medea

By KATE MULVANY & ANNE-LOUISE SARKS after EURIPIDES

Original concept by ANNE-LOUISE SARKS

Director ANNE-LOUISE SARKS

This production of Medea opened at Belvoir St Theatre on Saturday 13 October 2012.

Set & Costume Designer MEL PAGELighting Designer BENJAMIN CISTERNEComposer & Sound DesignerSTEFAN GREGORYAssistant DirectorLAURA TURNERStage ManagerKELLY UKENAStage Managers (rehearsals)EVA TANDY COURTNEY WILSONAssistant Stage ManagerGRACE NYE-BUTLERChaperonesGINA BIANCOALICE HATTONDOUG NEIBLINGTARA RIDLEY

THANK YOU Australian Theatre for Young People; Susie & Nick Kelly; Jackie May & Nick Potter; Anna Kerrigan; Christie Ward; Jonathan Hunt; Keith Dalleywater; The King’s School Preparatory School.

PHOTOGRAPHY Heidrun LöhrDESIGN Alphabet Studio

Belvoir, in association with Australian Theatre for Young People, presents

medea

WithMedea BLAZEY BEST Leon JOSEPH KELLY Jasper RORY POTTER

ANNE-LOUISE SARKS Co-Writer & director

Anne-Louise is artistic director of The Hayloft Project. She works professionally as an

actor, director and dramaturg. For Belvoir anne-Louise’s previous credits include The Wild Duck (assistant director) and Thyestes (dramaturg). In 2011 anne-Louise was an associate artist at Belvoir and was director-in-residence at malthouse Theatre. This year she directed Kate mulvany’s The Seed (melbourne Theatre Company) and appeared in Lally Katz’s Starchaser (arena Theatre Company.) For The Hayloft Project anne-Louise co-wrote and directed The Nest and Yuri Wells (winner adelaide Fringe award) and performed in The Suicide (B Sharp/The Hayloft Project), 3 X Sisters and The Only Child (Best Independent Production, Sydney Theatre awards). Other acting credits include Return to Earth (melbourne Theatre Company) and The Spook (malthouse Theatre).

BLAZEY BEST medea

For Belvoir Blazey has also appeared in The Wild Duck (Oslo tour), Death of a Salesman,

Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (national tour) and The Threepenny Opera, and downstairs in Bang (B Sharp/Whitebox Theatre). Her other theatre credits include Much Ado About Nothing, Troilus + Cressida, Richard lll, A Comedy of Errors, The Servant of Two Masters, The War of the Roses (Bell Shakespeare); Travesties, Troupers, Summer Rain (Sydney Theatre Company); Strange Attractor (Griffin Theatre Company); Babies Proms (Sydney Opera House); and Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Showtune Productions). Blazey has also appeared on TV in Water Rats,

BiographiesKATE MULVANY Co-Writer

Kate’s performed plays include The Seed, Blood & Bone, Story Time, Vaseline Lollies,

Naked Ambition, The Freak, Chicom, The Web, and the musicals Embalmer! (co-written with Pip Branson) and Somewhere (co-written with Tim minchin), which opened the Joan Sutherland Performing arts Centre in 2005. Her play The Danger Age was shortlisted for the 2004 Patrick White Playwright’s award, and she was the winner of the 2004 Philip Parsons Young Playwright’s award for which she was commissioned to write The Seed. The Seed won Best Independent Production and was nominated for Best New australian Work at the 2007 Sydney Theatre Critics’ awards. It was also nominated in 2008 for an aWGIe for Best New Work, as well as the Queensland Premier’s Literary award. It received an Honourable mention in the 2008 asher award. after two successful seasons at Belvoir, The Seed went on to tour australia – Kate is currently working on the screenplay. She recently completed adaptations of Julius Caesar and Macbeth, which toured australia for Bell Shakespeare. Kate is also adapting the bestselling Kit Williams children’s book Masquerade for Griffin, as well as writing two new plays for aTYP and melbourne Theatre Company. Kate is also a mentor to several emerging playwrights across australia and is an award-winning actor.

for Measure and That Face. Other credits include: Face To Face, Money Shots, Baal, The War of the Roses, Frankenstein (Sydney Theatre Company); Infinity: There is Definitely a Prince Involved (The australian Ballet); The Suicide, B.C. (The Hayloft Project); Silent Disco, The Call (Griffin Theatre Company); King Lear, Hamlet and Othello (Bell Shakespeare Company). Stefan was a band member of Faker until 2008 and has been nominated for various awards.

JOSEPH KELLY Leon

Joe is 13 and developed a love of acting when making short adventure films with his good

mate, Lucas. Joe is currently studying at the australian Theatre for Young People and The Scots College, where has been involved in many schools performances. In his spare time, Joe enjoys soccer, water polo and boxing. Medea is Joe’s first professional performance.

GRACE NYE-BUTLER assistant Stage manager

Grace graduated this year from the Western australian academy of Performing arts

(WaaPa) with an advanced diploma of Stage management. She was recently seconded to Belvoir’s production of Death of a Salesman, and was assistant stage manager for Boundary Street at the Brisbane Festival (Black Swan State Theatre Company). at WaaPa Grace was involved in many shows including Clinchfield, Epsom Downs, Pivot Dance, Anything Goes, The Rake’s Progress, Macbeth and Beauty and the Beast. Grace was selected to manage the LINK dance Company’s international tour to France and The Netherlands last year. She has also completed a secondment with Jersey Boys australia.

Home and Away, All Saints and Wildside, as well as in the feature film Ten Empty. Blazey was nominated for a Sydney Theatre award for Strange Attractor.

BENJAMIN CISTERNE Lighting designer

Benjamin is passionate about the capability of light in performance

design and its role in art, and works collaboratively on projects. He has received awards from The Green Room awards association and The Illuminating engineers Society. Benjamin has extensive experience leading teams to create lighting designs for various performances and exhibitions. He has been a creative at companies including Sydney dance Company, The australian Ballet, Chunky move, antony Hamilton Projects, Balletlab, Stompin, Force majeure, Lucy Guerin Inc, dance North, Splinter Group and has worked with other independent artists. Benjamin’s body of work in exhibition lighting design can be seen at The australian War memorial, National Sports museum, The australian museum, the Reserve Bank of australia, the Sir Harry Gibbs Legal Heritage Centre, the australian Infantry museum and the Queensland museum.

STEFAN GREGORY Composer & Sound designer

Stefan is an associate artist at Belvoir, and has been composer and

sound designer on Belvoir’s productions of Private Lives, Death of a Salesman, Strange Interlude, Old Man, Thyestes, As You Like It, Neighbourhood Watch (in which he also played the chemist), The Seagull, The Wild Duck, Measure

LAURA TURNER assistant director

Laura completed a diploma of Theatre Performance at Sydney Theatre School. She

was part of the Impact ensemble at Pact Theatre 2009, as well as the Young artists Program at australian Theatre for Young People. She was assistant director on Rio Saki and Other Falling Debris at aTYP, and began tutoring and devising with the ensemble program there. Laura’s work as a performer includes Blind As You See It (Shh); Firewater (Carriageworks/Vivid Festival); and A Field (Old 505 Theatre). She is currently completing a Bachelor of Fine arts at the College of Fine arts.

KELLY UKENA Stage manager

Kelly graduated from Charles Sturt University with a Bachelor of arts in design for Theatre

and Television. Since graduating Kelly has worked in theatre as a stage manager and production manager. Kelly’s stage management credits include Romeo and Juliet (Bell Shakespeare); Emily Eyefinger, Hitler’s Daughter (monkey Baa); I am Eora, Ngurru-milmarramiriw (Performing Lines); Underdogs (Kermond Creative); Dapto Chaser, Death in Bowengabbie (merrigong Theatre Company); Shakespeare season at the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens (Sport for Jove); As You Like It (The Shakespeare Centre); and The No Chance in Hell Hotel regional tour (Critical Stages). Kelly has also worked with the children’s group Hi-5 on a number of national and regional tours.

MEL PAGE Set & Costume designer

Mel is a Victorian College of the arts graduate. She has

designed costumes for Belvoir for Strange Interlude, As You Like It and The Promise, and designed set and costumes for Old Man. Other set and/or costume credits include The Suicide, The Only Child, Spring Awakening (B Sharp/The Hayloft Project); Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Pygmalion (Sydney Theatre Company); Baal (malthouse Theatre/Sydney Theatre Company); Vs. Macbeth (The Border Project/Sydney Theatre Company); The Nest (The Hayloft Project); The Apocalypse Bear Trilogy (Stuck Pigs Squealing/melbourne Theatre Company/melbourne International arts Festival); Spicks and Specktacular (aBC/Token events); and Noye’s Fludde (Victorian Opera). In 2010, mel created an instillation for Visible City, a keynote project of the melbourne Fringe Festival.

RORY POTTER Jasper

Rory is 12 and is making his acting debut at Belvoir. His love of drama has

been encouraged both at school and at the australian Theatre for Young People ensemble classes. Rory approaches everything he does with an infectious enthusiasm. He’s also a competent musician, playing trumpet and drums, and is also passionate about sport, especially aFL and cricket.

Just in case you thought you were seeing euripides’ Medea, I should tell you something...

This play is absolutely not euripides’ Medea.

Not onstage, anyway. Offstage – yes, indeed. Jason of the argonauts, medea’s beloved husband, has been fooling around with a younger woman. He tells medea he doesn’t want her anymore. demands she leave their marital home. Tells her she has to leave their kids with him. She has no choice. She is utterly outcast.

Offstage.

Onstage, you’ll be seeing a very different story.

This is a brand new text that is inspired by the Greek tragedy of medea, but even more so by the endless imagination of our incredible cast members who have turned this story from the horrific tale we know and loathe to something I hope you find more recognisable, funny, present and heartbreaking. Today, while Jason and medea sort out their shit offstage, you’ll be spending time with their children – in all their boyish, joyous charm.

Rory and Joe – our ‘sons of the daughter of the Sun’ – have been unbelievably generous with their talent, their spirits, their stories. They have given me an insight into the innocence of childhood that I realised – sadly – has been eroding slowly away the more I allow myself to ‘grow up’. With their help, this new take on Medea rejoices in innocence, in naivety, in game playing and in love.

Behind every word of this text there is a water fight, a burping contest, a fart joke, a piggyback race, a sour bomb, a leap off a balcony onto a trampoline and into a pool. Because ultimately, that’s what the tragedy of medea really is: that the innocence of childhood can be so abruptly stolen away by the choices of adults.

But we’ve shifted our perception of medea as a person too. In researching people’s perception of the play I asked as many people from as many walks of life: ‘Tell me what you know about medea?’ The answer was almost always: ‘That horrible woman who kills her kids.’ We didn’t want our medea to be that. Our medea is a woman who was once a child too. She is a woman who is not spitting an endless stream of bile but who loves her family passionately, and desperately wants to keep them together. Our medea is your sister. Your aunt. Your friend. Your mother. You?

She’s that woman that on today’s news reports would be described by neighbours as being ‘a lovely woman – we never would have thought she’d be capable of this...’ Today, instead of the relative comfort of watching a tragedy from eons past, you will be sitting in the very house of medea’s present.

my infinite thanks to our amazing cast and crew for sharing their own childhoods, innocence and fears so evocatively – it made the writing process so much more personal and potent – and most of all to anne-Louise Sarks who came up with this idea for an adaptation and encouraged us all to play, play, play.

Writer’s NoteKate mulvany

The theatre is all about what ifs?

as artists we ask what if? over and over again. Our process is a series of what ifs? and all of this ongoing questioning poses even more what ifs? that we gather and shape into a living, breathing experience.and then an audience comes to participate in the collective what if?

What if this story was real?

What if I was heartbroken? What if I had two children and believed I would lose them forever? What if I was an outsider with no-one to turn to? What if I killed my own children? Or what if mum was really, really upset and behaving weirdly? What if dad had gone to live with someone else? What if I was locked in my room all day and I needed to wee? What if I am capable of doing something horrific?

Our production of Medea began its life inside of me as a bold and persistent what if? in terms of the story of medea, but also in terms of what is possible in the theatre with children. Children in the theatre magnify everything. They do so onstage and they have throughout our process. They change the quality of the air around us with their playfulness and their truth. In our Medea that energy becomes the centre of our theatrical event.

The story of medea is not some distant mythic tale that bears no relationship to our life today. There are far too many recent tragic stories of parents taking the lives of their own children for us to dismiss its relevance. The horrific story of darcey Freeman being thrown off the West Gate Bridge by her father in January 2009 is only one such story, but it seized me. When I learned later that darcey’s brother Ben, then six years old, had said to his

Director’s Noteanne-Louise Sarks

father repeatedly, ‘Go back and get her. darcey can’t swim,’ I was overwhelmed by his comprehension and naivety. It completely changed the way I saw that terrible act. This child was an unwilling participant in an event that would have implications for the rest of his life. There was something about the heartbreaking combination of knowing and innocence that compelled me. How does a child see the world? and how do they understand such an epic event?

This play was made for Belvoir downstairs. It was devised by all the artists involved and written and shaped by their voices. I knew there was something exciting at the core of this idea, but I had no idea if it would work as a piece of theatre. Fortunately every collaborator on this show has taken the leap of faith and transformed my initial what if? into a rich and complex world onstage. It has far surpassed my early imaginings. It has challenged me and surprised me. I’m incredibly grateful to them all for their openness, playfulness and generosity. and I am indebted to them for their bravery and faith and commitment. everyone has embraced this unusual process and celebrated the obstacles that such a process demands, none more so than these two talented young actors.

We’ve had to teach these boys so much about theatre, about our processes, our language and our strange rituals. But they have taught me more. They’ve given me the precious gift of seeing again. Seeing the world of medea and the Greeks again, as well as the world we live in. But most significantly, they have given me the pleasure of seeing anew this world of theatre that I love. and I am much better for it.

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Luckily mum and dad love each other.

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