Scorched Earth Show Program

17–20 Sep

SCORCHED EARTH ATTIC PROJECTS (IRL)

Australian Premiere

A murder. An interrogation.

A clouded world of fantasy and fear.

Dance

Scorched Earth is part crime-drama, part psychological thriller — piercing into a dark but fundamental question of the Irish psyche.

What right do we have to the land beneath our feet? What are we willing to do to keep it?

Or take it.

DURATION 80mins (no interval)

Inspired by John B. Keane’s The Field, the work draws audiences into the stark world of an interrogation room, where a detective and suspect dredge through the ghosts of an unsolved murder long thought forgotten.

Accessibility Auslan Interpreted & Audio Described Performance Sat 19 Sep, 6:30pm

Blurring the lines of dance and theatre, Luke Murphy — creator of the flawless multi-awardwinning Volcano, a hit at Brisbane Festival 2024 — weaves story, striking visuals, and visceral movement into a tapestry through which five international performers sear a picture of wanting, striving, deserving, and resenting.

CONTENT WARNING

A poetic final chapter of reaching and failing questions the cost of success.

Contains use of haze, strobe machines, theatrical smoke, adult themes, and herbal cigarettes. Recommended for ages 12+.

Director’s Note

The first time I flew to America for college, I came in over Chicago. I’d never seen a city on a grid before, and the endless straight lines of building and development were stirring. The commodity of the space and how it was used — laid out with such order — was such that the next time I flew back to Ireland and saw the endless patchwork of small fields, with its thousand shades of green and brown, I looked at them differently. I’d never noticed it before but it was the same — chaos as opposed to order. The sense of use stood out in a way I’d never noticed before.

In 2018, I took a walk with my dad along the north side of the Sheep’s Head Peninsula in West Cork and, amidst the terrain of rock and gorse, we came across one small, but beautiful “postage stamp” of bright, cultivated land sitting right up against the sea. There was so much work in that land; someone had bent this wild and unruly terrain to their will.

On the one hand, the resolve was so admirable; and on the other hand, there was something deeply sad in it.

This project comes from these moments and many, many more. It comes from questions around what I see in Ireland as a fixation with ownership, a fixation I feel myself in big and small ways. It comes from relentless patterns of violence. It comes from having and wanting, and the uncentered gravity of feeling like something is yours, or should be yours, both individually and collectively.

A number of sources and works have shaped this story, including John B. Keane’s The Field, Mark O’Connell’s A Thread of Violence: A Story of Truth, Invention, and Murder, Myles Dungan’s Land is All That Matters: The Struggle That Shaped Irish History, and Andrew Jarecki’s The Jinx.

LUKE MURPHY DIRECTOR

The team Cast & Creatives Direction, Writing and Choreography

Luke Murphy

Cast

Luke Murphy, Ryan O’Neill, Sarah Dowling, Tyler Carney-Faleatua, Will Thompson

Rehearsal Direction

Stephen Moynihan

Set and Costume Design

Alyson Cummins

Lighting Design

Stephen Dodd

Composition and Sound Design

Rob Moloney

Additional Audio Programming

Michael John McCarthy

Voiceover Artist

Eavan Gaffney

Costume Design Assistant and Specialty Fabrication

Valentina Gambardella

Set Build

Adam Fitzsimons and Triangle Productions Ltd

Production Management

Simon Bird

Audio Engineer

Patrick Pages-Oliver

Chief Electrician

Alan Mooney

Audio Visual Design

Patricio Cassinoni

Stage Management

Carolyn Boyd, Iain Synnott

Producer

Gwen Van Spÿk

Associate Producer

Miles Harrigan

Marketing and Communications Associate

Emer Casey

Australian Tour Producer

Lee-Anne Donnolley

Cover Photo Credit

Pato Cassinoni

Other Photo Credits

Emilija Jefremova, Sound of Photography, Teddy Wolff

Soundtrack Recording Viola

Ultan O’Brien

Violin / Viola

Joanna Mattrey

Viola

Lisa Dowdall

Cello

Caitríona Finnegan

Double Bass

Malachy Robinson

Piano

Brian Dillon

Accordion/Guitar/Percussion/Electronics

Rob Moloney

Recording Engineer

Elise Mollé

Mix Engineer

Elise Mollé

Mastering

Jamie Hyland

About the artists Attic Projects Founded by choreographer and performer Luke Murphy in 2015, Attic Projects serves as an incubator, facilitator, and producer of his work. Spanning dance, theatre, film, and installation, Attic Projects creates pieces rooted in a visceral physical language that uncovers the universal within the deeply personal.

Murphy’s work has been presented at festivals and venues across Ireland and internationally, including in New York, Germany, the UK, Australia, and Hong Kong. Recent productions include the multi-award-winning Volcano and the critically acclaimed Scorched Earth. @attic_projects @lukemurphyatticprojects atticprojects.com

Luke Murphy

Direction, Writing and Choreography Luke Murphy is an Irish writer, director, choreographer, and performer working at the intersection of theater and dance. Through his company Attic Projects, he has created and produced more than 12 dance theater works for stage, film, installation, and site-specific/immersive contexts.

As a performer, Luke worked with Punchdrunk from 2009 to 2022, originating roles in Sleep No More (New York) and The Burnt City (London), and with Wim Vandekeybus (Ultima Vez) from 2014 to 2018. In addition, Luke performed in projects with Pavel Zuštiak (Palissimo), Martha Clarke, Kate Weare Company, Janis Brenner, Seán Curran, John Kelly, Alexandra Waierstall, Jonah Bokaer, Liz Roche, Ben Duke, and others. He is the Cork City dance artist in residence at Dance Cork Firkin Crane.

Ryan O’Neill

Sarah Dowling

Ryan O’Neill trained at Ulster University and studied dance performance at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance as part of a professional postgraduate company, Transitions. Since then, Ryan has worked with Maiden Voyage Dance, Off The Rails Dance Company, ponydance, Tinderbox Theatre Company, PrimeCut Productions, Oona Doherty Works, Irish Modern Dance Theatre, Junk Ensemble, Pan Pan Theatre, Company Philip Connaughton, CoisCéim Dance Theatre, Liz Roche Company, Emma Martin (United Fall), Luke Murphy (Attic Projects), THISISPOPBABY, Michael KeeganDolan (Teaċ Daṁsa), Gwyn Emberton Dance, and Punchdrunk’s immersive show Sleep No More in Shanghai and The Burnt City in London. Ryan is a dance artist in residence with LUAIL.

Sarah Dowling was born in Dublin and emigrated to England as a child. Sarah initially trained in theatre before undertaking dance training. For the past 20 years she has been a performer and creative associate with immersive theatre company Punchdrunk. Alongside performing Sarah also choreographs and movement directs for theatre, film, and opera. Sarah has been associate artist at the Royal Opera House London, a Studio Wayne McGregor artist and a Place Prize semifinalist.

Tyler Carney-Fateatua

Will Thompson

Tyler Carney-Fateatua is an Australian artist who has worked across New Zealand, Australia, and Europe for more than a decade. She has collaborated with artists and companies such as Luke Murphy (Attic Projects), Michael Keegan-Dolan (Teaċ Daṁsa), Marina Abramović, Ta’alili, Footnote New Zealand Dance, The New Zealand Dance Company, and Good Company Arts.

As co-director of Threading Frames, her award-winning work fuses dance, theater, and film, and has been featured in festivals including Cinedans FEST, Schrit_tmacher Festival, and Dance (lens) Australia. She has shared her movement practice with Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, New Zealand School of Dance, Atamira Dance Company, and Footnote New Zealand Dance.

Will Thompson was introduced to dance while at school in London. He began his training with the Centre for Advanced Training at Trinity Laban and Shoreditch Youth Dance Company before continuing his studies at Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. At Rambert, Will was selected to take part in DV8 Physical Theatre’s Professional Development. He graduated from Rambert with a BA HONS in 2016. Since then, his work within theatre and dance has encompassed stage and film including work and performances with Hannes Langolf, Iván Pérez, Johannes Wieland, Maciej Kuźmiński, Maxine Doyle, Michael Keegan-Dolan (Teaċ Daṁsa), and Xie Xin.

Performer

Performer

Performer

Performer

Stephen Moynihan

Alyson Cummins

Stephen Moynihan is a movement director, choreographer, and intimacy coordinator.

After graduating from London Contemporary Dance School, he worked with choreographers such as Damien Jalet and Akram Khan. His recent theatre credits include Marina Carr’s The Boy and The God and His Daughter at The Abbey, Dublin; and rehearsal director on Volcano for Attic Projects. Stephen’s screen work includes choreography for Ted Lasso (Apple TV+) and movement coaching for House of the Dragon (HBO). Stephen is a wellbeing coordinator through University College Cork, a recipient of the danceWEB Scholarship at ImPulsTanz in Vienna, and has served on the Dance Panel for the Olivier Awards, London.

Alyson Cummins studied architecture at University College Dublin where she won the AGA gold medal. She went on to train at the Motley Theatre Design Course in London and was a finalist in the biennial Linbury Prize for stage design. Her work includes stage designs for The Abbey Theatre; Gate Theatre, Dublin; Opera Holland Park; Oper Wuppertal; Royal Academy of Music, London; Icelandic Opera; Royal Opera House, London; Lyric Theatre, Belfast; Bristol Old Vic; Sherman Theatre, Cardiff; Theatr Clwyd; and Clean Break Theatre Company.

Together with Pai Rathaya, Alyson won Best Set Design for Volcano in the 2021 Irish Times Theatre Awards, having previously won it for her design of Pentecost at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast.

Stephen Dodd

Rob Moloney

Stephen Dodd is an award-winning lighting designer for theater, dance, and opera. He trained at The Samuel Beckett Centre, Trinity College. Recent lighting designs include the Abbey Theatre’s The Plough and the Stars, The Quare Fellow, and; Luail’s Dancehall; Lovano’s Her Father’s Voice; and Company SJ’s Beckett sa Chreig: Guth na mBan and Company.

Further credits include Dead Centre’s Illness as Metaphor, Good Sex, Hamnet, and LIPPY; Attic Projects’ Volcano, and The Prometheus Project: The Archivist; Emma Martin’s (United Fall) KING | SHRINE, Night Dances, and Birdboy; Jean Butler’s What We Hold (Lovano); Irish National Opera’s A Thing I Cannot Name; Junk Ensemble’s Dances Like a Bomb; and Brokentalkers’ The Examination.

Rob Moloney is a composer and sound designer for theater and dance. He has worked with many performance artists and theater companies in Ireland, including The Abbey Theatre, Luke Murphy (Attic Projects), ANU Productions, Macnas, The Gate Theatre, Fishamble: The New Play Company, Corcadorca, THEATREclub, and Ballet Ireland. He studied music at University College Cork and pursued further studies in orchestration, synthesis, and advanced mixing techniques at Berklee. Rob was one of the participating designers in the Irish pavilion at Prague Quadrennial 2023 and has received two nominations for Best Sound Design at the Irish Theatre Awards.

Rehearsal Direction

Lighting Design

Set and Costume Design

Composition and Sound Design

Acknowledgements

Scorched Earth is a Co-Production with Dublin Dance Festival and Galway International Arts Festival and is supported by a 2025 Arts Council of Ireland Arts Grant Award and Culture Ireland.

Created with additional support from Dance Cork Firkin Crane; Shawbrook Residential; Cork City Council; Town Hall Theatre/Black Box Theatre, Galway; Uillinn West Cork Arts Centre, and Bathway Theatre at University of Greenwich.

The development of Scorched Earth includes creative contributions from Sarah Dowling, Ryan O’Neill, Will Thompson, Tyler Carney-Faleatua, Gina Moxley, Ray Scannell, Orla McCarthy, Sharol Mackenzie, Conor Thomas Doherty, Ursula Robb, Kath Duggan, Diarmuid Armstrong Mayock, Theo Arran, Knut Vikström Precht, Rosie Stebbing, Ed Mitchell, and Seirian Griffiths.

Attic Projects’ would like to extend special thanks to Ebony Bott and all the team at Brisbane Festival; Lisa McLoughlin and all the dance team at the Arts Council, Sharon Barry,

Ciaran Walsh and all the team at Culture Ireland, Paul Fahy and all the team at Galway International Arts Festival; Fergal McGrath; Jazmin Chiodi, Carina McGrail, and all the team at Dublin Dance Festival; Laurie Uprichard and all the team at Dance Cork Firkin Crane; Anica Louw and Philip Dawson at Shawbrook Residential; Susan Feldman, Erik Wallin and all the team at St Ann’s Warehouse; Michelle Carew; Joanna Keane; Ian Brown and The Everyman, Cork; Niall Cleary at Graffiti Theatre Company; Bob Miller, David McCarra, and the team who run Kilcrohane Village Hall; Third Source Media; Arran MacGabhann; Jen Coppinger, Chris Hopcraft, CoisCéim Dance Theatre; Emily Terndrup; Clara and John Murphy and John Richard Murphy; Peter Chamberlin; Marie Baker; Hannah Murphy, Patrick Murphy, and Maeve Saunders; and Frank O’Mahony.

Presented by Brisbane Festival in association with Brisbane Powerhouse.

This project is supported through the Giving Program by Tim Fairfax AC and Gina Fairfax AC, and Shaun and Suzanne Kenny.

brisbanefestival.com.au