of Performance Studies (Theatre) from WAAPA, and Curtin University.
CREATIVES ALICIA CLEMENTS Set & Costume Designer BLACK SWAN: The Importance of Being Earnest, Arcadia, The White Divers
of Broome, The Damned, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Madagascar, Twelfth Night, The Clean House. OTHER THEATRE: STC/MTC: The Father; STC/Global Creatures: Muriel’s Wedding (Associate Costume Designer). Sydney Theatre Company: Hay Fever, After Dinner, A Flea in Her Ear (Assistant Costume Designer). Hayes Theatre Co: Assassins, Gypsy; Pinchgut Opera: Rameau Triple Bill, Armida, Bajazet. Ensemble Theatre: The Rasputin Affair, Two, Barefoot in the Park. Barking Gecko: ONEFIVEZEROSEVEN, Duck, Death and the Tulip, Driving into Walls, This Girl Laughs…, The Amber Amulet, The Red Tree (Associate Designer). Lost and Found Opera: Der Kaiser Von Atlantis. Sport for Jove: Edward II. Eternity Theatre: Remembering Pirates. Belvoir Theatre: Ivanov (Associate Costume Designer). Deckchair Theatre: The Magic Hour, Krakour!. Steps Youth Dance Company: Powder Monkey, Compact Dance. The Skeletal System: Great White, The Improved. FILM: Sherbert Rozencrantz, You’re Beautiful, Outbreak Generation, Cold Hearts, Problem Play. POSITIONS: Design Assistant to Ms Isla Shaw 2013-14, Resident Designer Black Swan State Theatre Company 2012, Associate Artist Black Swan State Theatre Company 2010-11, Resident Emerging Designer Deckchair Theatre Company 2009, Resident Emerging Designer Black Swan State Theatre Company 2009. AWARDS: Sydney Theatre Awards: Best Set Design of an Independent Musical (Assassins), Best Costume of an Independent Musical (Assassins); The Kristian Fredrikson Scholarship for Design in the Performing Arts, David Hough Award for Outstanding Achievement. TRAINING: 2008 Graduate, WAAPA. EXHIBITIONS: Kristian Fredrikson Scholarship (Arts Centre Melbourne), From Russia With Love: Costume at the Turn of the Century 1990-2015 (Moscow), Stage Presence (Arts Centre Melbourne). LUCY BIRKINSHAW Lighting Designer BLACK SWAN: Hir, The Eisteddfod, The Messiah, Woyzeck, Falling Petals. OTHER THEATRE: Malthouse Theatre & Griffin: Ugly Mugs. Malthouse Theatre & My Darling Patricia: Africa. Malthouse Theatre: Happiness, Blak Cabaret, Opera XS Merlyn Quaife. Perth Theatre Company: Taking Liberty, Matchmaker, Baby Boomer Blues. Side Pony Productions: Confidence Man, The Pride, The Manic Pony, Scarecrow. Hold Your Horses: Heart of Gold. Red Ryder: Dying City, Moment on the Lips, Dealer’s Choice. Barking Gecko: Skylab. The Aphids: Crawl Me Blood. Melbourne Opera: HMS Pinafore, Anna Bolena, Tannhauser, Abduction from the Seraglio, Mary Stuart, Cosi Fan Tutte. Lyric Opera Melbourne: Our Man in Havana, Il Signor Bruschino, Werther. The Hayloft Project: The Seizure, Delectable Shelter, Spring Awakening. Magnormos: Flowerchildren, The Hatpin, Title of Show, Mary Bryant, The Thing About Men, Love Equals, Life’s A Circus, Sondheim Triptych, Jerry Herman Triptych, Stephen Schwartz Triptych. Performance 4A: In Between Two. JTM Productions: A Fine Romance, Carole King: Songbook of Her Life, California Dreaming, Bugle Boys. School With No Walls: Moon Broken. FILM: Under the Weather TV: The Red Room.
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POSITIONS: Owner and Chief Lighting Designer of Filament Design Group OTHER: Perth Festival Beck’s Music Box Lighting Design 2008 through 2010 AWARDS: Members Choice Award & Best Production Award at Blue Room Awards 2010 for The Pride (Side Pony Productions) TRAINING: Advanced Diploma of Lighting Design for Production and Performance from West Australian Academy of Performing Arts (2005) and a Bachelor of Arts, Fine Arts from Curtin University (1999). ASH GIBSON GREIG Composer/Sound Designer BLACK SWAN: Once in Royal David’s City, Angels in America, Part One, The
Red Balloon, Blithe Spirit, Dinner, The Seagull, As You Like It, Day One, A Hotel, Evening, The Importance of Being Earnest, Arcadia, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, The Memory of Water, The Messiah, The Lady Aoi. Black Swan/Queensland Theatre Company: The Clean House. COMPOSER: Black Swan/Malthouse: Picnic at Hanging Rock. OTHER THEATRE: Malthouse: The Trial. The Last Great Hunt: The Irresistible, Falling Through Clouds. ThinIce: The Red Shoes, Bed, The Gathering, The Visit. Barking Gecko: Storm Boy, The Amber Amulet, Aesop’s Fable, Gogo Fish TV: Who Do You Think You Are (Australia), Family Rules, Sean Micallef: Stairway to Heaven, The War That Changed Us, The Lloyd Rayney Story, Dream House, Murdoch, Yagan, Singapore 1942, Jandamarra’s War, Desert War, Leaky Boat, Time Trackers. FILM: Whiteley, Blue, Frackman, Big Mamma’s Boy. OTHER: Boorna Waanginy: The Trees Speak, (PIAF Opening Show 2017), Battlestar Galactica Deadlock (Game for PC, PS4, XBO), Nirvana Reimagined (Perth Symphony Orchestra) AWARDS: 2017 AACTA Award Best Music in a Documentary for Whiteley, 2017 APRA/AGSC Awards for Best Music for a Documentary, Whiteley, 2017 Green Room Award Best Composition and Sound Design for Picnic At Hanging Rock, 2014 AACTA Award Best Sound in a Documentary for Desert War, 2014 WA Screen Award Best Music Long Form and Best Music Short Form, 2013 WA Screen Award Best Music Long Form for Desert War, 2009 WA Screen Award for Excellence in Craft (Composition), 2007 APRA/AGSC Awards for Best Music for a Short Film for Iron Bird. LUZITA FEREDAY Voice Coach BLACK SWAN: Hir, I Am My Own Wife, A Perfect Specimen, Angels in
America: Part One, Extinction, Blithe Spirit, Glengarry Glen Ross, Dinner, The Damned. OTHER THEATRE: Barking Gecko Theatre Company: Jasper Jones, ONEFIVEZEROSEVEN, Driving Into Walls. Gordon Frost Productions: Annie, The Musical. The Blue Room Theatre/Nest Ensemble: Joey: The Mechanical Boy. DIRECTOR: Luzita’s directing credits include work for John Curtin College of the Arts, WA Youth Theatre Company and the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain. ACTOR: Royal Shakespeare
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Company: A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Man in the Moon: Edmond. Channel Theatre Company: Jack and the Giant Killer. Hackney Empire: Taking Liberties. Almeida Theatre: Surrender Dorothy/Paca Mamas Blessing. Bloomsbury Theatre: Blood Wedding. TV: Firm Friends, Minder. FILM: Sister, My Sister. OTHER: Luzita currently teaches Voice and Dialects to Acting and Music Theatre students at WAAPA and has also taught at Curtin and Notre Dame University. In London she taught at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), and Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (CSSD). TRAINING: Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) Acting graduate 1992, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (RCSSD) Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Theatre 2007. Luzita has a Masters by Research from Edith Cowan University (WAAPA) on Accent and Dialect Training for Actors. ANDY FRASER Fight Director BLACK SWAN: Hir, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Let the Right One
In, Switzerland, Moliere’s Tartuffe, Angels in America, Part One, Next to Normal, Extinction, Glengarry Glen Ross, Dinner, Venus in Fur, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, The Seagull, Dust, As You Like It, A Streetcar Named Desire, Flood, Midsummer [a play with songs], Death of a Salesman, The Motherf**ker with the Hat, Signs of Life, The White Divers of Broome, Ninety, Boundary Street, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, The Web, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Female of the Species, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Crucible, The Carnivores, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Zastrozzi: The Master of Discipline. Black Swan/ Queensland Theatre Company: Other Desert Cities. Black Swan/Big Sky Entertainment: Shakespeare Shenanigans, Crash! Bash! Curriculum! OTHER THEATRE: Perth Theatre Company: The Removalists, The Haunting of Daniel Gartrell, Speed-the-Plow, Hamlet, Talk About the Passion. Yirra Yaakin: King Hit, Waltzing the Wilarra, Mother’s Tongue, The Honey Spot, Muttacar Sorry Business. Deckchair Theatre: The Danger Age, Memmie le Blanc, Love, Prayer to an Iron God. Onward Production: Private Lives, The Deep Blue Sea. Shakespeare in the Park: As You Like It, Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet. Barking Gecko: Jasper Jones, Trains of Thought. OPERA: West Australian Opera: Faust, Otello, Tosca, Carmen, Don Giovanni. TV: Lockie Leonard Human Torpedo, The Shark Net. FILM: Otherlife, Teesh & Trude. TRAINING: Fully certified Fight Director and Stage Combat Instructor holding accreditation from the Society of Australian Fight Directors and the British Academy of Dramatic Combat. GEORGIA LANDRE-ORD Stage Manager BLACK SWAN: STAGE MANAGER: Endgame, Girl Shut Your Mouth,
The Red Balloon, Shadowboxing, Blithe Spirit, Glengarry Glen Ross, 2015 Emerging Writers Readings. ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER: The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Tonsils + Tweezers, Flood, Midsummer [a play with songs], The Importance of Being Earnest. Black Swan/Sydney Theatre Company: Signs of Life. Black Swan/Malthouse Theatre: Picnic at Hanging Rock. Black Swan/ QTC: Tartuffe. OTHER THEATRE: Co3: WA Dance Makers project, Perth International Arts Festival 2017: Ground transport Coordinator, 2016: Home ASM, Production Runner. Western Australian Ballet: Beauty and the Beast. Bill Kenwright Ltd: Evita (UK tour),
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Scrooge, Cabaret (UK Tour). Western Australian Youth Theatre Company: The Dreaming Hill. OTHER: Screenwest: Production and Development Assistant. Mellen Events: Artist Liaison. Great Big Events: Rugby Championships floor manager. WAAPA: Production mentor FILM/TV: Crumbs, A Few Less Men, Carluccio’s Six Seasons, Three Summers, Penguin Empire. TRAINING: Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). GEORGIA SMITH Assistant Stage Manager BLACK SWAN. The Lighthouse Girl: Regional Tour 2018. OTHER THEATRE:
The Last Great Hunt: The Great Ridolphi, Fag/Stag, Bruce, Bali and The Advisors. Second Chance Theatre: Josephine!, Laika: A Staged Radio Play, Frankenstein. Rorschach Beast: Bus Boy. Maiden Voyage Theatre Company: Toast, Alone Outside, Belated. Red Ryder Productions: Grounded. AS TOUR MANAGER: The Last Great Hunt: The Great Ridolphi, Fag/Stag and Bruce (Edinburgh Fringe, 2017), Bali (Regional WA, 2018), Bali and Fag/Stag (Brisbane Festival 2018). Rorschach Beast: Bus Boy (Brighton Fringe, 2018). POSITIONS: Perth Festival – Program Assistant Writer’s Week and School’s Day. AWARDS: As Stage Manager on Fringe World Martin Sims Award Winners, Bus Boy (Rorschach Beast), 2017 and The Great Ridolphi (TLGH), 2016 and The Blue Room Theatre Best Production, Toast (MVTC), 2017 and Grounded (RRP), 2016 and Member’s Choice winners Laika: A Staged Radio Play (SCT), 2017 and Grounded (RRP), 2016. TRAINING: BA Performance Studies, Curtin University, graduated 2015.
Proud associate partner of the 14 Swan State Theatre Company Black
A NOTE FROM THE
COMPOSER It’s remarkable that so soon after the advent of electricity in the home, the electric vibrator came into use. To Jeffrey and I the connection between the electric vibrator and the vibration of sound waves produced electronically (or “synthetically”) was immediately apparent. But how could it be apt for this play?
To my great surprise I discovered that the first synthesizer, The Musical Telegraph, was invented in 1876. Suddenly the idea seemed plausible. But what did this synthesizer sound like? I couldn’t find any mention of recordings online. Then I discovered, incredibly, that there is an emulation of Thaddeus Cahill’s 1897 Telharmonium synthesizer available for purchase – an instrument inspired by the Musical Telegraph. And rather than the 200 tonnes of its predecessor, it barely weighed 200 grams. Thus, my journey into a different type of synthesis with the “Telharmonic” began. The music in this play is a dialogue between the acoustic and the electronic; the piano and cello representing the old yet intimately personal, the synthesizer the new and exciting. Every single synthesized sound in the score was created by modifying the sounds of the Telharmonic with controlled voltages - electric current - in a modular system. In fact, I created the sounds of the vibrators in the show in the same way, thus unifying the concept of electrically produced vibrating sound waves exciting our ears, with electrical vibrations inducing paroxysms in the “hysterical” patients. I hope you enjoy the results! ASH GIBSON GREIG
Composer & Sound Designer
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IMAGE The Doll trilogy play reading
KEY PROGRAM AREAS Black Swan’s work on stage is underpinned by the work that we do off stage, in the areas of artistic development, education and regional engagement. Each of these programs ensure that we are developing Western Australian artists, engaging with a state-wide audience and enriching the educational experiences of students.
ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT Black Swan’s artistic development programs promote Western Australian artists, create stories significant to the community and develop career pathways for artists. Many emerging and mid-career artists are mentored within the company, across all of our productions in both the Heath Ledger Theatre and Studio Underground. Our Resident Artists Program provide artists within specific areas of expertise, sustained engagement with Black Swan across the year. Working alongside Artistic Director Clare Watson, these artists will develop leadership skills, collaborate on
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developing future programs, take on key creative positions throughout the season and become advocates for the company in the broader community. Resident Artists for 2018 are; Tyler Hill (Designer), Ian Michael (Actor/Director), Chloe Ogilvie (Lighting Designer) and Katt Osborne (Director). We are committed to developing artists in their early years of practice and employing new graduates from WAAPA, offering them the opportunity to work alongside established artists and help kick-start their professional careers. For many of these graduates, Black Swan gives them their professional debuts.
Black Swan supports new writing through our Emerging Writers Group, where local playwrights can apply for a year-long, intensive support program, with the aim of developing their work. Each year, six new writers are supported through this successful program and the company has given world premieres to a number of the plays that have emerged. We also commission Australia’s leading playwrights to develop new works that engage meaningfully with the Western Australian community and reflect our unique position in the world. As part of our commitment to the WA theatre sector, Black Swan works with small-to-medium arts organisations and independent artists, to produce work that promotes collaboration, conversation and a broader sense of community. Underpinning our work in artist development is Black Swan’s Artistic Reference Group, a group of highly experienced individuals, who provide feedback and guidance, in order to promote a sustainable local theatre community. Black Swan’s Sector Development Program is supported by City of Perth. The Emerging Writers Group is supported by the Malcolm Robertson Foundation. The Resident Artist Program is supported by Rio Tinto, McCusker Charitable Foundation and St Mary’s Anglican Girl’s School.
EDUCATION Black Swan is committed to supporting educators in developing a lifelong PRINCIPAL PARTNER
SEASON PARTNER
love of theatre. We are accessible to both metropolitan and regional school communities with selected performances at the State Theatre Centre, student and teacher workshops, quality teaching resources and in-school experiences that align with the curriculum. Heavily subsidised student tickets and school subscription packages are offered, in addition to work experience, internships and student ambassador programs. Education program supported by Crown Resorts Foundation and Packer Family Foundation.
REGIONAL ENGAGEMENT As a state theatre company, Black Swan aims to embed theatre in the lives of the community of Western Australia, regardless of location. Our regional engagement programs seek to support vitality, pride and capacity building in regional and remote communities. We engage with our regional communities in multiple ways throughout the year – through the annual live broadcasts from the Heath Ledger Theatre, touring and bespoke community engagement activities. Underpinning this strategy is the appointment of regional ambassadors who act as a conduit between the company and their community. Regional Engagement program supported by Rio Tinto, Chevron, Water Corporation and Thrifty Car and Truck Rental.
REGIONAL PARTNERS
SECTOR DEVELOPMENT PARTER
FOUNDATION PARTNERS
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THANK YOU TO
OUR FAMILY OF DONORS The generous support from our donors enables us to create world class theatre, here in WA. FOUNDING PATRON
PATRONS CLUB
Founding Patron, Janet Holmes à Court AC has played a significant role in the development of Black Swan, providing a platform for growth of arts and culture in Western Australia.
Strengthening Western Australia’s theatre sector by enabling collaboration between emerging and experienced artists in the Studio Underground.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Nicola Forrest Alan Cransberg Felicity Gooding Rob McKenzie Kellie Parker
Vicki Robinson Linda Savage Francois Witbooi Craig Yaxley
Janet Holmes à Court AC
Simon Lee Foundation
Michela & Adrian Fini
Ungar Family Foundation
Stan & Jean Perron
FOUNDATIONS Supporting Black Swan’s education and artist development programs.
BLACK SWAN PRODUCTION FUND A future fund that enables Black Swan to create theatre of exceptional quality, ambition and scale that matches the boldness and beauty of Western Australia. FOUNDING PARTNER
WHITE SWANS A private giving circle led by Michela Fini, Sandy Honey and Sallie-Anne Manford supporting exceptional artists and celebrating theatre in Western Australia. Liza Blakiston
Marco D’Orsogna & Terry Scott
Janet Barron & Geoffrey Bourhill
Treffina & Graham Dowland
John & Linda Bond
Michela & Adrian Fini
Katrina & Craig Burton
Annie & Brett Fogarty
Jo & Ian Adamson
INAUGURAL MAJOR DONORS Tim Roberts Giving
Alan & Jenny Cransberg
Angela Roberts
Gilbert George
Tony Grist
Janet Barron & Geoffrey Bourhill
Mimi & Willy Packer
Katrina & Craig Burton Ungar Family Foundation Linda Savage & Stephen Davis
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Ben & Gina Lisle
Debbie & Peter Chappell Warren & Linda Coli
Jacqui Gilmour & Graham Forward Christine & John Hedges
Sue McDonald & Mark Westbrook
Tracey & Charles Crompton
Sandy & Peter Honey
Anonymous Donors
Camillo & Joanne Della Maddalena
Sallie-Anne & Michael Manford
Gina & Ben Lisle
Sue McDonald & Mark Westbrook Rose & Tim Moore
Ingrid & Mark Puzey
ENCORE!
Linda Savage & Stephen Davis
Supporting our 2018 season of theatre.
Mimi & Willy Packer
Caro & Jon Stewart Ron & Philippa Packer Natasha & Lindsey & Peter Platt Ross Taylor Wendy & Garry Prendiville
Shareen Traub & Peter Lee
LOCAL LARRIKINS
ENCORE! $10,000 AND ABOVE
The Stan Perron Charitable Trust APPLAUSE $5,000 TO $9,999
Michael & Sandy Anghie
Rick & Carol Crabb
Founded by Janet Holmes à Court AC, supporting Western Australian productions and encouraging young people to engage in theatre.
Nic Christodoulou
Richard Tarala & Lyn Beazley AO
Warwick Hemsley & Melissa Parke
Phil Thick & Paula Rogers
Janet Holmes à Court AC
Karen Johnson
Ben & Shannon Carter
Walter Millsteed
Susan & Brendan Adler
Meredith & James McClements
Dr Rob Larbalestier
Michael & Helen Tuite
Bill Bloking
Moeschi Hair Stylists
FIRST CALL $1,000 TO $2,499
Bernard & Pam Cresswell
Kate O’Hara
Stuart Evans
Benita Panizza & Michael Pritchard
Alecia Benzie in memory of Andrew Drayton
Alan Dodge AM
Sherri & Adrian Staltari
Shane Colquhoun & Leigh Cathcart
Lianne & Raymond Gianoli
Diana & Peter Hammond
Simon & Alison Stewart
Andrew Crocker & Dianne Sunderman
Peter & Diana Hammond
Lloyd & Toni Houthuysen
Robyn Tamke
Mary Ellen in memory of Kerensa
Jim & Freda Irenic
Kevin & Sheila Daken
Judith & Kon Kozak
Tim & Chris Ungar
OPENING ACT $2,500 TO $4,999
Delys & Alan Newman
John Foster Marilyn Fowler
Max & Norma Kay
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FIRST CALL $1,000 TO $2,499 CONTINUED Ross & Fran Ledger
Andree McIntyre Kerry Sanderson Mary Ruth Squire
Robyn Tamke Bradley Van Luxemborg Cheryl Walter Anonymous Donors
BEHIND THE SCENES $500 TO $999 David & Minette Amanda Luke Ambrose Deborah Luke
Helen Cook Rachelle Doyle Ian & Sue Hobson Natalie Jenkins Francis Landels $50 TO $499 Linda Ager Andrew Baker Karen Barrymore Robin Beech Jo Bosso Sue Boyd Janis Cain Katherine Cheng Anita & James Clayton
Bryan & Janet Rodgers Desmond & Amanda Thompson Joy Wearne Anonymous Donors
Sue Colyer Amber Craike Paulien De Boer Lisa Dunlop Shirley Egan Diane Evers Karen Farley Alan Flavelle Janine Freeman
Sidney & Butch Frostercott Ryan Glynn Lisa Hando Terri Harris Bev Hewitt Colin & Cara Hoppe Louis & Miriam Landau Marilyn Lyford William Macdonald Robert Marshall Sandra Martin David McIntyre Margaret Medcalf Tess Metcalf Peter & Elizabeth Moore
Morris-Johnson Family Lynn Morzenti Roger & Alexis Mullen Tony Munro Michael Murphy & Craig Merrey Judith Roberts Janet Rodgers Anne Ross P Ryan Carol Shannon Lindsay & Suzanne Silbert Jacinta Sirr Flora & Lawrence Smith Laurence Symonds Michael Tucak David Walker Anonymous Donors
LEGACY LEADERS A bequest to Black Swan is a meaningful way to support theatre now, and for generations to come. Anita Clayton
Andree McIntyre
Shane Colquhoun & Leigh Cathcart
Anonymous Donors
HELP SUPPORT WA THEATRE Black Swan has a bold artistic vision and our future is bright. Every donation makes a difference. Generous support from our donors will enable us to achieve that vision. You can make a tax-deductible donation when you buy your tickets, or to learn more about our Philanthropy Program, please call us on (08) 6212 9300 email donate@bsstc.com.au or visit bsstc.com.au/support
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BLACK SWAN STATE THEATRE COMPANY BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIR
ARTISTIC COORDINATOR
Chantelle Iemma
FINANCE MANAGER
Nicola Forrest
Sue Hobson
DEPUTY CHAIR
FINANCE OFFICER
Alan Cransberg
Jacqueline Truong
TREASURER
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Craig Yaxley
PHILANTHROPY COORDINATOR
Amber Craike MARKETING & AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Maria Sioulas
Stewart Campbell
MARKETING COORDINATOR
Felicity Gooding Rob McKenzie Kellie Parker Vicki Robinson Linda Savage Francois Witbooi
WORKSHOP MANAGER
Chantel Dyball
Lynn Ferguson
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
TICKETING COORDINATOR
CUTTER
Amy Welsh
DIRECTORS
Les Hickford
TECHNICAL MANAGER
Alex Fisher
WARDROBE MANAGER
Clare Watson
Marie Nitschke-McGregor
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Natalie Jenkins
DIRECTOR OF NEW WRITING
Jeffrey Jay Fowler
LITERARY DIRECTOR
Polly Low
WARDROBE ASSISTANT
PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER
Irene Jarzabek
TICKETING OFFICER
Louise Arcus
Linda Pope
DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
PROJECT COORDINATOR
Monique Beaudoire SPONSORSHIP COORDINATOR
Liam Smith
Jessica Knight 2018 INTERN
Alysia Milligan
PERTH THEATRE TRUST CHAIRMAN
Morgan Solomon JANET DAVIDSON OAM JP
Nadia van Dommelen Julian Donaldson Tanya Sim Michelle Tremain Colin Walker (ex-officio)
DIRECTOR GENERAL OF DEPARTMENT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, SPORT AND CULTURAL INDUSTRIES & PERTH THEATRE TRUST GENERAL MANAGER
Duncan Ord OAM
STATE THEATRE CENTRE OF WESTERNÂ AUSTRALIA MANAGER
Alice Jorgensen MANAGER VENUE OPERATIONS
Mitch Thomas
TECHNICAL MANAGER
Graham Piper
EVENT ACCOUNT COORDINATOR
HEAD MECHANIST
Amelia Dymond
HEAD OF LIGHTING
Sam Elbery
HEAD AUDIO
Dylan Crosbie HEAD FLY
Peter Carr
BOX OFFICE SUPERVISOR
Dagmar Ludwig
Natalie McKevitt
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THE THEATRE WE CREATE PRINCIPAL PARTNER
GOVERNMENT PARTNER Black Swan State Theatre Company is supported by the State Government through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries
PRODUCTION FUND
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR PARTNER
FOUNDING PARTNER
BUSINESS ADVISORY PARTNER
REGIONAL PARTNER
PROJECT PARTNER
SECTOR DEVELOPMENT PARTNER
PROJECT PARTNER
SEASON PARTNERS
SEASON PARTNERS
Painted Dog Research
PRIVATE GIVING
PRODUCTION FUND DONORS
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PATRONS CLUB
WHITE SWANS
LOCAL LARRIKINS
ENCORE DONORS
IS MADE POSSIBLE BY
GOVERNMENT PARTNER Black Swan State Theatre Company is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
REGIONAL PARTNER
PRODUCTION PARTNER
FOUNDATION PARTNERS
ACCOMMODATION PARTNER
ASSOCIATE PARTNERS
AIRLINE PARTNER
SEASON PARTNERS
D i lgo i otp a l REGIONAL PARTNER
ENTERTAINMENT PARTNER
WINE PARTNER
BIG SKY ENTERTAINMENT
BEER PARTNER
NEIGHBOURHOOD DINING
CONTACT US TO LEARN HOW YOUR BUSINESS CAN BENEFIT FROM A BLACK SWAN PARTNERSHIP
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What if we took theatre into the playground? Our Principal Partnership with Black Swan State Theatre Company is helping take arts experiences to regional communities. FITTER. FASTER. BETTER. is one of the creative ways we are supporting young people to actively engage with the arts, regardless of where they live in Western Australia. To learn more about how we are supporting vibrant communities, visit riotinto.com.au