Pictured: Meow Meow Image credit: Magnus Hastings Match stick dress: Harvey Bertram Brown for Meow Meow
Malthouse Theatre in association with Meow Meow Revolution present
LITTLE MATCH GIRL .... Created and Performed by Meow Meow & Iain Grandage Featuring Mitchell Butel
Director Marion Potts Music Director, Composition & Music Arrangement Iain Grandage Set & Costume Designer Anna Cordingley Lighting Designer Paul Jackson Sound System Designer Chris Leary Additional material Mitchell Butel Musicians Stephen Fitzgerald, Benjamin Hauptmann, Xani Kolac Stage Manager Darren Kowacki Assistant Stage Manager Alice Fleming Sound Operator Chris Leary Lighting Operator Michele Bauer Follow Spot Operator Lee Stout Mechanists Andy Moore & Darren Cooper Movement Consultant Yvette Lee Malthouse Theatre Director in Residence Anne-Louise Sarks Sets & props constructed by Malthouse Theatre Workshop Costumes created by Malthouse Theatre Wardrobe Meow Meow’s red dress by Isaac Lummis
A Malthouse Theatre Commission Little Match Girl opened in the Merlyn Theatre, The Malthouse, on Wednesday 16 November 2011
MERLYN THEATRE, NOVEMBER 11 - DECEMBER 4, 2011
A NOTE FROM MEOW MEOW .....
Can a song change the world? Do we still have any need for fairytales? I’m a highly critical optimist. There are thousands of matchgirls and boys on our streets. Hans Christian Andersen’s agit-prop fairytale of 1845 is horribly contemporary. Whilst constructing a madcap Christmas dance fairytale extravaganza for a New York theatre, I saw a documentary about a Salvation Armyrun youth shelter in Sydney called The Oasis. Brecht’s famous Spruch: “Erst kommt das Fressen, dann kommt die Moral” - first comes food then comes morality - finds resonance for me with the Salvation Army’s charter of “first soup, then soap, then salvation”. Andersen captures abuse, exile and abandonment as familiar conditions and food, warmth, love, beauty and spirituality as fundamental human needs, not just wishful hallucinations. Some things cannot be forgotten or unknown, and yet we are now at the point in our world where recently tweeters in China were discussing the enactment of “good Samaritan laws" to enforce social responsibility...
Flaming in my head I’ve had Austrian artist Irene Andessner’s works on the Edison lightbulb-covered dancer Milli Stubel (18521890), Loïe Fuller's experiments with light and shadow, John Donne’s Nocturnal on St Lucy’s Day, being the shortest day, the women of Bratislava that Andersen encountered screaming through the burnt city looking for their lost children. Joan of Arc and the Catherine Wheel, Annie Besant, the Bryant and May striking matchgirls of 1888, witches at the stake, global warming, "ice" addiction, exploding planets, fragile and naughty pyromaniac children. And always... what can I do? I don’t want to be an angel of history staring helplessly at the debris. I want us to remember to “be careful” with each other. My heartfelt thanks to my generous friends and co-creators Mitchell, Marion and Darren and my Malthouse Theatre collaborators on this piece, and to Steven John Gates particularly for early conceptual work, Creative Rep, IMG Artists Management, Joyce Theatre NY, Fiona Gruber, Patty Griffin, Laurie Anderson, Rob Snarski, Dan Luscombe and the very special Iain Grandage and Megan Washington.
MUSICAL CREDITS .....
Should no disasters occur, this production may include...
It’s Too Darn Hot Cole Porter Skeleton Key Megan Washington One Perfect Match Meow Meow & Iain Grandage The Moon Has Sunk So Low Meow Meow & Iain Grandage Wolf Song (Be Careful) Megan Washington I Can’t Find You Rob Snarski & Dan Luscombe Living the Dream Meow Meow & Iain Grandage One for Sorrow Megan Washington Pictured: Meow Meow. Image credit: Magnus Hastings
O Du, Mein Holder Abendstern Richard Wagner Poupée de Cire, poupée de Son Serge Gainsbourg What’s Going to Happen to the Tots Noël Coward Tear Down the Stars Meow Meow & Iain Grandage The Book of Love The Magnetic Fields The Dream Before Laurie Anderson Be Careful Patty Griffin
MITCHELL BUTEL PERFORMER Mitchell has worked extensively for the Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, Queensland Theatre Company, STCSA, Belvoir, Ensemble, Opera Australia, Silo Theatre, Bell Shakespeare and was last seen at Malthouse Theatre in Woyzeck. Highlights include Six Degrees of Separation, Summer of The Aliens, The Café Latte Kid, Two Weeks with the Queen, Tartuffe, Mourning Becomes Electra, A View From The Bridge, The Laramie Project, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Othello, Stones in his Pockets and Boeing Boeing. Mitchell received Helpmann Awards for Avenue Q and Queensland Theatre Company’s The Venetian Twins, Helpmann nominations for Little Me, Summer Rain, The Republic of Myopia (Sydney Theatre Company) and Green Room Awards for Piaf (Melbourne Theatre Company) and Hair. Other music theatre credits include Kismet, The Mikado, Sugar, Assassins, Oklahoma, Little Me, Follies, Grease, Little Shop of Horrors, Man of La Mancha, Urinetown, Dusty and Tomfoolery. Film and TV credits include Bordertown, Wildside, Grass Roots, MDA, Twisted Tales, Murder Call, Nightmares and Dreamscapes, Two Hands, The Bank, Dark City and his AFI-nominated performances in Strange Fits Of Passion and Gettin Square. Mitchell has appeared in three one-man shows: Excellent Adventures, And Now for the Weather and Killing Time for the Adelaide, Noosa and Brisbane Cabaret Festivals and is also the voice of the Playschool theme song. Killing Time - Live in Concert on CD is available after the show or at www.middle8.com
ANNA CORDINGLEY SET & COSTUME DESIGNER Anna’s credits include: for Bell Shakespeare, Julius Caesar; for Chunky Move, Connected; for Lucy Guerin Inc., Human Interest Story; for Melbourne Festival, Richter/ Meinhof-Opera & The Black Arm Band’s Hidden Republic; for Malthouse Theatre, A Golem Story,’ Tis Pity She’s A Whore, Sappho… in 9 Fragments, The Threepenny Opera (with Victorian Opera), Elizabeth – Almost By Chance a Woman, Furious Mattress, One Night the Moon, Knives in Hens (with State Theatre Company of South Australia), Happy Days, A Commercial Farce, Rogue, Woyzeck, Not Like Beckett & Autobiography of Red; for Performance Space/Arts House, Irony is Not Enough; for Victorian College of Arts /Daniel Schlusser, Peer Gynt. Beyond theatre, Anna has designed for Simon Barley (Bambuco) with The Eighth Bridge over Tyne (UK) and Spine, Lille 2004 (France) & for Well, Great Wall of Books (Macau). Exhibitions include An Account of Bridges at the Baltic Contemporary Art Centre/Sage Gateshead (UK) and facilitation for Brook Andrew in Colony in the 2007 Den Haag Sculpture Exhibition (The Netherlands). Events include Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games: Opening Ceremony (Indigenous Section) and Closing Ceremony (Marvelous Melbourne). Anna has a Bachelor of Dramatic Art, Design from the Victorian College of Arts and is undertaking a Masters of Curatorship at Melbourne University.
STEPHEN FITZGERALD MUSICIAN Stephen Fitzgerald was born and raised in East Gippsland. He completed a Bachelor of Music Performance at the Victorian College of Arts in 2004 under the direction of Peter Neville and John Arcaro. He has since performed with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, the Basel Festival Orchestra, and the Australian Youth Orchestra, with whom he acted as principal percussionist in 2006. As a chamber musician, Stephen has been involved with the Astra Ensemble, Speak Percussion, Strange Fruit Theatre, Australian Boys' Choir, Australian Chamber Brass and the Green Room Award-winning production of Hunger by Rawcus Theatre in 2007. During 2008 Steve worked on several shows at Tokyo Disneyland and in 2009 toured country and metropolitan schools throughout Victoria with the OzOpera production of The Sound Garden. He has appeared numerous times at the Adelaide and Melbourne International Arts Festivals, WOMAD for the first time in 2010 and at Hobart's MONA FOMA in 2011. Stephen plays drums with the Grizzly Jim Lawrie when in the same town and was the bass player with Melbourne hard-core band Thrashdance. ALICE FLEMING ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER Alice returns to work with Malthouse Theatre after previously stage managing Look Right Through Me, a co-production with KAGE. This year she has also worked with the Melbourne Theatre Company on
their productions of The Gift and Clybourne Park and with KAGE on their production of Sundowner. Earlier this year she was the production coordinator at WOMADelaide Festival, where she has worked for the last three years. Her previous stage management roles include Do Not Go Gentle..., produced by 45 Downstairs, and The Wind in the Willows produced by the Australian Shakespeare Company. Alice was a production manager for Next Wave Festival's Sports Club Project. She has also worked on a range of other events including Fringe Festival, Castlemaine Arts Festival, All Tomorrow’s Parties and The Falls Festival. Alice graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2009 where she was the recipient of the Victorian College of Arts Daryl Wilkinson Stage Management Encouragement award. IAIN GRANDAGE MUSIC DIRECTOR & COMPOSER Iain Grandage is a composer of scores for theatre, dance and the concert hall. He has been Composer-in-Residence with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, the Youth Orchestras of Australia, University of Western Australia School of Music and Black Swan Theatre Company and was the Ian Potter Emerging Composer Fellow for 2010-11. He has won Helpmann and Green Room Awards for his theatre and dance scores, which include Cloudstreet, Lawn, The Blue Room, The Odyssey, Vamp and The Book of Everything, and APRA/AMC awards for his orchestral works. Iain’s concert works have been performed by the Brodsky String Quartet, Australian String Quartet, Sara Macliver, Craig Ogden, Miki Tsunoda and orchestras around
Australia. As a performer, he has moonlighted on cello alongside the Brodsky Quartet, Australian Art Orchestra and Topology, and regularly performs on piano with cabaret überdiva Meow Meow. He has acted as Music Director and arranger for Jimmy Chi’s Corrugation Road, the Black Arm Band’s Hidden Republic and dirtsong, Meow Meow and ANAM’s Wunderschon, Eddie Perfect’s Songs from the Middle and the 2010 Melbourne Festival’s Seven Songs to Leave Behind. BENJAMIN HAUPTMANN MUSICIAN Benjamin Hauptmann is nationally recognized jazz guitarist. Winner of the 2010 Freedman Jazz Fellowship and 2nd place winner in the National Jazz Awards at the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz 2007. This year Benjamin has completed a sold out tour through Australia and New Zealand with Belgian chanteuse, Micheline Van Hautem, as well as performances at the 2011 South x South West Festival in Austin, Texas. Benjamin has also recently toured with Katie Noonan, Lior, Bluejuice and performed with international artists Ricky Lee Jones and Mavis Staples at Notes From The Hard Road & Beyond for this year’s Melbourne Festival. PAUL JACKSON LIGHTING DESIGNER Paul Jackson designs for theatre, opera, dance, music theatre and events and is part of The Flaming Beacon architectural lighting practice. His work for performance includes lighting designs for The Australian Ballet, Royal New
Zealand Ballet, Melbourne Theatre Company, West Australian Ballet, Victorian Opera, Sydney Theatre Company, Playbox Theatre Company, Malthouse Theatre, Belvoir, Ballet Lab, Black Swan, not yet it’s difficult performance group, Oz Opera, Chamber Made Opera, Griffin, La Mama, Melbourne Workers’ Theatre and many others. Paul has lectured in design and associated studies at the University of Melbourne, RMIT University, NMIT and Victorian College of the Arts. He has received a number of Green Room Awards and nominations for design, as well as multiple Helpmann and Sydney Theatre Award nominations. XANI KOLAC MUSICIAN Xani Kolac is a Melbourne-based electric violinist and vocalist, Masters of Music graduate from the Victorian College of Arts and one half of her art-pop duo, The Twoks. She has performed at International Arts Festivals, Edinburgh Fringe and Adelaide Fringe and at the prestigious Banff Centre. Xani performed as part of Malthouse Theatre’s Woyzeck. DARREN KOWACKI STAGE MANAGER Darren has been working as a stage manager since graduating from the Victorian College of Arts. Malthouse Theatre credits include: Die Winterreise, A Golem Story, ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Trial, The Threepenny Opera, Elizabeth – Almost by Chance A Woman, Africa, Knives In Hens, A Commercial Farce, Goodbye Vaudeville Charlie Mudd, Venus & Adonis,
Kitten, Tartuffe and Exit the King. Darren has also worked on co-productions for Malthouse Melbourne with Thin Ice, Sydney Theatre Company, State Theatre Company of South Australia, and the Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney Festivals. Other theatre credits include: The Production Company: The Boy From Oz. The Store Room/Melbourne Festival: The Dictionary of Imaginary Places. Chamber Made Opera: The Children’s Bach. Chapel off Chapel: Shadow Passion. McLaren House: Fully Committed. Her Majesty’s Theatre: Miss Saigon, Cabaret. Lano & Woodley: Goodbye (Australian Tour). Polyglot Puppet Theatre: We Built This City. Darren has worked on events including Marriner Theatre Events, 2009 Australian Football League Grand Final Breakfast (CFMEU), Nickelodeon Events, 2007 Australian Jamboree, St Kilda Festival. Darren has also designed the launches for Grease the Arena Spectacular (SEL), Chicago the musical (GFO). Darren has designed lighting for companies such as La Mama, St Martins, Oz Opera, Victorian College of Arts, CVP & Scouts Australia. Darren was the Production Manager for St Martins Youth Arts Centre (2005 - 2007). MEOW MEOW CREATOR & PERFORMER Post-post-modern diva Meow Meow’s unique brand of kamikaze cabaret and performance art exotica has hypnotised, inspired and terrified audiences globally. The spectacular crowd-surfing queen of song ‘drags cabaret kicking and screaming into the 21st century’ (Time Out NY), with trail-blazing sell-out seasons from New York and Berlin to London’s Apollo Theatre and
the Sydney Opera House. Named ‘cabaret diva of the highest order’ (New York Post), " SENSATIONAL ***** (The Times UK), One of the Top Performers of 2010 by The New Yorker and “a phenomenon” by the Australian press, multi-award winning Meow has been curated by David Bowie, Pina Bausch and Baryshnikov amongst others, and has created original works for numerous international arts festivals, Malthouse Theatre and Sydney Opera House (Vamp!, Meow to the World, Beyond Glamour) as well as performing everything from Schubert and Schumann with orchestra to touring with Amanda Palmer and The Dresden Dolls. With Pink Martini's Thomas M Lauderdale she has written and recorded the album "Here Kitty Kitty ...The lost sessions ", due for release in 2012. She was most recently seen starring on London's West End in Kneehigh Theatre and Michel Legrand's The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and in Cocteau's Le Bel Indifferent for the Greenwich Music Festival U.S. She won the Edinburgh International Festival Fringe Prize and just returned to the glittering West End for a series of solo concerts at The Apollo. She is soon to debut with the London Philharmonic in Paris and London. MARION POTTS DIRECTOR Marion Potts is Malthouse Theatre’s Artistic Director. She has worked with many of the country’s finest theatre companies and was most recently Bell Shakespeare’s Associate Artistic Director and Artistic Director of its development arm, Mind’s Eye. Marion was Resident Director for Sydney Theatre Company from 1995-1999, and Artistic Director of Pulse (Sydney Theatre Company) from
1997-1999. She curated the 2003 National Playwrights’ Conference, was a chairperson of World Interplay and a member of the Theatre Board of the Australia Council. Marion received the Helpmann Award for Best Direction of a Play in 2006. For Malthouse Theatre Marion has directed ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, Sappho...in 9 fragments, and Venus & Adonis (with Bell Shakespeare). Other theatre directing credits include Bell Shakespeare: King Lear, The Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet, Othello. Sydney Theatre Company: The Wonderful World of Dissocia, Playgrounds, Volpone, Don Juan, Life After George, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Crucible, Navigating, Del Del, Closer, The Herbal Bed, What Is The Matter With Mary Jane?, Pygmalion, Where Are We Now?, The Café Latte Kid, The Blessing, Two Weeks With The Queen (Touring Production). Melbourne Theatre Company: Grace. State Theatre Company of South Australia: Equus, The Torrents, Gary’s House, A Number, The Goat or Who Is Sylvia? Queensland Theatre Company: Constance Drinkwater and the Final Days of Somerset. Belvoir: The Popular Mechanicals 1 and 2 (Associate Director), The Frogs (Assistant Director). Griffin Theatre/HotHouse Theatre: The Story of the Miracles at Cookie’s Table, Wonderlands. HotHouse Theatre: Big Hair In America.
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gratefully acknowledges its supporters
PRINCIPAL GOVERNMENT PARTNERS MALTHOUSE THEATRE IS SUPPORTED BY THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT THROUGH THE AUSTRALIA COUNCIL, ITS ARTS FUNDING AND ADVISORY BODY
MAJOR PARTNER PRODUCTION PARTNER
MEDIA PARTNER
CORPORATE PARTNERS CORPORATE ASSOCIATES
TRUSTS & FOUNDATIONS Annamila Pty Ltd
Artists in Residence Program
Tom Kantor Fund
Education & Youth Access Program
Indigenous Theatre Program
Artist Program
Malcolm Robertson Foundation
New Australian Commission & Production
Slome-Topol Family Charitable Trust Australian Communities Foundation Spanish Cultural Cooperation Program
Malthouse Regional Performance Projects
Company in Residence Program Jeanne Pratt AC Rae Rothfield Sue Nattress AO
The Engine Room & Women Directors Internship Program
The Kenn Brodziak Associate Producer
At The Malthouse - 113 Sturt Street Southbank VIC 3006 Box Office +61 3 9685 5111 Administration +61 3 9685 5100 Facsimile +61 3 9685 5112 Email admin@malthousetheatre.com.au Web www.malthousetheatre.com.au BOARD OF DIRECTORS Simon Westcott (Chair), Frankie Airey, John Daley, Michele Levine, Ian McRae, Thea Snow, Sigrid Thornton, Kerri Turner, Leonard Vary. Artistic Director Executive Producer
Marion Potts Jo Porter
Associate Artist- Design Paul Jackson Associate Artist- Direction Matthew Lutton Associate Artist- Writing Van Badham Director in Residence Anne-Louise Sarks Marketing & Business Operations Manager Emma Calverley Company Managers Nina Bonacci & Marc Psaila Associate Producer Josh Wright Administrator Narda Shanley Finance Manager Mario Agostinoni Finance Assistants Liz White & Connie Stella Philanthropy Manager Tamara Harrison Marketing & Communications Coordinator Carl Nilsson-Polias Development Coordinator Jaclyn Birtchnell Media Coordinator Katie Rose-Price Ticketing Manager Emma Howard Ticketing Assistant Lauren White Executive Assistant Carla Di Stefano Audience Development Consultant Jason Tamiru Building Manager Peter Mandersloot Bar Manager Cherry Rivers Front of House Managers Tristan Watson & Sean Ladhams
Production Manager David Miller Technical Manager Baird McKenna Operations Manager Dexter Varley Interim Production Coordinator Leonie Dixon Head Electricians Michele Bauer & Stewart Birkinshaw Campbell Head Mechanist Andy Moore Head of Wardrobe Amanda Carr Wardrobe Assistants Kate Aubrey & Chloe Greaves Workshop Supervisor David Craig Steel Fabricator Goffredo Mameli Scenic Artist Patrick Jones Props Master Ross Murray (lifetime recognition) Front of House/Bar Staff Matt Adair, Michelle Baginski, Claire Beynon, Rebecca Bower, Jacqui Brown, Ben Carollo, Rowan Michael Davie, Tom Dent, Alice Dixon, Graham Downey, Tanja George, Eden Gery, Kate Golding, Chloe Greaves, Kate Gregory, Simon Jeanes, Gabrielle Lowe, Bridie McCarthy, Anna Nalpantidis, Daniel Newell, Ruby Nolan, Kliment Poposki, Felix Preval, Beck Rafferty, Claire Richardson, Caleb Shea, Mimosa Schmidt, Kathryn Stuckey, Phoebe Taylor, Jade Thomson, Lee Threadgold, Pete Walker, Janine Watson. Box Office Staff Liz Bastian, Paul Buckley, Mark Byrne, Sonja Fea, Rachael Dyson-McGregor, Dan Giovanni, Kate Gregory, Michelle Hines, Ian Michael, Fiona Wiseman, Janine Watson, Liz White. With special thanks to Michael Kantor, Stephen Armstrong & Catherine Jones.
Malthouse Theatre would like to acknowledge the people of the Kulin nation on whose land this work is being presented. This program has been printed on 100% recycled paper using soya based inks.
MUSE DONOR PROGRAM
We extend our heartfelt thanks to the following donors: URANIA (Muse of the Stars) Annamila Pty Ltd, The Dara Foundation CLIO (Muse of History) Berry Liberman & Daniel Almagor, John & Lorraine Bates, Michele Levine THALIA (Muse of Comedy) Betty Amsden OAM, Daniel & Danielle Besen, Eva Besen AO & Marc Besen AO, Debbie Dadon, Roger Donazzan & Margaret Jackson AC, Neilma Gantner, Colin Golvan SC, Peter & Anne Laver, Richard Leonard, Elisabeth & John Schiller, Philanthropy Squared, Trawalla Foundation, Anonymous (1) MELPOMENE (Muse of Tragedy) Chryssa Anagnostou & Jim Tsaltas, Terry Cutler, D.L & G.S Gjergja, Ian Hocking & Rosemary Forbes, Tim & Lynne Sherwood, Simon Westcott & Dr. Ben Keith, Tom Wright, Anonymous (1) EUTERPE (Muse of Music) Ingrid Ashford, Beth Brown & Tom Bruce AM, Ingrid & Per Carlsen, Dominic Dirupo & Natalie Dwyer, Carolyn Floyd, William J Forrest AM, John & Helen Gibbins, Brian Goddard, Scott Herron, Michael Kingston, Naomi Milgrom AO, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch AC DBE, Rae Rothfield, Neil & Barbara Smart, Leonard Vary & Matt Collins, Jason Waple, Phil & Heather Wilson, Angelika & Pete Zangmeister TERPSICHORE (Muse of Dance) Roger Blythman, Sally Browne, Diana Burleigh, David Byrne, Min Li Chong, Sieglind D’Arcy, Rev Fr Michael Elligate, Taleen Gaidzkar, Leonie Hollingworth, Brad Hooper, Graeme & Joan Johnson, Ann Kemeny & Graham Johnson, K & J Lindsay, Pamela McLure, Sir Gustav Nossal AC CBE & Lady Nossal, Robert Peters, Karen Russel, Ernie Schwartz, Jenny Schwarz, Stephen Solly, Gina Stuart, Fiona Sweet & Paul Newcombe, Dr. Victor & Dr. Karen Wayne, Anonymous(2) ERATO (Muse of Love) Stephen Alley, Graham & Anita Anderson, Amanda Bede, Sandra Beanham, John Carruthers, Tim & Rachel Cecil, Dianne Clark, Patricia Coutts, Mary Crean AM, Tania de Jong AM, Doreen Dempster, Paul Gardner, Charles Gillies & Penny Allen, Peggy Hayton, Shirley Hickey, Roberta Holmes, Susan Humphries, Irene Irvine, Vas Katos, Irene Kearsey, Patricia Keith, Ruth Krawat, Anna Lozynski, Peter McLennan, Gael & Ian McRae, Brad Martin, Robyn & John Morris, Dr. Kersti Nogeste, Linda Notley, David O’Connell & Jarrod Haberfield, Tony Oliver, Irene Purcell, John & Margot Rogers, Maria Sola, Thea & Hadyn Snow, John Thomas, Ann Tonks, Rosemary Walls, Jan Watson, Joanne Whyte, Dr. Roger Woock & Fiona Clyne, Angharad WynneJones, Barbara Yuncken, Anonymous (11) To find out more about the Malthouse Theatre Muse program, please contact Philanthropy Manager Tamara Harrison on 03 9685 5162 / tharrison@malthousetheatre.com.au.