STORIES LIKE THESE AND GRIFFIN INDEPENDENT PRESENT THE WORLD PREMIERE OF
Stories Like These and Griffin Independent present the world premiere of
MINUSONESISTER BY ANNA BARNES CAST
Electra Iphigenia Orestes Chrysothemis
Kate Cheel Lucy Heffernan Liam Nunan Contessa Treffone
CREATIVE TEAM
Director Luke Rogers Producer Peter Gahan Set & Costume Designer Georgia Hopkins Lighting Designer Sian James-Holland Sound Designer & Composer Nate Edmondson Stage Manager Angharad Lindley Producing Assistants Blake Feltis Imogen Gardam Tabitha Woo Production & Poster Photography Brett Boardman This performance runs for approximately 80 minutes with no interval MinusOneSister had its world premiere at the SBW Stables Theatre as part of Griffin Independent on Wednesday 9 September 2015 MinusOneSister was developed with the assistance of Playwriting Australia’s State Exchange program
Griffin acknowledges the generosity of the Seaborn, Broughton and Walford Foundation in allowing it the use of the SBW Stables Theatre rent free, less outgoings, since 1986.
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: 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).
Rehearsal photos by Imogen Gardam
DIRECTOR’S NOTE MinusOneSister is inspired by Sophocles’ take on the Electra myth. Writers keep revisiting and reimagining these ancient plays because they continue to say so much about who we are today. Amongst all the vengeful gods and bloodshed, these stories are at their core an exploration about what it means to be human and remind us that we are all capable of both brilliant and brutal acts. Anna Barnes has used this legendary narrative as a springboard to create a thrilling new Australian play that is challenging in its form and utterly contemporary in its message. This is the story of a family, not so different to yours or mine, who are split apart after a series of violent acts. It focuses on how two teenage girls could respond so differently to the murders within their family. It is about trying to deal with the loss of a loved one and the devastation of feeling betrayed by those who are meant to love and protect you. The siblings left behind are holding on to the distant memory, or perhaps dream, of a normal, happy family. They are forced to exist in the aftershocks of violence enacted by their parents, continuously reliving that trauma as they attempt to reclaim what they’ve lost, to heal, and find a sense of belonging. But how do you heal from such tragedies, and can revenge ever be an option? Throughout this rehearsal process, we have wrestled with questions that interrogate the extremities of our humanity: What would you be prepared to kill for? When is an act of violence ever justified? For some, a violent act can bring with it a sense of justice, a retribution. We are sometimes able to reconcile a killing when it is supposedly made for a greater cause. The ‘curse’ of this particular family is not inflicted by the hands of some divine forces, but from within. It is the cycles of violence that exist and are too often perpetuated within our communities and families. At some point we must stand up and say: enough it enough, it is time to end the cycle. Within its epic narrative, this is a play about teenage siblings, young girls in particular. It’s about adolescence, growing up, the competiveness, jealousy and tensions that exist between teenagers, that sense of injustice we all feel when we are young and our determination to achieve what we believe is right. It puts the role of women within the family unit and its patriarchal lines under the microscope, asking us to question the politics of gender and power in our society and our families. Anna Barnes has written a sparse, exquisite and extraordinary play that has been a joy to explore and unravel. The theatrical possibilities of this work are endless. With the exception of the naturalist dialogue scenes, every line of text in this play is unassigned. The 28 fragmented scenes travel forwards and backwards through time, as the siblings seek some understanding and clarity as to how ended up in this tragic position. The role of Iphigenia is not a scripted character, but in our production she is present, because even when you lose a family member, they always stay with you. Their absence is always present; there but not. It’s been such a challenging and rewarding experience to create this big, complex work for this gorgeous, tiny stage with this amazing group of artists. Thank you to every single person who has helped bring MinusOneSister to life, and thank you for supporting independent theatre. Luke Rogers Director
SPECIAL THANKS TO The staff of Griffin Theatre Company Playwriting Australia Rose Riley Odessa Young Lauren Dillon Nicola James Brett Boardman
Legs on the Wall Eliza Maunsell Ben Lightowlers Sydney Theatre Company Samantha Hopkins Julian Larnach Emily Adinolfi
CAST KATE CHEEL Electra Kate is a recent graduate of Adelaide College of the Arts. Main stage theatre credits include Three Sisters, The Glass Menagerie, Hedda Gabler and Jesikah with State Theatre Company of South Australia (STCSA), Big Bad Wolf and Fugitive with Windmill Theatre Company, Brief Encounter with Kneehigh Theatre (UK) and Masquerade with Griffin Theatre Company/STCSA. Kate’s screen credits include feature film One-Eyed Girl and the Navitas Project for ABC. Kate was awarded the 2012 Emerging Artist of the Year by the Adelaide Critics Circle and was the final recipient of the STCSA Adele Koh Scholarship for acting. Kate has studied acting and directing in the USA and Europe supported by funding from the Neil Curnow Award and the Helpmann Academy.
LUCY HEFFERNAN Iphigenia Lucy Heffernan studied a Bachelor of Performance in Acting at the University of Wollongong, graduating in 2013. Whilst there Lucy performed in productions of Juliet and Romeo, Elektra, Bergman and Three Sisters. Since moving to Sydney, Lucy has performed in numerous theatre productions, including: Machine (Eclective Productions), the role of Fiona Carter in The Removalists (Rock Surfers Theatre Company, directed by Leland Keane), As I Lay Dreaming (Shopfront Theatre), His Dark Materials (Bakehouse Theatre Company), The Coleridge Papers play reading/script development (Belvoir), and for Sport for Jove: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (directed by Susanna Dowling), The Crucible (directed by Damien Ryan, playing the role of Abigail Williams in the education season remount), and Jessica in Richard Cottrell’s The Merchant of Venice.
LIAM NUNAN Orestes Liam graduated from The Actor’s Workshop in 2009 and NIDA in 2012. His theatre credits while training include, The Actor’s Workshop: The Wood Demon (Directed by Kathy Burns). NIDA: The Tatty Hollow Story (Kevin Jackson), Pool No Water (Virginia Savage), Waiting for Lefty (Stefanos Rassios), The Winter’s Tale (Lee Lewis), The Cassandra Project (Legs on the Wall), The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Mel Shepiro), Electronic City (Netta Yashchin), The Illusion (Kate Whoriskey), The Lieutenant of Inishmore (Paige Rattray) and Caligula (Pierce Wilcox). Other credits include: 25 Down (Jon Halpin - Queensland Theatre Company) Keep Everything You Love and Titus Andronicus (Nash Theatre Company), Pirates (Stage Door Theatre Company), A Butcher of Distinction and Details Unknown (James Dalton), Owen Wingrave (Imara Savage - Sydney Chamber Opera), Machina (Caterina Hebbard - La Boite Indie), Shivered (Claudia Barrie - Mad March Hare Theatre company). Feature films: Dartworth, Tightrope, Rise of the Tom Boy. TV: Puzzle Play, Toasted TV and K9. In 2014 Liam received an ArtStart grant from the Australia Council with which he traveled to New York to study at the Atlantic Acting School. Liam is a proud member of Equity.
CONTESSA TREFFONE Chrysothemis Contessa Treffone graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Arts in 2012 with a Bachelor in Dramatic Art. Since graduating her theatre credits include: Lord of the Flies (Kip Williams - US-A-UM/Malthouse Theatre), Children of the Sun (Kip Williams - Sydney Theatre Company), This House is Mine (Paige Rattray - Milkcrate/Darlinghurst Theatre Company). Contessa has also collaborated on several new Australian works including developments with US-A-UM Theatre Company, Arthur Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company. Contessa was also a part of the company of actors who performed the Patrick White Award winning plays in 2013 (MinusOneSister by Anna Barnes) and 2014 (Artur by Chris Summers).
CREATIVE TEAM ANNA BARNES Playwright Anna Barnes is an award winning writer and playwright. In 2006, she was the winner of the Melbourne Fringe Festival Patrick Alexander Playwrighting Award and the co-winner of Malthouse 3Dfest competition for her play In Remembrance. She was the recipient of British Council’s Realise Your Dream award in 2007 funding her trip to study playwriting at the Royal Court Theatre in London. In 2011, she was Red Stitch Actors Theatre’s writer-inresidence. Her first book Girl! The Ultimate Guide to Being You was published in July 2012. Girl! was named as one of the Eva Pownall Notable Books of 2013 by the Children’s Book Council of Australia. She was the winner of the Sydney Theatre Company’s Patrick White Playwright’s Award in 2013 for her play MinusOneSister. Her play The Execution of All Things is currently in development with director Petra Kalive for Bell Shakespeare’s Mind’s Eye program.
LUKE ROGERS Director Luke Rogers is a graduate of NIDA (Directing 2012), Theatre Nepean (Acting 2002), and the Artistic Director of Stories Like These. In 2014, he was a Resident Studio Artist with Griffin Theatre Company. Directing credits include: 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), Mr Marmalade (CQUniversity), Embers (AIM Dramatic Arts), Shakespeare’s Women, Shoot / Get Treasure / Repeat (ACTT), 4.48 Psychosis, Eyes To The Floor (Sydney Theatre School) and Two Weeks With The Queen (Mountains Youth Theatre). Tour Director: The Witches (Griffin Theatre Company). Assistant Director: Eight Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography (Griffin Theatre Company / Perth Theatre Company), Story of the Red Mountains (NIDA), The Boys (Griffin Theatre Company / Sydney Festival), Steel Magnolias (Blackbird Productions/Australian Tour), Assassins and 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 at various drama schools. His production of The Last Five Years was nominated for Best Production of a Musical at the Sydney Theatre Awards.
GEORGIA HOPKINS Designer Georgia Hopkins graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) with a Bachelor of Dramatic Arts (Design) in 2013. Recent design credits include The Dapto Chaser (Griffin), The House of Ramon Iglesia, Playing Rock Hudson (Old Fitz Theatre), Dogfight (Hayes Theatre), Redfern Talks Back (Sydney Opera House), The Jungle, Who’s Afraid of the Working Class? (AIM Dramatic Arts), Pagliacci (Sydney Independent Opera), Book of Days (New Theatre), MEAT (Sunday Films), Hunter N Hornet (iFodder Content Creators), Les Cage Aux Folles (Sydney Grammar School), Revolver (Mardi Gras), and the Creative Play programs for the Sydney Opera House. Assistant design credits include Of Mice and Men (Sport for Jove), Miracle City (Hayes Theatre), The Glass Menagerie, Once in Royal David’s City (Belvoir), Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour. Whilst at NIDA, Georgia designed A Lie of the Mind, directed by Rodney Fisher, Play House, directed by Luke Rogers, the NIDA Gala event, the music video clip TL;DR for Triple J Unearthed, and travelled to Scotland to collaborate with director Nicholas Bone on Osama the Hero. Georgia is currently designing costumes for Rent at the Hayes Theatre.
SIAN JAMES-HOLLAND Lighting Designer Sian James-Holland is a graduate of WAAPA. In 2010 she embarked on a summer residency at the Banff Centre, Canada, with the support of the Lazlo Funtec Scholarship. Her credits include Fireface (Stories Like These), Henry V (Bell Shakespeare), Monkey - A Journey to the West (Theatre of Image), This Is Where We Live (Griffin Theatre Company), Of Mice and Men, Hamlet (2013), The Crucible, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Sport for Jove), Metadata, Pure Light, Box of Birds and Inner Garden (DeQuincey Co), Ordinary Days, Reasons To Be Pretty (Darlinghurst Theatre Company), The Drowsy Chaperone (Hayes Theatre), Turn Of The Screw, Hold Me Neighbour In This Storm (The Banff Centre), The Lonesome West (BSharp), Our Town, The Penelopiad (Bathurst St Theatre - Toronto, Canada), The Ham Funeral (New Theatre), Rooted, The Legend of King O’Malley, The Rivers of China (Don’t Look Away), Timeline ACO & The Presets (Vivid 2014), Barry Humphries and the ACO National Tour Weimar Cabaret (Australian Chamber Orchestra), Circus Under My Bed, Control Alt Delete, Beach Party, Get Smarter and Scissors.Paper.Rock (Flying Fruit Fly Circus). Other assistant and associate lighting designer positions include Every Breath, Death of a Salesman (Belvoir), Priscilla The Musical (Toronto Season) and tour re-lighter for Cats (RUG, China and Korea). Sian appears as a mentor and guest artist for lighting design at NIDA and AIM Dramatic Arts.
NATE EDMONDSON Sound Designer and Composer For Stories Like These: Music, Fireface, Rust and Bone. For Griffin: Caress/Ache, The Witches, Jump for Jordan, The Floating World (Assistant Sound Designer), This Year’s Ashes. For Sydney Theatre Company: Romeo And Juliet. For Force Majeure / Sydney Theatre Company: Never Did Me Any Harm (Associate Sound Designer). For Belvoir: Seventeen, Kill The Messenger (Associate Sound Designer), Angels In America: Part 1 & 2 (Assistant Sound Designer), This Heaven. For Sydney Dance Company: Once We Were. For Bell Shakespeare: The Tempest, Romeo And Juliet, As You Like It (Associate Sound Designer), Macbeth, The Winter’s Tale. For Malthouse Helium: Salomé, Lord Of The Flies. For Darlinghurst Theatre: Daylight Saving, All My Sons, Torch Song Trilogy, The Greening Of Grace, The Seafarer, The Paris Letter, The Coming World. For ATYP: The Hiding Place. For Sport For Jove: Of Mice And Men. For Riverside Theatres: Shellshock. For New Theatre: When The Rain Stops Falling, The Temperamentals, Julius Caesar. For Rock Surfers: Jack Kerouac’s Essentials Of Spontaneous Prose, Lenny Bruce: 13 Daze Un-Dug In Sydney, Psycho Beach Party, Fallout, Wrecking, The Highway Crossing, Lyrebird, Pictures Of Bright Lights, Flightfall. For Red Line Productions: Freak Winds. For Old 505: Decay, River. For Michael Sieders Presents: The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show. For Ken Unsworth / Australian Dance Artists: Departures. For We Do Not Unhappen / Fat Boy Dancing: The Light Box. For Little Ones Theatre: Two By Two. For Tooth And Sinew: Scenes From An Execution, King Lear, Measure For Measure. For Les Currie Presentations: Every Single Saturday. For Wildie Creative Enterprises: Today We’re Alive. For Red Rabbit Theatre: Fefu And Her Friends. For Ashfield Youth Theatre: Punk Rock. For AIM: Hell Hath No Fury. For Kambala School: Away, Living With Lady Macbeth, If Only The Lonely Were Home. For NIDA Open Program: Alice In Wonderland. For NIDA: Much Ado About Nothing (Guest Sound Designer), NIDA Gala (2010 & 2012). Short Film Work: I Am Not A Work Of Art, Disturbing Bodies (ABC Fresh Blood), The Light Box, Pretty, Gibney’s Island, Kaleidoscope. Other: Nate also lectures in theatre production and sound design, and has taught, supervised and mentored students at NIDA, AIM Dramatic Arts, ACTT and Wesley Institute. Training: NIDA Production Course.
PETER GAHAN Producer Peter Gahan is the Producer of Stories Like These, producing Music, Rust and Bone, Tattoo (Griffin Independent), Fireface (ATYP), The Last Five Years, My Private Parts (Seymour Centre), The Carnivores, Sydney Ghost Stories (Old Fitzroy) and Confessions of a Grindr Addict (Revolt, Melbourne). Peter was the Event Manager for Vivid Light 2015, is a Production Manager with CDP, Local 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, John Williams, Laurie Anderson, David Hobson, George Benson, The Beach Boys, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Kenny Rogers, Tim Minchin, The Cure, Oprah Winfrey and countless theatrical productions. Production Management credits include I am Jack (Australian and USA Tour), Pete The Sheep (Australian Tour), Milli Jack and the Dancing Cat, 26 Storey Treehouse, Waiting For Godot, Don Juan in Soho, The Carnivores, The Crucible, Hamlet, Stories From The 428 and 52 Storey Treehouse.
ANGHARAD LINDLEY Stage Manager Angharad Lindley graduated with Distinction from the University of Wollongong (UOW) after completing a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Performance) and was recipient of the Creative Arts Faculty Production Prize in both 2011 and 2012. In 2012, Angharad completed a stage management secondment with the Sydney Theatre Company on Face to Face. As Assistant Stage Manager her credits include Snugglepot & Cuddlepie (CDP Theatre Producers), The Dapto Chaser (Merrigong Theatre Company) as well as Hamlet and Hedda Gabler (Belvoir). Her stage management credits include Lucy Black, The Political Hearts of Children (subtlenuance), Savage in Limbo (Workhorse Theatre Company), Opera at the Forum (Pacific Opera), Rust and Bone, Fireface, Music (Stories Like These), Dirty Blonde (Garnet Productions), A Butcher of Distinction (we do not unhappen), The Lightbox (Fat Boy Dancing), Gaybies, Deathtrap (Darlinghurst Theatre Company) and A Feat Incomplete at the Old 505 Theatre.
BLAKE FELTIS Producing Assistant Blake Feltis has recently completed the Bachelor of Performance at AIM Dramatic Arts. His tech credits include, Production Manager: Emerge Festival (AIM Dramatic Arts), Lighting and Sound Technician: Short and Sweet Sydney, The Crucible (Adelaide Hall), The Goon Show LIVE, Antigone (Theatre Excentrique). Stage Manager: Flame Peas (Old Fitzroy), The After Dinner Joke (NIDA), Assistant Stage Manager: Of Mice and Men (Sport for Jove). As an actor: Bajazet (Pinchgut Opera), Bobby Joe - King of the Sea (Cookies and Cream Theatre Co.), Hank (Emerge Festival), Her Naked Skin, Phaedra, Embers (AIM Dramatic Arts). Voice Coach on Her Naked Skin and the Emerge Festival (AIM Dramatic Arts), Voiceover Host for AIM Aussie Rock Tour. Blake has also been a Kid’s Party Entertainer for over two years.
IMOGEN GARDAM Producing Assistant Imogen Gardam is the co-director of independent production collective Montague Basement. She produced the collective’s inaugural work, Procne & Tereus, in 2014 and is producing their upcoming work at the Sydney Fringe, All About Medea. Imogen studies Media and Communications at the University of Sydney, and is the current President of the Sydney University Dramatic Society. She has produced multiple productions with SUDS including The Chairs for last year’s Sydney Fringe, and this year’s production of Agamemnon, which celebrated the 125th anniversary of the society. She has also worked with the Sydney University Arts Revue, producing The Unlimited Dream Factory in 2014.
TABITHA WOO Producing Assistant Tabitha Woo is a theatre creator and producer, Bachelor of Performance graduate (AIM Dramatic Arts) and current University of Sydney student. For AIM Dramatic Arts, Tabitha was the Associate Producer for Her Naked Skin, Producer of Emerge Festival 2014 and Director of It Was All Too Much For Her. She is currently the Verge Festival 2015 Liaison Officer for the Sydney University Dramatic Society. Tabitha is a proud MEAA member since 2014.
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