Past Productions
Macbeth Re-Arisen, November 5-23, 2008
On a foggy crag in the Highlands an old evil is re-awakening… The Edinburgh Fringe 2006 hit show returns to Melbourne for a brain-devouring season! More about Macbeth Re-Arisen…
Melburnalia (Melbourne 2007)
5 NEW Short Works about Melbourne by Melbourne's Best Writers, featuring The CBD, Kew, St Kilda, Ringwood and Footscray.
Melburnalia weaves together five specially commissioned new plays by outstanding local writers Kate Holden, Lally Katz, Ross Mueller, Tee O'Neill and Alice Pung. These short works form a single theatrical journey which transits from suburb to suburb and uncovers a city with many faces. Each play illuminates the extraordinary within the ordinary: paraphernalia and miscellanea yield up their stories.
From the grungy backalleys of St Kilda to the boulevards of Kew; first love in Footscray and betrayal in Ringwood; from the wide lanes of the Maroondah Highway to the narrow arcades of Degraves St; from heroin to homosexuality; library to laneway; sex work to stage work; bohemians to bogans to boat people to an Apocalypse Bear. Melburnalia is a thought- provoking exploration of the diverse localities, peoples and meanings that come together to form "Melbourne".
| Director | David Mence |
| Dramaturge | Melanie Beddie |
| Ensemble | Terri Brabon |
| Ra Chapman | |
| Nadia Coreno | |
| Laura Maitland | |
| Jono Wood | |
| Gareth Yuen | |
| Venue | fortyfivedownstairs (45 Flinders Lane) |
| Bookings | (03) 9662 9966 |
| tickets@Fortyfivedownstairs.com | |
| Dates | 8.00pm: 1-3, 7-10, 14-17 November |
| 6.30pm: 4 & 11 November | |
| Price | $26 (full) $22 (concession) $20 (preview) |
Further information: Fortyfivedownstairs.com
Convict 002 (Melbourne 2007)
- Fringe Website Page (new window)
- Press Pack (PDF)
- Beat Magazine Review (PDF)
Northcote Town Hall
(Melbourne, Australia)
Show Dates:
September 26-30th 2007, 9pm
October 2-7th 2007, 9pm.
Special Matinee Performances:
September 29th and October 6th 2007
Running Time: 90 mins
Synopsis
Adapted by David Mence from Marcus Clarke's classic Australian novel For the Term of His Natural Life, Convict 002 is a new work focusing on themes of incarceration, justice and the fraught relationship between the insecurities of societies in turmoil and the rights of the detained felon.
It is the tragic narrative of Rufus Dawes (or "Convict 002"), a man of ambiguous culpability, who finds himself ensnared in the ruinous wheel of the penal system. This dark rewriting of Dawes' tale contains both historical and current political references, reminding the audience of the challenges that continue to face liberal societies in times of crisis, discrimination and political tension.
It is also a story of compassion — the element which ultimately provides support and resolution in times of strife and despair.
David Mence is Artistic Director of White Whale Theatre. In 2007 he spent six weeks as Assistant Director to Marion Potts on Bell Shakespeare's Othello and was a participant in the 24-Hour Play Generator in the Emerging Writers' Festival. David has also been awarded a Creative Fellowship at the State Library of Victoria where he is currently writing a new play about whalers and early settlements in colonial Victoria. In 2006, David edited and re-directed his play Macbeth Re-Arisen for the Edinburgh Fringe where it received 4 & 5 star reviews and became one of the cult-hits of the festival. David has also worked with Fancy Fish Theatre, Platform Youth Theatre and Union House Theatre.
Macbeth Re-Arisen (Edinburgh 2006)
Something is rotten in the state of Scotland. Indeed, on a foggy crag in the Highlands, an old evil is re-awakening. Can worthy Macduff save the day again?
Lavishly created in Elizabethan pentameter, this darkly comic sequel fuses traditional Shakespearean theatre with the best of B-grade schlock-horror. Macbeth and his Lady return with a host of hags, heroes and zombie minions - they're on the march and heading towards a confrontation that will have Shakespeare rolling in his grave…provided he can stay dead!
"This chainsaw wielding Macbeth is worth seeing: 4 STARS"
The List, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 2006.
"Shakespeare himself would be impressed."
The Program, www.theprogram.net.au, 2006.
"A cheeky, original production… a new generation of Australian humour."
John Bell, Bell Shakespeare Company, 2006
- Reviews (PDF)