The Events Program (2016)

21 JUN – 10 JuL

The E VENTS

Season 2016

21 JUN – 10 JuL Merlyn Theatre

‘[a] very moving play about a faith-shattering act of violence.’

— New York Times

By / David Greig Direction / Clare Watson Cast includes / Johnny Carr, Catherine McClements Set & Lighting Designer / Geoff Cobham Musical Director / Luke Byrne Composer / John Browne Stage Manager / Natalie Moir Assistant Stage Manager / Amber Bock

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Season 2016

She is on the quest for truth and reason, driven by a need to shed light on why an individual would create such cruel destruction.

A note from the Director

Human behaviour is often unfathomable and violent actions leave in their wake sheer bewilderment, anger and grief.

To be a good human being, as Martha Nussbaum puts it, ‘is to have a kind of openness to the world, an ability to trust uncertain things beyond your own control, that can lead you to be shattered in very extreme circumstances for which you were not to blame.’

We meet Claire, an Anglican minister, who is wrestling with the unfathomable following a mass shooting. She is on the quest for truth and reason, driven by a need to shed light on why an individual would create such cruel destruction.

The Boy is an antagonist we recognise from contemporary media; he is an isolated, troubled young man with a gun. In him, we see Anders Breivik, Dylann Storm Roof, Chris Harper Mercer, James Holmes and Martin Bryant, all outsiders. We also see glimpses of Camus’ outsider, Meursault. The Boy becomes every other character that Claire encounters throughout the play; she is so obsessed in her search that everyone is filtered through the lens of her attacker.

And like the earliest theatre of ancient Greece, we are joined by a chorus. Each night, a community choir bring their songs to the stage, and it is through watching the choir watching The Events unfold that the most tantalising transaction is taking place. As the choir sings, the vibrations of their music move through us, and this has the capacity to sync up our collective heartbeats.

Singing is a fundamental tool of social inclusion across cultures.

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The Events by David Greig premiered in Edinburgh, 2013 and was a collaboration between The Actors Touring Company and Drammatikkens hus, Oslo. The play began as an investigation of the shattering events that took place in Norway perpetrated by Anders Breivik, who first planted a bomb in front of a government building and then, dressed as a police officer, took a ferry to the idyllic island of Otoya where he shot dead 69 young people. During his court case he claimed he was defending Norway from immigration and that multiculturalism had failed his country. Greig takes these events as a stepping off point for a fictionalised account of a mass shooting, set in a small town in Scotland.

#theevents

Clare Watson on the events that inspired this story

Season 2016

Herein lies the hope, that our connectedness to community promotes our capacity to be good human beings. To sit in an audience together, in this beautiful theatre steeped in the history of two centuries of community events gives us the connectedness that can transcend the bewilderment.

The Events can be, as David Greig says himself ‘slippery and difficult’.

It is a work that sets our moral compass swinging wildly. Tonight, we lay the puzzle pieces out before you, ready to assemble.

A special thanks to all of the community choirs that collaborated with us on this production, and to the communities of Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne for so warmly welcoming us.

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Cast & Creative Bios Season 2016 ——> pg 4

David Greig Writer

Clare Watson Director

Johnny Carr The Boy

David is an acclaimed and awardwinning playwright, whose plays include The Events (Traverse, Scotland, and Young Vic), The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart (Tron, National Theatre of Scotland), Midsummer (Traverse, Soho and Tricycle), Dunsinane (Royal Shakespeare Company at Hampstead and National Theatre of Scotland), Damascus (Traverse and Tricycle), Outlying Islands (Traverse and Royal Court), The American Pilot (RSC), Pyrenees (Paines Plough), The Cosmonaut’s Last Message to the Woman He Once Loved in the Former Soviet Union (Donmar Warehouse and Paines Plough) and The Architect and Europe (Traverse).

His adaptations include Creditors (Donmar Warehouse), The Bacchae (Edinburgh International Festival), Tintin in Tibet (Barbican, Playhouse and UK tour), When the Bulbul Stopped Singing (Traverse), Caligula (Donmar Warehouse) and Peter Pan (National Theatre of Scotland, Traverse and Barbican). David wrote the script for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (London’s West End, 2013). In 2015 his Lanark opened at the Edinburgh International Festival, and his adaptation of Dr Seuss’ The Lorax opened at Old Vic. David’s work for children and young people includes The Monster in the Hall (TAG Theatre Co, Glasgow), Yellow Moon (TAG Theatre Co), Gobbo (National Theatre of Scotland), Dr Korczak’s Example (TAG Theatre Co). He has also written extensively for radio, and is currently writing two screenplays for Hillbilly Films and the BBC. He is also under commission to the Royal Court Theatre and the National Theatre of Scotland. He became the Lyceum’s Artistic Director in 2015.

Clare was recently appointed as Artistic Director at Black Swan State Theatre Company, Perth (commencing in 2017).

She is the Artistic Director at St Martins Youth Arts Centre where she collaborates with children and teenagers to make works for the mainstage and festivals. Her recent work includes I saw the second one hit (Malthouse Theatre) and Fitter. Faster. Better.

(Dance Massive, Junction Arts Festival, Malthouse Theatre). She directed the critically acclaimed What Rhymes with Cars and Girls for Melbourne Theatre Company in 2015, which received four Helpmann nominations including Best Director. In 2014 Clare was Female Director-in-Residence at Malthouse Theatre and she is an MTC Women Directors Program alumna. Her stage credits also include I Heart John McEnroe (Uninvited Guests/Theatre Works – winner Green Room Award for Best Ensemble, and five nominations including Best Director); The Man with the September Face (Full Tilt/ Arts Centre); Smashed (Stables); and Hotel (Melbourne Fringe Festival – winner Best Director).

Clare is a graduate of Directing at the Victorian College of the Arts. In 2016, her mainstage work also includes Lungs by Duncan Macmillan at Melbourne Theatre Company and the devised work Gonzo at Malthouse Theatre.

Johnny is a 2008 Victorian College of the Arts acting graduate.

His theatre credits include What Rhymes with Cars and Girls (Melbourne Theatre Company); The Dream (Bell Shakespeare); The Boys (Griffin Theatre); M + M (Daniel Schlusser Ensemble); The Suicide (The Hayloft Project); Leaves of Glass and The Rites of Evil (Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre). Johnny’s screen credits include Stories I Want to Tell You in Person, Rush, City Homicide, Sex: An Unnatural History and the web series The Greatest Love of All. In 2013, Johnny received the Marten Bequest Travel Scholarship for Acting. Johnny has been a proud member of Equity since 2008.

Cast & Creative Bios #theevents

Catherine McClements Claire

Geoff Cobham Set & Lighting Designer

Luke Byrne Pianist & Musical Director

Catherine McClements was most recently seen in ABC series’, The Beautiful Lie and Time Of Our Lives, and telemovie, The Broken Shore.

Also, Foxtel series Wentworth, Network Ten’s drama series Rush and Showtime’s Tangle, which earned her the 2010 AFI Award for Best Actress in a Television Drama, two ASTRA Awards for Most Outstanding Performance by an Actress in 2011 and 2013, and a Silver Logie Award nomination for Most Outstanding Actress in 2013.

Other television credits include The Pacific, Crashburn, The Secret Life Of Us, Water Rats, Waiting At The Royals, GP, Tomorrow’s End, My Brother Tom. Her performance in Water Rats earned her a Silver Logie Award for Most Outstanding Actress. Catherine received an AFI Award for Best Actress in her feature film debut, Weekend With Kate. On stage, Catherine’s credits include Phèdre for Bell Shakespeare; The Other Place, Cruel And Tender and Angels In America for Melbourne Theatre Company; The Crucible for Sydney Theatre Company; White Rabbit Red Rabbit and Neil Armfield’s It Just Stopped for Belvoir Street and Malthouse Theatre; Suddenly Last Summer, The Blind Giant Is Dancing, Michael Kantor’s Macbeth and Benedict Andrews’ Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? for Belvoir Street Theatre; She received a Green Room Award nomination for Best Actor for her role in Angels In America and for her performance in Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? she was nominated for a Helpmann Award for Best Actress in a Play.

Geoff has worked as a production manager, lighting designer, set designer, event producer, and venue designer. His love of light and dance has led him to work with many of Australia’s top choreographers and allowed him to explore the endless combinations of colour, angle, intensity, and movement of light. He has also lit; museums, buildings, public art and freeways. He has produced many outdoor events and clubs for Festivals and received a Churchill fellowship in 2010 to study outdoor theatre in Europe. He is currently the Resident Designer at State Theatre Company Of South Australia. Awards; Helpmann Award for Best Scenic Design for Little Bird, Ruby Award for Sustained Contribution, Green Room Award Best Lighting Design for Night Letters, Sydney Theatre Award Best Lighting Design for Never Did Me Any Harm.

Luke was part of the Hamlet ensemble at Belvoir in 2013, and was the pianist for Puncture at Sydney Festival 2015. His other theatre credits include The Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie (Belvoir/Sydney Festival); The World’s Wife (Melbourne Theatre Company); and Assassins and Company (Watchthis). He was musical assistant to the director of the Australia National Day concerts at Shanghai World Expo and children’s chorus master for Opera Australia’s Christmas Capers and Sydney Symphony’s The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

Luke’s recent choral commissions include Storm Bird for the Cairns Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir, and Desert Sea for Sydney Philharmonia’s To Be Sung on Water in the Sydney Opera House’s Utzon Room. Luke arranged the national anthems for the 2015 Netball World Cup and in 2012 was composerin-residence for Sydney Children’s Choir. Luke was also the musical director and principal arranger for Tyran Parke’s albums Sunday in the Parke and Compositions, and has written a musical, Between the Sea and Sky, which was workshopped

by New Musicals Australia. Luke conducts many workshops in composition, including for the New England Conservatorium and numerous schools across Sydney. He has conducted and accompanied in a range of country festivals, and accompanied and led workshops with Australian Chamber Orchestra’s ACO Move, Sydney Conservatorium and NIDA. ——> pg 5

Season 2016

Herein lies the hope, that our connectedness to community promotes our capacity to be good human beings.

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Cast & Creative Bios Season 2016 ——> pg 8

John Browne Composer

Natalie Moir Stage Manager

Amber Bock Assistant Stage Manager

John is an Irish composer living in London. He studied with Gerald Barry in Ireland and at The Manhattan School of Music in New York with the assistance of a Fulbright Award. He composes music for opera companies, theatres, choirs and increasingly integrates all these into ‘choral theatre’.

Operas for the Royal Opera House in London include Demon Juice, a hip-hop opera in 2007; Babette’s Feast, a chamber opera in 2002 (revived there in 2004); and Bullman and the Moonsisters, created with children to open the new Linbury Theatre. For English National Opera he composed Midnight’s Children and a trilogy of operas, The Early Earth Operas in 2004.

John’s theatre work includes many shows in Ireland, visiting Rwanda in 2006/07 to create The Mother’s Ring, a music-theatre piece with survivors of the genocide, and he is currently working on another piece of choral theatre, The Suppliants for Konzert Theater Bern (2016).

His recent work for choirs includes Small Selves for Westminster Abbey, In Tenebris for the Choir of King’s College London, A Nightingale Sang, a community cantata at the Southbank Centre 2011 and choral arrangements for the band Elbow. John’s other work includes music for Aardman Animations, the BAFTA award-winning Itch of the Golden Nit and Royals, Rascals and Us (2015), teaching the Write-AnOpera course at Dartington Summer School, and leading many musictheatre projects in China and India for the British Council, in Norway and South Africa for the Royal Opera House. In 2009 John was appointed composer-in-residence at Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery, King’s College London.

Natalie is a graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) She has had the opportunity to work on numerous productions for many companies throughout Australia.

Her theatre credits include Savages (Darlinghurst Theatre Company); The Beast, Top Girls, The Swimming Club (Melbourne Theatre Company); Furious Mattress (Malthouse Theatre); The Clean House (Queensland Theatre Company/Black Swan State Theatre Company); The Glass Menagerie, Much Ado About Nothing, The Dark Room, Portraits of Modern Evil (Black Swan State Theatre Company); Waltzing the Wilarra, Honey Spot (Yirra Yarkin Theatre Company); This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing, Onefivezeroseven (Barking Gecko Theatre Company); Krakouer (Deckchair Theatre Company); and Yes Prime Minister (Australian Tour). She has also worked on a number of musical theatre productions including Dirty Dancing (Australian Tour); The King & I (Australian Tour); Jersey Boys (Australian Tour); Strange Bedfellows (Instinct Entertainment); Anything Goes, Kismet, Sugar, The Boy from Oz, The King & I, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Boy Friend, Crazy For You (The Production Company); and Looney Tunes (Australian Tour). Other stage manager credits include Community Choirs Concert (Opera Australia), Orchestra Victoria (Melbourne), St Kilda Festival (Melbourne), Fringe World Festival, Joondalup Festival and Live@Woodside (Perth).

Amber is an avid theatre maker and recent graduate of Bachelor of Performing Arts at Monash University (2015). Amber has most recently stage managed Elegy (Lab Kelpie) for Midsumma Festival 2016, Noises Off (Monash Uni Student Theatre), Coriolanus (Heartstring Theatre), and She Will Fade at the Finish (HerFirstMillion).

Amber was also the assistant stage manger on Blak Cabaret (Malthouse Theatre) Dangerous Liaisons (The Little Ones Theatre), and assistant production manager on The Ministry (co-production between Monash Uni Student Theatre and Kin Collaborative) which won best Live Art at Melbourne Fringe Festival 2015. With an interest in history, Amber is soon to continue studying her Honours in Theatre – using story telling and documentary theatre to tackle the subject of ‘What’s wrong with Anzac?’

THE CHOIRS #theevents

Each night of the performance a different Melbourne-based choir joins the cast on stage.

Photo / JAMIE WILLIAMS

Cranbourne Chorale / Anne Credlin Expressive Women with Shaking the Tree / Bronwyn Calcutt Glee Plus / Vicky Jacobs Harambee A Cappella / Amy Banderia Harmony for Humanity Choir / Ruth Kennedy SingWest / Andrew Houston Southern Voices / Sharon Batterham TheCho!r / Jonathon Welch The Keytone's Choir / Jane Murone

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The Choir of Opportunity / Jonathon Welch

About Malthouse Theatre Season 2016

Contemporary, boundarypushing theatre in the heart of Melbourne, Australia.

At Malthouse Theatre we collaborate with local and international artists to create work that puts provocative, and entertaining human experiences on stage. We champion artistic and cultural diversity; we advocate for alternative points of view. We believe theatre can be – and should be – an agent of change.

The theatre we produce explores the world personally, socially and politically.

We cultivate and curate irreverent, courageous theatrical experiences from Australia and around the globe to captivate audiences.

Welcome to Malthouse Theatre.

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Our Partners

Major Partner

Venue Partner

Education Partner

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Government Partners

Accommodation Partner

Corporate Partners

Media Partner

Industry Partner

Trusts and Foundations

Our supporters URANIA—MUSE OF THE STARS—$25,000+ Michele Levine, Mary-Ruth & Peter McLennan, Craig Reeves, Maureen Wheeler AO & Tony Wheeler AO CLIO—MUSE OF HISTORY—$10,000+ Annamila Fund, John & Lorraine Bates, Debbie Dadon, Colin Golvan QC, Janine Tai, The Vera Moore Foundation THALIA—MUSE OF COMEDY—$5,000+ Marc Besen AC & Eva Besen AO, Richard Leonard & Gerlinde Scholz, Mary Vallentine AO, Anonymous (2) MELPOMENE—MUSE OF TRAGEDY—$2,500+ David Bardas, Sian Fairbank, D.L. & G.S. Gjergja, Rosemary Forbes & Ian Hocking, Val Johnstone, Sue Kirkham, James Penlidis & Fiona McGauchie, Elisabeth & John Schiller, Jenny Schwarz, Leonard Vary & Matt Collins QC, Jason Waple, Jon Webster, Anonymous (1) EUTERPE—MUSE OF MUSIC—$1,000+ Frankie Airey & Stephen Solly, Chryssa Anagnostou & Jim Tsaltas, Daniel & Danielle

TERPSICHORE—MUSE OF DANCE—$500+ Michael Arnold, Ingrid Ashford, Rowland Ball OAM, Sandra Beanham, David & Rhonda Black, Jennifer Bourke, Alan Connolly, Right Lane Consulting, Ros Casey, Marisa Cesario, Mark & Jo Davey, Carolyn Floyd, Taleen Gaidzkar, Brian Goddard, Leonie Hollingworth, Brad Hooper, Irene Irvine, Joan & Graeme Johnson OAM, Irene Kearsey, Richard & Angela Kirsner, John McCallum, Ian McRae AO, Kersti Nogeste, Linda rehearsal Photos / SARAH WALKER Cover Photo / Andrew Gough

Notley, Jan Owen AM, Robert Peters, Katherine Sampson, Lisl Singer, John Thomas, Pinky Watson, Phil & Heather Wilson, Henry Winters, Anonymous (4) ERATO—MUSE OF LOVE—$250+ Simon Abrahams, Graham & Anita Anderson, Fiona Brook, John & Alexandra Busselmaier, Siu Chan, Chris Clough, Georgie Coleman, Patricia Coutts, Jason Craig, Kerryn DickinsonRowe, Orla & Rachel, Joanne Griffiths, Peggy Hayton, Ann Kemeny & Graham Johnson, David & Mira Kolieb, Robyn Lansdowne, Sally Lindsay, Kim Lowndes, Judith Maitland-Parr, Ian Manning & Alice De Jonge, John Millard, Susan Nathan, Paul Natoli, Tony Oliver, Kaylene O’Neill, Wendy Poulton, Gerard Powell, Gavin Roach, Michael & Jenny Rozen, Robert Sessions & Christina Fitzgerald, Jill Sewell, Toby Sullivan, Jan Watson, Joanne Whyte, Roger Woock & Fiona Clyne, Barbara Yuncken Volunteers Malthouse Theatre would like to acknowledge the generous and ongoing support of our dedicated volunteers.

Design / Hours After hoursafter.com.au

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Marketing & Advertising / aka +61 3 8866 8335 aka-au.com

Besen, John & Sally Bourne, Sally Browne, Beth Brown & Tom Bruce AM, Ingrid & Per Carlsen, Min Li Chong, Robin & Neil Collier, Prof John Daley & Dr Rebecca Coates, Dominic & Natalie Dirupo, Roger Donazzan & Margaret Jackson AC, Rev Fr Michael Elligate AM, Michael Kingston, James Ostroburski, Rachel Petchesky, Rosemary & Roger Redston, Carol & Alan Schwartz AM, Thea & Hayden Snow, Maria Solà, Gina & Paul Stuart, Fiona Sweet & Paul Newcombe, Kerri Turner & Andrew White, Rosemary Walls, Jan Williams, Anonymous (1)

What’s up next Season 2016

Eavesdrop, with permission, into the intimate.

COME AWAY WITH ME TO THE END oF THE WORLD 5 – 24 Jul

Come Away with Me to the End of the World / invites you to listen in on a conversation between three people as they shape and reshape themselves – both physically and emotionally. Structured as a series of intimate exchanges, this production reaffirms Ranters Theatre as the masters of voyeuristic performance. Designed by visual artist Callum Morton, this surreal journey demands that you get up, tiptoe to the fringes of your own world / and peer over the edge.

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By / Ranters Theatre Direction / Adriano Cortese A co-production with Ranters Theatre.

Join us for another journey

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EDWARD II 29 JUL – 21 AUG

GONZO

21 Sep – 1 Oct

War and Peace

A king who pays the price for making the personal, political.

A long overdue conversation about the impact that porn is having on young, malleable minds.

Gob Squad playfully challenge definitions of freedom and privilege through surveillance and live performance.

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We hope you are moved by The Events, a profound exploration to find understanding following a community-shattering act of violence.

At Malthouse Theatre we don’t shy away from thought-provoking conversations, and we’d like you to join us for more engaging discussions happening on our mainstage later this year.

18 – 30 Oct

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Find out more at malthousetheatre.com.au

Season 2016

About Belvoir When the Nimrod Theatre building in Belvoir Street, Surry Hills, was threatened with redevelopment in 1984, more than 600 people – ardent theatre lovers together with arts, entertainment and media professionals – formed a syndicate to buy the building and save this unique performance space in innercity Sydney.

Thirty years later, under Artistic Director Eamon Flack and Executive Director Brenna Hobson, Belvoir engages Australia’s most prominent and promising playwrights, directors, actors and designers to realise an annual season of work that is dynamic, challenging and visionary. As well as performing at home, Belvoir regularly takes to the road, touring both nationally and internationally.

Belvoir’s position as one of Australia’s most innovative and acclaimed theatre companies has been determined by such landmark productions as The Glass Menagerie, Angels in America, The Wild Duck, The Diary of a Madman, The Blind Giant is Dancing, The Book of Everything, Cloudstreet, Keating!, Parramatta Girls, Exit the King, The Alchemist, Hamlet, Waiting for Godot, The Sapphires, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Stuff Happens and Medea.

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State Theatre Company of South Australia State Theatre Company of South Australia is the state’s flagship professional theatre company performing an annual season of classic and contemporary Australian and international theatre works at its main performance home – the Dunstan Playhouse.

The Company is a major community and cultural resource for all South Australians and is vital to artistic life in the state.

State Theatre Company also plays an important role in the bigger picture of the Australian theatre scene, contributing touring productions and providing employment and career opportunities for artists and technical and administrative staff. We are committed to the development of new works for the stage and to the development of South Australian artists through our creative fellowship programs.

The date of establishment as the state theatre company dates to the State Theatre Company of South Australia Act of 1972, an initiative of Don Dunstan. Throughout our 40 year history, the Company has played a pivotal role in the careers of many of Australia’s leading actors, writers and directors, attracting artists of the calibre of Miriam Margolyes, Xavier Samuel, Neil Armfield, Ruth Cracknell, Judy Davis, Gale Edwards, Mel Gibson, Garry McDonald, Geoffrey Rush, Jim Sharman, Hugo Weaving, Jacki Weaver and John Wood.

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Season 2016

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scene & heard

Each of the Melbourne-based choirs that perform in The Events selected one song from their repertoire for the performance.

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Š Malthouse Theatre, the artists, designers, photographers, collaborators and contributors. All rights reserved, 2016.

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