Dance of Death Program

DANCE OF DEATH

18 APRIL – 19 MAY

Malthouse Theatre presents

DANCE OF DEATH

By Friedrich Dürrenmatt English text by Tom Holloway

Directed by Matthew Lutton Set & Costume Design Dale Ferguson Lighting Design Paul Jackson Composition & Sound Design Kelly Ryall Performed by Jacek Koman Belinda McClory David Paterson Stage Manager Tia Clark Besen Family Artist Program Recipient (Directing) Tanya Dickson

BECKETT THEATRE 18 APRIL – 19 MAY Stage rights by Diogenes Verlag AG Zürich

Image: Sarah Walker

DIRECTOR’S NOTE Friedrich Dürrenmatt was an advisor to Basel Theatre in 1968 when the company programmed Strindberg’s classic Dance of Death. When the actors read the play, they supposedly rejected the script, demanding that Dürrenmatt write a new version that reduced the excessive soul-searching that had made Strindberg’s text so tirelessly leaden. Dürrenmatt therefore set out to write what he called an ‘anti-Strindberg’ version of Strindberg’s Dance of Death.

For Dürrenmatt, Strindberg was a great philistine, to be compared with Wagner. He was horrified by Strindberg’s misogyny, saying “the mind that does not pity Strindberg is hard, but the mind that does not also find him horrible, is either blind or crude”.

He wanted to remove Strindberg’s pretentious writing style and pompous stage requirements, leaving only the bare essentials behind. He saw in Dance of Death a Beckett-like situation with characters that resembled grotesque clowns trapped in a perpetual game.

Strindberg’s passages of ‘soul-searching’ were therefore transformed into short, sharp, energised ‘cut and thrust’ exchanges that could be hurled across the stage by the actors.

A text emerged that was filled with idées fixes, as if the whole situation was a choreographed ritual, performed by fleshy automatons for an applauding audience. The characters gained a sense of humour, particularly in relation to death, and the audience was now presented with tragic characters in a new comedic situation.

In 2013 Tom Holloway has rendered Dürrenmatt’s German text into English, adding to it his own unique sense of black humour, and we have set out to create a production that continues to explore the shifting line of fact and fiction. Where the game of theatre – that peculiar machine of illusion-making – is itself on display, where sadistic behaviour generates meaning, purpose and entertainment, and where “the battle of the sexes is a poetic expression for the absolute alienation of the individual” (Mittenzwei).

As Dürrenmatt provocatively (and probably with a grin) proposed in his essay, The Winter War in Tibet, “the goal of man is to be his own enemy … he who understands this truth inherits the world”.

Matthew Lutton

TIA CLARK STAGE MANAGER Tia is a graduate of WAAPA. Her credits for Malthouse Theatre include Hate, Opera XS, A Golem Story and Baal (with Sydney Theatre Company). Other credits include: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Gordon Frost Organisation); Every Breath (Belvoir); The Rake’s Progress (Victorian Opera); Scooby Doo Live 2011 Tour (Entertainment Store Group); The King and I, The Boy From Oz, Sugar (Some Like It Hot), Anything Goes, Kismet, Grey Gardens (The Production Company); The Marriage of Figaro, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Victorian Arts Centre); At the Beach, Behind the Veneer (Buzz Dance Theatre); The Hidden Forest (Spontaneous Insanity); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare WA); and The Nutcracker (WA Ballet).

DALE FERGUSON SET & COSTUME DESIGN Dale is a graduate of NIDA. His theatre credits include Exit the King, Woman Bomb, Rapture, Nightfall (Malthouse Theatre); Top Girls, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (costumes), Don Parties On, Life Without Me, The Drowsy Chaperone, God of Carnage, The Sapphires, August: Osage Country (Melbourne Theatre Company); Les Liaisons Dangereuses, The Convict’s Opera (including UK Tour), Summer Rain, Howard Katz, A Cheery Soul (Sydney Theatre Company); and King Lear (Bell Shakespeare). Most recently, Dale redesigned his sets for the production of The Judas Kiss (Belvoir), starring Rupert Everett at the Hampstead Theatre on the West End. Other work at Belvoir includes Neighbourhood Watch, The Seagull, Measure for Measure, The Power of Yes and Antigone. For opera and musical theatre; Othello (Cape Town Opera); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Houston and Chicago Opera); Ariadne of Naxos (Welsh National Opera/ Canadian Opera); The Marriage of Figaro, Eugene Onegin

(Opera Australia); An Officer and a Gentleman (GFO); and The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Dainty). Dale received a Helpmann Award for Best Design for August: Osage County as well as Tony and Drama Desk nominations for Exit the King on Broadway.

TOM HOLLOWAY WRITER Tom Holloway is a multi-award-winning playwright whose work has been staged extensively in Australia and internationally. His plays include Beyond the Neck (Tasmania Performs/Royal Court Theatre’s International Young Playwright’s Festival/Bambina Productions/B Sharp/Red Stitch Actors Theatre); Don’t Say the Words (Griffin Theatre Company/ Tasmanian Theatre Company); Red Sky Morning (Red Stitch Actors Theatre); Love Me Tender (Perth International Arts Festival/ ThinIce/Griffin Theatre Company/Belvoir); Fatherland (Gate Theatre, London/Yung Og Radikal Festival, Munich); And No More Shall We Part (Griffin Theatre Company/Hampstead Theatre, London/Traverse Theatre, Scotland); Faces Look Ugly (Aarhus Teater, Denmark) and Die Winterreise (Malthouse Theatre/ThinIce/Brisbane Festival). He has also been the librettist for Make No Noise (Bavarian State Opera/Munich Opera Festival) and a co-writer for the film This Dark Wood (in development). Tom’s latest plays Forget Me Not (Belvoir), As We Forgive (Tasmania Performs/Ten Days on the Island/ Collected Works Festival, Canberra) and his adaptation of Colin Thiele’s Storm Boy (Sydney Theatre Company) premiere this year.

Also in 2013 Tom will undertake an attachment at The National Theatre, London, and in 2014 will see the first staging of one of his plays by a major company in New York.

PAUL JACKSON LIGHTING DESIGN Paul is an Associate Artist (Design) at Malthouse Theatre. He has designed lighting for Malthouse Theatre, The Australian Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet, Melbourne Theatre Company, West Australian Ballet, Victorian Opera, West Australian Opera, Sydney Theatre Company, Belvoir, BalletLab, Lucy Guerin Inc., World of Wearable Art New Zealand, La Mama, not yet it’s difficult performance group, Chamber Made Opera, and many others. Paul’s work has featured in festivals in Asia, Europe and the United Kingdom, and he has lectured in design at the University of Melbourne, RMIT University and Victorian College of the Arts. Paul has received a number of Green Room Awards and nominations for design, as well as receiving the 2012 Helpmann Award for lighting design. He was named in The Bulletin’s Smart 100 for 2004 and was the Gilbert Spottiswood Churchill Fellow for 2007.

JACEK KOMAN EDGAR Jacek Koman has had an extensive career across film, television and theatre. He has appeared in numerous theatre productions including Cruel & Tender, Angels In America I & II, Faust, Gulliver’s Travels, The Marriage of Figaro, The Taming of the Shrew, Nothing Sacred, Waiting for Godot (Melbourne Theatre Company); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Threepenny Opera, Macbeth, Emma’s Nose, As You Like It, Caucasian Chalk Circle, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Lulu, The Blind Giant is Dancing, The Tempest, Hamlet, Blue Murder (Belvoir); Endgame, Fred and Tartuffe (Sydney Theatre Company). His television credits include roles on some of Australia’s most recognised series, among which are Stingers, MDA, The Secret Life of Us and Wildside. He is well known for playing the Narcoleptic Argentinean in Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin

Rouge, and other film credits include Baz Luhrmann’s Australia, Ed Zwick’s Defiance, and Alfonso Cuaron’s Children of Men. In 2013, Jacek will be seen in the feature film Shopping, directed

by Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland, and Jane Campion’s ABC/BBC co-production, Top of the Lake, both of which screened at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

MATTHEW LUTTON DIRECTOR Matthew Lutton most recently directed Pompeii, L.A., On the Misconception of Oedipus, Die Winterreise, The Trial and Tartuffe for Malthouse Theatre. He has also directed The Mysteries: Genesis for Sydney Theatre Company, The Duel for Sydney Theatre Company/ThinIce, Love Me Tender for Belvoir/ThinIce, and Don’t Say the Words for Griffin Theatre Company. In 2011 he directed the new contemporary opera Make No Noise for the Bavarian State Opera, and in 2012 Strauss’s Elektra for West Australian Opera/ ThinIce/Opera Australia/Perth International Arts Festival. From 2002 to 2012 Matthew was the director of Perth-based theatre company ThinIce, and since 2011 he has been an Associate Artist (Direction) at Malthouse Theatre. Later in the year he directs The Bloody Chamber for Malthouse Theatre, and Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman for New Zealand Opera.

BELINDA McCLORY ALICE A Victorian College of the Arts graduate, Belinda has worked extensively in theatre, film and television.

Her most recent production for Malthouse Theatre was Pompeii, L.A. Other theatre credits include Gross und Klein (including European Tour), The Trial, The City, Concussion, Emergency Sex, Motel, Holy Day (Sydney Theatre Company); The Modern

International Dead (Griffin Theatre Company); Love Me Tender (Griffin Theatre Company/Belvoir/ThinIce); 2000 Feet Away, Jesus Hopped The A Train (Belvoir); The Rover, Macbeth, Sweet Bird of Youth, Boy Gets Girl, The Ghost Writer, Frozen, Proof and Queen Lear (Melbourne Theatre Company). She also appeared in The Trial and The Odyssey (Malthouse Theatre) and in Rapture and Honour (Playbox). She has won both a Green Room Award and a Helpmann Award for her theatrical work and was the recipient of the SBW Playwright’s Award for her screen adaptation of Patrick White’s The Eye of the Storm. Her TV work includes Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Kath and Kim, All Saints, Blue Heelers, Corridors of Power and Janus. Film credits include Redball, Hotel de Love, darklovestory, Mullet, Life, Acolytes, The Matrix and X.

DAVID PATERSON KURT David Paterson’s career has spanned across film, television and theatre. David’s theatre credits include Queen Lear and Tribes (Melbourne Theatre Company); Happy New (The Store Room); as well as Cry From the City of Lost Children, Touched and Don’s Party whilst studying at NIDA. In 2013, David will be seen in the third series of the Seven Network’s Winners and Losers. His other television credits include Salem’s Lot, Stingers, Blue Heelers, The Secret Life of Us, The Turner Affair, Dog’s Head Bay, Above the Law and BeastMaster. David has also been seen in Rohan Michael Hoole’s feature, Court of Lonely Royals, and Matthew Newton’s Right Here Right Now. He has starred in several short films including All Fried Up, Storage and 1, 2, 3.

KELLY RYALL COMPOSITION & SOUND DESIGN Kelly’s recent works include: Henry 4, The School For Wives, Macbeth, Julius Caesar (Bell Shakespeare); On the Misconception of Oedipus, One Night The Moon (Malthouse Theatre); On The Production Of Monsters, Return To Earth, God Of Carnage, Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Melbourne Theatre Company); Disappearing Acts (World Theatre Festival); Dreams in White, The Boys (Griffin Theatre Company/Sydney Festival); And No More Shall We Part (Griffin Theatre Company); Die Winterreise (ThinIce/Malthouse Theatre); Flesh and Bone, Sundowner (KAGE); Expectation (Arts House); The Trial (Malthouse Theatre/Sydney Theatre Company/ThinIce); Love Me Tender (Belvoir/Griffin Theatre Company/ThinIce); The Harry Harlow Project, The Man With The September Face (Full Tilt); Pieces for Small Spaces (Lucy Guerin Inc); Red Sky Morning (Red Stitch Actors Theatre); Savage River (Griffin Theatre Company/ Melbourne Theatre Company/Tasmanian Theatre Company); Thom Pain (B Sharp); Mr Freezy (Arena Theatre Co); Chocolate Monkey, Space Monkey and Love Monkey (The Amazing Business); Chapters from the Pandemic, Detest, Wretch, Save for Crying (Angus Cerini/Doubletap); and Mercury Fur (little death/Griffin Theatre Company). Kelly has received three Green Room Awards, a Melbourne International Arts Festival Award and a Melbourne Fringe Award.

MUSE DONOR PROGRAM Thank you, Malthouse Muses, for supporting our artistic vision and helping us to create a unique and dynamic environment for artists and audiences.

URANIA—Muse of The Stars—$25,000+ Annamila Pty Ltd, The Dara Foundation, The Danielle and Daniel Besen Foundation, Maureen & Tony Wheeler CLIO—Muse of History—$10,000+ Betty Amsden OAM, John & Lorraine Bates, Craig Reeves, Rae Rothfield, The Pratt Foundation THALIA—Muse of Comedy—$5,000+ Frankie Airey & Stephen Solly, Eva Besen AO & Marc Besen AO, Debbie Dadon, Roger Donazzan & Margaret Jackson AC, Neilma Gantner, Peter & Anne Laver, Richard Leonard, Michele Levine, Mary Ruth & Peter McLennan, Judith Maitland-Parr, Elisabeth & John Schiller, Carol & Alan Schwartz AM, Anonymous (2) MELPOMENE—Muse of Tragedy—$2,500+ Chryssa Anagnostou & Jim Tsaltas, Ian Hocking & Rosemary Forbes, Val Johnstone, Jon Webster, Tom Wright EUTERPE—Muse of Music—$1,000+ Ingrid Ashford, John Bourne, Beth Brown & Tom Bruce AM, Sally Browne, Diana Burleigh, Ingrid & Per Carlsen, Marilyn and Andrew Cookes, Dominic & Natalie Dirupo, Rev Fr Michael Elligate, Carolyn Floyd, William J. Forrest AM, D.L & G.S Gjergja, Marco Gjergja, Colin Golvan SC, Michael Kingston, Sue Kirkham, Pamela McLure, Naomi Milgrom AO, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch AC DBE, Sue Nattrass AO, Jenny Schwarz, Neil & Barbara Smart, Mr & Mrs Smith Pty Ltd, Leonard Vary & Matt Collins, Jason Waple, Simon Westcott & Dr Ben Keith, Phil & Heather Wilson, Anonymous (1) TERPSICHORE—Muse of Dance—$500+ Sieglind D’Arcy, Min Li Chong, Mark & Jo Davey, Taleen Gaidzkar, Charles Gillies & Penelope Allen, Brian Goddard, Scott Herron, Leonie Hollingworth, Brad Hooper, Susan Humphries, Irene Kearsey, Ann Kemeny & Graham Johnson, K & J Lindsay, Sir Gustav AC CBE & Lady Nossal, Tony Oliver, Robert Peters, Right Lane Consulting, Tim & Lynne Sherwood, Maria Sola & Malcolm Douglas, Gina Stuart, Fiona Sweet & Paul Newcombe, Joanne & Dr Niv Tadmore, John Thomas, Richard P. Watson, Henry Winters, Angelika & Pete Zangmeister, Anonymous (2) ERATO—Muse of Love—$250+ Simon Abrahams, Graham & Anita Anderson, Sandra Beanham, John & Alexandra Busselmaier, Robyn Campbell, John Carruthers, Ros Casey, Tim & Rachel Cecil, Diane Clark, Patricia Coutts, Mary Crean AM, Tania de Jong AM, Orla & Rachel, Peggy Hayton, Roberta Holmes, Irene Irvine, Graeme & Joan Johnson, Vas Katos, Patricia Keith, Ruth Krawat, Liquorice Studio, Brad Martin, Gael & Ian McRae, John Millard, Robyn & John Morris, Dr Kersti Nogeste, Linda Notley, James Penlidis & Fiona McGauchie, Irene Purcell, John & Margot Rogers, Katherine Sampson, Ernie Schwartz, Morry & Anna Schwartz, Lisl Singer, Thea & Hayden Snow, Janice Taylor, Ann Tonks, Rosemary Walls, Jan Watson, Joanne Whyte, Dr Roger Woock & Fiona Clyne, Barbara Yuncken, Anonymous (6) Malthouse Theatre would also like to acknowledge the ongoing support of its volunteers.

Image: Sarah Walker

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS Simon Westcott (Chair), John Daley (Deputy Chair), Frankie Airey, Michele Levine, Ian McRae, Sarah Morgan, Thea Snow, Sigrid Thornton, Kerri Turner, Leonard Vary.

Artistic Director Marion Potts Executive Producer Jo Porter Associate Artist (Design) Paul Jackson Associate Artist (Direction) Matthew Lutton Associate Artist (Writing) Van Badham Company Managers Lucy Birkinshaw

Nina Bonacci Associate Producer Josh Wright Administrator Narda Shanley Finance Manager Mario Agostinoni Finance Administrator Liz White Finance Assistant Connie Stella Marketing and Communications Manager Lisa Scicluna Communications Coordinator Jennifer Smith Development Manager Jaclyn Birtchnell Philanthropy Manager Nicole Punte Development and Marketing Assistant Hiroki Kobayashi Media Manager Maria O’Dwyer Ticketing Manager Emma Howard Ticketing Assistant Lauren White Youth and Education Program Clare Watson Executive Assistant Emily Fiori Audience Development Consultant Jason Tamiru Building Manager Peter Mandersloot Bar Manager Cherry Rivers Front of House Managers Tristan Watson

& Sean Ladhams Production Manager David Miller

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Technical Manager Baird McKenna Operations Manager Dexter Varley Head Electrician Stewart Birkinshaw Campbell Head Mechanist Andy Moore Theatre Technician Nathaneal Bristow Head of Wardrobe Amanda Carr Wardrobe Assistant Chloe Greaves Workshop Supervisor David Craig Steel Fabricator Goffredo Mameli Scenic Artist Patrick Jones Props Master Ross Murray

(lifetime recognition) Front of House/Bar Staff Leeor Adar, Matt Adair, Jacqui Brown, Ben Carollo, Mimi Catterns, Kathryn Delaney, Tom Dent, Carla Di Stefano, Alice Dixon, Graham Downey, Tanja George, Christian Grant, Kate Gregory, Bridie McCarthy, Ian Michael, Anna Nalpantidis, Daniel Newell, Ruby Nolan, Syrie Payne, Kliment Poposki, Beck Rafferty, Claire Richardson, Sanne Rodenstein, Kathryn Stuckey, Phoebe Taylor, Jade Thomson, Lee Threadgold Box Office Staff Abbey Barnes, Liz Bastian, Paul Buckley, Mark Byrne, Dan Giovannoni, Kate Gregory, Suzie Hardgrave, Michelle Hines, Ian Michael, Fiona Wiseman, Liz White Malthouse Theatre would like to acknowledge the people of the Kulin nation on whose land this work is being presented.

A SHARED CREATIVE VISION Victoria University is proud to be Malthouse Theatre’s official Education Partner.

We share a vision and commitment to excellence, opportunity, community and individual empowerment.

Together we help future teachers make the arts accessible and engaging for students, provide theatre work placements for our students, and offer individuals from diverse backgrounds opportunities to experience live theatre. our collaboration in research and contemporary creative arts practice means that Victoria University graduates are empowered to reach their goals by acquiring exceptional skills, knowledge and experiences.

Find out how you can be part of this creative partnership through further study or engagement with us.

Visit our website or call 1300 VIC UNI.

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OUR PARTNERS GOVERNMENT PARTNERS Malthouse Theatre is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body

EDUCATION PARTNER

MEDIA PARTNER

PRODUCTION PARTNER

CORPORATE PARTNERS

CORPORATE ASSOCIATES

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TRUSTS AND FOUNDATIONS Australian Communities Foundation Slome-Topol Family Charitable Trust

The Robert Salzer Foundation Vera Moore Foundation

PROGRAM PARTNERS

Suitcase Series

REGIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAM

ARTIST PROGRAM

Female Director in Residence PROGRAM

REGIONAL PERFORMANCE PROJECTS

NEW AUSTRALIAN COMMISSION & PRODUCTION

The Danielle & Daniel Besen Foundation DIRECTORS EXCHANGE PROJECT COMPANY IN RESIDENCE

(Men of Steel) Maureen and Tony Wheeler International Program Jeanne Pratt AC, Rae Rothfield, Sue Nattrass AO, Judith Maitland-Parr THE KENN BRODZIAK ASSOCIATE PRODUCER

Tom Kantor Fund INDIGENOUS THEATRE PROGRAM (Shadow King)

Image: Sarah Walker

Image: Sarah Walker