2 – 18 SEP
KULINPEOPLESANDBOONSONGLINESTHEACKNOWLEDGESMALTHOUSELANDANDOFTHEWURRUNGWURUNDJERIOFTHENATION. malthousetheatre.com.au #malthousetheatre #kbox
WHEN IT BECOMES A ‘THING’
K-BOX is inspired by all the fellow adoptees who I have met, interviewed and become great friends with over the years, and the collective and palpable grief, connection and deep love that exists within the Australian transracial adoptee community and extended community overseas. But it’s important to recognise that K-BOX isn’t the adoptee story. I hope this work opens up conversation and encourages audiences to explore the many documentaries, books, podcasts, music and art made by transracial adoptees, and celebrate the great diversity of the experience.
I started writing K-BOX six years ago. And even though I am excited to finally share it with you, there is a part of me that is Becauseapprehensive.alot can change in half a decade; the kind of writer you are, the kind of person you are, and what you believe to be true can change dramatically. And the same goes for an adoptee’s relationship to their adoption. It is constantly changing. Evolving, devolving, morphing into something wonderful, banal or devastating. This can change from day to day, month to month, year to year. And can include long stints of it not even being a ‘thing’, but can also include long stints where it is absolutely a ‘thing’ and has the capacity to wreak havoc in your everyday life. This play explores a time in a young woman’s life when her adoption, or rather denial about her adoption, becomes a ‘thing’ and the chaos that inevitably ensues. Our sense of belonging in our family, our communities and in our own bodies is a fragile thing. And when you start to challenge the status quo there is always going to be resistance from others and paradoxically from yourself. This play is about attempting to cross that threshold, from the familiar into the unknown.
Ra Chapman / Writer
In this play, different responses to transinternational adoption are embodied by each character. Ra Chapman’s writing validates each perspective, really allowing us to go deep into the complexity of the issue. It validates peoples’ good intentions and love for each other while revealing significant hidden trauma. Connection is a difficult thing to achieve successfully, truthfully, and long term. For me, this project has meant thinking anew about the choices we all have when it comes to relating to family, how to balance what’s right for us and those around us.
Family is a place where we first form the image of ourselves, our sense of who we are. Discovering that there is something incomplete or unexpected in that image is extraordinarily jarring. You might find that your sense of belonging is suddenly slippery, and that openly reaching for it could be hurtful to those around you, as they believe your ‘belonging’ is innate.
K-BOX is about this subterranean landscape that exists inside a family unit, about coming home to find that the idea of home is not at all stable. That it is something that can shift, warp and change.
DIRECTOR’S NOTE
Ra Chapman has written a play that is incredibly specific in its portrait of these characters and the experience of Lucy, a Korean adoptee, while also being relatable in its rendering of the complexity of close family relationships. Her writing shifts deftly from comedy to drama, playfully inviting us to experience the sometimes bizarreness of the domestic.
Bridget Balodis / Director
Malthouse Theatre presents K-BOX. Commissioned by Malthouse Theatre through the Living Now program, supported by Australia Council for the Arts and the Malcolm Robertson Foundation. With thanks to the Robert Salzer Foundation for supporting sound design on this production by Marco Cher-Gibard. Malthouse is supported by COVID-19 Arts Sustainability Fund - an Australian Government initiative.
In families, codes exist for what is talked about and what terrain is off limits, and the denial of particular hurts or losses can become such a part of the fabric of the family unit that they stay invisible for long periods of time. If those things come to the surface they are capable of shaking the family or the individual to the very core.
© Malthouse Theatre, the artists, designers, photographers, collaborators and contributors. All rights reserved, 2022. Campaign Photography / Tamarah Scott. Printed on 100% recycled paper. CAST & CREATIVE RA CHAPMAN WRITER MARK PRITCHARD DRAMATURG BRIDGET BALODIS DIRECTOR SYD BRISBANE CAST JEFFREY LIU CAST MAUDE DAVEY CAST SUSANNA QIAN CAST ROMANIE HARPER SET & DESIGNERCOSTUME MARCO CHER-GIBARD SOUND DESIGNER AMELIADAVIDSONLEVERLIGHTING DESIGNER CECILY RABEY STAGE MANAGER MALITH WIJAYAWARDHANA BESEN(DIRECTING)PLACEMENT GRACE FERGUSON BESEN(COMPOSITIONPLACEMENT&SOUNDDESIGN) SUZANNE HEYWOOD VOCAL COACH MARK WONG VOCAL COACH RACHAEL LEE CHOREOGRAPHER ISOBELLE DE LIVERA VCE STAGEINTERNMANAGEMENT HARRIE HOGAN BESEN (LIGHTINGPLACEMENTDESIGN) ADDITIONAL CREATIVES
BOARD FIONA M c GAUCHIE (CHAIR) MICHAEL KANTOR (DEPUTY DEBORAHJADACHAIR)ALBERTSCHEETHAM AO DEBBIE DADON AM ANDREW MYER AM SUE MARYPAMELAPRESTNEYRABEVALLENTINE AO ALAN WONG EXECUTIVE MATTHEW LUTTON SARAH NEAL ARTISTIC & PROGRAMMING BRIDGET MARLINEMARKLAURARAANNIEKAMARRABALODISBELL-WYKESBOURKECHAPMANHALEPRITCHARDZAIBAK FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION NESS HARWOOD LIZ CONNIEALLIEWHITESTAPLETONSTELLA MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS& DAVEY TAMARAHJULIAJACQUISIMMONSBATHMANANTIQUESCOTT PUBLICITY TS PUBLICITY GRAPHIC DESIGN HOURS AFTER DEVELOPMENT ALEX PATRICKBELLEMORECRUMMY EDUCATION LYALL BROOKS TICKETING & BOX OFFICE PRUE FIONASUTHERLANDWISEMAN BOX OFFICE STAFF PAUL LIZEMMAISAMINMELLITABRONYAPERRIEMILYBUCKLEYBURKECUMMINGSDOYLEILICHKINGHAMMUNHOSWHITBYWHITE PRODUCTION BLAIR HART BAIRD M c KENNA DEXTER VARLEY TIA LENNONELIZABETHGOFFREDODELIABRENDANIVANROBZOECLARKRABBBALLINGALLSMITHJELLIESPICERMAMELIWHITTONFOWLER VENUE EMMA CORBETT STEVE HEARNE RYAN JONES FRONT OF HOUSE STAFF DEZI ANTIGONEHAYLEYOLIVEKENNYRILEYSHANNONBARNEYFLYNNEMMALUCYCLAUDEJULIELEAHHAYLEYSOPHIECATHERINEZOEDANIELLELOUISAMITCHELLBOYLEBROTZCARPINTERIGODERHADLERHAMILTONMcCRAENEWMANOLIVERIAO’REILLYSARMIENTOSEALESHAWSMEATONSPICERSTEVENSSTOWWAITEWEEKSWOLTERSYANNOULIDIS MALTHOUSE STAFF & BOARD
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