SECOND YEAR STUDENT PERFORMANCE PROJECT
GAGARIN WAY
BY GREGORY BURKE
YOU WANT “ ARROGANCE? GREED? STUPIDITY? LOOK AROUND.
”
25-28 OCT
DIRECTED BY ANATOLY FRUSIN
TIME 7pm ADMISSION Adults $25 / Concession $15 VENUE Norman Price Theatre
BY ARRANGEMENT WITH ORIGIN™ THEATRICAL ON BEHALF OF SAMUEL FRENCH A CONCORD THEATRICALS COMPANY
DIRECTOR’S NOTES “Burke’s bitterly funny drama is a ton of theatrical dynamite cunningly disguised as a mere Molotov cocktail. It slips down easily and then explodes. It ransacks 20th-century political philosophies and ideologies with assurance and poses big questions: can the individual act have greater political symbolism? Is political violence ever justified? What is the difference between revolution and murder and how can you rise above apathy in a world where there is nothing left to believe in?” -Lyn Gardner, The Guardian
CAST SEAN KARLSBAKK
SAMUEL KEIR
NEILY MCNAUGHTON
RYAN GOUGH
Frank
Tom
Gary
Eddie
PLACE: A FACTORY STOREROOM IN DUNFERMLINE, FIFE, SCOTLAND TIME: SUMMER, 2001 Gregory Burke was born in 1968 in Dunfermline, Scotland. “Gagarin Way” was Gregory Burke’s first play and premiered at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, on 12 July 2001, before transferring to the Cottesloe Theatre at the National Theatre, London in September. It was highly awarded and was succeeded by “The Straits”, the hugely successful “Black Watch” and other plays and screenplays. The location is a former mining town in Fife, Scotland, an area once a hotbed of Socialist politics.
Now, in 2001, a decade after the collapse of the Soviet Union and four years into Blair’s New Labour, two disgruntled computer factory workers decide to kidnap a visiting executive to make a political point. But things do not go according to plan… “Gagarin Way” was a hit around the world at the beginning of the millennium. It is a funny and frightening “heist gone wrong” story with even more relevance today in a world in which terrorism and the crisis of Capitalism is at the forefront of the news.
CONTENT WARNING
FOR SUPPORT, PLEASE CONTACT
This production contains frequent coarse language, violence, and adult themes, including a discussion of suicide.
Lifeline www.lifeline.org.au (24/7) | Call 13 11 14 Emergencies Call 000 Suicide Call Back Service www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au provides 24/7 support if you or someone you know is feeling suicidal, call 1300 659 467.
DURATION 90 minutes CREDITS Directed and designed by Lighting design Lighting operation Video documentation Live photography
Anatoly Frusin Geoff Squires Lisa O’Neill Touchwood Productions Jade Ellis
SPECIAL THANKS TO TAFE Queensland Marketing, Management and Administration of the Faculty of Creative Arts and Digital Design, Downer, University of Canberra, Jackie French: Faculty Director CADD, Education partner: Metro Arts. THE STUDENTS ALSO WISH TO THANK THE TEACHING STAFF Lisa O’Neill, Anatoly Frusin, Dr Patrick Mitchell, Rosalind Williams, Brian Lucas, Kate Schirmer, Stephen Lance & Paul Bissett. This event is an initiative of the University of Canberra students studying at the TAFE Queensland, South bank campus as part of their assessment.
TAFE Queensland Acting would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we learn, teach, and perform, the Jagera and Turrbal people. We would like to pay our respects to all elders past, present, and emerging. We acknowledge that Aboriginal people have been performing on and caring for this land, now known as Brisbane, for tens of thousands of years.
© 2023 TAFE Queensland. All rights reserved Disclaimer: All information was accurate at time of publication; however, content is subject to change without notice.
TAFE QUEENSLAND RTO 0275 | CRICOS 03020E | PRV13003 UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA CRICOS 00212K | TEQSA PRV12003