October Season Production Program

We would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands on which we learn and tell stories, the Bidjigal people.

We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elders past and present who have cared for land, water and story on these lands for generations. We also recognise the work and strength of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, workers and creatives within the NIDA Community.

Sovereignty was never ceded.

Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.

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WELCOME Welcome to NIDA’s End of Year Production Season for 2022. We are so happy to see people back at the NIDA campus!

These five fully staged live NIDA productions tell stories of transformation that are mythic, comedic and tragic and always strikingly human. They showcase the talent of students across acting, design, costume, technical theatre and stage management, and props and objects.

We are thrilled to be creating this showcase of work with leading organisations across dance, theatre and opera for a season of ground-breaking collaborations. I would like to personally thank the teams at the Sydney Theatre Company, Force Majeure and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music for their partnership.

These shows are a wonderful opportunity for our guests to see the future leaders of the creative sector in action as they transition into careers across stage, screen, interactive entertainment and beyond.

As always, the staff at NIDA have worked tirelessly with the students to bring these productions to life.

As part of this season we will activate the production component of our recently announced NIDA Green initiative, a plan to reduce our carbon footprint across all we do.

The production of Blood Wedding has been selected as our first sustainability case study.

We will audit the production’s carbon footprint and explore sustainable materials and options. The goal is to experiment and learn lessons about how to best deliver sustainable NIDA productions in the future. We are excited about this part of NIDA’s vision.

We wouldn’t be able to present this season of performances without the generous support from the Australian Government, as well as our corporate partners, trusts, foundations, supporters and donors. On behalf our NIDA Board, the NIDA Foundation Trust Board, staff and students – thank you.

- Liz Hughes, CEO

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Presented by NIDA BFA Design for Performance BFA Costume BFA Properties and Objects BFA Scenic Construction and Technologies BFA Technical Theatre and Stage Management Final year BFA Acting students Understudies Diploma of Stage and Screen Performance

NIDA employs a wide range of industry professionals on both a part-time and casual basis who teach and mentor students across all the courses.

NIDA would like to acknowledge and thank all the mentors and members of staff who have shared their expertise with the 2022 students.

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A SEASON OF COLLABORATION NIDA graduates work in every form of entertainment. That’s why their training needs to exercise many different muscles. This season, our collaborations with Sydney Theatre Company, Force Majeure and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music help us with the flexing.

Our recent Digital Theatre Festival season embraced interactive digital storytelling. In June this year, students worked in live cinema (The Seagull), music theatre (Falsettos) and spoken word drama (Picnic at Hanging Rock and How I Learned to Drive). In this season, opera and dance theatre join the mix.

Why opera and dance theatre? Many NIDA students – stage managers, designers, costume makers, props makers and many others – will regularly work in dance and opera. This season gives them great experience in those forms.

All That Glitters is Not Mould is our second collaboration with STC. NIDA commissioned the four brilliant members of the STC Emerging Writers Group (Monikka Eliah, Michael Louis Kennedy, Kirsty Marillier and Dylan Van Den Berg) to write a new play especially for a group of graduating actors. Two other super talented STC artists join us: Ian Michael (Richard Wherrett Fellow at STC) to direct and Shari Sebbens (STC Resident Director) working as dramaturg. The result? New creative relationships and a razor-sharp new Australian comedy.

The Magic Flute is our second co-production with the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. The singers and orchestra come from the Con, with most of the other roles filled by NIDA students. That rare artist Clemence Williams directs, with conductor Stephen Mould conducing Mozartian magic.

Eugene is our animated co-production with Dance Majeure, one of our leading dance theatre companies. Force Majeure Artistic Director Danielle Micich and the inspiring interdisciplinary artist Eliza Scott team with a range of NIDA students and professional artists to make a virtuosic new Australian work.

Sophie Treadwell’s Machinal is a modern classic: an expressionist-realist text brutal in its attack on the machinery of patriarchy and capitalism. In the visionary hands of Carissa Licciardello (Resident Director at Belvoir), the play takes sure aim.

Blood Wedding gives us pulsing Spanish drama through a vivid new version by Tommy Murphy, one of Australia’s very best writers across stage and screen. Director Dino Dimitriadis gives us a beautiful and bold staging through their signature sense of space and style.

As part of NIDA Connect, our new national learning program for regional communities across six states and territories, Blood Wedding will be streamed free to selected secondary schools. This follows our hugely successful streaming of Picnic at Hanging Rock in June.

Thanks to former NIDA Artistic Associate Tasnim Hossain (now Resident Director at Melbourne Theatre Company), current NIDA Artistic Associate Dalara Williams and NIDA Producer Di Misirdjieff for their invaluable help in bringing the threads together. Enjoy!

- David Berthold - NIDA Artistic Director in Residence

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by Monikka Eliah, Michael Louis Kennedy, Kirsty Marillier and Dylan Van Den Berg Directed by Ian Michael NIDA Theatres, Studio 27th, 28th, 29th, 31st, October 7.45pm 29th, 31st October 1.00pm 1st, 2nd November 7.45pm Running Time: 90 mins, no interval When Jo Jo Johnson falls to her death while cleaning the windows in Mark Holden’s Zen garden, her story is appropriated by online conspiracy theorists, businesses and the media. What should be an open and shut case of death-by-ladder becomes fodder for speculation that Jo Jo was killed by toxic mould – the same mould that killed Brittany Murphy.

Part inspired by real celebrity conspiracy theories and part pure fantasy, All That Glitters is Not Mould is a dark, satirical comedy that looks at the bleeding of public and private life. In a world where everyone is a brand and everyone has a profile, is anything sacred?

This inspiring collaboration between NIDA and Sydney Theatre Company is directed by STC Richard Wherrett Fellow Ian Michael and written by the STC Emerging Writers Group through a NIDA Commission.

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Originally commissioned and first produced at the NIDA Studio by the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Sydney Australia, 27 October -2 November 2022 in association with Sydney Theatre Company Emerging Writers Program.

ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT MOULD

DIRECTOR’S NOTE There is something uniquely thrilling and challenging, often at the same time, in putting a new work on stage. The process is full of many firsts - the first cast to bring these characters to life, the first creatives designing a world to hold the words, the first read around the table and all the excitement it brings around the evolution and possibility of the script as we explore what the work says about us, where we are and could go next, and you’ll be the first audiences that sit in the theatre and witness this all come to life.

All That Glitters Is Not Mould feels even more unique, it is no mean feat for four writers to put their ideas, voices and themselves into telling one story and even more fitting that multiple individuals have created a work that investigates the sharing of information, grief, conspiracy theory, exploitation and celebrity culture, and the impact it has on us as individuals and collectively.

It’s even the first week of rehearsals and the days are full of unpacking the script, conversations around the characters, laughter, discussion and reflection of events and news in the world both happening to us right now and from our not so distant pasts. As I write this I can’t help but wonder what might and could happen in the world before we open and what impression those events leave on us or don’t and the interpretations that we choose to take upon and for ourselves or what we might even choose to look away from.

It is an absolute privilege to be in a room with these artists whose work you will see on and behind the stage, their dedication to the process, tenacity, skill and talents is boundless. Thank you for your trust, collaboration and care for the work and one another, I can not wait to see what you all do next.

A big thank you and congratulations to our writers Monikka Eliah, Michael Louis Kennedy, Kirsty Marillier and Dylan Van Den Berg. To Shari Sebbens, Paige Rattray, Polly Rowe and everyone at Sydney Theatre Company and NIDA, I am deeply grateful for your guidance, time and support.

- Ian Michael

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THE COMPANY CAST

in order of appearance

Louisa/Mourner 3/Doctor/Hilary Jessica Bentley

Director

Val/Speaker 1/Nurse

Olivia Inwood

Dramaturg

Jo Jo/Lana/Kerri-Anne/Susie

Jessica Parris

Set/Props/Costume Designer

Saint Brittany/Betty/ Mourner 2/Speaker 2/Reg/ Production Assist.

Jamilla Jason Lenny/Mourner 1/Troy/Ralph Understudies

Janet Anderson

Ian Michael* Shari Sebbens* Keerthi Subramanyam*

Lighting Designer

Jordan Jeckells

Sound Designers/Composers Iolanthe Ethan Bourke Harry Stacey

Zoe Davis Brendon Boney*

Voice Coach Movement Coach

Laura Farrell* Troy Honeysett*

Luke Hill-Smith Sophie Smith

Production Stage Manager Deputy Stage Manager

Scott Cleggett Madeleine Picard

Assistant Stage Manager

Sam Scott

Construction Manager

Angus Nott

Costume Supervisor Props Supervisor Head Electrician Set Design Assistant

Lily Mateljan Madison Williams Grace Sackman Andrea Knesevic

Costume Design Assistant Costume Assistant Props Assistant

Max Shanahan Danielle Schache Georgia Raczkowski

Microphone Technician/Mechanist Flys/Mechanist Technical Assistants

Abby Dinger Carol Gonzales

Ethan Coombes Arwen Davidson Naomi O’Connor Sherydan Simpson Julianna Stankiewicz

* Guest

Thank you to Paige Rattray (STC), Polly Rowe (STC), Jonathan Ware (STC), Richard Whitehouse (Belvoir), Lisa Mimmocchi9

by Federico García Lorca A version by Tommy Murphy Directed by Dino Dimitriadis NIDA Theatres, REG GRUNDY 28th, 29th, 31st October, 7.30pm 31st October, 2nd November, 1.00pm 1st, 2nd, 3rd November, 7.30pm Running Time: 90 mins, no interval

“The knife, the knife! Damn the knife, damn all knives, damn the devil who created knives.”

Tommy Murphy (Holding the Man, Packer and Sons) brings his trademark wit and insight to his stunning version of Lorca’s tragedy of a woman loved by two men. Infused with the chaos of our contemporary moment, this is a bold vision of lost lovers, aggrieved elders and untethered tribal vengeance.

Director Dino Dimitriadis (Overflow, Cleansed) brings this visceral world to life, centring the tender and the beautiful in a world where sex, duty, lust and lineage collide.

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First Performed by Royal & Derngate, Northhampton, 25th May 2012

BLOOD WEDDING

DIRECTOR’S NOTE Executed by right-wing military authorities in 1936, Federico García Lorca left a towering legacy. He was a great explicator of duende, the idea that an artwork should brim with authenticity and death-awareness and awe and soul. This is true of his canon of poetry and his remarkable tragedies for the stage: Blood Wedding, Yerma and The House of Bernarda Alba.

Opposed to injustice and aware of a society growing more radicalised, Lorca longed for escape and to revel in the natural world of rural Spain that is captured so vividly in his writing. He was also a queer man, attempting to live a life of passion and freedom in a country shrouded with social code and expectation.

Blood Wedding, like all of Lorca’s great tragedies for the stage, wrestles with both history and the human animal. What happens when our desires collide with the rules we are taught and the duties that seem to be rusted on from generations before? Is there a way out?

Tommy Murphy, in this stunning new version of Blood Wedding, captures the texture of Lorca’s creation while infusing the work with a contemporary voice. It is rich with theatrical imagery, relishes in the magic of ensemble performance, and sends us to a place that feels both familiar and strange.

It’s been a particular joy to invite Tommy into the rehearsal room.

I extend my thanks to all at NIDA who have worked tirelessly to support this production. It has been an absolute pleasure and honour to work with the students. They have dedicated themselves wholeheartedly to the process, and have worked with care, generosity and remarkable talent. They have committed to developing their craft while also defining the care-centred culture and practices that they will carry forward into the industry. The future is in safe hands.

- Dino Dimitriadis It is my absolute honour to be working again at the drama school I knew and loved as a student. This version of Blood Wedding was commissioned for a production by director Laurie Samson at Royal & Derngate UK for the 2012 London Olympiad. I was proud of that show and it sparked my ambition to one day hear the script in an Australian accent. That opportunity has now come via this talented, dedicated cast and production team. I was thrilled to be invited into their rehearsal room by director Dino Dimitriadis to workshop some of the scenes. So, it is that updated version you’ll see on stage.

Thank you to all involved.

- Tommy Murphy

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THE COMPANY CAST

in order of appearance

Director

The Mother

Evelina Singh

The Groom

James Casperz-Loney

The Maid/The Neighbour

Clare Hughes

Leonardo’s Mother in Law

Isobel Ferguson

Wife of Leonardo Leonardo Little Girl/Death Father of the Bride The Bride The Moon/A Cousin Understudies

Helena Cielak Arun Clarke Georgia O’Brien Jackson Jones Grace Stamnas Fabio Jaconelli Arvin Bhattacharya Alyssa Peters

Set/Props/Costume Designer Lighting Designer Composer Sound Designer/Composer Video Designer/Systems Voice Coach Intimacy coordinator

Dino Dimitriadis* Soham Apte* Ryan McDonald* Mary Rapp Jessie McGuigan Keelan Ellis Laura Farrell* Shondelle Pratt*

Production Stage Manager Eleanor Weller-Brown Deputy Stage Manager Assistant Stage Manager Construction Manager Costume Supervisor Props Supervisor Head Electrician Props Maker

Isobel Morrissey Adetokunbo Abioye Nicholas Day** Oliver Hall Jules Bisschoff Cameron Russell Ally Vyner

Design Assistant

Angelina Daniel

Design Assistant

Geita Goarin

Costume Assistant

Emily Christie

Costume Assistant

Giulia Zanardo

Props Assistant Technical Assistants

Alexander Mills Ethan Coombes Arwen Davidson Abby Dinger Carol Gonzales Naomi O’Connor Sherydan Simson

* Guest **Staff

Thank you to Sydney Theatre company, Resolution X and Trent Suidgeest

Julianna Stankiewicz

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by Sophie Treadwell Directed by Carissa Licciardello NIDA Theatres, Playhouse 27th, 28th, 29th, 31st October, 7.15pm 1st, 3rd November, 1.00pm 1st, 2nd, November, 7.15pm Running Time: 100 mins, no interval

“Your skin oughtn’t to curl—ought it when he just comes near you—ought it?”

Sophie Treadwell’s vivid expressionist masterpiece, inspired by a true story, is a treasure of the American theatre that offers a riveting look at the danger that can come from a life unlived.

Against the machine, a young woman is restless, is silenced, then revolts.

Carissa Licciardello (Opening Night) creates an adrenaline-charged portrait of a young woman, constrained by a society that favours men and money, who goes to surprising lengths to find agency in her life.

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An Amateur Production BY ARRANGEMENT WITH ORiGiN™THEATRICAL, ON BEHALF OF NICK HERN BOOKS

MACHINAL

DIRECTOR’S NOTE This first spark for this production came from the idea of the nightmare.

Or more specifically, the workings, or machinery, of the nightmare - where you suddenly become conscious inside a world that is familiar but strange; in a situation you have had no control over; and where no-one around you seems to understand your horror.

Our Young Woman is trapped inside such a nightmare – or series of nightmares, one giving way to the next – the nightmare of waking up and finding yourself already on your honeymoon with a man you didn’t really want to marry – of waking up and finding that you’ve been pregnant, and have just given birth to a baby you never wanted.

In Treadwell’s play these nightmare scenarios are those created by dominant culture - patriarchal, capitalist, white supremacist – a system that was not built for this Young Woman and that she cannot sit comfortably inside – a system of control, horror and isolation. It’s a culture Sophie Treadwell drew with clear insight in 1920s America; in Australia, almost a hundred years later, the form of the nightmares may have changed but the dominant cultural forces are the same.

What we found fascinating about Treadwell’s work is not only her razor-sharp vision of how these forces brutalise the individual, but her suggestion that this system can be resisted by a woman re-connecting to her desire – in our production, a moment where our Young Woman finds the will to resist and step outside of this machinery; and briefly the nightmare gives way to a softer, more familiar world – the world of the dream?

But in Treadwell’s text, this resistance is brief; dominant culture is so entrenched that when the nightmare returns, it is in its most extreme and punishing evocation.

In the room we’ve been grappling with what it is to stage this work now with this team of creatives and this cast; and what kind of stories we want to tell about oppression and resistance inside dominant culture - and we’re excited to share this production with you.

- Carissa Licciardello

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THE COMPANY CAST

Director

in order of appearance

Telephone Girl/ Woman’s Voice/ Wife’s Voice/ Nurse/Second Reporter/Matron

Hattie CleggRobinson

Set and Costume Designer Lighting Designer Sound Designer

Stenographer/Mother/ Nurse 2/Woman1/ Woman 3/Woman 2/ First Reporter

Tamara Foglia Castañeda

Filing Clerk/Man’s Voice/ Doctor/Second Man/Man/ Lawyer for Defence/ Priest

Louis Henbest

Clerk/Janitor/ Small Boy’s Voice/ Bellboy/ Young Doctor/First Man/ Lawyer for Prosecution/Jailer

Harlee Timms

Carissa Licciardello* Angela Doherty * Véronique Benett * Amy Norton

Voice Coach

Raechyl French*

Intimacy coordinator

Shondelle Pratt*

Production Stage Manager

Bella Thompson

Deputy Stage Manager Assistant Stage Managers

Daniel Story Topaz Marlay-Cole Jemima Owen

Construction Manager Costume Supervisor Props Supervisor

Mr Jones/Husband’s Voice/ Man 1/Man 3/Man 2/ Judge/Barber

Christopher Northall

Young Woman

Ahunim Abebe

Understudies

Camille Gerrard Casey Stevenson

Head Electrician Set Construction Assist/Flys Design Assistant Costume Assistant

Lynsey Brown** Esther Zhong Luca Kovacs Maddison Craven Nathan Lockyer Edison Heartly Sam Hernández

Dresser

Geita Goarin

Props Assistant

Freyja Meany

Mechanist/Stage Crew

Jules Stankiewicz Grace McCann Alexander Mills

Microphone Technician

Sherydan Simson

* Guest ** Staff

Cielito Lindo cover by Guitar Logic 17

A co-production of NIDA and The Sydney Conservatorium of Music Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder Conducted by Stephen Mould Directed by Clemence Williams NIDA Theatres, Parade 21st, 25th October, 7.00pm

23rd, 29th October, 2.00pm 27th, October, 11.00am Running Time: 2 hrs 35 mins including 20 min interval

Mozart’s final opera transports us to a fantastical world of serpents, princesses, trials and mysteries. Good and evil battle, and truth and resolution are elusive.

We invite you to experience a world that feels like 1984 meets Alice in Wonderland meets The Wizard of Oz. Tamino, a prince, has lost his way. He journeys down a deep rabbit hole in search of his true love, Pamina, imprisoned in the Temple of The Sun. Together they navigate the trials imposed by the mysterious Sarastro and the trickery of The Queen of the Night and her cronies. A fairy tale for the ages.

Conducted by Stephen Mould and directed by Clemence Williams, this production teams Sydney Conservatorium of Music performers with NIDA technical theatre and stage management, costume, props, and scenic construction students to take you on a journey into a dream world where we hope we may find fulfillment.

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THE MAGIC FLUTE

WELOME I am extremely delighted and excited to introduce our second major operatic production with NIDA. It is amazing how our two schools can find artistic synergies through the production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Despite being several hundreds of years old, the story and music captivate our imagination and the issues dealt with are rather edgy and reflect our experiences in the 21st Century.

This collaboration enables our combined faculty to encourage our students to be daring, creative and innovative. Thank you NIDA for once again letting us join with you on this great adventure.

- Professor Anna Reid, Dean, Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

The Sydney Conservatorium of Music acknowledges the generous support of the Alan Hyland and John Luscombe Endowment DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE (KV 620) Composed during 1791, and premiered in Vienna, 30th September 1791 This work, published by Barenreiter/ Alkor Kassel, has been supplied by Clear Music Australia Pty Ltd as exclusive hire agents for Barenreiter in Australia.

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THE MAGIC FLUTE

A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR AND CONDUCTOR Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte has, since its premiere, been endlessly reimagined and reinvented, its complex and rich amalgam of different worlds and cultures providing endless inspiration for creative teams, who recreate the themes of the opera within the spirit of their own times. The constant element in this journey is Mozart - even if we find some aspects of the original story a little improbable, there is a fundamental truth which the music expresses, leading us confidently through the trials and tribulations of the story.

This production of The Magic Flute follows our hero, Tamino, as he embarks on an “Orpheus in the Underworld” style journey towards his love and ultimately to freedom.

We begin in the ‘real’ world: a bleached, monotone, capitalist dystopia. Tamino, our protagonist goes about his never-ending routine: waking up, getting dressed, punching in, punching out and ||:repeat:||. A spark of courage inspired by a colleague he secretly admires draws him deep into a dream world full of familiar faces overrun by magic and a plot to overthrow the status quo.

Clinging to distorted icebergs of reality, he must journey deeper and deeper into the unknown to ultimately save his love, restore peace to the dreamscape and by doing so, reclaim his soul on earth.

We invite the audience to fall down the rabbit hole with us, to laugh with us and to dream with us.

One of the most beautiful, and frankly underrated parts about this opera, is that there are so many wonderful moments of friendship on display. It is very much a piece brimming with collegiality, humanity, kindness and generosity. It’s no wonder that this warmth has spread through the rehearsal process. The making of this show has been filled with playfulness, laughter and smiles.

We hope to share that joy with you today.

Mozart’s music and Schikaneder’s quirky text work together to create this magical experience, one that audiences never tire of.

- Clemence Williams, Director - Dr Stephen Mould, Conductor, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, The University of Sydney

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SCM STUDENTS

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Aidan O’Donnell

Alexander Caldwell

Alexander Young

Anastasia Gall

Andrew Knight

Angus Ledgerwood

Claire BurrellMcDonald

Daniel Ott

Eden Shifroni

Elise Morton

Janine Harris

Jeremy Boulton

Jianbo Sun

Lana Kains

Micahel Burden

Michael Kaufmann

Natasha Gesto

Olivia Payne

Olivia Swain

Omid Zadeh

Robert Adam

Sophie Mohler

Younji Yi

Yuan Gao

THE COMPANY Conductor (SCM)

Stephen Mould**

Conductor (SCM)

Omid Moheb Zadeh

Director

Clemence Williams*

Producer/Artistic Planning Manager Scott Ryan Set Designer

Nick Fry*

Costume Designer

Rita Naidu*

Lighting Designer (NIDA BFA) Dramaturg/Adapter

Ethan Hamill Thomas De Angelis*

Chorus Director

Elizabeth Scott

Assistant Director (NIDA MFA) Emma Whitehead Assistant Conductor (SCM)

Simon Lobelson

Principal Répétiteur (SCM)

Alan Hicks**

Répétiteur (SCM) German Coach (SCM)

Ingrid Sakurovs** Anke Höppner-Ryan**

Stage Production Coordinator

Thomas Wade

PRINCIPAL CAST (SCM STUDENTS)

in order of appearance

Tamino

Alexander Young

1st Lady

Olivia Swain

2nd Lady

Elise Morton

3rd Lady

Janine Harris

Papageno Queen of the Night Monostatos

Jeremy Boulton Lana Kains Robert Adam

Pamina

Claire Burrell-McDonald

Spirit 1

Anastasia Gall

Spirit 1

Younji Yi

Spirit 2

Natasha Gesto

Spirit 2

Eden Shifroni

Spirit 3

Sophie Mohler

Spirit 3

Michael Burden

Speaker

Andrew Taylor Knight

Sarastro

Yuan Gao

1st Priest

Daniel Ott

2nd Priest

Michael Kaufmann

1st Armed Man

Alexander Caldwell

2nd Armed Man

Aidan O’Donnell

Papagena

Olivia Payne

* Guest **Staff 23

THE COMPANY Violin 2

CHORUS (SCM STUDENTS)

Selwood Hardaker

Soprano Madison Dring

Sara Huang

Emily Knapman

Samantha Ko

Mairead McCaughan

April Mills

Grace Pfab

Sophie Rogut

Hazel Bingon

Tara Burnes Isobel Cumpston

Olivia Parker

Talei Smith

James Parbery

Viola Jonathan Bruhl

Lucy Dubé

Alison Eom Joanne Hwang

Garrick Tang

Double Bass Julia Magri

Alexandra Thompson

Flute

Jasmine Yang

Elizabeth Fong

Tenor Thomas Bruce

Denzel Bruhn

Michael Kaufmann Jianbo Sun

James Krockenberger

Cello

Alto Rosslyn Cuerden

George Hond

Jonas Steller Christopher Whalley

Gudrun Drake

James Boyd-Hoare

Carter Jia

Angus Ledgerwood

Thompson Lee

Gahyun Lee

Clarinet Tina Ma

Bass

Brianna Walkden-Brown

Oboe

Austin O’Toole

Bassoon Joshua Reynolds

Dominic Lukin

Daniel Ott

Horn

Jackson Tuynman

Tahi White

Rory McClelland

Dylan Roberts Chris Peters

Trumpet

ORCHESTRA (SCM STUDENTS)

Jude MacArthur

Violin 1

Trombone

Nanda Hong Darren Li Anna Sonstad

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Daniella Lee Agustin Pardo William Yan

Zachary Bonham

Lena Morris Molly James

Harrison Snell Percussion

Buddy Lovett

Celeste

Jamie-Lee Xu

THE COMPANY PRODUCTION TEAM (NIDA STUDENTS) Technical Manager Production Manager Stage Manager

Technical Assistants

Pip Morey

Arwen Davidson

Alexis Worthing

Abby Dinger

Chris Milburn-Clark

Carol Gonzales Naomi O’Connor

Assistant Stage Manager Claire Edmonds-Wilson Construction Manager Costume Supervisors

Ethan Coombes

Joshua Abbot

Sherydan Simson

Tamsyn Balogh Caristo

Julianna Stankiewicz

Lucy Francis Props Supervisor & Maker Head Electrician Costume Makers

Ally Vyner Joel Montgomery Jasmin Gray Natalie De Palo Maverick Durkin Michiru Encinas Nina Price

OPERA AND VOCAL STAFF (SCM) Senior Lecturer Voice /Stage Craft

Anke Ryan

Program Leader SCM Music Theatre

Narelle Yeo

Senior Lecturer Voice

Barry Ryan OAM

Senior Lecturer Voice

Rowena Cowley

Vocal Teachers

Delan Woods Props Maker

Jules Bisschoff

Set Design Assistant

Elle Fitzgerald

Sets Assistant Costume Design Assistant Costume Assistants

Props Assistant

Andrew Goodwin David Greco Russell Harcourt

Gareth Sole

Simon Lobelson

Paris Koppens

Maree Ryan AM

Kit Moore Jaspa Frankish Caleb Jackson Samantha Lim

Donna Balson

Robin Wells Acting Coach

Felicity Jurd

Dance Teacher

Lorena Otes

Opera Coaches

Siro Battaglin Alan Hicks Estella Roche Ingrid Sakurovs

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Co-produced by Force Majeure and NIDA Created by Eliza Scott and Danielle Micich Directed by Danielle Micich NIDA Theatres, Space 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 31st, October 8.00pm 29th, October, 1.00pm 1st, November, 1.00pm 2nd, November 8.00pm Running Time: 70 mins, no interval An IT worker, a killer whale and Arnold Schwarzenegger walk into a chat room.

IT worker Luke encounters a glitch he can’t explain. It gives him this feeling – like when the kid touches E.T.’s finger – what’s that feeling called? The glitch opens Luke’s world into Reddit threads and wormholes and drives him into an impossible transformation.

Through live performance, video installation and sound, Eugene explores the power of expressing who you are – be it online, AFK or in those inexplicable moments like when that word is on the tip of your tongue – and then the rush when you find what that feeling really is.

This co-production with one of Australia’s most celebrated dance theatre companies is co-created and performed by Eliza Scott, an interdisciplinary artist working across performance, drag, sound and film, and co-created and directed by Force Majeure Artistic Director Danielle Micich.

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EUGENE

CREATORS’ NOTE Eugene is a newly devised solo movement theatre work from Force Majeure and NIDA. I am drawn to working with generous artists who are willing to explore their lived experience and un-pack their personal history. This process of investigation is confronting and challenging. It allows you to gain access to the heart of a subject which makes for powerful storytelling. What has kept our curiosity alive during this process is the desire to maintain the sense of authentic self while telling a fictional story.

The work has been influenced by pop culture, meme culture and Drag culture. Collaborating with Video Designer Xanthe Dobbie to create our changing realities with such vibrant imagery brought new energy to the process. The designs were made in real-time and recreated for the stage.

It is rewarding to work alongside the NIDA production students to devise a new contemporary work. It has been a great exchange of artistic knowledge and encouraging to see who will be making within the industry soon. It has been a real joy to work with these students.

- Danielle Micich – Force Majeure Artistic Director & CEO The process for creating Eugene has been filled with great rigour, learning and most importantly, trust.

Though there is only one performer on the stage, there have been many hands, brains and hearts all building this work, and it would not be possible without everyone in the team. We wanted to create an intimate piece, one that pulls the audience in all directions, and for them to walk away having new, funny and unlikely conversations around gender, identity and how we present ourselves in the world.

I want to thank Danielle, Force Majeure and NIDA for creating a safe space that allows deep exploration, fearlessness and collaboration to give this seed of an idea life.

- Eliza Scott – Force Majeure

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THE COMPANY CAST Performer

Eliza Scott**

Director/Co-Creator

Danielle Micich**

Co-Creator/Original Concept & Text/Co-Composer

Eliza Scott**

Contributing Devisor/Dramaturg Adriane Daff** Designer

Jessi Seymour

Video Designer

Xanthe Dobbie**

Lighting Designer/ Video Systems Supervisor

McLane Catterall

Sound Designer/Co-Composer/ Jessica Pizzinga Systems Supervisor Producer (FM)

Charlotte Barrett**

Production Stage Manager

Timothy McNaught

Deputy Stage Manager Jordan Magnus-McCarthy Assistant Stage Manager

Yasmin Breeze

Construction Manager

Nick Day*

Video System Technician

India Lively

Head Electrician

Bernadett Lőrincz

Technical Assistants

Ethan Coombes Arwen Davidson Abby Dinger Carol Gonzales Naomi O’Connor Sherydan Simson Julianna Stankiewicz

* Staff ** Guest

Thank you to Laura Hart (Drag Consultant), Carriageworks, Bangarra, Susie Henderson

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GRADUATING STUDENTS Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting)

Ahunim Abebe

Janet Anderson

Jessica Bentley

Ethan Bourke

James Caspersz-Loney

Helena Cielak

Arun Clarke

Hattie Clegg-Robinson

Isobel Ferguson

Tamara Foglia Castaneda

Iolanthe

Louis Delaunay Henbest

Clare Hughes

Olivia Inwood

Fabio Jaconelli

Jackson Jones

Chris Northall

Georgia O’Brien

Jessica Parris

Evelina Singh

Harry Stacey

Grace Eirini Stamnas

Harlee Timms

Oliver Hall

Lily Mateljan

Esther Zhong

Bachelor of Fine Arts (Costume)

Tamsyn Balogh-Caristo

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Lucy Francis

Jasmin Gray

Bachelor of Fine Arts (Design for Performance)

Meg Anderson

Hailley Hunt

Benedict JaneczkoTaylor

Ruby Jenkins

Kathleen Kershaw

Jade McElroy

Ally Vyner

Madison Williams

Lachlan Odgers

Bachelor of Fine Arts (Properties and Objects)

Tallulah Baran

Jules Bisschoff

Luca Kovacs

Connor McCool

Bachelor of Fine Arts (Scenic Construction and Technologies)

Joshua Abbott

Angus Nott

Bachelor of Fine Arts (Technical Theatre and Stage Management)

McLane Catterall

Scott Cleggett

Zoe Davis

Ethan Hamill

Jordan Jeckells

Chloe Langdon

Jessie McGuigan

Tim McNaught

Pip Morey

Jessica Pizzinga

Jodi Rabinowitz

Bella Thompson

Eleanor Weller-Brown

Alexis Worthing

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Principal Partner for Property Services

Principal Patron First Nations Program

Major Partner

Corporate Partners

Supporters

National Institute of Dramatic Art 215 Anzac Parade Kensington NSW 2033 02 9697 7600 nida.edu.au

The National Institute of Dramatic Art is supported by the Australian Government

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