Sydney Theatre School

Presents Term Two Contemporary Productions

The Miracle

In a town which could be your town, something strange has happened. After the rain, the canal breaks its banks, a lot of debris gets shifted and when a holy statue bursts up through the floor of 12 year old Veronica Sheehan’s bedroom, no one is more surprised than she is... With the enthusiastic support of best friend Zelda, she sets about using her new found skills to help their ailing community. The young people of the town tell us the story in their own words, showing us their parents, teachers, friends and enemies, as an entire population finds itself hungering unknowingly for something magical to come into their lives. When the story reaches its dramatic conclusion only Ron will have the power to turn things round and change a life for the better, but will she have the courage to do it?

Written by Lin Coglin
Directed by Michael Pigott

CAST: Ariahne Thompson, Arisa Yura, Courtney Lemmerman, Edward McKenna, Edward Skaines, Jordan Renneberg, Megan Sheppard Brennand, Melissa Lovell, Michelle Cameron, Myles Forster, Ryan Smith, Sarah Worthington, Tegan Mason, Xanthi Zarrella

DATES & TIMES: Tue 28 July at 7pm, Thur 30 July at 9pm & Sat 1 Aug at 7pm

Attempts on Her Life

Attempts to describe her?
Attempts to destroy her?
Or attempts to destroy herself?
Is Anne the object of violence?
Or its terrifying practitioner?

Shocking and hilarious by turn, Martin Crimp's play is a rollercoaster of late 20th-century obsessions. From pornography and ethnic violence, to terrorism and unprotected sex, its strange array of nameless characters attempt to invent the perfect story to encapsulate our time.

Written by Martin Crimp
Directed by Kate Gaul

CAST: Anthony Sottile, Chad Lammers, Hanne O’Connor, Jeremy Burtenshaw, Luci Taylor, Maxine Rowe, Michelle Sewell, Myra Hogan, Paul Armstrong, Rebecca Roth, Siobhan Devany, Susie Smith

DATES & TIMES: Tue 28 July at 9pm, Thur 30 July at 7pm & Sat 1 Aug at 9pm

Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful?

Remember Love and Marriage? It used to go together like a Horse and Carriage.
Well, this is the 21st century. Modes of transport (not to mention similes) have changed.
But does true love transcend any obstacles? Even those placed in its path by a desperate playwright?
Abso-frikkin’-lutely!
This romantic comedy for today begins with our heroine on the eve of her wedding,
 then goes backwards in time to find out how she got there.

Written & Directed by Malcolm Frawley

CAST: Alexandra Afflick, David White, Dillon Broad, Edward Wallace, Ellen Schuthof, Emma Jones, Jarryd Kirwan, Jessica Sullivan, Kim Dickson, Lorraine Young, Madolyn Garnham, Melissa-Jayne Porter, Sarah Calleija, Ysobela Wellsmore

DATES & TIMES: Mon 27 July at 7pm, Wed 29 July at 9pm & Fri 31 July at 7pm

Eyes to the Floor

When girls at the Parramatta Training School rioted in 1961, a special, more punitive institution was set up in a disused psychiatric hospital in Hay, in remote Western NSW. Redesigned to house the ten 'worst' girls in the State, the Hay Institution for Girls became both a threat to maintain order in Parramatta and a site of further degradation and psychological torment for the young women it housed. Forced to constantly keep their 'eyes to the floor', these girls were not allowed to speak to each other and were forced to lay and then break up concrete paths, scrub paint from walls and tend the institution's garden.

Picking up the story where Parramatta Girls leaves off, Eyes to the Floor is a moving portrait of hope that survives even in the worst of conditions. Written especially for a young cast, whose ages are chillingly equivalent to the incarcerated girls they are portraying, this is young adult theatre about the triumph of the imagination.

Written by Alana Valentine      
Directed by Luke Rogers

CAST: Clare Downes, Colan Leach, Corina Cristea, Courtney Gilbert, James Graham, Jessica Vuumbaca, Lily Ji, Nicholas Barkl, Patricia Lofaro, Sophie O’Brien

DATES & TIMES: Mon 27 July at 9pm, Wed 29 July at 7pm & Fri 31 July at 9pm

This Mortal Coil

“For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil…” (Hamlet Act III Sc I)

Seven characters are catapulted into a mysterious world to confront their destiny. Seemingly waking from a dream, the group of women are challenged by the caretaker of a black room with no doors to complete a task that will change their lives forever.

As each character reveals various aspects of her past and tries to uncover her reason for being there, it becomes apparent that there is more to the caretaker and the room than first meets the eye. They also discover that each of them has a past and view of the world that is vastly different from the other.

The play’s themes are both universal and timeless - the treatment of women throughout the ages; fate vs. self-determination; the possibility of life after death; and the evolution of western society. It was created through an improvisation process similar to that used by renowned film-maker Mike Leigh.

Written and Directed by Mark Matthews

CAST: Linzi Aland, Kathryn Bluhdorn, Steve Maresca,
Pollyanna Nowicki, Sophie O’Brien, Felicity Penman, Kelly Robinson & Michelle Sewell

DATE & TIME: Sunday 2 August at 7.30pm

This Mortal Coil will also play at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival from August 10-15, 2009

VENUE: The Sidetrack Theatre – 142 Addison Rd Marrickville
TICKETS: $25 Full $20 Concession (booking fees apply)
BOOKINGS: T.B.A.