Malthouse acknowledges the unceded lands of the Kulin Nation. We acknowledge their sovereignty and their Songlines. We pay respect to their Elders and their Children. We embrace and celebrate the oldest culture in the world.
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#malthousetheatre #hourofthewolf
When we talk about theatre being immersive, we’re really talking about design. An immersion in the physical world, sharing the space with the actors, rifling through the cupboards. The stories of theatre, we hope, should always feel like an immersion, a contract you make when you walk through the door to suspend your disbelief.
In Hope Hill, belief is important. The townspeople will tell you the folklore of a Wolf, a woman, who takes things in the night. An outsider might insist it’s a lie, a collective delusion. But to locals it is very real. Their loss is true, their fear. In usual storytelling, the release of information—how and when the audience discover things—is crucial to the narrative. But in this story you are free to wander, to construct the truth for yourself.
As a visitor, the world of Hope Hill will seem familiar, yet eerily other. There are three potential starting places, but when the clock strikes four you could find yourself in any number of corners. Each room feels achingly real, but to walk through a door is to make a jump in time and space. In the back of your mind, something isn’t quite right.
As you travel you might hear from true believers in the Wolf or the sceptics. You might meet someone at the end of their night before you learn the beginning. You might uncover a secret that changes your mind. Perhaps you’ll meet the Wolf herself, if she even exists. Just as each townsperson follows a unique journey through the night, no two visitors will witness the same hour. There are no identical versions of the truth.
What happened in Hope Hill? Will you emerge a believer? We have no way of knowing.
But we know you’ll spend an hour or so stalking this town and you will leave with these people, their stories, this folklore lodged in your mind. A version of events. A lie. Or the truth. You decide.
KEZIAH WARNER / CO-CREATOR & WRITERThe design brief for Hour of the Wolf has been to conceive of a dozen immersive rooms, arranged as a labyrinth within the Merlyn Theatre and Dock, enabling audiences to weave their way through the gnarly world of Hope Hill and Keziah’s delicious narrative. Within this nocturnal world, the installation contextualises and supports the characters, pitches the ambiguities and mysteries of the town, and allows for the unravelling of its riddles. Thriller was the initial genre/provocation Matt threw to me, with the invitation to dance between concrete and dream states in visual, spatial, and tactile design.
We’re at 3am, which is not a comfortable nor an easy hour, and the experience of existing in this world should be a heightened one. I hope that the palettes and textures we’ve created come close to the beauty, honesty, and grit of Wong Kar-wai films or the uncanniness of a Gregory Crewdson photograph. In Hope Hill, audiences wander through the intensity of fluorescent lights in a compound at nighttime, past bug zappers in a lonely all-night convenience store, traverse the sadness of a balloon arch once the party has moved on, and arrive to the cold, still fear of a waiting room at a regional hospital. The team responsible for constructing, installing, sourcing, detailing, finishing, and dressing the Hour of the Wolf installation/ set/labyrinth is not enormous, but it is enormously dedicated and enormously talented. I owe each member of that team a massive debt of thanks. We all share the authorship of this design.
ANNA CORDINGLEY / SET DESIGNER Campaign Photography / Kristian Gehradte. Printed on 100% recycled paper. © Malthouse Theatre, the artists, designers, photographers, collaborators and contributors. All rights reserved, 2023.
JACK GREEN (HE/HIM) CAST
NATASHA HERBERT (SHE/HER) CAST
KEVIN HOFBAUER (HE/HIM) CAST
KEEGAN JOYCE (HE/HIM) CAST
BROOKE LEE (THEY/THEM) CAST
EMILY MILLEDGE (SHE/HER) CAST
CHRISTINA O’NEILL (SHE/HER) CAST
EVA REES (SHE/HER) CAST
KARL RICHMOND (HE/HIM) CAST
KATHERINE TONKIN (SHE/HER) CAST
DAVID HARRIS (HE/THEY) INTERACTIVE DRAMATURG
ANNA CORDINGLEY (SHE/HER) SET DESIGNER
BERNADETTE FAM (SHE/HER) ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
LUCY ANSELL (SHE/THEY) CAST
MATTHEW LUTTON (HE/HIM) CO-CREATOR & DIRECTOR
KEZIAH WARNER (SHE/HER) CO-CREATOR & WRITER
KARINE LARCHÉ (SHE/HER) ASSOCIATE SET DESIGNER
AMELIA LEVER-DAVIDSON (SHE/HER) LIGHTING DESIGNER
BRIDGET BALODIS / INTIMACY COORDINATOR
MARKYLEE CAMPBELL / FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHER
CODY RILEY / ASSISTANT FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHER
GIOVANNA YATE GONZALEZ /
BESEN PLACEMENT (LIGHTING DESIGN)
HOLLY-JANE COHLE / BESEN PLACEMENT (COSTUME DESIGN)
ELOISE LEEMANN / MONASH UNIVERSITY
SOUND DESIGN INTERN
EVA SEYMOUR / VOICE ARTIST
KHISRAW JONES-SHUKOOR / VOICE ARTIST
KAIVU SUVARNA / VOICE ARTIST
ZOË ROUSE (SHE/HER)
COSTUME DESIGNER
JETHRO WOODWARD (HE/HIM) COMPOSITION & SOUND DESIGNER
JO REDFEARN / CAMERA & EDIT
CHRIS CLARKE (SUND SERVICES) / SOUND
BENJAMIN NICHOL / ACTOR
EVA SEYMOUR / ACTOR
BLAIR HART / PRODUCTION MANAGER
BAIRD McKENNA / TECHNICAL MANAGER
DEXTER VARLEY / OPERATIONS MANAGER
ZOE RABB / PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
COINTHA WALKEDEN / PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
ROB BALLINGALL / HEAD TECHNICIAN (LIGHTING)
BRENDAN JELLIE / HEAD TECHNICIAN
MICHAEL CARR / HEAD MECHANIST
DELIA SPICER / WARDROBE SUPERVISOR
GOFFREDO MAMELI / WORKSHOP MANAGER
LENNON FOWLER / SET BUILDER
ELIZABETH WHITTON / SET BUILDER
AL BRILL / GRADUATE SET BUILDER
EM VAN DYK / MECHANIST
MYLES CAREW , NICHOLAS DUNNAND , KHISRAW JONES-SHUKOOR , SAM NIX , JASPER SPICER , DAN SPIELMAN
JUSTIN GARDAM (HE/HIM) ASSOCIATE SOUND SYSTEM DESIGNER
MATILDA WOODROOFE (SHE/HER) SET DRESSER
SANDRA DRUMMOND , PATRICK JONES
ASHLEIGH BASHAM , LUKE GRANA ,
STEPHEN HAWKER , RILEY McCULLAGH, NICHOLAS MOLONEY, NATALYA SHIELD, OUNIE WITHEROW AITKEN
FINN GLEESON, JOSHUA MACKENZIE, WILLIAM PALAZZO, DARREN PEET, PHILLIP WATTS
LYNDIE LI WAN PO (SHE/HER)
STAGE MANAGER
ROSEMARY OSMOND (SHE/HER) ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER
JO FOLEY, JODI HOPE
BOARD
FIONA M c GAUCHIE (CHAIR)
JACOB VARGHESE (DEPUTY CHAIR)
JADA ALBERTS
DEBBIE DADON AM
DR ANNA FOLEY
LINDY HUME AM Ph D
ANDREW MYER AM
SUE PRESTNEY
PAMELA RABE
MARY VALENTINE AO
ALAN WONG
DANIELLE LEIGH (OBSERVER)
EXECUTIVE
MATTHEW LUTTON OAM
SARAH NEAL
ARTISTIC & PROGRAMMING
ANNIE BOURKE
BERNADETTE FAM
LAURA HALE
LAURA MILKE GARNER
JO REDFEARN
MARLINE ZAIBAK
FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION
ULRIKE READ
LIZ WHITE
CONNIE STELLA
CAITLYN O’KANE
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
CLAIRE LA GRECA
DAVEY SIMMONS
JACQUI BATHMAN
KEYANNA BURGHER
LAUREN GALLINA
TAMARAH SCOTT
PUBLICITY
TS PUBLICITY
GRAPHIC DESIGN
HOURS AFTER DEVELOPMENT
ALEX BELLEMORE
PATRICK CRUMMY
EDUCATION
LYALL BROOKS
TICKETING & BOX OFFICE
PRUE SUTHERLAND
FIONA WISEMAN
BOX OFFICE STAFF
PAUL BUCKLEY
PERRI CUMMINGS
BRONYA DOYLE
CLAIRE DUNCAN
CASEY GOULD
MELLITA ILICH
JULIA LANDBERG
BRIGID MEREDITH
ISA MUNHOS
LIZ WHITE
PRODUCTION
BLAIR HART
BAIRD M c KENNA
DEXTER VARLEY
COINTHA WALKEDEN
ROB BALLINGALL
MICHAEL CARR
BRENDAN JELLIE
DELIA SPICER
GOFFREDO MAMELI
ELIZABETH WHITTON
LENNON FOWLER
AL BRILL
PRODUCTION STAFF
LEIA ALEX
ASHLEIGH BASHAM
GABRIEL BETHUNE
SUZIE BROOKS
MYLES CAREW
GIDEON COZENS
NICHOLAS DUNNAND
SANDRA DRUMMOND
NATHAN EVERS
JO FOLEY
JUSTIN GARDAM
FINN GLEESON
LUKE GRANA
MITCHELL GUNTHORPE
KADIN HAWKER
STEPHEN HAWKER
JODI HOPE
ETHAN HUNTER
PATRICK JONES
KHISRAW JONES-SHUKOOR
JACK KENNEDY
TARAS KOHUT
JOSHUA MACKENZIE
RILEY M c CULLAGH
NICHOLAS MOLONEY
SAM NIX
NICHOLAS PAGES-OLIVER
WILLIAM PALAZZO
DARREN PEET
ASHLEIGH SHEARMAN
NATALYA SHIELD
JESSICA SMART
IVAN SMITH
JASPER SPICER
DAN SPIELMAN
NATHANIEL SY
NATALIE VINCENT
PHILLIP WATT
LACHLAN WATTS
OUNIE WITHEROW AITKEN
VENUE
DANIELLE GIORDANO
EMMA CORBETT
STEVE HEARNE
FIKER GEBREHANA
FRONT OF HOUSE STAFF
CARA BRODIE
MITCHELL BROTZ
DANI GODER
GEORGE JEFFORD
SOPHIE M c CRAE
TEXAS NIXON-KAIN
LUCY SEALE
DARCIE SHORT
FLYNN SMEATON
BARNEY SPICER
KATE WASHINGTON
BAR STAFF
ISSY COMEGNA
KIRRA NINER
ELLEIA RUSSELL
CLAUDE SARMIENTO
KAIVU SUVARNA
To the following second year VCA Design and Production students who each designed a bespoke scenic or property element. WILLOW ARGUS, ELLA BARRETT, SARAH BROWNE, NIGEL CHUA, MORGAN CLYNE, FINNEGAN COMTE-HARVEY, TALLULA DAVIS, VIVIENNE HARGREAVES, ALICE HUXTABLE, CHAR LEE, DEE LEE, DYLAN LUMSDEN, STEPHANIE MCNALLY, SOPHIE NESS, ASHLEY REID, MIRIAM ROBINSON, NELLIE SUMMERFIELD, LOKAN WOERZ
Malthouse Theatre is generously sponsored by Roy Morgan. For over ten years, Roy Morgan have worked closely with Malthouse Theatre to provide comprehensive research support, including in-depth cognitive testing for Hour of the Wolf. Malthouse Theatre is proud to partner with Roy Morgan as Australia’s best known and longest established market research company.