S.S. Metaphor / Program (2021)

MALTHOUSE ACKNOWLEDGES THE LAND AND SONGLINES OF THE BOON WURRUNG AND WURUNDJERI PEOPLES OF THE KULIN NATION. malthousetheatre.com.au #malthousetheatre #ssmetaphor

WELCOME ABOARD! You could say S.S. Metaphor was born out of many things: a global crisis, a need to laugh again, poor artistic leadership—the point is that when it sailed into our lives, we were excited for the first time in months.

The show quickly became the vessel for our favourite things about Theatre.

Sure, there are the obvious things: important stories well told, talented people doing what they love, the community a live show creates—but there’s also the things only True Theatre Tragics© enjoy: the hum of the lights, greasepaint, bizarre creative choices, trapdoors, pratfalls, stupid gags, wigs, quick changes, scenery-chewing, focus-pulling, smoke machines, dropped lines, polite applause, exhausted production crew, ‘sotto voce’, stuck zippers, critics with notepads, Theatre faces, drinking after the show, drinking before the show, drinking during the show, put upon family members, wild miscasting, wrong notes, flawless gowns, questionable accents, mic feedback, and the five seconds before the show starts when you’re torn between hope and dread in a way only criminals awaiting a jury verdict feel.

This show has all of that. It’s Theatre concentrate. Its artificiality is the very thing that makes it such a deeply authentic experience to be a part of, for both audience and performer. It’s deeper than it looks. OMG it’s Dolly Parton! Not really, but, you know, like, in a metaphorical kind of way—it will never have her money.

But if Theatre has anything to teach us post-pandemic, it’s that the days of shirking the conga line are over. We’re all in this together. So down that piña colada, grab those sweaty hips in front of you and dance, Dance, DANCE! Ash Flanders & Sarah Giles

WRITTEN BY / ASH FLANDERS DIRECTOR & DRAMATURG / SARAH GILES CAST / ZENYA CARMELLOTTI, WILL CONYERS, ASH FLANDERS, NATALIE GAMSU

S.S. METAPHOR CAST & CREATIVE

Ash Flanders Writer & Cast

Sarah Giles Director & Dramaturg

Zenya Carmellotti Cast

Will Conyers Cast & Musical Director

Natalie Gamsu Cast

Tyler Ray Hawkins Set & Costume Designer

Jude Perl Original Composition

Jed Palmer Sound Designer

Katie Sfetkidis Lighting Designer

Lyndie Li Wan Po Stage Manager

BESEN FAMILY ARTIST PROGRAM PLACEMENTS

Direction / Alice Qin Composition & Sound Design / Aiv Puglielli Lighting Design / Nofar Szumer-Menashe Set & Costume Design / Karine Larché

Malthouse Theatre presents S.S. Metaphor. Malthouse Theatre thanks the Robert Salzer Foundation, who have generously supported sound design and composition for this production. Malthouse Outdoor Stage is generously supported by the Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Fund – an Australian Government initiative and the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria.

Artwork / James Fosdike Printed on 100% recycled paper. © Malthouse Theatre, the artists, designers, photographers, collaborators and contributors.

All rights reserved, 2021.

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FIONA McGAUCHIE (CHAIR) MICHAEL KANTOR (DEPUTY CHAIR) JADA ALBERTS DEBORAH CHEETHAM AO DEBBIE DADON AM ANDREW MYER AM SUE PRESTNEY PAMELA RABE NICK SCHLIEPER MARY VALLENTINE AO ALAN WONG

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EXECUTIVE MATTHEW LUTTON SARAH NEAL ARTISTIC & PROGRAMMING MARK PRITCHARD BRIDGET BALODIS RA CHAPMAN KAMARRA BELL-WYKES MARLINE ZAIBAK LAURA HALE ANNIE BOURKE LINDA CATALANO DAVID TREDINNICK ROBERT REID FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION NESS HARWOOD LIZ WHITE CESSALEE STOVALL ALLIE STAPLETON CONNIE STELLA MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS DAVEY SIMMONS JACQUI BATHMAN JULIA ANTIQUE CONTENT PRODUCER TAMARAH SCOTT PUBLICITY TS PUBLICITY GRAPHIC DESIGN HOURS AFTER DEVELOPMENT ALEX BELLEMORE

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