MTC Scenes magazine - Summer 2015

MTC

scenes Summer 2015

Jane Turner Jumping through hoops Aidan Fennessy Laying down tracks Michele Lee Writing up lives

THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS: MTC 2014 IN PICTURES

Light in the dark Inside information

When MTC created its first education program way back in 1962, we knew it would have a positive impact on the lives of young people. As an Australian flagship theatre company we understand the transformative effect of live performance, and its capacity to make us think critically and empathise with others. Since then our instinct has been backed up by many studies demonstrating that a complete arts education, with a strong theatre and drama component, improves literacy, communication and social skills, and brings a wide range of other physical and intellectual benefits, too. In 2012, all this research was recognised in the creation of the Australian Curriculum, which placed the arts at the centre of learning from the first years of school.

However, the opposite view, that the arts and especially theatre and drama are unnecessary add-ons to a young person’s education, dies hard. A recent Federal review of the Australian Curriculum that worked from a backto-basics ethos has recommended removing theatre and drama from the first years of school and placing limits on it in secondary education. Which is wholly dispiriting – especially when charitable organisations, such as Crown Resorts Foundation, are realising that investing in theatre

education will achieve long-lasting benefits for the community.

At our 2015 Season launch in September, we were thrilled to announce Sharing the Light, an initiative with Crown Resorts Foundation that will provide $2.5 million over five years to improve access to theatre for disadvantaged students and families. This is where money is most needed. I realised soon after becoming Education Manager that our programs were reaching only a small section of the Melbourne student population. There were students, especially from outlying suburbs and lower socio-economic areas, for whom trips to the theatre were difficult to afford and organise.

Sharing the Light will lift barriers for those students and families who might otherwise never get the chance to see MTC productions.

Over the next five years, Sharing the Light will focus on four programs, each addressing a real need. The Crown Resorts Student Theatre Pass will provide $5 tickets to MTC productions for up to ten thousand disadvantaged students each year.

It also includes help with the schools’ transportation costs to the theatre, since one of the main disadvantages for many students is their distance from the city. Remoteness is also a problem for families, which is why the second program, the Crown Resorts Family Theatre Pass, will provide $5 tickets for families from the outer suburbs to attend an MTC family show. This gives families who might

Cover: Marina Prior and Jane Turner Scenes is produced quarterly and is a publication of Melbourne Theatre Company. All information was correct at the time of printing. Melbourne Theatre Company reserves the right to make changes.

EDITOR Paul Galloway GRAPHIC DESIGN Helena Turinski COVER IMAGE Jo Duck Melbourne Theatre Company is a department of the University of Melbourne

have never experienced theatre the chance to see a show together. For students elsewhere in Victoria, we have MTC Education on Tour, which, in partnership with Regional Arts Victoria, will tour an Education show to regional schools. This production will be accompanied by a master class, preshow talks and other enrichment activities, which will be funded from separate money provided by one of our donors – another generous believer in arts education.

Finally, in partnership with the VCA through its Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development, we will offer theatre career pathways for Indigenous students with our Indigenous Scholarship Program.

It’s a fantastic program, a great endorsement of all our work over the years, and we can’t wait to get it up and running. We have recently appointed Karin Farrell as Community Outreach Manager to implement this large and multi-faceted scheme, and further details will be released early in the New Year. Alongside this project, a longitudinal study, conducted by the University of Melbourne will look at the effect of the five-year program on the lives of its participants and their communities. We have every faith that it will add even more evidence to support our conviction that access to theatre for young people has wide and profound personal, educational and social benefits. ▲ Suzie Thomas Education Manager

MTC Headquarters 252 Sturt St, Southbank Vic 3006 TELEPHONE 03 8688 0900 FACSIMILE 03 8688 0901 E-MAIL info@mtc.com.au WEBSITE mtc.com.au Southbank Theatre 140 Southbank Blvd, Southbank Vic 3006 BOX OFFICE 03 8688 0800

Put the drama back into gift giving this festive season with an MTC Gift Voucher Delivered in a luxurious gift wallet or a print-at-home voucher, MTC Gift Vouchers offer the ultimate flexibility.

Or, why not share your love of theatre and choose an experience to enjoy together? Single tickets for the first productions of Season 2015 are now on sale. mtc.com.au/giftideas or call 8688 0800

Woman on the verge In Jumpy, Jane Turner plays an uncertain woman of a certain age

j

ne Turner knows what it’s like. a She’s been there. Well, not exactly there. She hasn’t been in the crazy, disintegrating domestic situation that her character Hilary finds herself in April De Angelis’s hit play Jumpy. But, like Hilary, she’s a woman in midlife and midcareer, in a long marriage, having just seen the final teenager through the final years of school. She definitely knows the territory.

PHOTO: BRONWEN SHARP

‘It feels like my life on the page,’ she says, caveating immediately, ‘except for the marriage dramas and affairs with young men. I don’t do that! But I also have a teenage daughter who finished her VCE last year– not that she’s quite the handful as the one in the play, but the territory’s the same, dealing with teenage issues. The play is very real about the conversations you find yourself having with a teenager, and the conversations you have with your partner, the worries you have. The play captures all that.

It’s very domestic and very funny.

I have a feeling it must have been April De Angelis’s life, too. The observations ring so true.’

Of course, we are already familiar with Jane Turner playing a mother with a troubled daughter. As Kath Day-Knight in Kath & Kim, she dispensed maternal wisdom with an authoritative ‘Look at moy! Look at moy! Look at moy!’ That show was broad and satirical, and Kath never faced a crisis at home that she couldn’t solve by telling someone to pull their socks up. Jumpy is a far more realistic type of comedy, a rising tide of domestic emergencies with an undertow of thwarted expectations.

With very few changes it could play as drama, yet it has been one of the most popular comedies for years in the West End.

and there. So this is going to be a challenge. It’ll be fine as long as I make the character well-rounded, identifiable and interesting.’

In Jumpy she won’t have the advantage of performing her own material, as she and Gina Riley had in Kath & Kim. It makes the acting part a breeze.

‘Because the character’s already a part of you,’ Turner says. ‘You have written it to come out of you and know exactly

‘Hilary is the perfect vehicle for me,’ Turner says. ‘It’s what I need to do. I’ve done quite a number of dramatic roles, but nothing this large, just bit-parts here

‘Actually, I think it might be a bit easier to deal with teenagers when you are in your fifties,’ she says, speaking for herself. ‘When you’re younger, you’re a little bit more frustrated with your life.

When you hit fifty, you’ve calmed down a bit. You’re more patient, more grounded.

You might get a bit more tired, but you’re wiser and you’ve got over yourself. If you’re in your late-thirties dealing with teenager issues, you have other things on your plate, a career, money, building up a life. It’s easier in your fifties to be there for them.’

The play, she thinks, captures well the tension of a house with a teenager in it.

‘Kids have so much freedom now,’ she says. ‘You worry about where they are and who they’re with. As a parent, you are caught between wanting to give them freedom and at the same time wanting to keep them safe. But they do have mobile phones, that’s a positive.

Christen O’Leary, Jane Turner and Ross Williams in Man the Balloon (2001)

She speaks to me on a rest day before technical rehearsals begin for the commercial run of David Williamson’s Rupert, which is much more in the style of the comedy she’s known for: the quick-fire sketches and satire of her television work in The D-Generation, Fast Forward, Big Girl’s Blouse and Kath & Kim. She’s enjoying putting on the wig and shoving in the shoulder pads to become Margaret Thatcher (among her other impersonations in the show), but she’s at that stage in her career where she wants to stretch her acting talents and mix it up a bit. She gets her chance in Jumpy.

contemporary life: career women, such as Hilary, who, having put off childrearing until their late thirties, find themselves dealing with their teenage child’s angst and recalcitrance for the first time in their fifties. Turner, however, knows from experience that teenagers are going to be a worry no matter how old you are.

There are lines that are funny on the page, but the laughs will come more out of recognition of the situation, the observations about married life

’

how to say it. No interpretation’s needed. You just have to say the line.

But with someone else’s script, you have to put the work into rehearsals, spend time finding the character on the page.’

You can always contact them. Though I worry about teenagers nowadays.

I think they are little more anxious than we were. I think the freedom they have brings them a lot of anxiety.’ ▲

Most worrisome among the many problems that descend upon the middle-aged heroine of Jumpy is a wayward teenage daughter. De Angelis here explores a phenomenon new to

Jumpy by April De Angelis runs at the Sumner from 31 January to 14 March.

USE PROMO CODE

MTC FOR A FREE UberBLACK RIDE (UP TO $25)

Jane Turner spoke to Paul Galloway.

3 SIMPLE STEPS TO TAKE YOUR FIRST RIDE

1

DOWNLOAD THE APP

2

ENTER THE PROMO CODE

SIGN UP NOW: UBER.COM/GO/MTC 2015.

FOR NEW USERS ONLY. VALID 2014.

3

REQUEST YOUR RIDE

PHOTO: JEFF BUSBY

‘The role is funny,’ Turner insists. ‘There will be laughter. There are lines that are funny on the page, but the laughs will come more out of recognition of the situation, the observations about married life. Mine is not the obvious comic role.

Marina Prior [playing her close friend Frances] has the going-for-the-laughs role. Mine is less jokey, though she has a funny way about her. She’s more realistic and sympathetic. And I hope that will make her more funny.’

Tom Conroy and Sophie Ross in Cock (2014)

Catch us in the net Prompt corner

business history behind Pennsylvania Avenue by following a special interactive timeline.

Casting news

t

PHOTO: JEFF BUSBY

he new buzzword is ‘synergy’ – but it’s just the same old stuff to us. For sixty seasons, MTC has been educating and informing its audiences by every means at our disposal. We haven’t just produced theatre, but also programmes, press releases and editions of Scenes; we have reached our audience via newspaper and radio coverage; we have held briefings and forums. And in the past few years, we have expanded these kinds of activities online. Some might say that we have ‘synergised our platforms with a cyber-presence’, but really it is just the old business of keeping our audiences up-to-date and well-informed about our productions.

But the new media are exciting. On the MTC website you can view videos, listen to podcasts, read interviews and get the latest news about productions. We also have a shining Facebook page and emit regular tweets into the electronic forest. New material is constantly being posted. On mtc.com.au/blog this month you can hear journalist Fiona Gruber’s interview with Miriam Margolyes on Hollywood and Hollywood agents. We also give you a glimpse of the I’ll Eat You Last production process in the ‘Designing Sue’s House’ series. And you can brush up on the American political and show

Our first show of the new season, April De Angelis’s hit comedy Jumpy, has had a gratifyingly large take-up from Subscribers, perhaps tempted by the prospect of seeing popular comedian Jane Turner on stage again. But back in September, when we launched our new season, we had only just begun to unveil the casting surprises. Value is being added to your theatre tickets right up to the beginning of rehearsals.

The Jumpy company, for example, has recently been boosted by the inclusion of stage-star Marina Prior, who showed off her comic talents a few years ago in Justin Fleming’s Molière adaptation The Hypocrite. She will be joined by David Tredinnick (top left; Frost/Nixon) and Caroline Brazier (top right, Enlightenment). To these experienced performers, director Pamela Rabe has cast actors who will be making their first appearances on an MTC stage: Brenna Harding (bottom left), Tariro Mavondo, John Lloyd Fillingham, Laurence Boxhall and Dylan Watson.

Sophie Ross made an impressive debut last year as the spurned woman in Cock, Mike Bartlett’s comedy of sexual confusion. She returns in What Rhymes with Cars and Girls, sharing the stage in the two-hander with Johnny Carr (bottom right). Fans of the classic Tim Rogers album on which Aidan Fennessy’s relationship drama has been based will be excited to hear that Rogers will perform in every show.

Production Briefings

No one wants to be completely in the dark before the curtain rises – which is why we hold Production Briefings for most of our shows. Held in the week before the show opens, these informal discussions are led by the director with members of the cast and creative team, focussing on the background to the play and the approach the production has taken. It gives you a fascinating insight into the collaborative nature of making theatre. They are normally held on the Monday evening prior to the show’s first preview. But note that to accommodate the Australia Day holiday, the Briefing for Jumpy will be held on Tuesday 27 January.

Jumpy

by April De Angelis Tuesday 27 January, 6pm The Sumner What Rhymes with Cars and Girls Words by Aidan Fennessy Music and lyrics by Tim Rogers Monday 9 February, 6pm Fairfax Studio

Dress Rehearsal Club

We’re pleased to welcome so many passionate theatre lovers to our new Dress Rehearsal Club and we know you are eagerly anticipating the beginning of the 2015 Season. We still have a small number of places in our 2015 Dress Rehearsal Club and are accepting applications until mid-January.

Details and an application form are available at mtc.com.au/drc; by email at dress@mtc.com.au or phone 8688 0958. ▲

Songs are us Playwright Aidan Fennessy turns a favourite album into a modern romance

(Opposite) Aidan Fennessy; (left) What Rhymes with Cars and Girls campaign image; (below) Tim Rogers performing at the Season 2015 Launch.

i

MAIN PHOTO: PAUL GALLOWAY; WHAT RHYMES WITH CARS AND GIRLS: JO DUCK; TIM ROGERS: BENJAMIN HEALLEY

n 1999, Tim Rogers, frontman for popular band You Am I, moved to Melbourne, and something about the changed environment and finding himself alone with some time on his hands got him writing a sheaf of songs. Most were about love in a modern world: getting it, holding on to it and losing it, which was where he was at in those days. With his band caught up in a contractual hiatus and the songs being a little different from his usual work, Rogers decided to record them himself. The album, What Rhymes with Cars and Girls, wasn’t a wild commercial success, but it won Rogers the ARIA Award for Best Male Artist that year. And it found its audience. Those who liked the album tended to love it, to find something resonant within it, something simple, deep and true. It’s a favourite album of playwright-director Aidan Fennessy.

‘The songs on the album are articulate about love,’ he says. ‘Love is a confusing business and the album, for me, just puts it all into words. The lyrics are strongly vernacular, which I like as a writer. And the way Tim writes is dramatic. In each song there is a small mise-en-scene, an incident or moment, and often there are character voices.

There’s only one duet on the record, but in fact the whole album felt to me like a conversation between Tim and a lover, whoever he was imagining when he was writing.’

However, the idea of turning the album into a theatre work took hold only recently. ‘There was one day I was listening to it when I was struck by the musical diversity on the album. It is not a rock album strictly. There’s a bit of Dixie, and swing, and a waltz in there – and literally I had one of those moments when I thought, “This sounds like a musical.” And I put my mind to how that might work, and took it from there.’

Once the idea took hold and before he wrote a word, Fennessy arranged a meeting with Rogers to pitch the project. ‘We talked for about an hour: about where the record had come from, how he made it – that sort of stuff. And at the end of the meeting, he asked me: “So what have you got?” And I said, “Well, I kind of got nothing. But give me a week and I’ll flesh out a story.

So I wrote and sent him a four-page narrative, which he liked. One thing – he was very keen that the story would not be about him, and once he saw the story would be a complete fiction, he said, “Go on, have a crack.”

Although this is his first attempt to integrate music into his work, Fennessy already had drawn a bead on the best way to approach it. He had been Associate Director and Literary Manager at MTC a few years ago during the development of Poor Boy, the musical that Matt Cameron created integrating the songs of Tim Finn. Fennessy recognised the potential for songs to create the emotional weather for an otherwise realistic narrative. He also was influenced by Midsummer, by Scottish writer David Greig (Yellow Moon), whose small-scale story set in Edinburgh seemed to gain wider appeal through the universality of its pop-folk tunes. ‘It was written in the vernacular, set in a very specific postcode, yet went

seemed to me that What Rhymes, ‘ Itvery specifically a Melbourne story,

could explore … the love story of two people who come from different worlds. on to be translated and picked up by companies throughout Europe. It seemed to me that What Rhymes, very specifically a Melbourne story, could explore similar emotional territory, the love story of two people who come from different worlds.’

So What Rhymes with Cars and Girls will be a special type of musical: not Jesus Christ Superstar and certainly not, he jokes, What Rhymes with Guys and Dolls. Forget the big, brassy Broadway musical experience and think of something more reflective and emotional.

‘It will have a looser, rock feel to it’, Fennessy says. ‘The songs are very gentle. And I’ve written in a vernacular in accord with the lyrics that Tim Rogers wrote. These two characters are really trying to work out love, work out their problems, and, I think, to accord with the intimacy of the story, we won’t be swept into rock operatics.’

’

Those fans of Tim Rogers and You Am I will have the pleasure of seeing him perform in the show. He has re-arranged his songs and will lead the three-piece ensemble every night, but he won’t be singing. That will be the job of the two young performers Sophie Ross and Johnny Carr, spinning out the contemporary tale of class-crossed lovers.

Nevertheless, the show uses every song on the album and Fennessy resisted the temptation to sneak in material from Rogers’s other albums that might have suited his narrative better. ‘For people who know this record,’ he says, ‘it holds a special place in their hearts and I ended up feeling honour-bound to stick with the entire record.’ ▲ What Rhymes with Cars and Girls runs at the Fairfax Studio from 13 February to 28 March.

Aidan Fennessy spoke to Paul Galloway

MTC Season 2014 With our 2014 season slogan ‘Illuminate’, we promised to light up Melbourne with dazzling and dynamic theatre. As the year comes to an end and Season 2015 approaches, we thought it worth a look back at a terrific season full of drama and darkness, laughter and light.

The Speechmaker

Brent Hill, Erik Thomson, Sheridan Harbridge, Jane Harber, Kat Stewart, Toby Truslove and David James

Glengarry Glen Ross

Alex Dimitriades and Brett Cousins; (below left) Emma J Hawkins and Patrick Graham; (below right) Luke Ryan, Daniela Farinacci and Naomi Rukavina

Cock

Angus Grant and Tom Conroy

The Effect

Sigrid Thornton

PHOTOS: JEFF BUSBY

Big Bad Wolf

Yellow Moon

Complexity of Belonging

Pennsylvania Avenue Bernadette Robinson

Ghosts

Linda Cropper and Ben Pfeiffer

Once

Madeleine Jones and Tom Parsons

Marlin

Ashlea Pyke

Private Lives

Nadine Garner and Leon Ford

I’ll Eat You Last Miriam Margolyes

Neighbourhood Watch Robyn Nevin

The Sublime

Josh McConville and Anna Samson

Interesting developments Cybec Electric 2015

Michele Lee’s new play Moths has already undergone substantial development. An early draft had a rehearsed reading at Melbourne Workers Theatre two years ago, followed by a second reading at the Lawler Studio with funding from the Australia Council, auspiced by MTC. After a third draft was highly commended for the Griffin Playwriting Award in 2013, it received a Betty Burstall Commission and further support from Playwriting Australia and Griffin Theatre Company.

Another draft was presented and workshopped at the National Play Festival earlier this year – and now she feels that the play is close to being right.

In February, MTC will present what she hopes is a close-to-final draft as part of Cybec Electric 2015, our annual series of rehearsed readings.

Although it hasn’t been completely stress-free, Lee is generally comfortable with the long development process. It has helped her to clarify her evolving thoughts about the play. ‘I think if it was me just sitting at a desk writing, that would not have been the best way of developing it,’ she says, ‘It’s a very

around, interviewing twenty-five people, male and female, singly and in groups, about growing up as a first generation Australian in a liberal and sexualised culture. The reams of transcript material was interesting, but it wasn’t yet a play.

If art is the process of reordering raw experience, creating verbatim theatre is certainly an art.

‘At first it was a matter of cutting, pasting and truncating, just sorting through the chaos. Putting everything into the present tense. Doing that instantly raised questions about representation and authenticity, because you are creating an authentic document, you are reporting, but then you are also a playwright, creating. So if a segment had five voices, I might change them into two, just to simplify it for the audience.

It began some time ago as an idea for a piece of verbatim theatre. Having been raised in Australia with parents from a different culture (Hmong, from Laos), she wondered whether the confused and conflicted navigation of her sexual identity during her teens and twenties was common among young people of similar background. She decided to ask

‘The first drafts in 2012 were pure verbatim,’ she recalls, ‘snapshots of twenty-five individuals woven together, linked with a moth motif. It was maybe ninety-eight per cent transcript. But that slowly changed. Since the reading in June, it is now perhaps forty per cent verbatim.’

After extensive rewrites during PWA’s National Play Festival, Lee believes that she’s approaching the final draft. ‘During the festival I was responding to so much feedback and the play was changing so quickly, I sort of feel that I lost a firm grasp of it. So in the next couple of months, as I prepare for the [Cybec] reading, I will have a fresh look at the

Harry Tseng in Moths (National Play Festival)

think if it was me just sitting at a desk ‘ Iwriting, that would not have been the best way of developing it … ’ slippery work and I needed to see it moved and have the discussions with other people to keep a hand on it.’

imagination. She began to respond to the gravitational pull of fiction.

So you are always shaping and editing, very patiently and deliberately changing things around. I was inexperienced in the verbatim form, so it challenged me.

How far do you go?’

Lee was helped a great deal in the early drafts by director Gorkem Acaroglu, who had more experience in verbatim theatre and could guide her away from the pitfalls. But, even so, during the development process she found that the real life stories begin to spark her

play to make sure that it is what I was driving at. And then maybe after the reading it will be finished.’

Later she adds: ‘Actually, it will be ready.

Because I’ll be moving on and a play can’t stay forever in development purgatory.’

Moths by Michele Lee will be read as part of Cybec Electric 2015 on Friday 20 February at 7.30pm at The Lawler, and Saturday 21 February at 6pm, at the VCA Art Courtyard as part the SummerSalt Festival. ▲ Michele Lee spoke to Paul Galloway

PHOTO: SARAH WALKER

As the adage goes: plays are not written but rewritten.

Honing, fixing, tweaking and wholesale chucking out is the lot of most of today’s playwrights.

Consequently, theatre companies put in a great deal of time and resources to nurture new plays through successive drafts, workshops and public readings.

Brace yourself for the new Cybec Electric 2015 With scripts in hand, some of our best actors, led by terrific directors, present four new Australian plays in semi-staged readings. Preview the brave new worlds that may well grace MTC’s mainstage over the coming years. Don’t miss your chance to feel the shock of the new while the new is still raw.

Cybec Electric is only possible due to the support of Roger Riordan am and The Cybec Foundation.

Two of the Cybec readings form part of SummerSalt Festival, and take place in the VCA Art Courtyard.

Frogs Cry Wolf

by Dan Lee A comedy of great heart about escape and addiction.

Thursday 12 February 7.30pm Southbank Theatre, The Lawler Sunday 14 February, 2pm Southbank Theatre, The Lawler The Unknown Man on Somerton Beach

by Tobias Manderson-Galvin Based on one of Australia’s most famous unsolved crimes, this is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma and presented as a conundrum.

Friday 13 February, 7.30pm Southbank Theatre, The Lawler Saturday 14 February, 6pm VCA Art Courtyard, as part of SummerSalt Festival

PHOTO: DAVID HARRIS

Archimedes’ War

by Melissa Reeves A very modern comedy about violence, war and protecting the young.

Thursday 19 Feb, 7.30pm Southbank Theatre, The Lawler Saturday 21 Feb, 2pm Southbank Theatre, The Lawler Moths

by Michele Lee A play of riotous truths, furious invention and fearless honesty.

Friday 20 Feb, 7.30pm Southbank Theatre, The Lawler Saturday 21 Feb, 6pm VCA Art Courtyard, as part of SummerSalt Festival ▲

The arts throw a block party!

SummerSalt Festival 2015

i

n the dog days of summer the performing arts usually wind down. As the temperatures rise, who wants to be stuck indoors watching a show?

Audiences rightly turn their attention to the outdoors and other pleasures, to the beach, or cricket, or a picnic by the river and a good book beneath a tree.

Which is why the arts companies need a little boost in the summer.

Perhaps we need to venture out where the people are? Which is the idea behind the SummerSalt Outdoor Arts Festival that will run for five weekends from Friday 23 January to Saturday 21 February and range across the city’s arts precinct.

MTC is pleased to join our arts company neighbours to take part in the inaugural SummerSalt Festival and help turn the arts precinct into a creative playground for all ages to enjoy. There will be drama, music, dance, performance, interactive art, happenings, comedy, physical theatre and cabaret. And everyone on the block is involved: Melbourne Recital Centre, Australian Centre for Contemporary Arts, Arts Centre Melbourne, Chunky Move, Minister for the Arts, Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne Heidi Victoria with Puck Symphony Orchestra, the National Gallery of Victoria, Australian Ballet and the Victorian College of the Arts. Launching the festival a few weeks ago, the Minister for the Arts, Heidi Victoria, called it ‘the ultimate backyard party, celebrating summer, Melbourne creativity and our extraordinary arts and culture’.

The Festival’s Director, Kirsten Siddle, noted that the extraordinary collaboration of so many companies is a first for Melbourne, ‘as is the uniquely outdoor focus of the festival. SummerSalters can expect cross-pollinations of arts companies and exciting cultural mash-ups – a bit like Melbourne itself – happening in surprising places around the precinct. We hope that people will delight in SummerSalt and discover the city’s quirky artistic heart.’

MTC’s contribution to this BYO arts feast will be special al fresco performances of our annual Cybec Electric play readings, giving these new scripts plenty of fresh air and a dose of dappled sunlight. In the VCA Art Courtyard, Tobias MandersonGalvin’s play The Unknown Man on Somerton Beach will be performed on Saturday 14 February at 6pm, and Michele Lee’s Moths will be read on Saturday 21 February, also at 6pm. On your way to the readings you may notice the inflatable baby dinosaur that has attached itself to the Southbank Theatre. It is part of a series of large inflatable sculptures designed by Felipe Reynolds and Ed Boyle for the festival. At MTC, we have christened the dinosaur ‘Puck’ for its midsummer and Shakespearean associations. We also think it suits him. ▲ For a full schedule of events and activities, go to the festival’s website: www.summersalt.com.au.

Meet the team

a

Development

s you may know, Development is the area of MTC responsible for raising revenue from sources other than Box Office (which amounts to around 71.5% of our overall income) and Government grants (which amount to approximately 9% of our total income). The Department comprises three separate areas: Philanthropy, Corporate Partnerships, and Engagement and Events.

We have undergone some changes over the past year, with new staff joining the team and others changing roles.

We are delighted that the Development Team is now fully in place and settling into serving our valued donors and corporate partners.

Below is an overview of the new team.

Tiffany Lucas Development Director Tiffany joined MTC in November 2013. Prior to joining us, she had a career asa Corporate and Commercial lawyer primarily dealing in mergers and acquisitions.

As Development Director, her role includes setting MTC’s development strategy and overseeing the Development Team.

Sarah Kimball Philanthropy Manager Sarah moved to Melbourne and joined MTC in May this year.

Previously, she worked with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra for eight years.

Sarah’s role is to manage MTC’s philanthropy and donor programs. She’s passionate about helping people find ways to be part of the MTC story and bring their own passion to life both on and off stage.

For enquiries about donating or leaving a bequest to MTC please contact Sarah on 8688 0959 or at s.kimball@mtc.com.au.

Stephanie Convery Philanthropy Co-ordinator Stephanie has been at MTC for three years, beginning her career in the role of Executive Administrator under Ann Tonks, and moving to the role of Philanthropy Co-ordinator in August 2014. In addition to the responsibilities of donor administration in her current role, she also manages the Grants portfolio, writing grant applications and acquittals to funding bodies. For enquiries about any current donations please contact Stephanie on 8688 0954 or at s.convery@mtc.com.au.

Mandy Jones Engagement and Events Manager Prior to joining MTC two years ago, Mandy worked at Museum Victoria for ten years as Events Producer, and prior to that she managed an independent theatre company, and worked as a freelance writer and lighting designer. Mandy is responsible for managing the new MTC Members program and Dress Rehearsal Club. Additionally, she produces all of MTC’s special events including Opening Night events, Donor events and the MTC 2015 Season Launch.

Mandy can be contacted about Donor Events on 8688 0958 or at m.jones@ mtc.com.au; about MTC Membership at members@mtc.com.au; and about the Dress Rehearsal Club at dress@mtc.com.au.

Dean Hampel Corporate Partnerships Manager Dean started his role with MTC in April 2014 after working for eight years with the Melbourne International Jazz Festival. Dean manages all of MTC’s Corporate Partnerships and is passionate about building relationships between the arts and the corporate sector. For enquiries

about Corporate Partnerships please contact Dean on 8688 0952 or at d.hampel@mtc.com.au.

Ryan Nicolussi Corporate Partnerships Coordinator Having previously worked for MTC in Subscriptions, Ticketing, Philanthropy and at Southbank Theatre, Ryan is now part of the Corporate Partnerships team. In this role, Ryan looks after the delivery of Partner benefits, manages corporate events and assists in generating new partnership opportunities for MTC. For enquiries about Bespoke Events please contact Ryan on 8688 0951 or at r.nicolussi@mtc.com.au.

Michael Bingham VIP Ticketing Officer

Michael has worked with MTC for over seven years as VIP Ticketing Officer.

Prior to that he was at Ticketmaster.

Michael is technically part of the Ticketing Department, but is exclusively devoted to servicing VIPs (including our valued Donors) when ticket exchanges, replacements or additional tickets are required. For Donor ticket exchanges, replacements or additional ticket purchases, please contact Michael on 8688 0953 or at donorticketing@mtc.com.au.

The Development Department is dedicated to bringing you the service, communication and value you expect from MTC. We look forward to working with you over the coming year and sharing the exciting 2015 season with you.

Christmas break

Please note that the Development Department will take a break from 22 December to 5 January. If you need assistance with ticket exchanges, replacements or additional purchases during this period, please contact the MTC Box Office on 8688 0800. ▲

Miriam Margolyes with MTC’s Jurga Celikiene

The human canvas Corporate Partnerships

f

or the duration of I’ll Eat You Last, Miriam Margolyes will have a private make-up artist with her every night applying products supplied to the Company by our Partner The Heat Group. MTC’s Jurga Celikiene has been with the Company for seven years, creating the beautiful wigs and cosmetic palettes that adorn our actors on stage.

uses ivory with a yellow hue to create paleness rather than white make-up (‘White on white is fine, if you want to look like a clown.’) Similarly with hair styling, if a director asks for a black wig, it is likely that they will be provided with a dark brown one. ‘Dark brown hair is what they want actually! They just don’t realise until they see it under the lighting.’

Jurga honed her craft in Odessa, Ukraine, where she studied as a designer, learning a broad spectrum of skills from hairdressing to sculpture. Starting her professional career in television, Jurga has also done make-up design for films, magazines, ballet, drama and opera before settling in her current role at MTC.

PHOTOS: RYAN NICOLUSSI

It is an intimate process doing someone’s make-up. Jurga forms a close connection with her subjects over the five-week season, doing their make-up eight times per week. ‘I’m probably closest to the actors’, Jurga admits. ‘But Miriam and I are already good friends after working together on Realism.’ In addition to doing her make-up, Jurga also made the wig that Miriam wears each night, a painstakingly meticulous process that took a fortnight to complete.

Lighting design heavily influences the pigments Jurga uses on the actors.

Under white lighting, for example, she

Congratulations!

The Heat Group have been providing make-up for MTC productions for a number of years. The company exclusively distributes many household name make-up brands throughout Australia, including CoverGirl, Bourjois and the brand known as ‘the make-up of make-up artists’, Max Factor. Created

by Mr Max Factor himself, a visionary make-up artist, wig maker and inventor, the products are described by Jurga as being ‘more theatrical’.

Gillian Franklin, Managing Director of The Heat Group, is pleased to be able to provide this support to MTC. ‘It is always a pleasure to have our make-up used on stage. No two productions are ever the same and it’s lovely to see how our products help an actor create their character.’ Jurga concedes that actors would look a little unusual without having their make-up done. ‘You need to use make-up to make people look natural on stage’. And Miriam? ‘It is a big job – her character uses a lot of make-up!’ ▲

The methodology Jurga employs is always unique, as directors rely on her expertise and creativity. ‘Theatre makeup generally uses natural colours,’ Jurga explains. ‘I tend to use mascara and eyeliner the most, as well as thicker colour bases.’

If you would like to find out how you can integrate your brand with our unique money-can’t-buy experiences, please contact: Ryan Nicolussi Corporate Partnerships Coordinator (03) 8688 0951 r.nicolussi@mtc.com.au

Thanks to MTC Partner Central Equity, we are pleased to announce that Elaine Garner will be enjoying two nights luxury accommodation at a Melbourne Short Stay Apartment located in Southbank.

Heading Standfirst

Going global MTC Connect

particularly in the make-up of its audience and the stories we put on our stages. MTC Connect is a first step – an exchange of perspectives.

For 2015, our Ambassadors will be Tania Canas (representing the El Salvadorian community), Teame Ersie (Ethiopian), Rashma N Kalsie (Indian), Nadja Kostich (Serbian),

(Chilean), Marco Romero (Chilean), and Majid Shokar (Iraqi). Over the coming months they will meet MTC creative teams and staff, attend MTC shows, master classes and program briefings, and get to know each other.

Already the program has begun to generate connections and ideas, with MAV and MTC announcing the

I thought about what all of us run from, ‘ … what we leave behind, and what we will always take with us. ’

PROUD SPONSOR OF MTC

Vuyo Loko (South African), Tariro Mavondo (Zimbabwean), Diana Nguyen (Vietnamese), Rani Pramesti (Indonesian), Jaime Wilson Ramirez

commissioning of a new work called Pigeon. Working with members of the Papua New Guinean community, Connect Ambassador Nadja Kostich

PHOTO: PAUL GALLOWAY

They come from everywhere – from Zimbabwe to Chile – and therefore reflect the cosmopolitan nature of our city, rich in cultural diversity.

The twelve MTC Connect Ambassadors are performers and theatre-makers from a range of Melbourne’s cultural communities who have been brought into the Company to break down a few barriers and broaden the voices informing our artistic choices. Created earlier this year in collaboration with Multicultural Arts Victoria (MAV), the initiative comes out of a recognition that MTC needed to do more to reflect our changing city,

(inset left) has gathered around her a creative team, including fellow Ambassador Tariro Mavondo, to work on her concept for a multi-media work about women who are forced to leave their children in their country of origin.

‘Pigeon was inspired by three PNG women I met who fled their country due to domestic violence, each leaving a son there,’ says Kostich. ‘They navigated Melbourne as a trio, seeking safety and solace in their shared story.

I thought about what all of us run from, what we leave behind, and what we will always take with us.’

Already, Kostich and a team of artists from a variety of cultural backgrounds have recorded interviews and held community workshops. The team includes singers, actors, musicians, poets and video artists. The title Pigeon, Kostich says, comes from the homing instinct in all of us, our yearning for return, but is, of course, also a play on the word ‘pidgin’, the common language among PNG’s seven hundred dialects. And, as Kostich points out, it’s an apt description of such a culturally and artistically wide-ranging project: ‘finding the crossing points of many mediums to carry a message.’

MTC’s Literary Director Chris Mead, who is providing dramaturgical guidance to the developing work, is thrilled that ‘a program set up only a few months ago to open dialogue between the Company and a diverse group of theatre practitioners is beginning to create work that is drawing funding and generating interest.’

Both Mead and Kostich see Pigeon as a promising beginning for MTC Connect, a prototype project that other Connect Ambassadors can follow in coming years. ▲ Opposite: Tariro Mavondo, Yumi Umiumara, Appiah Annan and Ria Soemardjo at the Pigeon Workshop

Multi Award Winning Developer

Members Lounge takes flight MTC Members Program MTC is delighted to announce an exciting new partnership. Qatar Airways, the world’s five star airline, has recently signed on as a Major Partner of MTC, supporting our new Members Program and will present the Qatar Airways MTC Lounge, the centrepiece of the program.

Adam Radwanski, Qatar Airways Country Manager Australasia, says the partnership reflects the airline’s commitment to the arts, and its mission to promote Melbourne as a travel destination.

‘Qatar Airways has a long tradition of commitment to supporting organisations which gather excellence,’ he said, ‘and we are delighted to be supporting Australia’s leading theatre company. Partnering with Melbourne Theatre Company demonstrates our ongoing commitment to Melbournians.

Sharing and supporting our customers’ passions is key to our mission, and we plan to utilise this partnership to enhance the MTC Member experience with a custom designed lounge within Southbank Theatre for Members to enjoy before the show and during interval.’

Designed by Melbourne-based firm Design Office, the Qatar Airways MTC Lounge will be a sanctuary from the bustle of the foyers, giving Members an exclusive space to enjoy complimentary refreshments before performances in the Sumner and during interval. Known for its striking views of the Melbourne skyline, the space will also feature a dynamic and changing display of contemporary

1800 63 8888 (7 Days)

The all new Sanctuary Lounge on Qatar Airways’ A380 fleet

Australian artworks from Artbank showcased in mini curated exhibitions within the lounge. It’s sure to become a social hub for MTC Members, VIPs and visiting actors.

Tiffany Lucas, MTC Development Director believes the partnership with Qatar Airways reflects both companies’ reputations for excellence. ‘Both MTC and Qatar Airways provide premium, worldclass experiences to discerning and sophisticated consumers, so it’s a natural fit. We are truly delighted to be aligning with a pre-eminent organisation such as Qatar Airways to provide an exclusive lounge experience to MTC Members.’

The Qatar Airways MTC Lounge opens on Saturday 31 January for the first preview performance of Jumpy, and will operate one hour before all mainstage evening performances at the Sumner Theatre on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, and during interval (where applicable). ▲

Special offers Summer 2015 Exhibition Package

Opening Night Package

NTLive Screening

Ticket Package

ACMI’s China Up Close

From December 2014

Visit ACMI this summer and immerse yourself in a series of poetic, dreamlike sequences in Yang Fudong’s Filmscapes.

Declared to be ‘one of the most internationally respected artists working in China today’ by Time Out New York, his multi-channel film installations reflect a fascination with international cinema, in particular, film noir. This free exhibition forms part of China Up Close, a truly rich program of exhibitions, talks, live events and films exploring Chinese art, culture and society.

Find out more at acmi.net.au.

For your chance to win a special prize pack comprising a stunning exhibition catalogue plus two double film passes valid for any title screening as part of China Up Close, email your name and subscriber details to offers@mtc.com.au with CHINA UP CLOSE in the subject line, or call 03 8688 0900, by Friday 19 December 2014.

I, Malvolio

6 January 2015

Acclaimed in London and New York for his one-man shows for all ages, Tim Crouch shoves Shakespeare’s minor characters into the spotlight to hilarious effect. I, Malvolio is a riotous rant from a man ‘notoriously wronged’, as Crouch re-imagines Twelfth Night through the eyes of Shakespeare’s most pent-up steward. A story of lost dignity, prudery, practical jokes and bullying, this act of storytelling alchemy draws us deep into the madness of Shakespeare’s classic comedy.

For your chance to win an Opening Night experience at Arts Centre Melbourne with a double pass to I, Malvolio and a $50 Curve Bar voucher for a pre-show treat or post-show drink on Tuesday 6 January, 7.30pm, email your name and subscriber details to offers@mtc.com.au with MALVOLIO in the subject line by Sunday 21 December 2014.

Of Mice and Men

14 January 2015

James Franco (127 Hours, Milk) and Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids) star in the hit Broadway production Of Mice and Men, filmed on stage by National Theatre Live.

This landmark stage adaptation of John Steinbeck’s classic novel is a powerful portrait of the American spirit and a heartbreaking testament to the bonds of friendship. Directed by Anna D Shapiro (Broadway’s August: Osage County), Of Mice and Men was nominated for two Tony Awards, including Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for Chris O’Dowd.

For your chance to win one of fifty double passes to a preview screening of Of Mice and Men on Wednesday 14 January, 6.30pm at Cinema Nova, email your name and subscriber details to offers@mtc.com.au with MICE in the subject line by Sunday 21 December 2014.

SummerSalt Festival

From 23 January 2015

SummerSalt – the outdoor arts festival you’ll flip for! Over five extraordinary summer weekends, the Melbourne Arts Precinct is turned on its head. Music, dance, circus, theatre and art burst into life and spill out onto the streets of Southbank. This inventive program of events is a unique and creative collaboration of Melbourne’s leading arts organisations. During the day, families can explore fun free and low-cost events such as interactive theatre, puppetry, storytelling, giant art installations and hands-on workshops. In the evenings, Southbank will come alive with exciting outdoor concerts, street-art, theatre and cinema until late! Visit summersaltfestival.com.au for all the details and join in the party!

For your chance to win a SummerSalt ticket package include a double pass to Scotch + Soda, Pixel Mountain, Exxopolis, Lake Street Dive and Divenire, email your name and subscriber details to offers@mtc.com.au with SUMMERSALT in the subject line by Sunday 21 December 2014.