Scenes | Edition 3 - 2017

EDITION 3 – 2017

Indigenous Scholarships Future storytellers

Marina Prior Pure bliss

John Bell Lost time

Eddie Perfect Hot property

NEXT STAGE Championing playwrights

Welcome The year is flying by but there is no sign of things slowing down at MTC. It’s a hive of activity with productions in rehearsal and on stage, our Education Program in full swing and preparations well underway for our Season 2018 Launch.

In this edition of Scenes you’ll find articles about Hay Fever, The Father, Vivid White and our Indigenous Scholarship Program, as well as news from around the Company.

In June we launched a landmark initiative for MTC, and the first of its kind in Australia – MTC’s NEXT STAGE Writers’ Program. Consisting of commissions and residencies, NEXT STAGE is a $4.6 million investment that will provide a total of 50 opportunities for Australian writers across the five years of the program.

Our first seven commissioned writers are Angus Cerini, Patricia Cornelius, Michael Gow, Benjamin Law, Joanna Murray-Smith, Leah Purcell and Ellen van Neerven, and the first three writers-in-residence will soon be announced.

We are proud that MTC is leading the way in providing an unprecedented level of support for Australian writers.

The program would not have been possible without the generous and visionary donors of MTC’s Playwrights Giving Circle who believe as strongly as we do in the importance of investing in our writers, giving them the

time and resources to produce their best possible work.

You can read more about NEXT STAGE on pages 9 and 10.

I must also thank everyone who generously donated to our 2017 tax appeal, helping us continue MTC’s story.

Your donations are vital to the Company and greatly appreciated.

We are looking forward to sharing with you the exciting details of our 2018 Season – if you haven’t RSVP’d for the launch event on Monday 28 August I encourage you to do so today.

The Season Launch is just for you, our Subscribers. With presentations from artists featured in the season ahead, it is an exclusive opportunity to be amongst the first to know what’s in store at MTC in 2018.

Subscription bookings open directly after the event, and our friendly ticketing staff will be on hand at the launch to answer questions, so put Monday 28 August in your diary and I hope to see you there.

Brett Sheehy ao Artistic Director

Prompt Corner

From left to right: Marg Downey, Faustina Agolley, Christina O’Neill and Keegan Joyce

MTC is excited to announce that Marg Downey (Rupert) returns to our stage in the role of Clara in Hay Fever, alongside Marina Prior (Hello, Dolly!) as Judith Bliss, Gareth Davies (The Cherry Orchard) as Simon Bliss, Simon Gleeson (Les Misérables) as Richard Greatham, Kim Gyngell (Jack Irish) as David Bliss, Alexandra Keddie (I See Me & Meryl Streep) as Jackie Coryton, Imogen Sage (The Understudy) as Sorel Bliss and Monica Sayers (Chimerica) as Myra Arundel.

In The Father, starring alongside John Bell (Long Day’s Journey into Night) as André, is Faustina Agolley (Now Add Honey) who makes her mainstage theatre debut playing Laura. Joining Faustina and John is Marco Chiappi (His Girl Friday), Glenn Hazeldine (Away), Anita Hegh (The Crucible) and Natasha Herbert (Neighbourhood Watch).

Cover: John Bell 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 and WRITER Sarah Corridon ART DIRECTOR Emma Wagstaff GRAPHIC DESIGNER Helena Turinski COVER IMAGE Justin Ridler

MTC Headquarters 252 Sturt St, Southbank Vic 3006 T 03 8688 0900 F 03 8688 0901 info@mtc.com.au mtc.com.au Southbank Theatre 140 Southbank Blvd, Southbank Vic 3006 BOX OFFICE 03 8688 0800

Melbourne Theatre Company is a department of the University of Melbourne.

MTC acknowledges the Yalukit Willam Peoples of the Boon Wurrung, the Traditional Owners of the land on which Southbank Theatre and MTC HQ stand, and we pay our respects to Melbourne’s First Peoples, to their ancestors past and present, and to our shared future.

Eddie Perfect’s wild new play Vivid White will star Gillian Cosgriff (The Pirates of Penzance), Brent Hill (The Speechmaker), Verity Hunt-Ballard (Mary Poppins), Ben Mingay (Bond), Keegan Joyce (Please Like Me) and Christina O’Neill (Winners and Losers) as Cynthia.

Don’t forget to RSVP for the launch of our 2018 Season on 28 August.

Subscription bookings open directly after the event.

Booking your subscription online is the easiest and most efficient way to secure great seats.

You can subscribe online at: mtc.com.au

Keep up to date with backstage stories and news from the rehearsal rooms at mtc.com.au/backstage

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Pure bliss Marina Prior tells us about her dream to act in a Noël Coward play and the gifts of an enduring career on stage.

Marina Prior

Noël Coward’s comedy of manners Hay Fever is as caustic and seductive in 2017 as it was when it premiered at London’s Ambassadors Theatre nearly one hundred years ago. It’s believed Noël Coward penned this classic in three days after spending a weekend out of New York with renowned Broadway actress Laurette Taylor and her husband Hartley Manners. Hay Fever is a play that comments on the way we – or in this case, an entire family – behave, and provides a sort of moral coda of what not to do.

The genius of Noël Coward is that he makes his characters –who are collectively dreadful – individually terrific.

We can’t help but find charm in the Bliss’ indecorum, quick-wit, and lightning speed rebuttals, even their self-absorption is alluring at times. Either way it is always funny.

In centre place (because she demands it) is the illustrious, revered, grande dame Judith Bliss. Humble and charming is the actor portraying her in MTC’s production – Australian stage legend Marina Prior.

What are you most looking forward to about playing Judith Bliss?

It’s just such a delicious character, and such a big character. Because she’s an actress and a very entitled actress, there’s so much scope for fun. It’s such a joy to be able to take on something that is so inherently theatrical; the script is just sparkling with wit. To do any Noël Coward, let alone one of his great plays, is going to be an absolute career highlight for me. It already is.

Is this your first Noël Coward play?

Yes. I’ve read just about everything. My mother was in Blithe Spirit in Shepparton in the 1950s, so I’ve grown up with a great love of Noël Coward. He was very highly regarded in our house. He’s a brilliant satirist so nothing could make me happier. I’m always happy working comically, and this is one of the most deliciously comic scripts ever. Hay Fever is going to be an absolute sparkling night of diversion, and the way the world is at the moment, I think that’s exactly what people need.

We haven’t seen you on the MTC stage since Jumpy, two years ago. What makes you excited to return?

It’s just such a fantastic company to work for because it really feels like a family and that doesn’t always happen.

Increasingly, and especially in commercial theatre, it becomes very corporatised and you feel like you’re working for a bit of a nameless, faceless organisation. However, at MTC, everybody knows your name, you know all the people in the offices and there’s just such a fantastic vibe. I really believe it’s the most prestigious theatre company in Australia. There’s a sense of excellence in everything. In every detail. From hats to shoes, to the wonderful directors and casting. Everything is done meticulously and with such personal attention. I’m dying to go to a costume fitting and find out about the design.

What are you looking forward to about working with this creative team?

This will be my first experience working with [director] Lee [Lewis], so that is also an unknown. That’s why the first day of rehearsals often feels like the first day of school. You don’t know anyone and you’re yet to experience what everyone will bring, creatively, to the production. Obviously, Lee is the captain of the ship and I’m really excited to go on this journey with her and the rest of the cast.

You’ve just played the iconic role of Dolly Levi in the musical Hello, Dolly!, and the remainder of your 2017 is jam-packed. Unlike your character Judith Bliss, you seem to be showing no signs of slowing down. What are you enjoying about this stage of your career?

I’ve always been conscious of broadening my range and branching out, and never stopping in one spot. I feel like finally, three decades later, that is paying off. I’m getting to play some really exciting and challenging, mature characters. Dolly Levi has been played by an extraordinary range of veterans before me. I love this part of my life and my career, where I feel like I can step up into these iconic roles. There comes a point where you think, ‘Yeah, I’ve actually been around for long enough. I’ve earned this. I can reap the benefits of doing some really rewarding work.’ So at this stage of my career, I tend to take on roles I truly want to do, and I’m getting offers for things that are really rich.

What advice do you have for emerging actors and singers?

Do it all! A lot of people would say to me when I was younger, ‘You’re a singer, you’re a soprano. You’re not an actress.’ So I would say to young people ‘Don’t let other people define what you can and can’t do.’ Watch and learn from the people who have come before you. One of my great mentors is Nancye Hayes, who has just starred as Minnie in Minnie & Liraz. So choose great mentors and learn from them.

Noël Coward’s Hay Fever plays at Southbank Theatre, The Sumner from 13 September—28 October.

In search of lost time After an 18-year hiatus, John Bell returns to Melbourne Theatre Company in a play he describes as ingenious.

John Bell

Australian theatre-legend John Bell first came across The Father in discussions with former STC Artistic Director Johnathan Church several years ago. It was the only play, in a pile of scripts, which John wanted to pursue. The role would also confirm his return to MTC for the first time in nearly two decades.

The Father, or Le Père in its original French, is a Molière Award-winning play by playwright and author Florian Zeller. It was adapted for English-speaking audiences by Christopher Hampton (Les Liaisons Dangereuses) in 2014 before receiving seasons on the West End and Broadway.

After five decades on the stage, John – at 76 – is discerning about his artistic endeavours. Working with director Damien Ryan, however, meant John was motivated for this production. ‘Damien is an extraordinary director.

I marvel at his stamina and even more at his imagination,’ John says.

The Father explores life through the eyes of André, an elderly man who is increasingly confused by the world around him, and challenged by his changing relationship with his daughter. As described by The Guardian, it is a play that ‘confounds expectations and works almost like a thriller.’

‘We see a lot of plays about old age and aging people, but we generally see them from the outside looking in. This time we’re seeing it from the inside,’ John says.

It should come as no surprise that after more than fifty years of directing and performing in Shakespeare’s plays, John–the founder of Australia’s Bell Shakespeare theatre company–wanted to perform in a play that echoed King Lear. The father/daughter relationship that underpins both narratives, and the loss of power and control in their protagonists, were themes John felt compelled to revisit.

After playing Lear three times, John admits he has never come close to mastering the role.

‘Playing King Lear is an almost impossible task,’ he says.

‘The emotional and psychological effort is so huge and the range is so vast. I’ve never actually seen a very satisfying performance of it. I’ve seen many valiant attempts at it, but I’ve never seen one that I really thought got the whole thing together. But that’s why we keep on trying, because it’s the ultimate goal.’

‘I suppose there’s a great deal of empathy as well. Feeling out of touch. Feeling surpassed. Not knowing where the world is heading or what the younger generation is up to.

The pace of life is different. I think all of these things are there in The Father, as well as in Shakespeare’s observations.’

John believes Shakespeare was the first writer to humanise old age and introduce some sense of understanding and pathos to his characters. He moved away from the ‘silly old man or lady’ archetypes and gave his elderly characters three-dimensional personalities. Zeller has done the same in The Father, according to John. ‘André is a bully…But in spite of that we certainly do suffer with him, and for him.’

Both André and Lear are tyrannical, selfish and autocratic men. Men we may know and recognise. Men raging against the dying of light, fighting with all their might to not lose one second of living. A fight at the heart of drama, and of life.

As one of Australia’s most revered performers, John says he has no plans to retire, ever. He does, however, recognise the symptoms of aging depicted in both Shakespeare and Zeller’s works. ‘There’s a certain cruelty in their observations, but they’re very accurate.’

‘We see a lot of plays about old age and aging people, but we generally see them from the outside looking in.

This time we’re seeing it from the inside.’

The Father plays at Arts Centre Melbourne, Fairfax Studio from 2 November—16 December.

Hot property Dripping in social satire, Vivid White is a comedy that hits close to home.

Above Director Dean Bryant and Playwright Eddie Perfect Right Verity Hunt-Ballard and Brent Hill in Vivid White

Vivid White – the most pure shade of white on Dulux’s whites and neutral swatch – is the colour Eddie Perfect painted his house. It also happens to be the title of his wicked, dark and uproarious new play.

Vivid White is a play that satirizes satire and examines social status through the glossy lens of Melbourne’s real estate market – amidst a backdrop of calamity. It explores the friendship of two couples as they try to outbid each other on the property of their dreams.

Eddie’s self-proclaimed obsession with real estate has little to do with property, and everything to do with the nation’s infatuation with home ownership. ‘I’m obsessed with their obsession,’ he declares.

Following Melbourne’s overwhelming response to his black comedy The Beast in 2013, Eddie says he felt prepared to ‘swing for the fences’ and take a risk on creating something quite bizarre. ‘This piece – over its life – has morphed into something pretty strange,’ he admits.

‘I want everything about this show to be kind of confusing.’

Many synergies helped Eddie develop this script over two years. Melbourne’s ‘Block Culture’ – where contestants and judges find themselves fuming over different grains of marble. The many auctions he and his wife attended in the lead up to buying their own home. The countless dinner parties – where renovations and tradespeople were the only topics of conversation on the menu.

All of it became ‘grist for the mill’ in writing this play.

After fourteen years performing in and writing social satire, the Melbourne born and raised writer says he wanted Vivid White to be introspective. The conversation that kept coming up over and over again was whether satire could endorse change. ‘It seems satire has this great responsibility over any other genre to enhance its audience’s humanity,’ Eddie says. ‘That it should force people out of the theatre and into a more considerate way of living.

‘I wanted to have a discussion about satire. What responsibility the play has, what responsibility the audience has, and whether satire can actually affect change … you look at the world now and ask, “Is this world even able to be satirised anymore?” Because it’s like a self-saucing pudding; a self-satirising world.

What can you write that doesn’t just feel like the news?’

Nevertheless, Eddie has written a play unlike any other, set in a truly original landscape.

It’s the frog in the pot of water, where the heat is being turned up slowly and the frog’s not jumping out. That’s what the play is.

It’s not a pre-apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic world, the Melbourne playwright explains, but rather the ‘changeover’ into apocalypse when the end of civilisation is imminent. ‘It’s the frog in the pot of water, where the heat is being turned up slowly and the frog’s not jumping out. That’s what the play is. These people are trying to stay as middle-class as they can, for as long as they can, irrespective of the apocalypse.’

Vivid White shines a floodlight on the complacency that runs rife in Australia – where the needs of the environment or society are often supplanted by the needs of the individual.

MTC Associate Director and Vivid White Director Dean Bryant, says he’s not interested in shocking or insulting his audience, and would rather like to illuminate the social commentary in this narrative, ‘hold a mirror up to the audience and say, “we’re all in this together.”’ Above all, he’d like the audience to go on a roller-coaster ride with the cast.

This play presents a unique opportunity for Dean to translate something conceptually and technically challenging into live performance. ‘Some of the ideas are really difficult to physically execute, but I’m excited by the challenge to deliver them.’

‘I have the entire show teched and ready to go in my head,’ he says jokingly, knowing that some of the stage action will require a lot of technical finessing. ‘[Set Designer] Owen [Phillips] and I have decided the best way for the weirdness to work is to ground the story in reality. It’s very elegant at the start, so as the world falls apart, our visual world falls apart as well.’

Bursting with secrets and surprises, Vivid White is a play with a seven-person singing and instrument-playing cast. It’s a play specifically for Melbourne, Eddie says.

‘A complete reflection of what’s going on with me – in this city, which I love.

‘Carnage and mayhem,’ he says chuckling. ‘I can’t wait to get into production.’

Vivid White plays at Southbank Theatre, The Sumner from 18 November—23 December.

Future storytellers MTC’s Indigenous Scholarship Program offers eight participants a unique window into the world of professional theatre.

‘Theatre has always seemed to occur naturally for our mob. It goes way back to our cultural ways and spirit – storytelling through song and dance. It’s been embedded in our blood since the beginning of time’ — Sermsah Bin Saad

MTC’s Indigenous Scholarship Program offers insights into the vast array of career pathways within the performing arts sector, and connects young First Nations’ people with key contacts in the industry as they embark on their careers.

Now in its third year, the program has evolved from a work experience initiative, to a hands-on orientation of how a production is made. MTC Community Outreach Manager Karin Farrell says the program encourages young First Nations’ people to tell their own stories, and see the theatre as a shared space they can exist in.

‘With many of the participants coming from outside of the city, there is a clear focus on demystifying Melbourne – to see it as an accessible place where they can work, study and live. Our facilitators are integral to this. Not only do they provide cultural support, but they offer lived skills, advice and knowledge from working in the industry.’

Participants hail from the far-flung stretches of Australia; the East and West Kimberley, Queensland, rural towns across Victoria including Swan Hill, Shepparton, Traralgon and Cape Woolamai, and from across Melbourne’s metropolitan suburbs. They meet for four week-long intensive workshops at MTC in their school holidays over the course of the program. Their interests and passions are as diverse as their geographical home bases; however, they all share one common love – performing arts.

Jacinta Keefe (hidden), Joshua Marshall, Amelia O’Leary, Shaniqua Lee, Brodi Purtill, Ian Layland, Kieran Mounsey and Khan James-Parker

Indigenous artists and mentors Sermsah Bin Saad and Lenka Vanderboom are working closely with the group, sharing their understanding of life as working artists.

Sermsah is Nyikina and Lenka is a Yawuru descendant from Broome.

Together they have used performance and facilitation as cultural liaisons to connect First Nations’ people to their wider community. They initially came together in 2005 through a project studying resilience within the Ardyaloon Aboriginal Community on the Dampier Peninsula. Sermsah and Lenka became members of Melbourne Playback Theatre Company in 2013 as actors and facilitators.

Through MTC’s Indigenous Scholarship Program, they’re hoping to demonstrate how a career in performing arts is possible. ‘All the participants are already very sophisticated and independent. And have already indicated that they’re keen to contribute back to their communities,’ Lenka says. ‘It will be interesting to see how they learn from the community they’re being exposed to at MTC and use this to access the incredible resources to grow themselves.’

‘It’s a chance for these students to connect back to their cultural roots and their identity as Aboriginal people,’ Sermsah says. ‘Being able to guide and demonstrate the skills they already have and support their existing passions is really exciting for us.’

With the program’s first week completed and its second week currently underway, Lenka says it’s important that the group continue their acknowledgement of Country throughout the learning process. The group of eight students were welcomed to MTC in March with a traditional smoking ceremony conducted by Boon Wurrung Senior Elder Arweet Carolyn Briggs and her grandson Jaeden Williams – a powerful and inclusive experience for participants and MTC staff that acknowledged the traditional owners of the lands on which MTC HQ and Southbank Theatre stand.

(Right) Ian Layland; (below left) Shaniqua Lee and Khan James-Parker; (below right) Jacinta Keefe; (group: standing L–R) Lenka Vanderboom, Jacinta Keefe, Joshua Marshall, Kieran Mounsey, Ian Layland, Bayden Clayton and Khan James-Parker, (seated L–R) Brodi Purtill, Amelia O’Leary, Shaniqua Lee and Sermsah Bin Saad

‘It was really important for us to implement a formal Welcome to Country,’ Lenka says. ‘For First Nations’ people we exist, we thrive and we strive in two worlds.

One is the dominant culture and the other is our First Nation’s cultures. It’s very important for us to acknowledge that.’

For many of the participants, the program involved an orientation to Melbourne for the first time – a city vastly different to their own communities. In their first week the group experienced a range of performances including Faith Healer, Lord of the Flies, a Melbourne International Comedy Festival show and a rehearsal performance of Ilbijerri Theatre’s Corranderk. They participated in a comedy workshop with Sean Choolburra and Shiralee Hood, a writing workshop with Tammy Anderson, and visited the First Peoples exhibition at Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre at Melbourne Museum, Victoria College of the Arts and ACMI. Participant Jacinta Keefe said that after week one, her perception of a career in theatre had been blown wideopen. ‘I want to do everything,’ she said. ‘Production, design, costuming, props, stage management – all of it.’

As an emerging photographer, Jacinta says she’s thrilled to be in a building filled with so much creativity. For Jacinta, the Indigenous Scholarship Program is an excellent opportunity to learn more about her Aboriginality and connect with people with the same passion for performance.

Swan Hill participant Brodi Purtill would like to glean as much as possible from her mentors Sermsah and Lenka, so that one day, she can study education and return to her hometown to teach drama – an opportunity she didn’t have growing up. Brodi has already directed a number of productions with various drama groups and has received multiple awards for her efforts and contribution to her community. As a self-described ‘city kid’ born in the country, Brodi says she feels as much at home in Melbourne’s CBD as she does in Swan Hill. Connecting to other Indigenous young people with a passion for theatre was a highlight of week one. ‘It’s really important for Aboriginal youth to be seen,’ she says. ‘The Indigenous Scholarship Program does that.’

Travelling all the way from Derby, situated in one of Australia’s most remote regions, the Kimberley,

Josh Marshall has a very specific goal for when he graduates high school at the end of this year. That is to go to Drama School at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) and study acting.

Josh’s participation in the Scholarship Program came about by being hassled by his Aunty. ‘It’s an awesome program,’ he said. ‘When I first rocked up, I was prepared to do stuff out of my comfort zone. I’m used to being an actor, my own actor. But [in week one] I learnt about all different types of mediums. I learnt about dialogue, comedy, and dance. Suri [Sermsah] and Lenka have a lot to offer and I’m taking it all away.’

Generously supported by the Crown Resorts and Packer Family Foundations, in partnership with the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development at the Victorian College of the Arts.

MTC’s Indigenous Scholarship Program is part of the Company’s Sharing the Light initiative, designed to reduce barriers some young people face in accessing arts education and learning opportunities.

‘For First Nations’ people, we exist, we thrive and we strive in two worlds. One is the dominant culture and the other is our First Nations’ cultures. It’s very important for us to acknowledge that.’

— Lenka Vanderboom

Championing playwrights MTC’s NEXT STAGE Writers’ Program is an unparalleled initiative to foster the talent of Australian playwrights.

(Standing) MTC Literary Director Chris Mead, Ellen van Neerven, Patricia Cornelius, (seated) Angus Cerini, Joanna Murray-Smith, MTC Artistic Director Brett Sheehy and Benjamin Law

Creating theatre that speaks to the problems and possibilities of our times is what many playwrights strive to achieve in their writing. The founding fathers of Melbourne Theatre Company, John Sumner and Ray Lawler, both shaped the canon of Australian playwriting immensely, and set the standard for theatre on our mainstages.

Ray Lawler’s play Summer of the Seventeenth Doll is considered canonical, capturing the popular and literary imagination, telling a story in which Australians could see themselves on stage for the first time. It was a play that changed Australia’s arts landscape and left an indelible mark on how we understood Australian culture through live performance.

In 2017 however, MTC Literary Manager Chris Mead says that playwriting is often the most neglected area of the theatre-making process – something that needs to be ‘urgently’ redressed if we want to see the quality of Australian theatre advance. ‘We sit around and wait for brilliant scripts to land on our desks, rather than working with writers to develop them,’ Chris says probingly.

MTC Artistic Director & CEO Brett Sheehy ao says the Company’s vision to lead the cultural conversation through pioneering new work requires a significant and robust writing program that backs playwrights. After more than a decade working across international arts festivals – seeing thousands of international works staged alongside Australian productions – it became clear to Brett that there was a discrepancy in the level of development Australian works were receiving. World premieres of Australian works often had a fraction of the development that international works had.

In exploring Australia’s relationship with new work, Brett and Chris discovered that Victorian audiences have supported Australian stories at MTC more than any other type of story – a fact that planted a seed in Brett’s mind.

‘That was a real curiosity for me. Chris did the research and the numbers proved it. He looked back over several decades, and overwhelmingly attendances at new Australian plays outgunned any new – even the very best – international work. And also outgunned the tried and true classics.’

With this information, the Company’s Artistic Team engaged in discussions with MTC’s Board and Foundation Board to devise and fund an unparalleled play commissioning and development initiative – NEXT STAGE Writers’ Program. This initiative is a $4.6 million investment and the first of its kind in Australia. $2.3 million of the funds have been donated by MTC’s Playwrights Giving Circle, matched by $2.3 million from MTC.

NEXT STAGE will provide up to 50 opportunities for Australian writers comprising residencies and commissions over the next five years. ‘We need to spend money upstream and understand that if we want to create great works, we need to support our artists,’ Chris says. Volume and time are the two aspects of the program that he believes are remarkable and unique, as well as the promise to emphasise culturally and linguistically diverse developments, with substantial dramaturgical support to aid writers through the process of crafting a play.

NEXT STAGE will welcome writers across all media and disciplines, including established screenwriters and novelists. This has been reflected in MTC’s first seven commissioned writers – Angus Cerini, Patricia Cornelius, Michael Gow, Benjamin Law, Joanna Murray-Smith, Leah Purcell and Ellen van Neerven.

‘We have so many eminent playwrights in Australia,’ Brett says, ‘But with the growing screen culture, we suspect that there are a number of writers who may have an ability to write for stage but, for multiple reasons, haven’t been attracted to it. We don’t want to be hermetically sealed off from the rest of the performance industry.’

NEXT STAGE will also facilitate a sense of community for writers by providing a physical space for them to work from, with support from the Company’s Artistic Team.

As well as access to rehearsal rooms and creative development workshops, and the opportunity to embed themselves in the MTC machine.

‘For the Company’s legacy I would love to see, and I know I will see – because it happens now – plays that come out of NEXT STAGE that do join the canon,’ Brett says, ‘Plays will be done again in 30, 50, 80, even a hundred years’ time.’

‘Our intention for NEXT STAGE is quite simple – to better support Australian writers and provide a meaningful length of engagement between writers and MTC.’ Looking at leading theatre companies such as the Public and Signature Theaters in New York, and the Royal Court and National Theatre in London, MTC will strive to set a similar benchmark in Australia. ‘I’d love for Melbourne Theatre Company to champion Australian writing in the same way Playbox and The Pram Factory did in the past, in the way the Royal Court has done for so many decades now in London, and in the way I know it can. NEXT STAGE is our opportunity to do this.’

An increase in resources dedicated to workshopping and developing scripts in their draft stages will help to create works of potency and legacy for generations to come.

Chris believes the program has received a considerable backing from the private sector because it is urgent.

‘There are amazing stories that need to be told, about people that aren’t currently being represented. Theatre needs to lead from the front.’

To learn more about NEXT STAGE visit mtc.com.au/nextstage

The gift of words

Philanthropy

NEXT STAGE Writers’ Program is made possible by MTC’s Playwrights Giving Circle

Melbourne Theatre Company’s proud tradition of philanthropy is particularly evident with the launch of the NEXT STAGE Writers’ Program, which is supported by the visionary Donors and Foundations of MTC’s Playwrights Giving Circle. Their commitment and belief in this ground breaking initiative and their collective investment of $2.3 million has made this five-year program a reality.

Without the support of the MTC Playwrights Giving Circle, NEXT STAGE would not be possible. The ambitious scale and breadth of the initiative is as inspiring as the generosity of this Circle and their patronage of Australian writers for theatre.

MTC sincerely thanks the Donors of the Playwrights Giving Circle, for sharing our passion and commitment to Australian stories and Australian writers.

The following Donors share why they’re passionate about supporting playwrights.

Joanna Murray-Smith speaking at the NEXT STAGE launch

‘MTC’s NEXT STAGE Writers’ Program is an exciting and ambitious playwright development initiative. It will provide commissions and residencies where current industry practice provides little opportunity to nurture playwriting talent. The result will be better quality plays achieved through a more rigorous development process that we expect will lead to productions that are loved

by Australian audiences and competitive on an international stage.

‘MTC has an impressive long-term ambition to champion excellence in Australian theatre writing, build the literary canon of Australian theatre works and enhance the fabric of Australian live storytelling. The impact of this project will be felt for years to come as a pipeline of world-class new works resulting in additional productions around the country, increased employment for theatre professionals, and increased audiences.’

— Charles Goode ac, Chair of The Ian Potter Foundation

‘It is essential to support and nurture our national writers, not only to promote Australian identity and culture, but to give them the opportunity to showcase their talent.’

— Louise Myer ‘MTC has long been at the forefront in commissioning Australian stories for the stage but the NEXT STAGE Writers’ program will deepen that commitment by allowing known and unknown playwrights to explore and develop works over time with the Company. This is a very bold and ambitious step for MTC and will give playwrights the luxury of long-term support to truly engage with a work and bring it to the stage fully formed. This program cements the Company’s reputation as a major force in encouraging and investing in Australian talent.’

— Maureen Wheeler ao

‘The light bulb moment for me was when Brett explained that the number of new Australian plays entering the canon has collapsed over the past twenty years because of the lack of appropriate funding and processes to adequately refine plays before they are programmed.

This new program allows MTC to do just this, and almost certainly create outstanding work akin to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which came out of a similar program at the National Theatre in London’.

— Martyn Myer ao ‘We fervently hope our support will help Australian writers create works that provoke critical thinking and inspire insight amongst their audiences. In this sadly, ‘post-truth’ era, it’s more important than ever.’

— Dr Andrew McAliece and Dr Richard Simmie

MTC’s Playwrights Giving Circle Supporting the Next Stage Writers’ Program Louise Myer and Martyn Myer ao, Maureen Wheeler ao and Tony Wheeler ao, Christine Brown Bequest Naomi Milgrom ao, Allan Myers ac qc and Maria Myers ac, Tony Burgess and Janine Burgess Dr Andrew McAliece and Dr Richard Simmie, Larry Kamener and Petra Kamener

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This is a limited trial offer and is only available to new subscribers of The Age. Only one trial is permitted per new subscriber. Trial is for the All Digital Access package only and will automatically renew to the All Digital package standard rate of $5.80 per week after the one month trial period unless the subscriber contacts us on 13 66 66 to cancel or change the subscription. To see the full terms and conditions, please visit www.theage.com.au/conditions.

MTC Club

MTC Club Member Nights Extend your theatrical experience It’s been a busy year in the Qatar Airways MTC Lounge, with MTC Club Members enjoying a range of events to complement their theatre experience.

At the beginning of the year MTC Associate Director Dean Bryant spoke about the connection between post-war America and our current day, and how these themes were wrapped up in the sparkling Broadway play Born Yesterday.

Our second production in the Southbank Theatre was a four-part monologue series Faith Healer from master Irish playwright Brian Friel. Judy Davis directed her husband Colin Friels in this timeless, truth-bending narrative, which has been nominated for several Helpmann Awards.

MTC Literary Director Chris Mead spoke to our Club Members about the process of programming this work, and revealed some of the intricacies of the script from a historical and literary perspective.

For the world premiere of Three Little Words, written

by Joanna Murrary-Smith, director Sarah Goodes spoke to Club Members about the process of rehearsing an ever-changing script and the development a new work requires in its evolution from page to stage for the very first time.

Faith Healer Club Night in the Qatar Airways MTC Lounge, with MTC Literary Director Chris Mead (right) speaking

For our highly anticipated production of Macbeth, set designer Shaun Gurton spoke to Club Members about his career working alongside revered director Simon Phillips on multiple Shakespeare productions. Shaun spoke about the theatrical and technical language they have developed, which is required to modernise a four hundred year old play into our contemporary world. Shaun has been part of the creative team of all three of Simon’s most recent MTC Shakespeare plays – Richard III in 2010, Hamlet in 2011 and Macbeth in 2017.

There’s still much to look forward to in the remainder of 2017. Make sure you have the dates below in your diary.

Speakers for upcoming events will be revealed closer to the date.

MTC CLUB MEMBER NIGHTS Di and Viv and Rose August 28 Hay Fever October 9 Vivid White December 4

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

Corporate Partnerships

Celebrating our Production Partners MTC’s Production Partners play a crucial role in helping to bring our plays to life. Each Partner is as unique as the production they support. Genovese, CGU Insurance, Little Group and The Langham, Melbourne, are among the Partners who have contributed to making 2017 the season that it is. Hear from some of their representatives about why they value their partnership with MTC.

Ursula Mills, Johnny Carr and Helen Morse in John

GENOVESE – PRODUCTION PARTNER OF JOHN BY ANNIE BAKER ‘Genovese is proud to partner with MTC as we believe the arts are such a cornerstone of culture in Melbourne and Victoria. We have long supported the arts and love the idea that theatre can provoke thoughts and feelings leading to inspiring conversations – hopefully over a coffee.

MTC can be cutting-edge with many of the productions they give us, and we love being involved with both new and traditional works. This year we chose to be a Production Partner of John, as we saw it as a play that would evoke many different emotions for theatregoers – life, truth, love.

— Adam Genovese, General Manager CGU INSURANCE – PRODUCTION PARTNER OF MACBETH BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE CGU Insurance is proud to have been the Production Partner for Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of Macbeth. In a fast changing world, we’re delighted to see a Shakespeare classic featured in the 2017 season. Our company has been around since 1851, and we too hold onto the classic parts of our business, while rapidly working to meet the changing needs of our customers in the modern world.

This is CGU Insurance’s second year as a partner of MTC and we’re proud of our association. MTC is a Melbourne institution that brings so much joy to this city through live storytelling.

— CGU Insurance THE LANGHAM MELBOURNE - PRODUCTION PARTNER OF DI AND VIV AND ROSE BY AMELIA BULLMORE The Langham, Melbourne, is thrilled to be a Production Partner of Di and Viv and Rose. We have been a longstanding admirer of Nadine Garner’s work and what’s not to love about a heart-warming comedy about friendships?

It’s just the panacea we need for winter and today’s disruptive and ever-changing world. The Langham, Melbourne, is energised by our involvement and support of Melbourne Theatre Company and we are continually

impressed by the Company’s innovative and fresh approach to both theatre and partnerships.

— André Jacques, Director of Sales and Marketing THE LITTLE GROUP – PRODUCTION PARTNER OF VIVID WHITE BY EDDIE PERFECT The Little Group, with its diverse range of activities including property development, real estate, Melbourne Aviation Precinct, Port Phillip Ferries and philanthropy, prides itself on the success built on its creative partnerships. As such, we are delighted and extremely proud to be partnering with Melbourne Theatre Company for the 2017 production of Vivid White by Eddie Perfect.

This is our second year as a Production Partner with MTC and we look forward to the joy and excitement that Vivid White will bring to the many patrons who will attend during the season.

— Paul Little ao, Chairman

Join us for our series of Audi Forum Nights where audience members are given the chance to hear first-hand from members of the cast and creative teams of each show. Book your tickets and join the conversation mtc.com.au/audi-forum-nights #AlwaysAudi @melbtheatreco @AudiAustralia

CENTRAL EQUITY Melbourne property developer Central Equity has been a proud partner of MTC since 2012. A pioneer of inner city living in Melbourne since 1987, Central Equity is a prime mover in the changing Melbourne landscape. Jeremy Vile, Marketing Manager at Central Equity said, ‘For thirty years Central Equity have been building homes for the residents of our vibrant city. We are proud to support Melbourne Theatre Company as an integral part of Melbourne’s unique and dynamic culture.’ Melbourne Grand is Central Equity’s newest major apartment release for 2017. Located at 560 Lonsdale Street Melbourne, these stylish, family sized apartments are a welcome addition to Melbourne’s cosmopolitan cultural hub.

For more information, visit www.melbournegrand.com.

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

Special offers Film Offer

Film Offer

THE TRIP TO SPAIN

MADAME

After jaunts through northern England and Italy, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon embark on another deliciously deadpan culinary road trip. This time around, the guys head to Spain to sample the best of the country’s gastronomic offerings in between rounds of their hilariously off-the-cuff banter. Over plates of pintxos and paella, the pair exchange barbs and their patented celebrity impressions, as well as more serious reflections on what it means to settle into middle age. As always, the locales are breathtaking, the cuisine to die for, and the humour delightfully devilish. In cinemas 3 August.

Adding a little spice to a waning marriage, a wealthy American couple (Academy Award nominees Toni Collette and Harvey Keitel) move to romantic Paris. While preparing a luxurious dinner, our hostess discovers there are 13 guests and, panic-stricken, insists her loyal maid (Rossy de Palma) pose as a mysterious Spanish noblewoman to even out the numbers. But a little too much wine and some playful chat lead the maid to accidently endear herself to a dandy British art broker (Michael Smiley). Can this budding romance survive jealous interference? In cinemas 17 August.

For your chance to win an in-season double pass, email offers@mtc.com.au with SPAIN in the subject line.

For your chance to win an in-season double pass, email offers@mtc.com.au with MADAME in the subject line.

Ticket Offer

Partner Offer

BIG WORLD, UP CLOSE

10% OFF MELBOURNE SHORT STAY APARTMENTS

A series of powerful and provocative international theatre at Arts Centre Melbourne, let the hottest theatre-makers from across the globe take you to worlds beyond our horizon with three intimate shows that pack a punch you won’t see coming. These are worlds transforming: a tea-seller in Bangalore finds his life turned on its head; two brothers transform a Nigerian market stall into a world-spanning fashion empire; the mother of all storms descends on a Manhattan neighbourhood.

Guru of Chai Tuesday 22 August, 8pm Black T-shirt Collection Tuesday 12 September, 8pm Pike St. Tuesday 5 September, 8pm For your chance to win a 3-play package that includes a double pass to each production on the above dates, email offers@mtc.com.au with WORLD in the subject line.

COMING SOON!

MTC SEASON 2018 L AUNCH Be amongst the first to hear about the exciting productions in 2018 with exclusive presentations from members of MTC’s Artistic Team and artists behind next year’s Season.

Monday 28 August 2017 at 6.30pm Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall Call the Box Office to RSVP on 03 8688 0800.

Make yourself at home in a spacious one, two or three bedroom apartment. Choose from seven locations, each perfectly located in Melbourne’s CBD and Southbank.

All apartments are self-contained and include an equipped kitchen and laundry, comfortable bedrooms, plush living areas and a private balcony. Make use of free WiFi and complimentary access to facilities including an indoor pool and gymnasium.

Melbourne Short Stay Apartments are offering MTC Subscribers 10% off their best available rates. Book direct using promo code MTCVIP to access these exclusive rates. Visit shortstay.com.au or call 1800 008 910. Applicable for stays until 24 December 2017.