Blink by Phil Porter - program

Stories Like These in association with bAKEHOUSE Theatre Company presents

BLINK

by Phil Porter

Stories Like These in association with bAKEHOUSE Theatre Company presents

BLINK by Phil Porter CAST Jonah Sophie

James Raggatt Charlotte Hazzard

CREATIVE TEAM Director Producer Set & Costume Designer Lighting Designer Sound Designer Stage Manager Production Manager Dialect Coach Producing Assistants

Luke Rogers Peter Gahan Anna Gardiner Daniel Barber Katelyn Shaw Julianna Taahi Patrick Howard Nick Curnow Wendi Lanham & Odetta Quinn

This performance runs for approximately 90 minutes with no interval This production opened at the KXT - Kings Cross Theatre on Wednesday 9 February 2017 Blink by Phil Porter was commissioned and first produced by Pentabus Theatre.

SPECIAL THANKS TO Suzanne Miller, John Harrison, Andrew McMartin bAKEHOUSE Theatre Company Academy of Film Theatre & Television Glen Hamilton Katrina Yeo Lara Lightfoot Wade Doolan Australian Theatre for Young People Rob Jago Ynping Mak Lucia Mastrantone Michael Fitzsimmons Ensemble Theatre Brett Wilbe

Kingsley Reeve NIDA Belvoir Griffin Theatre Company New Theatre Naomi and Drew Livingston Rehearsal Photography Ryan James Kenny www.ryanjameskenny.com.au Production Photography Robert Catto www.robertcatto.com Production Sponsor

Stories Like These is dedicated to creating imaginative, challenging and compelling theatre with a commitment to the development of Australian artists and voices. We collaborate with both emerging and established professional artists to create works that engage, provoke and inspire our audiences, with an emphasis on new Australian works and the best international playwriting.

Previous works includes: MinusOneSister, Music, Rust and Bone, Tattoo (Griffin Independent), Fireface (ATYP), The Last Five Years, My Private Parts (Seymour Centre), The Carnivores, Sydney Ghost Stories (Rock Surfers / Old Fitz), and Confessions of a Grindr Addict (Midsumma Festival).

Stories Like These received a nomination at the 2011 Sydney Theatre Awards for Best Production of a Musical (The Last Five Years).

PHIL PORTER Playwright Phil Porter’s plays include The Man with the Hammer (Theatre Royal, Plymouth), The Christmas Truce (RSC), Blink (Soho Theatre/nabokov), The Cracks In My Skin (Manchester Royal Exchange, Bruntwood Award winner), Here Lies Mary Spindler (RSC/Latitude) and Stealing Sweets And Punching People (Theatre 503 and Off-Broadway). He wrote the English version of Hungarian playwright Janos Hay’s The Stonewatcher (National Theatre) and has edited Middleton’s A Mad World, My Masters (RSC), Shakespeare’s The Tempest (RSC) and Pericles (RSC). He has also written several plays for young people including Cinderella (Unicorn Theatre), The Flying Machine (Unicorn Theatre), Smashed Eggs (Pentabus, Brian Way Award winner) and Pinocchio (Royal Opera House/BBC4). Forthcoming productions include The Miser (March Goucher Productions) and Vice Versa (Royal Shakespeare Company).

CAST & CREATIVE TEAM JAMES RAGGATT Jonah Originally from North Queensland, James Raggatt is a recent graduate of acting from NIDA. Credits during his training include Barton’s The Greeks, Lorca’s Blood Wedding, Nikki Bloom’s Vale, and Ella Hickson’s Boys. Since graduating, James played Melchior Gabor in the Australian Theatre for Young People’s acclaimed production of Spring Awakening for which he was nominated for two Sydney Theatre Awards; best newcomer and best lead actor in a musical. He then took on the title role in Queensland company TheatreiNQ’s recent Hamlet, performing in Australia and touring to Japan, from which he has recently returned. He has also previously worked for Zen Zen Zo physical theatre company and Harvest Rain. charlotte hazzard Sophie Charlotte Hazzard is a graduate of The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, 2011. Credits since graduating include, for Television: Packed to The Rafters (Channel 7), Anzac Girls (ABC), Love Child Season 2 (Channel 9) and Winter (Channel 7). Theatre: A Man With Five Children

by Nick Enright (Dir. Anthony Skuse, Darlinghurst Theatre Company, 2016), Sweet Phoebe by Michael Gow (Dir. Anthony Skuse and Suzanne Pereira, JackRabbit Productions at The Old Fitz, 2016), War Crimes by Angela Betzien (Dir. Alex Evans, ATYP, 2015), The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard (Dir. Alice Livingstone, New Theatre, 2015), Freak Winds by Marshall Napier (Dir. Marshall Napier, Red Line Productions at The Old Fitz, 2015), Lucidity

by Michael Abercromby (Dir. Michael Abercromby, JackRabbit Productions at The Old Fitz/Adelaide Fringe, 2015/16). Charlotte was nominated for Best Newcomer in the Sydney Theatre Awards 2015.

LUKE ROGERS Director Luke Rogers is a theatre director, actor, producer and teacher.

He is a graduate of NIDA (Directing) and Theatre Nepean (Acting), and the Artistic Director of Stories Like These.

In 2014, he was a Resident Studio Artist with Griffin Theatre Company. Directing credits include: MinusOneSister, Fireface, The Last Five Years, The Carnivores (Stories Like These), Play House (NIDA), The Pillowman, Waiting For Godot, Don Juan in Soho, Art is a Weapon, After The End, Blasted (New Theatre), Spring Awakening, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare’s Women, Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat (AFTT), The Burial At Thebes, Pool (No Water), 4.48 Psychosis, Eyes To The Floor (Sydney Theatre School), Mr Marmalade (CQUniversity), Cyberbile, Embers (AIM Dramatic Arts), Two Weeks With The Queen (Mountains Youth Theatre). Tour Director: The Witches (Griffin). Assistant Director: Eight Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography (Griffin / Perth Theatre Company), Story of the Red Mountains (NIDA), The Boys (Griffin / Sydney Festival), Steel Magnolias (Blackbird Productions), Assassins, The Crucible (New Theatre).

Luke was previously the Theatre Manager of New Theatre (2007 - 2012) and the creator and Artistic Director of The Spare Room. He has worked as a dramaturg for Playwriting Australia and regularly teaches and directs for various drama schools. In 2016, he was a member of the Directors Lab: Melbourne. His production of The Last Five Years was nominated for Best Production of a Musical at the Sydney Theatre Awards. Luke was the recipient of an ArtStart grant from the Australia Council for the Arts. www.lukerogers.com.au PETER GAHAN Producer Peter Gahan is the Producer of Stories Like These, producing MinusOneSister, Music, Rust and Bone, Tattoo (Griffin Independent), Fireface (ATYP), The Last Five Years, My Private Parts (Seymour Centre), The Carnivores, Sydney Ghost Stories (Old Fitz Theatre) and Confessions of a Grindr Addict (Revolt, Melbourne). Peter is currently the Senior Event Manager for Vivid Sydney, has been a Production Manager with CDP, Company Manager for The Legend of Mulan and a Stage Manager for the Sydney Opera House. He was previously the Operations and Production Manager for Monkey Baa Theatre Company. Peter produced The Share (with five.point.one) for the Seymour Centre’s Reginald Season. Peter has worked as a stage manager with artists such as Human Nature, Nigel Kennedy, Roberta Flack, Air Supply, Dianne Reeves,

Sydney Mardi Gras, George Benson, The Beach Boys, Kenny Rogers, Tim Minchin, The Cure and countless theatrical productions. Production Management credits include I am Jack (Australian and USA Tour), Pete The Sheep, Milli Jack and the Dancing Cat, 26 Storey Treehouse, 52 Storey Treehouse, Waiting For Godot and Hamlet.

ANNA GARDINER Set and Costume Designer A WAAPA Design graduate, Anna Gardiner has designed numerous productions across Sydney including; Costume Design: for Sport for Jove Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It, Macbeth, Hamlet, Cyrano De Bergerac. For Redline Productions - Look Back in Anger. Set and Costume Design: for Sport for Jove - The Tempest, Twelfth Night, The Crucible, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Taming of the Shrew. For Ensemble Theatre - A Year with Frog and Toad, Camp, Dark Voyager, Absent Friends, Educating Rita, The Shoehorn Sonata, Ladies in Lavender, Jack of Hearts, A History of Falling Things, Betrayal and Odd Man Out. For Don’t Look Away – Set and Costume Design for Rooted, Set Design for Inner Voices. Other companies - Tiger Country (Little Spoon Theatre), This Fella, My Memory (Moogahlin Performing Arts), Henry V (Bell Shakespeare), Blood Brothers (Enda Markey Presents), The Unknown Soldier (Monkey Baa), Orphans (Redline Productions), Shellshock (Riverside Theatre), Follies in Concert (Storeyboard Entertainment), Title and Deed (Belvoir), And I’m the Queen of Sheba (Brown’s Mart/Sanity Productions). Anna has been nominated for four Sydney Theatre Awards, she was nominated for a Greenroom Award for Henry V and was the winner of the 2014 Sydney Theatre Award for Best Stage Design of a Mainstream Production for Henry V. Anna received the 2015 APDG Emerging Designer for Stage Award for her work on The Crucible. www.annagardinerdesign.com DANIEL BARBER Lighting Designer Daniel found lighting at the age of 12 and has been working his way into the professional world ever since. Recent credits include Remembering Pirates (Darlinghurst Theatre Company), Associate LD for both Faith Healer (Belvoir) and The Turquoise Elephant (Griffin Theatre Company), Il Segreto Di Susanna/Bluebeard’s Castle – Double Bill and The Magic Flute (State Opera of SA), An Evening with Annabel Crabb (Annabel Crabb), The Country (Stone/ Castro), Mother, Wife and the Complicated Life (Popjam Productions) and Biddigal Dreaming (Biddigal Performing Arts). Throughout all disciplines of theatre, Daniel is known for finding interesting and new ways of utilizing

known tools of the trade and adapting them to create visual feasts for the audience. Subtlety can often conquer extravagance and Daniel enjoys exploiting that idiom. www.dblightingdesign.com katelyn shaw Sound Designer Katelyn Shaw is a Sydney based Sound Designer, and recent graduate of NIDA. Her previous design credits include (as Associate Sound Designer) Ruby’s Wish (Belvoir), Swallow (National Theatre of Parramatta), (as Sound Designer) Dot and the Kangaroo, there will be a climax, The Space Between the Fuel and the Fire (NIDA), Remembering Pirates, A Man with Five Children (Darlinghurst Theatre Company), Crocodile Tears, Space Cats (Brevity Theatre), Look Back in Anger, The Whale (Red Line Productions), Hurt (Whitebox Theatre), Inner Voices (Don’t Look Away/ Red Line Productions), Belleville (Mad March Hare/Red Line Productions), Tender Napalm (Brevity Theatre/Red Line Productions), and A Riff on Keef: The Human Myth (Ocelot Productions/Griffin Independent).

JULIANNA TAAHI Stage Manager Julianna Taahi is currently undertaking an Advanced Diploma of Live Production and Management Services (Stage Management) at AFTT. Since commencing the course last year, she has already enjoyed working on several productions, events and castings on top of AFTT’s in-house productions and productions at Downstairs Belvoir, such as Sydney Dance Company’s New Breed (Carriageworks) and Untamed (Roslyn Packer), FORM Dance Projects’ DADS (Riverside Theatres), Hidden Sydney directed by Lucas Jervies, The Wasp and Selkie for Golden Jam Productions, Supply Evolution’s Bare: the Musical - Return Season (New Theatre), Comedy for Kids! with Century Venues Entertainment, and the opening of the Iris building for the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Julianna is an avid learner and is excited to develop her skills and career within the Arts.

PATRICK HOWARD Production Manager Patrick Howard is a freelance theatre-maker with a passion for political, devised and documentary theatre.

Graduating from AIM Dramatic Arts (formerly AADA) in 2014, he has production and stage managed, sound designed, directed and dramaturged for a number of companies in Sydney and Melbourne. Notable production credits include Tribunal (Powerhouse Youth Theatre, Griffin Theatre Company), Blonde Poison (Strange Duck Productions, Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Theatre Company), Five Guys Chillin’, When the Rain Stops Falling, That Eye The Sky (New Theatre), Babes in the Woods, The Whale, Masterclass 2 and Debris (Red Line Productions). His credits as an actor include Marat/ Sade, Mother Clap’s Molly House (New Theatre), Tender Indifference, Götterdämmerung (Arrive. Devise. Repeat.) and Blackrock (Pilgrim Theatre). Patrick is a founding member of theatre collective Arrive. Devise. Repeat., a play assessor for New Theatre, holds an Honours degree from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and is a proud member of MEAA Equity. www.patrick-howard.com NICK CURNOW Dialect Coach Nick Curnow graduated from Theatre Nepean (2002), UNE (2006), and NIDA (2007). As a dialect specialist he has coached productions for some of Sydney’s major theatre companies including Company B, Opera Australia and the Ensemble, as well as respected independents like Darlinghurst Theatre Company, Red Line and New Theatre. Recent coaching credits include e-baby­, A History of Falling Things, Disco Pigs, Belleville, Good People, The Ritz, No Exit, Mothers and Sons, Blonde Poison, Grounded (QTC), When the Rain Stops Falling, Orphans, Dark Voyager and The Weir.

Other credits include Proof, Educating Rita, Murderers, Between Us (Ensemble), Ruben Guthrie (Belvoir), My Fair Lady (OA), Reasons to be Pretty, God’s Ear, The Coming World, The Laramie Project, Codgers, and Yes, Prime Minister. Film and TV work includes Underbelly, Distance, Sea Patrol, and The Slap. Nick teaches for NIDA’s Open Program, AFTT, Federation University, NSW Department of Education’s Arts Unit, and regularly engages in private tuition with some of Australia’s most well known and loved performers. www.nickcurnow.com

WENDI LANHAM Producing Assistant Wendi Lanham is a recent graduate with a Bachelor of Performance from AIM Dramatic Arts.

Along with Wendi’s training and experience as an actor, she also completed a Diploma of Business Management, whilst she travelled around the world for two years. Wendi is a trained actor who also has a high interest in the production and business side of theatre. Wendi’s acting credit’s include Warrick/La Hire in Saint Joan of Arch (Dir. Timothy Madick), Queen Alonsa in The Tempest (Dir. Jo Turner), Princess Betsy in Anna Karenina (Dir. Peta Downes) and performed in Killjoy and One Step Closer in The Emerge Festival (Artistic Dir. David Fenton). Wendi’s has also worked as an ASM, Marketing and Publicity, and FOH Manager during her studies with AIM Dramatic Arts.

ODETTA QUINN Producing Assistant Odetta Quinn is an actress, writer and producer based in Sydney. Her theatre credits include lead roles in A Voyage Round My Father (SGS), Becket (SGS), The History of the World From Now (The Violent Romantics) and, the Sydney Theatre Award winning production, War Crimes (ATYP) . She has previously performed in the Youth Shakespeare Festival as Helena (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Celia (As You Like It) and Coriolanus (Coriolanus). She is very grateful to the Stories Like These team for providing this wonderful opportunity.

SUPPORT INDEPENDENT ARTISTS Stories Like These is passionate about independent theatre.

More than ever, the generous support of donors is essential to ensure that independent artists can continue to create work, develop their craft, and provide audiences with powerful theatrical experiences.

Each person involved in this production tonight is participating under a profit-share arrangement out of a strong passion for the work and the opportunties we create. We’d like to invite you to support us by making a donation that will go directly towards all of the artists who have made this production possible.

You can make a tax-deductible donation to Stories Like These through the Australian Cultural Fund.

For more information visit www.storieslikethese.com/support

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