Scenes | Edition 2 - 2017

EDITION 2 – 2017

Marion Potts Women in front

Simon Phillips Bloody, bold and resolute

Simon Burke The precision of farce

Lally Katz Living the story

Rashma N. Kalsie Finding the rhythm

Welcome One of the things I love about being Executive Director of Melbourne Theatre Company is having the opportunity to meet, work alongside and talk to a diverse array of passionate and creative theatre lovers.

Whether I’m talking to one of the MTC team, an artist, subscriber, donor, school group or one of our corporate partners, what strikes me time and time again is that everyone has their own MTC story – something that makes the Company unique and special to them.

On pages 6 and 7 we hear from nine individuals about their connection with the Company and why MTC holds such an important place in their lives. This group represents the diverse collection of people who make up our MTC family and remind me how our story begins with you.

MTC has been a part of my life since the late 80s seeing amazing theatre at Russell St Theatre – I must have been a toddler! The Company now sits at the heart of one of the world’s great arts precincts in one of the most vibrant cities of the world. It has been through your support, passion and love of MTC that we continue to evolve and be relevant for generations of Melburnians.

MTC’s funding comes from a variety of sources and many people are surprised to learn the breakdown. Around 56% comes from ticket sales, 10% from corporate partnerships, 15% from other sources such as Southbank Theatre, 9% from our generous donors and only 8% from the government.

We are incredibly grateful for the support we receive from our loyal subscribers through your annual subscriptions, but because ticket sales cover just over half of our operating costs, the funding we receive from government, corporate partnerships and donors must do a lot of heavy lifting – subsidising part of every ticket plus covering the costs of all our off-stage activities including our educational, artist development and innovation initiatives.

Your donation to MTC plays a crucial and vital role to the Company. It allows us to present the world class theatre you see on our stages, and support initiatives such as play developments, writing commissions, subsidised tickets for disadvantaged schools, our Women in Theatre Program and education activities.

This year through our tax appeal we are asking you to help us continue MTC’s story into the future. Your support will help contribute to MTC’s sustainable growth so that we can continue to create remarkable theatre for everyone.

For more information about making a tax deductable donation visit mtc.com.au/yourmtc Thank you.

Virginia Lovett Executive Director

Prompt Corner

CASTING NEWS From left to right: Peter Paltos, Geraldine Hakewill, Sonya Suares, Mandy McElhinney

Our upcoming shows welcome some fantastic actors to our stages - some familiar faces and a number of new ones too.

Peter Paltos, having appeared in MTC NEON productions, makes his MTC mainstage debut playing Ichabod in Lally Katz’s Minnie & Liraz.

Geraldine Hakewill (Chimerica) will star alongside Jai Courtney and a stellar cast in Macbeth as the inimitable Lady Macbeth. Belinda McClory (The Waiting Room) and Mandy McElhinney (Love Child) will join Nadine Garner (The Distance) on stage in Di and Viv and Rose.

Sonya Suares (Assassins), Rohan Mirchandaney (Hotel Mumbai) and Sahil Saluja (The Colour of Darkness) make up Melbourne Talam’s cast, and Michael Frayn’s worldfamous play Noises Off will see nine actors take to the Playhouse stage on 8 July. Amongst them are Emily Goddard (The Boy at the Edge of Everything), James Saunders (House Husbands), Steven Tandy (Romeo and Juliet) and Nicki Wendt (The Last Man Standing).

Cover: Bert LaBonté, Eddie Perfect and MTC Ambassador Fatimah Scenes 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 Sarah Corridon ART DIRECTOR Emma Wagstaff GRAPHIC DESIGNER Helena Turinski COVER IMAGE Jo Duck Melbourne Theatre Company is a department of the University of Melbourne.

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Women in front A longtime champion of female theatremakers, Marion Potts returns to MTC to direct a play written by a woman, about women.

Marion Potts

Leah Vandenberg and Noni Hazlehurst in Grace (2009)

After last directing Grace for MTC in 2009, Marion returns to the Company to direct Di and Viv and Rose by awardwinning British playwright Amelia Bullmore. Di and Viv and Rose charts the turbulent waters of a friendship between three women from different walks of life. Their ties stretch, almost to breaking point, over the course of 20 years, but something indissoluble keeps them together.

A major impetus for Marion to direct this work was a rather simple test – the Bechdel test. That is, a benchmark for works of fiction that present more than one scene involving two women, who aren't speaking about a man.

‘That actually makes this play quite radical, and certainly rare,’ Marion says. ‘That isn't to say that there aren't scenes that do refer to men, or that the material won't interest men. But it's a perspective on the world that we don't often experience in the theatre.’

Marion currently sits as Director of Theatre for the Australia Council – our country’s official arts funding body which, in 2012, released a report that shone a floodlight on the reality of female representation working in mainstage theatre. The report showed that an average of 25 per cent of productions at major arts companies were directed by women, and 21 per cent were written by women.

The report ignited a series of administrative changes at leading companies, and saw the introduction of strategic female-led training initiatives to redress gender imbalance on and off Australian stages. Five years down the track, Marion, along with other arts industry leaders, continues to fight for equal representation in all areas of the industry.

Of course this extends to the stories being programmed and the representation of women in the narratives we digest. ‘[Di and Viv and Rose] sheds a different kind of light on friendship,’ Marion says. ‘Female friendship is often mythologised. Women have needed to represent positive images of themselves, so understandably [female friendship] has been depicted as indestructible and unequivocally positive.

‘This friendship is not perfect. The strength of the friendship isn't due to its solidity, so much as its flexibility – its ability to bend and move with the gale forces that hit it. It survives despite these and because of the three individuals involved, because of their complementarity, rather than their commonality. Having said that, removing one element from the equation, puts it at real risk. This is what is moving.’

Despite the inclusion of several devastating, real-life twists and turns in this narrative, playwright Amelia Bullmore focusses on her characters’ resilience, rather than their unravelling. This play explores opportunity, maturity and human values – subjects that affect us all, Marion says.

‘There is real talent in a playwright who is able to hold the gaze of these themes uncompromisingly, but in a way that harnesses our hope rather than our despair. And who gives us lots to laugh at along the way.’

In a text laden with so much subject material, with three equal leads, Marion says her role as a director is to steer her cast to work as an ensemble. ‘Listening is as important as speaking in this play. And they are nothing without each other,’ she says.

The story transpires over two decades and elicits all the growth and change you’d expect in this passage of time.

On its missive of feminism – Marion believes this play isn’t black and white in its messaging. The characters Di, Viv and Rose are going about their lives as women, however the repercussions of their choices, and the way the world responds to these choices, is where the feminist commentary can be expelled. ‘All [these characters] are doing is following their heart and listening to their instincts, but somehow that's a bigger deal for women, it's a harder road,’ Marion says.

‘So if there is a message, and it certainly aligns with my own beliefs, it’s that the answer is not to stop doing, or to short-change your own agency; it’s to keep making choices, while working on those systemic things that will make their consequences more equitable, and to support each other until they are.’

Marion will be leading a cast and creative team that is, as she points out ‘unusual’. A team that is outnumbered by women to men. Three prominent Australian actors – Nadine Garner, Belinda McClory and Mandy McElhinney – play Di, Viv and Rose respectively.

‘There is no shortage of talent both on and offstage, so that makes the prospect of rehearsals very exciting,’ Marion says. ‘I am most looking forward to seeing how this story develops in the hands of three such interesting actors and women, to the conversations that will inform their characterisation, to their strength and creative daring.’

Di and Viv and Rose by Amelia Bullmore plays at Southbank Theatre, The Sumner 12 August – 16 September.

Bloody, bold and resolute Simon Phillips lets classic stories speak to our times.

of power. The idea that there is violence in the world is not something the play is at odds with. It begins and ends in battle. The issue is an unjust crime and unjust violence.

The battles at the beginning and end are justified for the protagonists, but what Macbeth does – both to win power and maintain it – is not. It’s a terrible crime, it unravels his conscience, and it unravels the conscience of his wife.

Why do you think humans like to watch the dismantling or complete disintegration of another human?

We like to see people reaping the rewards or suffering the consequences of their actions. I think so often in life we don’t see that. We see people doing great things and not necessarily getting the acknowledgement they deserve for them. Or we see great injustices being perpetrated and the offender not being punished; or at least we feel as though they’re not being punished. We see people behaving very badly and not being held to account. So I think that in drama, or in any form of storytelling really, what’s comforting is that people get their just desserts. They reap the rewards or the consequences of their actions. And here we have the fascination of watching people do something that they know to be wrong. They know it’s wrong even as they are doing it. Watching that come unstuck, with the added juice of seemingly impossible premonitions in Macbeth, makes for great drama.

Simon Phillips

Ewen Leslie and Robert Menzies in Hamlet (2011)

Can you tell us about the role Shakespeare has played in your life?

I became acquainted with Shakespeare really early on.

We had the complete works at home and I started reading it when I was quite young. I always felt like I had an inroad to it. I just connected to it on a kind of blood level. I was such a nerd, I used to listen to recordings of the plays like other people listened to pop music. Auckland University did an outdoor Shakespeare every year so I would partake in that … it’s just always been part of my life. The verse reverberates so vividly and the plays get to the heart of humanity with such muscular theatricality – it’ll always be my first theatre love.

You have most recently directed Hamlet (2011) and Richard III (2010) for MTC, both of which were modernised adaptations – can we expect something similar for Macbeth?

Yes, I generally feel with Shakespeare, if what the audience is seeing makes immediate sense to them, it helps with the language. So if the visual language is immediately accessible, then the complexities of Shakespearean text, which can be daunting sometimes, are made a little bit easier. Macbeth is particularly interesting, because it can sit comfortably in a few periods of history. There are plenty of contemporary examples of highly mythologised, broadsword stories, like Game of Thrones, so right now the original period might actually be quite popular. In contemporary productions [Macbeth] is most often and obviously applied to the great dictators of the 20th century and the connections there are certainly compelling, but in the end I just thought I might as well take the plunge and bring [this adaptation] slam bang into 2017.

Macbeth lives in a world of witches and ghosts and eerie happenings, but the story is also set in a real time and place – 11th century Scotland. How mythologised will your production of Macbeth be?

Well, in 11th century Scotland, as in Shakespeare’s England, witches and ghosts were considered very real parts of life.

I do think the supernatural elements present a dilemma for any contemporary version of the play, because we no longer have that general belief in the supernatural. But I think it’s a mistake to try and entirely rationalize the supernatural elements of this play. There’s a certain thrill

in Macbeth being given prophecies that then come to pass.

Obviously some of these prophecies Macbeth has a hand in. If someone tells you you’re going to be king, not everyone goes off and kills the king. But Macbeth does.

In other words he himself ensures that that prophecy comes true. But later in the play he’s given supernatural warnings that he has no control over, and they prove to be his ultimate undoing. I don’t want that to be washed out of the play.

Shakespeare’s language can be dense and hard to digest for first time audiences – will this production be accessible to new audiences and young people?

I think it’s a good Shakespeare for young people. It’s very fast moving, it’s visceral in its movement and it has a great spookiness about it. There are a lot of very gripping elements. One of my abiding rules when I’m approaching Shakespeare is that I like to think of young people going into it; of it being an experience for them. I think of the school kids sitting in the audience and try to make sure they’re not bored. And I figure that quite a lot of my adult audiences might be in the same boat - people who were put off Shakespeare when they were at school. I’m trying to make it visually and intrinsically exciting for these people.

In that respect I guess the more obvious thrills lie in the play’s military sequences, its incidents of violence and of course the witches. But the most brilliantly observed sections of the play are about Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship. It’s so superbly elucidated and conceived, I always say that if you took away the fact they were grappling with the decision to kill someone or not, and made it a more everyday dilemma, then the gender politics and the relationship politics that go on are totally contemporary. They defy time, they’re so strongly drawn.

I do think it’s a gripping show that young people will love.

Macbeth is an exceptionally violent story. Are you interested in exploring the human nature of violence?

I think the play is predicated on an acceptance that people are violent. Violence doesn’t make them good or bad per se. In fact, one could argue that what makes the play a tragedy is that it’s about about a great soldier, who makes a terrible leader. I think what the play examines is what makes people commit a crime against humanity and the ramifications of that crime. And the escalating corruption

Do you have a favourite line from the play?

There are so many that resonate with me. It’s jam-packed with the most amazing metaphors. Of course everyone knows the ‘Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow’ speech. But in that same area of the play he says ‘My way of life is fallen into the sear, the yellow leaf' – isn’t that wonderful? At the beginning of the play he says ‘I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition,’ and then half way through, chillingly, he says ‘I am in blood stepped in so far, that should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er.’ So the entire progress of his journey is expressed in these compelling images.

I’m sure you know of all the theatre superstitions surrounding this Scottish play – including the belief that Shakespeare himself put a curse on it so that only he could direct it. Do you believe in superstitions?

I don’t think of myself as a very superstitious person, which is probably asking for something terrible to happen.

I always thought one of the most attractive arguments for why Macbeth was supposed to be unlucky was because it was always Shakespeare’s most popular play, so if a theatre company announced a production of Macbeth it was a signal to the actors that the company was in financial trouble. I don’t mean the current production of course – MTC’s in magnificent shape – but historically the reason it was known for being unlucky was in fact because it was lucky, and a cash cow for theatre companies. That said, I’ve heard plenty of doom-laden Macbeth anecdotes, but I’m hoping we avoid them in this case.

What are you most looking forward to about Macbeth at MTC in 2017?

I just can’t wait to get my teeth stuck into some Shakespeare again. It kind of refuels me. And I’ve got a great company lined up – I’m excited to work with Jai [Courtney] and indeed all these terrific actors – so I think we’re all rearing to go; to see how visceral and exciting we can make it.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare plays at Southbank Theatre, The Sumner from 5 June – 15 July.

The precision of farce Simon Burke has spent the better part of 2017 slamming doors and tripping over.

Farce wasn’t necessarily at the top of Simon Burke’s priority list for 2017. However, between his leading role in Declan Greene’s The Homosexuals, Or ‘Faggots’, which played at Malthouse Theatre and Griffin Theatre earlier this year, and Michael Frayn’s timeless classic Noises Off, a co-production between Queensland Theatre and MTC, Simon will end up spending eight months of his year performing this enduring genre of comedy.

Simon Burke

‘You’re always on when you’re acting, but you have to be 500 per cent on when you’re doing farce,’ he says. ‘To work on two pieces, one that’s brand new, but taken all the traditional elements of farce, and then go straight into possibly the greatest modern farce ever written …

It’s a really nice tie in for me.’

Simon says his stint at Malthouse Theatre was like running on a treadmill for 90 minutes every night, in front of a live audience, certainly honing his performance fitness for Noises Off. ‘What I found from the rehearsals of Homosexuals was that precision has to be in every compartment. It’s not just physical precision, but vocal. Obviously the script of

Noises Off is tried and true and it couldn’t be improved on, but performance always can. The rigour of the writing of someone like Michael Frayn means that unless every single thing is powering, it’s just not going to work.’

For Simon, it was a production of A Flea in her Ear, starring a fresh-faced Alan Cumming on the West End, which inspired him to achieve a similar calibre of performance. ‘I didn’t know who he was at the time but I remember looking at him and thinking, wow.’

Around the same time, Simon made his own West End debut starring opposite Dame Judi Dench for the National Theatre in London. The production was A Little Night Music – a revival of Stephen Sondheim’s farcical romance, staged at the Olivier Theatre for an eleven-month run.

‘I was unbelievably fortunate to play opposite Judi Dench in that. To watch her comic timing or the way she would change the inflection on a single syllable of a word; to watch the way she worked both physically and vocally was one of best experiences I’ve ever had.’

Simon’s appearance in A Little Night Music taught him the relevance of maintaining truth in comedy. ‘You always try and be truthful with roles, but I think with farce it’s more important than anywhere else. You have to be absolutely real.’

The idea of maintaining truthfulness in a farcical role is difficult, he says. ‘I always think, if this crazy thing happened to me, how would I actually react? Farce is just real characters in stupid situations. So no matter how crazy the situation gets it has to come from a place of truth.’

The misconception of people thinking comedy is easy is frustrating, says Simon. ‘I think people think that if they’re having fun, you must be having fun. And I love what I do, but you can ask anyone, comedy is the hardest of them all.’

(right) Libby Munro, Simon Burke and Ray Chong Nee in Noises Off

Proud partner of Melbourne Theatre Company

Noises Off by Michael Frayn runs at Arts Centre Melbourne, Playhouse from 8 July – 12 August.

Philanthropy

Our stories begin with you Everyone has a story at Melbourne Theatre Company. MTC bestows a culture where ideas bloom into bold artistic endeavours and theatre is created to inspire every generation.

The following nine people share their MTC story.

Eddie Perfect – Playwright, Vivid White Eddie Perfect’s MTC story started with his 2013 black-comedy The Beast, a play that blew the lid off MTC audience expectations and seared Eddie’s wry style of satirical comedy – like a branding iron – into the minds of Melbourne theatrelovers. Eddie says the pattern of his career up until that point had involved producers asking for ‘edgy’ work, which he produced in spades, only for them to lose their nerve in the final hour and pull the reigns on his creative vision.

However, working for MTC under the artistic direction of Brett Sheehy has been a different story, Eddie says. ‘I pitched MTC my idea for The Beast, and within 15 minutes Brett said, “Ok, write that, give it to me, let’s do that.’’ Brett [has been] a real champion of my work, and of me … I have so much love and respect for him, because it would have been very easy for him to say no.’

Eddie is now finessing his highly anticipated 2017 production Vivid White, which commences workshops in a matter of weeks. ‘It’s a story about Melbourne, for Melbourne,’ he says. ‘I’m so gobsmacked by what an amazing city this is … I want to write a story about my city and the things that I know. Having done something quite risky with The Beast, and having it pay off, means you can push the boat out even further with confidence. I’m just gonna swing for the fences on this one and go for something completely bizarre and strange. I can’t wait to get into production … it’s going to be carnage and mayhem.’

Kerry Saxby – Technical Manager Lighting & Sound Kerry Saxby is one of MTC’s longest serving employees, celebrating 29 years with the Company in 2017. After finishing school in North Queensland, Kerry took up an apprenticeship in industrial technology and went to work in the mines. ‘When you’re on the edge of the Tanami Desert in the backblocks of the Northern Territory, you think about what else you could do. I saw an advertisement for NIDA in the West Australian, and applied.’ Since his initial days seconding for the Company, Kerry has worked on technical elements of approximately 350 shows.

One show that stands out above the rest is Miss Julie. ‘It was the right time and we had a fantastic company. MTC gives me the opportunity to work with creative people who have amazing ideas … and it’s given me the opportunity to fulfil my own ideas.’

Martina Murray – Producer Martina Murray’s story at MTC began when she was eight years old in a 1990 production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. After successfully auditioning for Rodger Hodgman at St Martins Youth Theatre with a poem by A.A Milne, Halfway Down, Martina went on to play one of the no-neck monsters, sharing the stage with actors such as Robert Menzies and Bud Tingwell. Martina went on to study production at VCA before embarking on a successful freelance career in Stage Management and eventually assuming her role as MTC’s Producer. ‘The heart of the Company inspires me,’ she says. ‘People have always been incredibly generous here with their knowledge sharing and encouragement. There is incredible skill within MTC’s core staff and a lot of pride and attention to detail in the work. With that level of care comes the desire to share it and pass it on, and that’s been incredibly valuable. I think of MTC as a place that’s bursting with opportunity.’

Philanthropy Fatimah, Hayley and Alex – MTC Ambassadors Fatimah (left), Hayley (centre) and Alex (right) are Year 12 Drama and Theatre Studies students, and graduates of the 2016 MTC Ambassador Program.

All three can envisage careers working in professional theatre and credit their year-long participation in MTC’s Ambassador Program as the lighthouse to guide their professional decision-making.

‘I think the people that we’ve met and the friendships that we’ve formed are such a big part of what the Ambassador Program is,’ Hayley says. ‘It wasn’t just about going to see theatre. It was about the people who were involved at every aspect.’

While Hayley would like to work in Stage Management, Fatimah can see herself on stage. ‘I had this vision of wanting to be an actor. I got into MTC, I saw it in the works, and that gave me hope. It seemed out of reach and then when I got here it became so possible. You could see everyone getting into their jobs and I thought, “This could be me.”’ For Alex, learning how productions are produced from page to stage was the biggest highlight. ‘To learn about all the opportunities and careers available in theatre that aren’t just acting or directing was fascinating.

There’s a story for everyone at MTC.’ Fatimah, Hayley and Alex are now gearing up for their end-of-year VCE performance assessments before embarking on the next great chapter in their lives.

Bert LaBonté – Actor For Bert LaBonté, the MTC story began 20 years ago in a walk-on role where he said four lines, in the dark, wearing a head-torch. However, in 2006, he returned to the MTC stage in a role that would redefine his career and mark the beginning of a steadfast relationship with the Company. The show was a new production of the two-time Tony Award-winning musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee – fresh from Broadway where it premiered the previous year. ‘It was just one of those shows. It was a hit … I made life-long friends … It was an unbelievable thing to be a part of with an incredible cast,’ Bert says.

It was in the dressing room he shared with fellow actor David Campbell that Bert experienced a psychological shift in the way he viewed his career in performing arts, and the industry as a whole. ‘[David] taught me so many lessons about how to enjoy your craft, and what you’re doing, and the fact it may not be here forever. That’s where my career turned, I said “Don’t put so much pressure on yourself.” So I’ve taken all the pressure off and I’ve worked ever since.’

‘MTC’s a huge part of my life and I’m supremely grateful for it. I count myself as very, very lucky and privileged to be a part of this family, and to be part of this group who are constantly giving me opportunities to do amazing things. How could you not be grateful for that? There’s a real human element that goes beyond just a working relationship.

You feel very lucky to be around people like that, who look after you.’

Heather and Laurel – Donors & Subscribers Sisters Heather Finnegan and Laurel Young-Das have been attending plays at MTC for over 20 years. However, it was a tour of the Company’s headquarters that fully ignited their passion for theatre and encouraged them to become Donors. ‘We fell in love with the magic of wardrobe and set design,’ Heather says.

‘That tour prompted us to become Donors. It made us recognise and appreciate the quality and effort required … The selection of materials and the accessories are exquisite.’ For both sisters, it is the intimate engagement with actors that live theatre provides, that keep them returning every season. ‘There’s the ability to see words come to life,’ Heather says.

From their early days performing traditional plays under the tutelage of forwardthinking nuns, Laurel and Heather now appreciate the full gamut of contemporary drama. ‘We consider that we have been further educated in what it takes to deliver a play,’ Laurel says. ‘With MTC, we’ve progressed to being more challenged by new theatrical concepts, which has inspired a lot of discussion.’

With your support of MTC’s Annual Tax Appeal, we can ensure that Melbourne Theatre Company remains a vibrant and integral part of this great city for generations to come. Learn more and share your story at mtc.com.au/yourmtc

Living the story Wherever Lally Katz turns, she finds another character.

Lally Katz

Robyn Nevin alongside Megan Holloway in Neighbourhood Watch (2014)

Lally Katz is one of Melbourne’s most prolific and produced playwrights. She has two world premieres at major theatre companies this year, while her operatic libretto The Rabbits toured Australia in 2016 for Opera Australia. There’s little this writer won’t explore in terms of subject matter, and almost all of it mirrors her real life.

Lally’s most recent play Minnie & Liraz is a work commissioned by Australian media executive and composer Kim Williams through the Australian Writer’s Guild, for a theatre company of Lally’s choice. ‘I sat on the commission for two years; waiting for the right thing to write about … and finally it was getting too embarrassing seeing Kim at events when I still owed him a play. Then my grandparents passed away and I realised it had to be this play.’

Lally’s grandmother’s dedication to bridge became the inspiration she needed to tell this story. ‘I always found the world of it interesting … I started researching more about it and found it was this very complex world. The relationship between bridge partners is so intense.’

In Lally’s explorations of the game, she discovered there were few partnerships that warranted more drama.

Lally’s self-described obsession with her elderly neighbour Ana inspired the plot for her play Neighbourhood Watch and paved the path for similar character studies in Minnie & Liraz. ‘Elderly characters have such a wealth of experience and stories behind them. They’ve been through wars, lost loved ones. They’ve seen a world that a lot of us have only heard about.’

Lally confesses most of her characters are exaggerated versions of people in her real life. ‘I take little things from people in life, mix it all around with my imagination and what I think will work dramatically and comically, and create the characters from there. The character of Rachel is sort of an exaggerated version of how I saw myself at the time. Although she’s much darker I think. She’s bracing herself for a life alone and spinsterhood. I took some of my oddest mannerisms and exaggerated them and gave them to her.’

Listening to people’s stories has always been her best character access point, she says. ‘I guess the only way you can ever really get inside any character’s head is to talk to people.’ By hearing their stories, Lally felt able to imagine what their hearts and minds might say. ‘I have just moved into an apartment building full of elderly Russian Jews. I can’t believe my luck! I have so many stories and characters right here.’

‘My whole life is being a writer. Everything I do, I do to get a story, to learn about a character or to have an experience that I can write about.’

Minnie’s commitment to match-making is also based closely on Lally’s life experiences. Whilst penning this play, she was losing confidence in modern dating. ‘I didn’t think that I would meet anyone right for me [and] a lot of those feelings went into the character of Rachel, Minnie’s granddaughter.’ Years earlier, Lally’s grandmother conspired to set up her ‘very handsome and brilliant (but very shy)’ cousin with the granddaughter of another elderly resident at their retirement home. They later married, which acted as the inspiration for Rachel and Ichabod’s romance. It is worth noting that Lally also met the right person, who she married in Las Vegas in February.

When Lally isn’t finding inspiration in her everyday life, she’s learning and being encouraged by her Australian playwriting peers. ‘I love Australian theatre writing.

Honestly, that has been my biggest influence over the years.’ From the age of 18, new Australian works have been guiding Lally’s ability to produce mainstage productions that speak to broad audiences.

For Lally, a good script relies on a good setting as much as it does its characters. There’s much to discover about the people at Autumn Road Retirement Village. If Minnie & Liraz has one major message, it would be for Lally’s audience to appreciate the elderly people in their lives.

‘They won’t always be there. And when they go, so many stories leave with them,’ she says. ‘Most of all, I would love [my audience] to have fun and go on the journey with the characters. I’d like them to go home feeling as though they’ve met new people and that they like them – even if their behaviour is a little bad sometimes!’

Minnie & Liraz plays at Arts Centre Melbourne, Fairfax Studio from 12 May – 24 June.

Finding the rhythm Rashma N. Kalsie on the magnitude of moving.

Rashma N. Kalsie

Rohan Mirchandaney, Sonya Suares and Sahil Saluja in Melbourne Talam

Melbourne Talam started as an embryonic work in the office of MTC Literary Director, Chris Mead. ‘Talam’ comes from the Sanskrit word for rhythm or beat and evolved off the back of Rashma’s first play The Lost Dog; a work which also studied integration and immigration. Chris encouraged Rashma to keep working on this particular story, which explored three Indian immigrants trying to find the beat of their new city, Melbourne.

‘You have to time it right. If you follow the beat of the city, your life never goes off key.’

‘I only had a paragraph at the time,’ Rashma says. However, Chris kept probing her until that one-paragraph evolved into a series of readings; first presented at MTC’s NEON Festival in 2015, then at Cybec Electric in 2016. This year, Melbourne Talam will have its world premiere at Southbank Theatre, The Lawler, before touring regional Victoria and Launceston.

to Melbourne to exercise caution. Rashma recalls the anxiety she experienced when her brother would not come home after sunset. ‘I would really worry … he witnessed an incident himself where an Indian student was beaten up on the Dandenong train line.’

For Rashma, having her play presented at MTC felt like the only sensible option given the fact her dialogue had evolved in the rehearsal rooms and corridors of MTC HQ. She explains, ‘After the Cybec readings we had a bit of a conflict [between the creative team]. Some people said, “Let’s go with whichever company takes us on,” and I always thought – being idealistic – that since [Melbourne Talam] had grown in this Company – in this place – this was its first home. I waited and I tried everyone’s patience.’

When Rashma received an email from MTC’s Head of Education and Families to say the Company wanted to program Melbourne Talam, Rashma felt a sense of homecoming. ‘I said, “Now the play has found its home and it’s where it belongs.”’

Programming Melbourne Talam as an Education production means Rashma’s story will reach her preferred audience – young people. ‘The future of this industry is [them], and that’s where you’re going to make a difference.

Think about the impact you’re going to have. Younger people are the ones that have to understand where other people are coming from. So that got me really excited.’

The playwright’s first inspirations for this script came from sharing a two-bedroom flat on St Kilda Road with her husband, their six-month-old daughter, her brother and four male Indian students in their early twenties. Her small family’s migration to Melbourne in 2007 coincided with an ugly spate of racial attacks targeted at Indian males.

This vilification played out in a series of assaults, which sparked major protests and made headlines all around the world. The Indian Government issued a travel advisory at the time, specifically warning Indians who were travelling

This period of racial isolation deeply affected her community in Melbourne. Some people went home, she says, while others stayed and fought to make a life for themselves in a place where they felt ostracised. Rashma clearly remembers the intense insecurity and self-doubt her male Indian peers felt when they first arrived in Melbourne. ‘I started investigating the plight of Indian students [a decade down the track] after I stumbled on a story about an Indian student who had gone missing from Dandenong. As I probed deeper, I read about a suicide.

I talked to a journalist at SBS who told me there had been many more cases.’

Rashma started to interview Indian students in Melbourne and began to research the notion of dispossession; what it means to feel unwelcome in a new place and permanently reminded of your otherness. If there’s one thing this playwright would like people to take away from her play Melbourne Talam, it’s that it isn’t easy to be an immigrant.

‘There’s a lot of alienation. And it would be good if we were accepted for how we are; with our accents, with our clothes, with our idiosyncrasies. We do try to fit in, but we can’t. It’s not easy. And for Indians I would like to say, there’s no shame in going back home if it doesn’t work out.

There’s no shame in that.’

Given Melbourne is home to India’s largest migrant population in Australia, Rashma believes there needs to be a greater emphasis on telling these people’s stories.

‘It’s the most important thing. We should be doing it all the time, because there are so many of us here and Indian doesn’t mean Indian, it means a whole lot of other people too. From the subcontinent and other places. These are universal stories because they’re migrant stories and this is happening all over the world. The world is closing in

and building walls, so if the arts don’t tell these stories who will?’

The Melbourne Talam cast, Rohan Mirchandaney, Sahil Saluja and Sonya Suares have the unique ability to identify with their characters as each are of Indian descent.

Rashma explains, ‘I know Sahil [Saluja] said, “Every time I walk to the platform – at any station in Melbourne – I see [the play’s lead character] Jasminder everywhere. There’s so many of him in the city, looking lost and I know this guy, I know what he’s going through.’’’

In the 11 years since Rashma and her family migrated to Australia, she is sure Indian-Australian relations have improved. ‘There are more Indians here now and the acknowledgement of us has improved. There was a time when it wasn’t easy to buy everything that we had at home in Indian grocery stores, and now everything is available,’ she says with a beaming smile.

As far as Rashma’s passion for playwriting goes, there is no shortage of inspiration. ‘I’m a writer and these are the people in my life. I could see the drama in their lives, I could see the conflicts in their lives, and I could see the pain in their lives. I thought, this has to be shared. It’s my duty as an Indian living [in Australia] to not overlook it.’

Essentially, Melbourne Talam is a story for everyone, Rashma says. It’s universal in nature and will resonate with people from every culture, colour and creed. ‘We all move in life. Whether it’s to America or Europe, or even just moving cities or house.’

Melbourne Talam by Rashma N. Kalsie runs at Southbank Theatre, The Lawler from 4 – 20 May.

MTC Club

You’ve been spotted We asked MTC Club Members what they enjoy most about their membership.

An MTC Club membership gives you access to the Qatar Airways MTC Lounge, where you can relax with complimentary drinks and snacks, and take in the stunning views of Melbourne’s city skyline. MTC Club Members can also enjoy dinner in the Lounge with delicious menu offerings available for purchase from Script Bar & Bistro. The Lounge is open pre-show and during interval at evening performances for the first three weeks after Opening Night for all MTC productions in the Sumner. On particular Club nights, you can hear from members of the Creative Team about their artistic processes.

Kevin: ‘I like coming especially with the visitors passes.

We shout our kids (our adult children) tickets and it gives us a night out.

Elizabeth: ‘The MTC lounge has a relaxing atmosphere.

It’s comfortable and has a beautiful view.’

Kevin: ‘We have a drink before the show and that’s half of it, meeting other people and socialising in this community.’

Catherine: ‘I like that there is a quiet place to come before the play. It encourages us to get here, read the programme and get into the mood.’

Catherine Tiernan Kevin and Elizabeth Walsh

Jane: ‘We support MTC, so by being supporters, they support us with access to the lounge.’

Andrew: ‘I think it’s probably because the plays we see are a local product. It’s nice to support something that’s part of Melbourne, because we’re from Melbourne.’

Andrew and Jane Murray

Marion: ‘We’ve been coming [to the MTC Club] since it started.’

Ramona: ‘And we’ve been coming to MTC for a long time prior to that. I still remember coming when I was very young.’

Marion: ‘If you miss something in the show, you always get a bit more enlightenment coming here. And it’s lovely to meet like-minded people. The director’s talk is always very interesting.’

Ramona: ‘It’s really interesting to hear from the creatives about their progress and process; where the play starts and where it ends. Obviously, you see the play so that is the finished product. The lounge gives you the chance to get involved and to connect to like-minded people – other theatre-lovers.’

Marion Pusch and Ramona von Pusch

For more information about MTC Club membership, visit mtc.com.au/club or contact the memberships team on 8688 0958 or club@mtc.com.au

The Langham is famed as the birthplace of Afternoon Tea. Celebrate the timeless ritual of tailor-made sweet creations served on “Langham Rose” Wedgwood china.

Served daily the Langham Afternoon Tea with Wedgwood is paired with ribbon sandwiches and a warm selection of plain and golden raisin scones, clotted cream and rose preserve.

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Corporate Partnerships

Cultural collaboration Partner Profiles Qatar Airways MTC is proud to be continuing its partnership with Qatar Airways in 2017, who will see the launch of their daily A380 aircraft service to Melbourne this year. With Qatar’s support in 2017, MTC will continue to host MTC Club events in the Qatar lounge before and after select performances. The Qatar Airways MTC Lounge gives MTC theatre-lovers the chance to hear directly from members of the artistic team in an intimate setting.

Qatar celebrates its seven-year anniversary in Australia this year by launching the airline’s daily A380 aircraft service to Melbourne and thereby increasing their daily capacity of inbound and outbound flights by 44 per cent.

The growing demand of passengers flying through Australia prompted Qatar to prioritise Melbourne as a major transport hub. The A380 aircraft can seat 517 passengers and connects the city to 150 destinations around the world.

Qatar Airways Senior Manager for Australasia, Adam Radwanski said, ‘As we continue to grow in Australia, we are delighted to introduce our A380 service from Melbourne, after seven years of operation in the world’s most liveable city. Our state-of-the -art A380 service will fly daily to 40 European cities via our award winning international hub in Doha’.

The A380 flight will provide a new level of flying for Melburnians including an on-board Sanctuary Lounge for an exclusive group of business and first class flyers. The A380 plane has eight First Class seats to provide customers with a private jet experience on a major passenger flight.

Avant Card Like MTC, Avant Card is a local company and a leader in its field. As one of Australia’s leading out-of-home media specialists, Avant Card’s unrivalled national distribution network and fun postcard format reaches over 6 million people weekly. You can find MTC show related postcards in venues all over Melbourne.

Avant Card Managing Director Pat Mackle says that after 15 years of working with MTC, the Company is thrilled to be a partner. ‘Avant Card are delighted to be an official partner of Melbourne Theatre Company in 2017. The company has worked with MTC to create captivating campaigns for over 15 years, and cannot wait to see the latest season.’

Downstairs Bistro & Lounge It is quickly becoming a tradition at MTC to celebrate the end of the first week of rehearsals with a drink at Downstairs Bistro & Lounge.

Actors and staff alike enjoy sharing a drink to swap stories and reflect on the week’s work.

MTC staff can also be seen having casual after-work drinks at Downstairs, or dinner before seeing one of our shows just down the road at Southbank Theatre.

Located directly across the road from MTC HQ, Downstairs Bistro & Lounge also provides many members of MTC HQ with their regular coffee needs to keep the wheels of this theatre company in motion.

For more information on MTC partnerships, please visit mtc.com.au/partnerships or contact partnerships@mtc.com.au

Special offers Preview Screening

Film Offer

NT Live’s Twelfth Night

The Sense of an Ending

Tamsin Greig is Malvolia in a new twist on Shakespeare’s classic comedy of mistaken identity. A ship is wrecked on the rocks. Viola is washed ashore but her twin brother Sebastian is lost. Determined to survive on her own, she steps out to explore a new land.

So begins a whirlwind of mistaken identity and unrequited love.

Tony Webster leads a reclusive and quiet existence until long buried secrets from his past force him to face the flawed recollections of his younger self, the truth about his first love and the devastating consequences of decisions made a lifetime ago.

Simon Godwin (NT Live's Man and Superman and The Beaux’ Stratagem) directs this joyous new production with Tamsin Greig (Friday Night Dinner, Black Books, Episodes) as a transformed Malvolia.

For your chance to win a double pass to a special preview screening at Cinema Nova on Wednesday 24 May, 6.30pm, email offers@mtc.com.au with NIGHT in the subject line.

✁

Adapted for the screen by playwright Nick Payne and helmed by acclaimed director Ritesh Batra (The Lunchbox), The Sense of an Ending stars Academy Award-winner Jim Broadbent, Harriet Walter, Michelle Dockery, Emily Mortimer and Freya Mavor, with Matthew Goode and Academy Award nominee Charlotte Rampling. In cinemas 25 May. For your chance to win an in-season double pass, email offers@mtc.com.au with ENDING in the subject line.

2-for-1 Offer

Dining Offer

The Promise

Downstairs Bistro & Lounge

A love story plays out in the final days of the Ottoman Empire in The Promise, a sweeping period romance starring Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon and Christian Bale.

In 1914 an Armenian medical student travels to the grand city of Constantinople to train as a doctor. There, he falls in love with a French-educated artist who is already in a relationship with a fiery American journalist reporting on the growing tensions between Turkey and Armenia. Drawn to each other regardless, they find themselves on the run for their lives as war breaks out and the Empire turns against its own people.

Downstairs Bistro & Lounge is offering MTC ticketholders a pre-theatre, three course dinner menu for only $45 before your performance. This offer is available from 5pm every day and if you’re in a rush they’ll hold your dessert until after the show! Simply present your ticket to access this great deal.

Present this 2-FOR-1 coupon at a screening of The Promise at any participating cinema and receive two tickets for the price of one full-priced adult ticket.

Located on Sturt Street, only 750m from Southbank Theatre, Downstairs Bistro & Lounge offers a relaxed space from casual drinks to the full dining experience.

Be sure to mention MTC when booking via 03 9686 5015 or send an email to dine@downstairs.net.au.

Valid from June 2017 until the end of the film’s theatrical season at all participating cinemas including selected independents. Excludes public holidays, discount days and after 5pm on Saturdays. This coupon does not guarantee admission and is subject to seating availability at individual sessions. This coupon is for single use and must be surrendered upon redemption. Not valid at HOYTS LUX, Village Gold Class, Reading Cinemas Gold Lounge, Nova Deluxe or Special Event screenings.

M A K E M U M ’S DAY W I T H A N U N F O R G E T TA B L E T H E AT R I C A L E X P E R I E N C E Personalise an MTC Gift Voucher this Mothers’ Day and treat your mum to something truly special.

MTC.COM.AU/GIFTIDEAS Marina Prior in Hay Fever