WILD BORE 17 M AY – 4 J U N
17 M AY – 4 J U N BECKETT THEATRE CREATED & PERFORMED BY / Zoë Coombs Marr, Ursula Martinez & Adrienne Truscott SET & COSTUME DESIGN / Danielle Brustman LIGHTING DESIGN / Richard Vabre SOUND DESIGN / Raya Slavin STAGE MANAGER / Harriet Gregory Special thanks to Daniel Clarke, Bryony Kimmings, Richard Watts, Tommy Kriegsmann, Kate Jinx, Pilar Bono, Carmine Covelli, Soho Theatre, New York Live Arts, everyone at Malthouse Theatre and of course, the critics.
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A NOTE FROM THE WRITERS
ON WILD BORE Let’s imagine you have a teenage son. He comes home one evening and says he has been to an ‘investigation into identity, relationships, loneliness, and political incorrectness’. You praise him. Later, you overhear him telling a friend he has just seen a woman stripping naked and pulling a red handkerchief out of her bottom, then reading out emails from lonely admirers and projecting photographs of their erect penises. ‘Wicked boy!’ you cry… ‘Lying boy!’ He is puzzled. ‘But, mum/dad, I was talking about the same thing.’
Aside from an interrogation of our own flops, here are some other pieces of writing that have informed Wild Bore: Frank Rich, NEW YORK TIMES (USA) Moose Murders, A Brand Of Whodunit, Rex Reed, NY OBSERVER (USA) David Mamet’s ‘China Doll’ Is the Worst Play Since ‘Moose Murders’ Christopher Isherwood, THE NEW YORK TIMES (USA) A Ride On The Irish Cream
Rhoda Koenig, THE INDEPENDENT on My Stories, Your Emails
Jane Montgomery Griffiths, ARTSHUB (AUS) What Women Critics Know That Men Don’t
Wild Bore is a collection of found texts adapted from the canon of theatrical critique.
Tim Walker, THE TELEGRAPH (UK) The Spice Girls Musical, Viva Forever! Has Absolutely No Redeeming Features Whatsoever
It is our radical reinterpretation of Facebook arguments, comment threads, pull quotes, nasty tweets, and most importantly, bad bad reviews.
Camilla Long, THE TIMES (UK) Moonlight and Hidden Figures
We have plenty of our own to draw from: post’s Oedipus Schmoedipus was almost universally panned in Sydney, Ursula Martinez’ My Stories Your Emails and Free Admission both received one star reviews and Adrienne Truscott’s A One-Trick Pony (Or Andy Kaufman Is a Feminist Performance Artist and I’m A Comedian) was lauded as a major disappointment after her previous successes.
And many more… Any resemblance to critics, living or dead, is purely intentional. Or is it? With love and respect, Zoë, Adrienne and Ursula
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Byron Bache, CRIKEY (AUS) The Crucible
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CAST & CREATIVE BIOS
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Zoë Coombs Marr CREATOR & PERFORMER
Ursula Martinez CREATOR & PERFORMER
Adrienne Truscott CREATOR & PERFORMER
Zoë Coombs Marr (AUS) may be formally adopted as a national treasure in a few years time. At present she is too quirky, too daring, too prepared to take off her clothes at the drop of a hat to find mainstream appeal. Zoë is a performer, writer and comedian. She grew up in Grafton, where she and her best friend staged a musical instead of going to schoolies. In 2016 her show Trigger Warning won the MICF Barry Award (Best Show), the Golden Gibbo, two Green Room Awards, and was nominated for the (former) Perrier and a Helpmann Award. In 2014, her play Is This Thing On? (Belvoir) won the Sydney Theatre Award for Best Ensemble and was nominated for Best New Australian Work. In 2012, her debut solo show And That Was The Summer That Changed My Life won a bunch of awards as well. She is one third of the performance company post, whose recent works include Ich Nibber Dibber (Sydney Festival/CAC 2017) and Oedipus Schmoedipus, (Belvoir/ Sydney Festival 2014). She is occasionally on telly and was a regular on ABC’s Dirty Laundry Live and in 2006 she won the National Poetry Slam Championships under dubious circumstances.
Ursula Martinez (UK) may be formally adopted as a national treasure in a few years time. At present she is too quirky, too daring, too prepared to take off her clothes at the drop of a hat to find mainstream appeal. Martinez began her career in the mid 90’s working with experimental theatre companies and performing solo on the London club/cabaret circuit. Her first theatre show, A Family Outing was a huge success at the 1998 Edinburgh Festival. An autobiographical piece starring herself and her parents, it quickly established her reputation as a unique theatre maker. In 2004 Martinez co-created C’est Barbican with iconic Londonbased performance collective Duckie, winning 4 awards, including an Olivier Award for Best Entertainment. Martinez is an original cast member of the multi award-winning circus/cabaret phenomenon La Soiree, which also won an Olivier Award in 2014 for Best Entertainment. Recently she directed Lucy McCormick in her smash-hit theatrical debut Triple Threat. Despite all her theatre accolades, she is probably best known for pulling handkerchiefs out of her vagina.
Adrienne Truscott (US) may be formally adopted as a national treasure in a few years time. At present she is too quirky, too daring, too prepared to take off her clothes at the drop of a hat to find mainstream appeal. She’s a choreographer/comedian/ writer/performance artist and one half of The Wau Wau Sisters. Her critically-acclaimed Adrienne Truscott’s Asking For It: A One-Lady Rape About Comedy Starring Her Pussy and Little Else! won the Edinburgh Foster’s Panel-Prize and is considered a critical impetus to the evolving conversation about rape culture. A recipient of the Doris Duke Impact Artist Award, a 2017 Adelaide Fringe Artist Ambassadorship and the FCA Grant for Performance Art/Theater, she or her work has appeared at, in or on the Sydney Opera House, Festival of Dangerous Ideas, The Moth, The Kitchen, PS122, Joes’ Pub, Melbourne and Montreal Comedy Festivals, the Sydney International Arts Festivals, La Soiree, Soho Theater, The Jimmy Kimmel Show, John Cameron Mitchell’s Shortbus, and CBGBs. Her essays have been published in Women of Letters: Between Us, Doing It: Women Tell the Truth about Great Sex and The Guardian among others. She is attracted to the possibility of failure as a reason to start working.
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Danielle Brustman SET & COSTUME DESIGN Danielle is an interior designer and set designer based in Melbourne, Australia. She designs for commercial and residential interiors, performance and exhibition. With a distinctive flair for colour, materials and form, her design folio presents a unique expression well beyond the conventional integrating cross-disciplinary practices that explore the merging of contemporary design, art and performance. Danielle has an ability to integrate bold, aesthetic choices with innovative spatial propositions. Her work has received accolades across the design world both in Australia and internationally. Danielle has designed interiors and projects for: The Melbourne International Arts Festival, The Salty Dog Hotel, The Stylesmiths, The Gem, Amelia Shaw Bar, Georgeous Occasions, Dark Mofo, Kaleido Collection, David Bromley Studio, L’Oreal Fashion Festival, Bakehouse Studios, Flock Agency, Andrew Long and Associates, Sunday Morning Designs, agIdeas, Bart Borghesi, Arena Theatre Company and Malthouse Theatre.
Richard Vabre LIGHTING DESIGN
Raya Slavin SOUND DESIGN
Richard is a freelance lighting designer who has lit productions for MTC, STC, Belvoir St, Malthouse Theatre, Victorian Opera, Windmill Theatre, Arena Theatre Company, NICA, Darwin Festival, Stuck Pig’s Squealing, Chambermade, Rawcus, Red Stitch, Polyglot, Melbourne Worker’s Theatre and Aphids. Richard has won 4 Green Room Awards including the Association’s John Truscott Prize for Excellence in Design (2004). He has also been nominated for 7 other Green Room Awards. Previously for Malthouse Theatre: Autobiography of Red, Apples and Ladders, A Quarrelling Pair, A View of Concrete, The Black Swan of Trespass, Sleeping Beauty (Besen Family Artist Program), The Eisteddfod, La Douleur, Goodbye Vaudeville Charlie Mudd, Another Lament, The Good Person of Szechuan, Gonzo.
Raya Slavin is a Melbournebased composer and sound designer working across multi-disciplinary art practices. She is also a resident artist with She Said Theatre, and a member of synth-noise-punk outfit Primitive Calculators. Wild Bore is Raya’s first show with Malthouse Theatre. Raya’s other credits include Fallen (She Said Theatre/Sport For Jove, 2017), F. (Riot Stage Youth Theatre/Poppy Seed Theatre Festival, 2016), The Quiet Bite (She Said Theatre/ Melbourne Fringe, 2016), Akai Ito and the Forest (Melbourne Fringe, 2016), Redemption (La Mama, 2016), Ryan (La Mama, 2015), Birdcage Thursdays (La Mama/Big West Festival, 2015), Hart (She Said Theatre/ Melbourne Fringe, 2015), Bock Kills Her Father (She Said Theatre/Melbourne Fringe, 2015), Angry SEXX (Melbourne Fringe, 2014), Myth Project – Twin (with Kelly Ryall, Arthur/ MTC Neon, 2014), Savages (sound associate with Kelly Ryall, fortyfivedownstairs, 2013), Laika and Wills (Melbourne Fringe, 2013) and Group Show (MKA, 2013). In 2015, Raya was nominated for a Green Room award for her sound design for Ryan.
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CAST & CREATIVE BIOS
Harriet Gregory STAGE MANAGER
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Harriet is a stage manager based in Melbourne. Her previous Malthouse Theatre credits include The Book of Loco, Antigone, normal.suburban.planetary. meltdown, Meow Meow’s Little Mermaid, Come Away with Me to the End of the World, The Fiery Maze and Little Emperors. She also works regularly with Circus Oz, Melbourne International Comedy Festival and Chunky Move.
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C A S T S&E AC SROE N A T2I0V1E7 B I O S
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ABOUT MALTHOUSE THEATRE
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT At Malthouse Theatre we collaborate with local and international artists to create inventive performances that cut to the core of the human experience. #WILDBORE
Theatre has the power to interrogate, disrupt and to be an agent of change— and we think it always should. At Malthouse Theatre the work we produce explores the world personally, socially and politically. Based in a dedicated venue, The Coopers Malthouse in Melbourne, we are a home for live experiences that entertain and provoke a dialogue with and within audiences. Welcome to Malthouse Theatre.
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OUR PARTNERS
GOVERNMENT
VENUE
EDUCATION
MAJOR
ACCOMMODATION
MEDIA
CORPORATE
INDUSTRY
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TRUSTS AND FOUNDATIONS
OUR SUPPORTERS
URANIA—MUSE OF THE STARS—$25,000+ Carrillo Gantner AO, Michele Levine, Mary-Ruth & Peter McLennan, Craig Reeves, Maureen Wheeler AO & Tony Wheeler AO CLIO—MUSE OF HISTORY—$10,000+ Roseanne Amarant, Annamila Fund, John & Lorraine Bates, Debbie Dadon AM, Colin Golvan QC, Janine Tai, The Vera Moore Foundation, Anonymous (2) THALIA—MUSE OF COMEDY—$5,000+ Richard Leonard & Gerlinde Scholz, Mary Vallentine AO, Anonymous (1) MELPOMENE—MUSE OF TRAGEDY—$2,500+ David Bardas, D.L. & G.S. Gjergja, Rosemary Forbes & Ian Hocking, Sue Kirkham, James Penlidis & Fiona McGauchie, Sue Prestney, Elisabeth & John Schiller, Dr Jenny Schwarz, Fiona Sweet & Paul Newcombe, Leonard Vary & Dr Matt Collins QC, Jason Waple, Jon Webster, Jan Williams, Tom Wright, Anonymous (1) EUTERPE—MUSE OF MUSIC—$1,000+ Frankie Airey & Stephen Solly, Chryssa Anagnostou & Dr Jim Tsaltas, Marc Besen
AC & Eva Besen AO, John & Sally Bourne, Sally Browne, Beth Brown & Tom Bruce AM, Ingrid & Per Carlsen, Min Li Chong, Prof John Daley & Dr Rebecca Coates, Andrew Curtis, Mark & Jo Davey, Dominic & Natalie Dirupo, Roger Donazzan, Rev Fr Michael Elligate AM, Dr Sian Fairbank, Brian Goddard, Val Johnstone, Michael Kingston, Susan Nathan, James Ostroburski, Rosemary & Roger Redston, Carol & Alan Schwartz AM, Robert Sessions & Christina Fitzgerald, Thea & Hayden Snow, Maria Solà, Gina & Paul Stuart, Toby Sullivan, Kerri Turner & Andrew White, Rosemary Walls, Pinky Watson, Henry Winters, Anonymous (1) TERPSICHORE—MUSE OF DANCE—$500+ Graham & Anita Anderson, Michael Arnold, Rowland Ball OAM, Sandra Beanham, David & Rhonda Black, Ros Casey, Tim & Rachel Cecil, Chris Clough, Alan Connolly, Carolyn Floyd, John & Helen Gibbins, Leonie Hollingworth, Brad Hooper, Dr Irene Irvine, Joan & Graeme Johnson OAM, Dr Irene Kearsey, Dr Angela Kirsner & Dr Richard Kirsner, Virginia Lovett, John McCallum, Ian McRae AO, Jan Owen AM, Robert Peters,
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Katherine Sampson, Barbara & Neil Smart, Janice Taylor, John Thomas, Neil Waters, Phil & Heather Wilson, Anonymous (4) ERATO—MUSE OF LOVE—$250+ Simon Abrahams, Jennifer Bourke, Fiona Brook, John & Alexandra Busselmaier, Siu Chan, Diane Clark, Georgie Coleman, Patricia Coutts, Jason Craig, Kerryn Dickinson-Rowe, Brian Doyle, Evelyn Firstenberg, Orla & Rachel, Taleen Gaidzkar, Joanne Griffiths, Sarah Hunt, Arechea Hounsell, Ann Kemeny & Graham Johnson, Mira & Dr David Kolieb, Robyn Lansdowne, Sally Lindsay, Kim Lowndes, Judith Maitland-Parr, Ian Manning & Alice De Jonge, John Millard, Paul Natoli, Dr Kersti Nogeste, Linda Notley, Tony Oliver, Kaylene O’Neill, Gerard Powell, Gavin Roach, Pauline Robert, Rae Rothfield, Dr Michael & Jenny Rozen, Dr Jill Sewell, Chris Teh, Lee-Ann Walsh, Jan Watson, Gary Westbrook, Gayl Morrow & Gib Wettenhall, Joanne Whyte, Barbara Yuncken VOLUNTEERS Malthouse Theatre would like to acknowledge the generous and ongoing support of our dedicated volunteers.
MALTHOUSE THEATRE STAFF
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Michele Levine (Chair), John Daley (Deputy Chair), Debbie Dadon AM, Colin Golvan QC, Michael Kantor, Fiona McGauchie, Jan Owen AM, Sue Prestney, Pamela Rabe, Nick Schlieper, Kerri Turner, Mary Vallentine AO & Leonard Vary. ARTISTIC & PROGRAMMING Artistic Director & CO-CEO / Matthew Lutton Executive Producer & CO-CEO / Sarah Neal Resident Dramaturg / Mark Pritchard Resident Artist / Declan Greene Resident Designer / Marg Horwell Director In Residence / Sapidah Kian
TICKETING & BOX OFFICE
EDUCATION
CRM & Ticketing Manager / Prue Sutherland
Youth & Education Manager / Vanessa O’Neill
Box Office Manager / Dan Allemann
Venue Manager / Aaron Rowlands
Box Office Staff / Abbey Barnes, Ian Michael, Lauren White, Michelle Hines, Paul Buckley, Fran Heffernan, Simon Braxton, Jacqui Bartlett
Front of House Staff / Abi Murray, Alice Dixon, Aly Grace, Amy Dowd, Andrew Foord, Ben Andrerson, Ben Carollo, Carissa Godwin, Daniel Moulds, Daniel Newell, Dirk Hoult, Gem Clarke, Gianni Agostononi, Hannah Mc Kittrick, Ian Michael, Jo Bassilios, Kate Calton, Kate Gregory, Kathryn Joy, Kirilie Blythman, Lara Kerestes, Lee Threadgold, Leon Rice-Whetton, Mark Hoffman, Mitchell Brotz, Sam Harrison, Sanne Rodenstein, Sophia D’urso, Vaughn Rae
DEVELOPMENT
Producer / Toby Sullivan
Development Manager / Fiona Kelly
Associate Producer / Jason Tamiru
Philanthropy Coordinator / Belinda Locke
Company Manager / Alice Muhling
Sponsorship Coordinator / Olivia Satchell
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FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION
PRODUCTION
Finance Manager / Mario Agostinoni
Production Manager / David Miller
Finance Administrator / Liz White
Workshop Manager / Goffredo Mameli
General Manager / Amanda Macri
Head Carpenter / David Craig
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS Marketing & Communications Manager / Caraline Douglas
VENUE MANAGEMENT
Box Office Team Leaders / Jo Bassilios Fiona Wiseman Kate Gregory
Technical Manager / Baird Mckenna
Front of House Managers / Sean Ladhams & Anita Posterino
ABORIGINAL & TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER COMMITTEE Uncle Jack Charles, Richard Frankland, Tony Briggs, Lisa Maza, Pauline Wyman, Melodie ReynoldsDiarra & Jason Tamiru Malthouse Theatre acknowledges we are on the Land of the Boon wurrung Peoples within the Kulin Nation.
Operations Manager / Dexter Varley Head Technician / Mark Anderson
Digital Marketing Coordinator / Davey Simmons
Venue Head Mechanist / Ivan Smith
Communications Coordinator / Alex Sadka
Head Of Wardrobe / Delia Spicer
Publicist / TS Publicity
Theatre Technician / Nathanael Bristow Workshop Assistant / Elizabeth Whitton
MARKETING & ADVERTISING /
AKA +61 3 8866 8335 AKA-AU.COM
PHOTOGRAPHY /
ZAN WIMBERLEY TIM GREY
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DESIGN /
HOURS AFTER HOURSAFTER.COM.AU
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WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
YOU ARE EXPECTED TO BEHAVE... DON’T BREAK THE RULES. JUST BEHAVE. THIS PLAY IS NOT WELL BEHAVED.
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REVOLT. SHE SAID. REVOLT AGAIN. 16 JUN – 9 JUL In a theatrical assault on language used to perpetrate violence against women for centuries, Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. is a powerful new work of contemporary writing and a welcome lesson in disobedience.
In a series of equally funny and disturbing events, playwright Alice Birch rallies language to revolt upon itself, commanding it to bear arms against the conventions of work, sex, motherhood, aging, and love.
BY / Alice Birch
CAST / Elizabeth Esguerra, Ming-Zhu Hii, Belinda McClory, Gareth Reeves & Sophie Ross
DIRECTION / Janice Muller
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WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
HEART IS A WASTELAND
YOU’RE NOT ALONE
29 JUN – 16 JUL
1 – 13 AUG
This affecting new production sees John and Margaret Harvey combine theatre, film and live music in this intimate portrait of two travellers. Acclaimed performers Ursula Yovich and Aaron Pedersen come together to portray two achingly beautiful characters in a whiskey-fuelled battle of egos and hidden scars.
Kim Noble wants us to get closer—perhaps too close for comfort. Using narration and guerrilla video, he embarks on a series of hilarious, and often excruciating social experiments on a quest for connection. A unique theatre-documentary with his own life as subject, You’re Not Alone is black comedy at its finest.
THE REAL AND IMAGINED HISTORY OF THE ELEPHANT MAN 4 – 27 AUG The team behind Malthouse Theatre’s Picnic at Hanging Rock, director Matthew Lutton and playwright Tom Wright, reunite to create a poignant new work that uncovers empathy in a world that rejects difference.
FIND OUT MORE AT MALTHOUSETHEATRE.COM.AU
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JOIN US FOR MORE BOLD WORKS OF CONTEMPORARY THEATRE
MONASH MEETS MALTHOUSE
MONASH MEETS MALTHOUSE THEATRE: WILD BORE P R E S E N T E D I N PA RT N E R S H I P WITH MONASH UNIVERSITY arts journalist and critic), and Cameron Woodhead (theatre critic of The Age), together with playwright, broadcaster, critic and artistic director of Monash Academy of Performing Arts Theatre programme Fleur Kilpatrick for a light-hearted— and possibly heated—discussion on the limits of criticism and when an artist can reply to their critics.
The Centre for Theatre and Performance presents a Monash meets Malthouse Theatre panel on Wild Bore.
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Some savvy theatre-goers prefer an expert discussion to get the most out of their experience. To coincide with Wild Bore, this Monash Meets Malthouse Panel promises to shine a light on the impact of theatre critics. Chaired by Head of Monash’s Centre for Theatre and Performance, playwright and actor Associate Professor Jane Montgomery Griffiths will be joined by Alison Croggon (former theatre critic for The Australian, ABC, The Guardian and theatrenotes), Richard Watts (Artshub editor, RRR host,
Join us as our Major Partner, Monash University, hosts this special afternoon conversation between the matinee and evening performances of Wild Bore on Saturday 27 May.
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SCENE & HEARD
The digital ads for this production were continually rejected by a major web based advertiser*, as the hero image was considered by their algorithm to be ‘pornographic material’. * that may or may not rhyme with ‘oodle’.
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© Malthouse Theatre, the artists, designers, photographers, collaborators and contributors. All rights reserved, 2017.