Persona Program

PERSONA

27 JUNE – 14 JULY

Image: Pia Johnson

Malthouse Theatre presents

PERSONA A Fraught Outfit Production Based on the film by Ingmar Bergman Conceived by Adena Jacobs, Dayna Morrissey & Danny Pettingill Directed by Adena Jacobs

Translated by Keith Bradfield Set & Costume Design Dayna Morrissey Lighting Design Danny Pettingill Sound Design Russell Goldsmith Cast Alex de Vos Julian Mineo Meredith Penman Daniel Schlusser Karen Sibbing Voiceover Jane Montgomery Griffiths Stage Manager Lisa Osborn Assistant Stage Manager Noah Sharwood BECKETT THEATRE 27 JUNE – 14 JULY By arrangement with Hal Leonard Australia Pty Ltd, on behalf of Josef Weinberger Ltd London.

Translation provided by Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd. The Australian premiere of Persona was presented by Fraught Outfit in association with Theatre Works.

DIRECTOR’S NOTE ‘Even if prayer is just a cry into an empty space, we should not desist from that cry’ – Ingmar Bergman, in his workbook for Persona In 2011, Dayna Morrissey, Danny Pettingill and I began re-imagining Persona for the stage. We began our journey via design, immersing ourselves in the minutiae of Bergman’s film. We were attracted to Bergman’s cool, minimalist frames, his elegant details, and the close-ups he is so famous for. Of course, Bergman’s stark visual landscapes belie the turbulence and ultimate horror that sit at the core of his work. He arrests us with beauty, and then quietly draws us towards a place we never imagined film could take us. Like his characters, the audience drowns in the film’s unconscious logic. We become tangled and complicit in the unravelling nightmare.

Persona depicts two women, one who is silent, and the other who is unable to stop speaking. Both women are desperate to be witnessed, seen through, and ultimately forgiven.

In Bergman’s hands, our basic human need for connection becomes a site of transgression. Our desire for intimacy and understanding knows no bounds. Communication becomes a lonely and dangerous pursuit.

In his book Images, Bergman wrote, ‘I feel that in Persona—and later in Cries and Whispers—I had gone as far as I could go.

In these two instances when working in total freedom, I touched wordless secrets that only the cinema can discover.’ So why create a piece of theatre? This question was necessarily at the centre of our enquiry. To adapt film for stage is to transform a work intended to be viewed externally, and make it threedimensional. We invite the audience inside the chamber, so that we can all enact the events together, in the same room,

in the dark. As theatre, Persona becomes an internal experience, one in which the borderline between audience and performer threatens to dissolve.

The process of re-imagining Persona occurred over many months in the rehearsal room. It was an extraordinary collaborative encounter with performers Meredith Penman (Elizabeth), Karen Sibbing (Alma) and Daniel Schlusser, and designers Dayna Morrissey, Danny Pettingill and Russell Goldsmith. This work was conceived and co-authored from the shared imagination and hard work of all of these artists.

I would like to thank them from the bottom of my heart for their personal dedication to this project, and the adventurous spirit in which it was made. We are thrilled to be able to share this work with you at The Malthouse.

Adena Jacobs

ALEX DE VOS YOUNG BOY Alex is 10 years old and has played a number of roles in various short films. Most recently he was the co-lead in a short film called Goldrush, written and directed by Kaiser Tsango. His voice was used in Good Grief, an animated film that is currently doing well on the international film festival circuit. He played the role of Neil in No Through Road by FlickBox Films, and was featured in The Click Foundation’s television commercial to raise awareness of epilepsy. Persona is Alex’s first professional theatrical production.

RUSSELL GOLDSMITH SOUND DESIGNER Russell is an award-winning sound designer, composer, producer and audio system designer. His work for Malthouse Theatre includes Hate, Blood Wedding, The Story of Mary MacLane by Herself, A Woman in Berlin, Happy Days, Optimism, Vamp, Through the Looking Glass, Sleeping Beauty, Exit the King, It Just Stopped, and The Frail Man. Other recent theatre credits include: Persona (Fraught Outfit/Theatre Works); The Other Place, His Girl Friday, The Golden Dragon, Don Parties On, The Swimming Club (Melbourne Theatre Company); Total Football (Ridiculusmus - The Barbican London/ Edinburgh Festival/National Theatre of Wales/Belfast Festival); The Nest (The Hayloft Project); and Exit the King (Broadway production). Other recent projects include A Packet of Seeds, a radio documentary for the BBC London, Cassandra is a Waitress for ABC Radio National and the ABC Radio adaptation of A Woman in Berlin, which was shortlisted for the Prix Italia, and won a bronze medal at the New York Festival Radio Awards.

Russell’s theatrical work has been recognised both locally and internationally. His sound design for Exit the King won the 2007 Sydney Theatre Award and was nominated for Best Sound Design at both the 2008 Green Room Awards in Melbourne and the 2009 Tony Awards in New York.

ADENA JACOBS DIRECTOR Adena is the Artistic Director of Fraught Outfit. In 2012, Fraught Outfit won five Green Room Awards for Persona, including Best Production and Best Direction.

Adena’s directing credits include On The Bodily Education of Young Girls (NEON Festival – MTC); Persona (Theatre Works); Sophocles’ Elektra (The Dog Theatre); The City by Martin Crimp (Red Stitch); This Is For You (La Mama); and Cleansed by Sarah Kane (VCA). Assistant directing credits include Wild Surmise (Malthouse); and Clybourne Park (MTC). Adena graduated with an honours degree in Creative Arts from Melbourne University and a Masters of Theatre Practice from the VCA. She was the recipient of the Melbourne International Arts Festival’s Harold Mitchell Fellowship (2010), Female Director in Residence at Malthouse Theatre (2012), and is a member of the Lincoln Center Director’s Lab. Adena was recently appointed Resident Director at Sydney’s Belvoir Theatre.

JULIAN MINEO YOUNG BOY Julian made his screen debut at only 5 years of age, being cast as the lead role of Hugo in ABC’s The Slap, which won the prestigious Logie Award for Most Outstanding Drama Series of 2012. With this success, he went on to appear in numerous TV shows such as Neighbours, Beaconsfield, Winners & Losers and Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. He has also appeared in several national commercials. Julian hopes to grow up and be a part-time actor, full-time fireman and a sometimes scientist. Persona marks his professional stage debut at The Malthouse.

DAYNA MORRISSEY SET & COSTUME DESIGN Dayna is a Melbourne-based production designer.

Recent designs include Hate (Malthouse); On the Bodily Education of Young Girls (NEON Festival – MTC/Fraught Outfit); Persona (Fraught Outfit/Theatre Works); Speaking in Tongues (Griffin); Beyond The Neck, The City and Faces in the Crowd (Red Stitch); Lost Stories of the Magdalen Asylum and Devine (Peepshow Inc.). Other company appointments include Monash University Honors Ensemble, St Martins Youth Arts Centre, Little Wing Puppets and FOG Theatre. Dayna received a 2012 Green Room Award for her design of Persona and has previously been nominated in set design for Devine (Peepshow Inc.); The City (Red Stitch); and White with Wire Wheels (Union House Theatre).

LISA OSBORN STAGE MANAGER Lisa works as a freelance stage manager and production manager in theatre and on arts events.

Her Stage Management credits for Malthouse Theatre include Pompeii, L.A., On the Misconception of Oedipus, Blood Wedding, Opera XS: Another Lament (with Rawcus/Chamber Made Opera), The Wild Duck (with Belvoir), The Story of Mary MacLane by Herself, Baal (with Sydney Theatre Company) and Sappho…in 9 Fragments. Other credits include: When The Rain Stops Falling (Brink Productions); Me and My Shadow (Patch Theatre Company); Man Covets Bird (Slingsby Theatre Company); G, Devolution and Ignition (Australian Dance Theatre); Three Sisters, Metro Street, Attempts on Her Life,

The Female of the Species, Triple Threat, Noises Off and The Government Inspector (State Theatre Company SA); Cake (Ladykillers); Grug, Boom Bah!, Afternoon of the Elves, Two Weeks with the Queen and Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge (Windmill Theatre); and Beautiful Words (Oddbodies Theatre Company). Her recent Production/Stage Management credits include The Story of Mary MacLane by Herself (Ride On Theatre/ Performing Lines); and The Trilogy Presentation (Amplification, Miracle and Above) for BalletLab at MONA FOMA. Lisa has also worked in a range of roles on events including WOMADelaide, The Helpmann Awards and the Melbourne Commonwealth Games 2006 Cultural Festival.

MEREDITH PENMAN PERFORMER Meredith graduated from VCA in 2007. During her time at VCA Meredith won the Richard Pratt Award for Outstanding Actor in 2006 and has been working steadily in the industry ever since. Her theatre credits include The Sea Project (Arthur and Griffin Independent Theatre); The Nest and Platonov (The Hayloft Project); A Woman in Berlin (Malthouse Theatre); Richard III (Melbourne Theatre Company); The City (Red Stitch Actors Theatre); and Yes (Optic Nerve/ fortyfivedownstairs). Meredith’s television credits include guest roles in House Husbands and The Doctor Blake Mysteries and also semi-regular roles in Rush and City Homicide. Her film work includes The Cup, Welcome To The Cosmos and With My Little Eye. She received the 2012 Ian Reed Residency for an Emerging Writer with ABC Radio National and her play, Cassandra Is A Waitress, will be broadcast in 2013. Persona is Meredith’s third collaboration with director Adena Jacobs.

DANNY PETTINGILL LIGHTING DESIGN Danny is a designer and theatre maker based in Melbourne. He has worked with MTC, Malthouse, Belvoir, Griffin, Ilbijerri and many other companies around Australia on productions such as Other Desert Cities (MTC); FOLEY and Jack Charles vs the Crown (Ilbijerri); The Power of Yes and Cut (Belvoir); Speaking in Tongues (Griffin Theatre); and Red Sky Morning and Pool (no water) (Red Stitch). Danny has been nominated for multiple Green Room Awards for lighting in Melbourne and received a Sydney Theatre Award nomination for his critically acclaimed lighting design for 2011 Belvoir production Cut. Danny has won Green Room Awards in lighting for The Hayloft Project’s Platonov in 2008 and Fraught Outfit’s acclaimed first season of Persona in 2012 at Theatre Works. Danny is Design Director of candlestick design, providing creative and conceptual lighting for Architecture, Landscape and Retail projects.

DANIEL SCHLUSSER PERFORMER Daniel is a director, dramaturg and performer. He most recently performed in On the Misconception of Oedipus (Malthouse Theatre/Perth Theatre Company), as Hamlet in Ophelia doesn’t live here anymore (Daniel Schlusser Ensemble/ Chamber Made Opera/Bell Shakespeare Mind’s Eye), and as Krogstad in The Dollhouse (Daniel Schlusser Ensemble at fortyfivedownstairs). He is an Associate Artist of The Rabble, and has performed the roles of Bernarda Alba in Cageling and Herod in Salome for that company. Previous performances include the solos Kill Hamlet (La Mama/The Universal Theatre/Griffin Theatre Company), and Camus’ The Fall (Stork Hotel/Melbourne Writer’s

Festival). Daniel has a Master of Arts in Theatre Directing from the Victorian College of the Arts and most recently directed Menagerie (NEON Festival – MTC) and The Histrionic (Malthouse Theatre/Sydney Theatre Company). He is Artistic Director of Daniel Schlusser Ensemble, with whom he is currently working on an adaptation of The Master and Margarita in association with Theatre Works.

KAREN SIBBING PERFORMER Karen’s theatre credits include The Plague Dances and Tame (Malthouse Theatre); The Gronholm Method and Oh Well Never Mind Bye (Red Stitch); The Colour of Glass (La Mama); and Undine (Four Larks Theatre). She is a core member of Daniel Schlusser Ensemble for which she has appeared in Peer Gynth (VCA); Ophelia doesn’t live here anymore (Chambermade Opera/Bell Shakespeare); The Master and Margarita (Theatre Works); and Menagerie (NEON Festival – MTC). As a collaborating artist of Fraught Outfit she has previously appeared in Elektra (The Dog Theatre) and On the Bodily Education of Young Girls (NEON Festival – MTC). Karen is the 2012 recipient of the Green Room Award for Female Performer in independent theatre, for her performance in Persona (Theatre Works).

THANK YOU Fraught Outfit thanks Dan Clarke and the staff at Theatre Works, Pia Johnson, Harrison Feldman, Hugo Donath, Stephen Moylan, Angelique Murray, Ariela Jacobs, Xavier O’Shannessy, Phoenix Bade, Marcia & Michael Jacobs, Gordan & Heather Morrissey and Luisa Hastings Edge.

Image: Pia Johnson

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