The Owl and the Pussycat in-theatre program

BRISBANE FESTIVAL AND CHANNEL NINE PRESENT

LITTLE MATCH PRODUCTIONS (AUS)

Brisbane Festival is an initiative of the Queensland Government and Brisbane City Council

The Owl and The Pussycat

By Edward Lear I The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea In a beautiful pea-green boat, They took some honey, and plenty of money, Wrapped up in a five-pound note.

The Owl looked up to the stars above, And sang to a small guitar, “O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love, What a beautiful Pussy you are, You are, You are!

What a beautiful Pussy you are!”

II Pussy said to the Owl, “You elegant fowl!

How charmingly sweet you sing!

O let us be married! Too long we have tarried: But what shall we do for a ring?”

They sailed away, for a year and a day, To the land where the Bong-Tree grows And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood With a ring at the end of his nose, His nose, His nose, With a ring at the end of his nose.

III “Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling Your ring?” Said the Piggy, “I will.”

So they took it away, and were married next day By the Turkey who lives on the hill.

They dined on mince, and slices of quince, Which they ate with a runcible spoon; And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand, They danced by the light of the moon, The moon, The moon, They danced by the light of the moon.

THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT

DIRECTOR’S NOTE

CREMORNE THEATRE, QUEENSLAND PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE 26 – 29 September

Welcome aboard the Pea Green boat! This

BRISBANE FESTIVAL ARTISTIC DIRECTOR’S NOTE Little Match Productions is one of many local independent companies supported by Brisbane Festival this year. This all-female company is formed around the power of the voice, more specifically the desire to hear other’s voices, both literally and figuratively.

Edward Lear’s 1871 poem, written for the three-year-old daughter of a friend, has been set to music many times, including by Igor Stravinsky and Laurie Anderson. It here finds a witty and wonderful operatic form.

This three-verse nonsense poem has been transformed into a three-act, 45-minute text, mostly in verse, with new characters. The music is delicious, and will surely help our cute couple reach their destination, buoyed by love and acceptance.

David Berthold

beautiful and much-loved poem has been a part of so many families’ lives, from wedding vows, to storytime with the kids. We invite you to come on the adventure with Owl and Pussycat again, this time with a cast of delightful new characters and a beautiful message of tolerance, courage and love.

As Owl sings to Pussycat – “Don’t be afraid of the dark! For the stars are there to guide us …”

Bridget Boyle

ABOUT LITTLE MATCH PRODUCTIONS Little Match Productions is an independent Brisbane-based company that creates contemporary musical performance works that traverse comedy-cabaret, opera, classical music and children’s theatre. The company is passionate about exploring our collective humanity via its most primal and intrinsically expressive media – the voice.

Over the past six years, Artistic Director Alicia Cush, Creative Producer Bethan Ellsmore and Designer/Producer Penny Challen have developed a reputation for their unique ability to present classical vocal techniques in innovative contemporary contexts.

Little Match Productions has a focus on creating roles, collaborations and opportunities for female artists and arts professionals. Their works fuse opera, classical, cabaret and pop in theatrical musical experiences that combine arresting and original musical arrangements, vocal acrobatics and compelling storytelling.

Illustrations by Penelope Challen

AHOY SAILORS! The Owl and the Pussycat is a new musical work.

It is based on a popular poem, written 147 years ago by English poet Edward Lear. He is famous for writing nonsense poems that have funny characters and silly words like ‘runcible spoon’ and ‘Bong-tree’.

The Owl and the Pussycat face many obstacles on their adventure across the seas. They must find courage, determination and trust in each other to succeed on their journey.

PIA FRANGIOSA Owl I went to University at the Queensland Conservatorium here in my home town of Brisbane. I am so lucky that I get to share the magic of live theatre with a show that has such a beautiful message. I look forward to taking part in this story and welcoming in audiences young and young at heart.

I R E N A LY S I U K Pussycat

In this show, the artists create a magical and

I am an Opera singer. The best thing about my

exciting world where young sailors experience

job is I get to put on many different costumes

new sights and sounds. Listen out for some

and make-up and transform into a different

unusual instruments. Can you hear the bass

person, or in this case, into an animal! I have

clarinet, the vibraphone, a glockenspiel or

always wanted to be a singer and now I get

a ‘whaling’ cello?

to do what I love everyday.

The singers have three different voice types.

Pussycat is a soprano and she has a very high voice. Owl is a mezzo-soprano. Her voice is a bit lower. The Moon is a baritone which is a middle male voice. He plays six different characters! Try counting them as they are appear in the story. Can you remember which ones he played?

The set is a giant pea pod-shaped boat and the costumes are inspired by adventurous and brave women from 100 years ago, like the famous female pilot Amelia Earhart.

Anchors aweigh!

Alicia Cush

JACKSON MCGOVERN Moon/Sir Kitty/Sea Bear Captain/Mice/Pig/Turkey The best thing about being an actor is the joy that can be found in playing and storytelling.

Human beings have a fundamental need to both tell and be told stories, and theatre and music are both such wonderful (and fun!) platforms for that.

LISA CHENEY Composer I love being a composer! I write music because nothing feels more amazing than creating something new and then hearing it come to life. In my job a lot of the hard work happens alone, which is why it’s so much fun to work with other talented musicians and artists.

AlICIA CUSH

PENNY CHALLEN

Creative Producer

Designer & Producer

I love being a Creative Producer. My job

I love telling stories with music and with art.

is to organise all the right people to be in the

I work with the director to imagine what the

right place, at the right time. I make sure that

characters and set might look like. I imagine

everything runs smoothly and that the show

how we would like the audience to feel. I then

makes it onto the stage. The best thing about

come up with ways to create that experience.

being an artist is you never know what crazy adventure is around the corner. It’s a very

GEOFF SQUIRES

exciting and unpredictable life!

Lighting Designer Geoff is why all children should listen to their

KATHRYN MARQUET

Mummies and Daddies, because Geoff didn’t,

Writer/Librettist

and now he is stuck travelling the world doing

I make theatre because I love telling stories

lighting for shows in such horrible places

and seeing them come to life on stage. I like

as Fiji and New York. He is still a big kid and

making people laugh and getting them to think

buys lots of toys, the only difference is that

in new ways. My job is to do write the story,

now they cost a lot. Like his big fat cat ‘Boo’,

libretto (song lyrics), and text for the opera.

he likes lying around and doing nothing.

The best thing about being a playwright is getting to use my voice to make a difference

G AY L E M A C G R E G O R

in the world.

Head of Costume I love being a costume maker and I make

BRIDGET BOYLE

costumes because it’s so much fun making

Director

things. My job is to make the costumes look

I love being a director. I like to help audiences

like the Designers drawings, and to help the

imagine what it might be like to be another

actors be comfortable in their costumes.

person by understanding their story. My job

The best thing about being a costume maker

is to bring together all the parts of the story

is that my work changes all the time, and

and make sure that they make sense and

every show is different.

are enjoyable for an audience. I work with the actors to help them move their bodies

LUKE VOLKER

and use their voices to make the story clear

Musical Director

and entertaining.

My favourite thing about being a Musical Director is using music to help an audience better understand the characters and emotions of a story. Music affects us in ways that regular speech can’t, and I love being able to tap into that.

CREATIVE TEAM

PERFORMERS

Composer Lisa Cheney Writer/Librettist Kathryn Marquet Director Bridget Boyle Designer Penny Challen Creative Producer Alicia Cush Original Production Manager Kylie Mitchell Musical Director Luke Volker Lighting Designer Geoff Squires Head of Costume Gayle MacGregor Dramaturg Jane Bodie Design Assistant Caitlin Artmstong

Owl Pia Frangiosa Pussycat Irena Lysiuk Moon/Sir Kitty/Sea Bear Captain/Mice/ Piggywig/Turkey Jackson McGovern Puffin #1 (Clarinet/Bass Clarinet) Daniel Byrne Puffin #2 (Cello) Kathryn McKee Puffin #3 (Vibraphone/Percussion) Cameron Kennedy

LITTLE MATCH PRODUCTIONS Artistic Director Alicia Cush Producer & Designer Penny Challen Producer & Creative Bethan Ellsmore Production image by Nick Morrissey

BRISBANE FESTIVAL Chair Paul Spiro Deputy Chair Philip Bacon AM Artistic Director David Berthold Chief Executive Officer Charlie Cush

THANK YOU Little Match Productions acknowledges our partners and supporters who have been vital to creating this new work.

Commissioning Partners

MAJOR Partners

SUPPORTERS

Brisbane City Council

Opera Queensland

Festival 2018

APRA AMCOS

Staging Connections

Flowstate, South Bank Corporation

Creative Partnerships Australia

Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University

The Pea Green Boatwrights’ Club

Queensland Theatre

arTour

The development of The Owl and the Pussycat was supported by Creative Sparks – a joint initiative of Brisbane City Council and the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland; Creative Partnerships Australia through MATCH Lab; APRA AMCOS Art Music Fund; and Queensland Theatre through the Independent Artists @ Queensland Theatre initiative 2017.

QPAC EMERGENCY

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

Patrons are advised that the Performing Arts Centre has EMERGENCY EVACUATION PROCEDURES, a FIRE ALARM system and EXIT passageways. In case of an alert, patrons should remain calm, look for the closest EXIT sign in GREEN, listen to and comply with directions given by the in house trained attendants and move in an orderly fashion to the open spaces outside the Centre.

In keeping with the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Brisbane, the Turrubul and Jagara Yuggera Peoples, and recognise that this has always been a place of creative expression. We wish to pay respect to their Elders – past, present and emerging – and acknowledge the important role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play within our creative community.

D O N ’ t m i s s t h i s a lt o g e t h e r D E L I G H T F U L A N D F U N N Y s h o w !

“Just reaches in and puts a string of coloured lights around your heart.”

The sCOTSMAN, UK

BRISBANE FESTIVAL AND CHANNEL NINE PRESENT

THOMAS FLANAGAN (AUS)

BOOK NOW

2 5 – 2 8 S e p t e m b e r | T H E C O U R I E R - M A I L S P I E G E LT E N T