What's On VIC

ARENA THEATRE COMPANY
PO Box 179
North Melbourne VIC 3051
Ph: (03) 9329 6266
Fax: (03) 9329 0366
Email: info@arenatheatre.com.au
Website: www.arenatheatre.com.au

Girl Who Cried Wolf
SUIT: Ages 10 - 14
SYNOPSIS: Real life, inner life, second life… where does fiction end and the actual world begin?
The most popular girl at school has disappeared prompting a lock down in the suburb of Pleasant Lakes. Fear and hysteria grips the community. But all is not what it seams as two girls form an unlikely connection and collude in the construction of a gigantic lie.

Inspired by media reports involving the story of a girl who faked her own abduction, Girl Who Cried Wolf is a bold new production that examines the cult of celebrity and the machinations of the school playground hierarchy. Set against the backdrop of a local shopping mall’s Idol competition, an awkward 11 year old girl suffers the pain of growing up differently in a claustrophobic new housing estate in the outer suburban sprawl, anywhere and everywhere in contemporary Australia.
SEASON: 11 – 13 May 2008
VENUE: 16th ASSITEJ World Congress and Performing Arts Festival, Adelaide
Bookings: For further information, please visit www.assitej2008.com.au.
SEASON: 5 – 8 August 2008
VENUE: The Studio, Sydney Opera House as part of the House:ED program
Bookings: Contact Box Office on 02 9250 7770 or visit www.sydneyoperahouse.com.
SEASON: 12 – 15 August 2008
VENUE: Fairfax Theatre, The Arts Centre, Melbourne as part of the Education program
Bookings: For further information, please visit www.theartscentre.net.au.

Australian Marriage Act
SUIT: Yrs 9 - 12
SYNOPSIS: Under the Australian Marriage Act, 17 year-old Victoria is forced to seek the court’s permission to marry her 22 year-old fiancé before she turns 18. After an initial refusal, and fuelled by overwhelming public support, the decision is overturned by the Supreme Court and a precedent is set.
Based on a fascinating true story, Australian Marriage Act is a frank, humorous and moving account of a young couple’s fight for love. Exploring sexual relationships and the age of consent, personal identity, discrimination, privacy and the law, this is bold, original and raw theatre selected for the 2008 VCE Drama study list.
SEASON: 14 May - 2 April 2008 (Term 2).
Venue: Touring regional and metropolitan secondary schools in Victoria.
Bookings: Visit www.arenatheatre.com.au or contact Arena on (03) 9329 6266 or email bookings@arenatheatre.com.au.

ARTS2GO
Regional Arts Victoria
P.O. Box 600
Port Melbourne VIC 3207
Phone: (03) 96441800
Fax: (03) 96463832
Email: arts2go@rav.net.au
Website: www.rav.net.au/arts2go

In-Schools TOURING PROGRAM
Term 3, 2008

Check Out! By Polyglot Puppet Theatre
SUIT: Yr P – 6
SYNOPSIS: Check Out! is a wickedly funny work of theatre about consumer culture by the witty and wonderful Polyglot Puppet Theatre. Set in a supermarket, this production examines how children are targeted as a highly influential group in the consumption of goods in modern Australian society. The central character, an ‘I WANT I WANT’ child, is forced to face up to some pretty interesting conclusions as she battles for survival in the supermarket… It’s a weird world out there and sometimes you need more than products to see you through. Check Out! is filled with puppetry at its most innovative and cheeky, working with sound as the ever-present muzak that can change the atmosphere instantly and becomes a character in its own right. Don’t miss the return of this engaging production from one of the country’s finest, most inventive puppetry ensembles!
SEASON: 11 August – 22 August 2008
VENUE: Regional and metro schools
COST: $5.70 per student plus GST (Minimum $741 per performance plus GST)

Bookgig on the Road: Digger J. Jones by Centre for Youth Literature
SUIT: Yr 4 - 9
SYNOPSIS: Digger J Jones is a ten year old Koori boy who lives in Melbourne with his family, swept up in the 1967 campaign for Aboriginal citizenship. Digger J Jones, the novel, is a laugh-out-loud, sad and timely story by Aboriginal writer, musician and film-maker Richard J Frankland that takes the reader into the heart of modern Aboriginal Australia, through the outrageously funny, heart-breaking and hope-filled stories of Digger. This year’s Bookgig on the Road introduces Digger and his family through scenes from the book, along with a talk by author Richard J Frankland and a Q and A session between audience, writer and performers.

Audiences will also get to know the history and people of Victoria in this rollicking novel for Middle Years readers. Digger J Jones is a story of our past, written for today. Let Bookgig on the Road bring reading, history and culture to life!
SEASON: 11 August – 22 August 2008
VENUE: Regional and metro schools
COST: $7.50 per student plus GST (Minimum $975 per performance plus GST)

Spilt Milk by Westside Circus
SUIT: Yr 4 - 10
SYNOPSIS: Spilt Milk is an irreverent and quirky investigation of the hazards of expressing and denying our feelings. It’s a dynamic work of physical theatre and clowning which explores emotional wellbeing and human relationships in all their messiness. Westside Circus’ artists are bendy and strong, acrobatic and dexterous. They play hard and bounce off one another, throw each other in the air and squeeze themselves into tiny spaces. Equipped with a red nose, a magic hat, a violin and a tower of scaffolding, Westside Circus dares to reach beyond the boundaries of the blues…
Regional workshops are available as part of the Spilt Milk tour, though they may be scheduled separately to a performance event. Please call arts2GO to discuss your requirements.
SEASON: 25 August – 5 September 2008
VENUE: Regional and metro schools
COST: $8.70 per student plus GST (Minimum $1131 per performance plus GST)

Gronks by Zeal Theatre
SUIT: Yr 9 - 12
SYNOPSIS: The internationally renowned Zeal Theatre returns in 2008 with an explosive and powerful new drama about a family in a volatile situation. The plot centers on a mother and daughter escaping a situation of domestic violence and the confrontation when they are searched out by the family member who has harmed them. Exploring family and racial tension, and the community pressure slowly building in many Australian suburbs, this production is an unforgettable story of harassment, desperation and perseverance in the face of unrest and uncertainty.

Commissioned by Sydney Theatre Company in 2006 and written by Zeal's Stefo Nantsou & Tom Lycos (The Stones & Fixin’ Bart & Maggie), Gronks combines Zeal Theatre's raw energy and physicality with their trademark dramatic techniques of group devising, storytelling and live music. And with six actors, this will be Zeal's biggest schools touring production in their 19 year history. Don’t miss it.
SEASON: 25 August – 12 September 2008
VENUE: Regional and metro schools
COST: $10.00 per student plus GST (Minimum $1300 per performance plus GST)

COURTHOUSE YOUTH ARTS CENTRE
Corner of Gheringhap and Little Malop Streets,
Geelong VIC 3220
Ph: (03) 5227 0689
Fax: (03) 5227 0939
Email: youtharts@courthouse.org.au
Website: www.courthouse.org.au

April at the Courthouse sees the emerging artist ensemble Mechanical Toothpick stage a new play by Chris Muir titled Stained, which examines the psychological complexity of modern life in an often violent world. The work will premiere at the Courthouse in April before touring to Melbourne in early May. Also this month the first of our short performance events, Short Circuit will coincide with the state-wide ‘Fast and Fresh’ programme. Curator Franchette ‘Fritzie’ Punsalang is working frantically to programme a fantastic evening of bite-size theatrical morsels for your delectation.

The FReeZA all ages music event program has exploded into 2008 and the Equinox committee is planning a series of after-school gigs throughout April before our next big concert in May. Our on-line writing program, MyPlace kicks off this month as well, directed by David Ryding (Director of Express Media’s Emerging Writers Festival). Our major production Urgent that explores the issues around the Stolen Generations continues to evolve with both cast and crew working hard toward the Next Wave Festival in May.

The Courthouse is also putting the word out far and wide for proposals from young people for the 2009 programme. With planning well under way the centre is aiming to have a significant proportion of arts projects initiated by external proposals. Contact CYAC Artistic Director, Ben Laden at creative@courthouse.org.au if you have an idea you would like to discuss.

HOTHOUSE THEATRE
Gateway Island, Wodonga
Po Box 479, Wodonga, VIC, 3689.
Ph: (02) 6021 7433
Fax: (02) 6023 2201
Email: info@hothousetheatre.com.au
Web: www.hothousetheatre.com.au

The Glory By Ross Mueller

As Australia awakes to discover the tragic death of a high ranking soldier in a foreign war zone, his military family in the suburbs of Sydney is not only coming to terms with the death of a brother and an uncle but with public and government expectations of how to bury a nation’s ‘best mate’. But what actually happened to Brigadier Martin Connors at the end of a long and distinguished career? His nephew Tom, also a soldier, returns home with news that will shake this family to its core and leave its matriarch Elizabeth to pick up the pieces. Against a backdrop of the War on Terror and heightened homeland security, playwright Ross Mueller (The Ghost Writer) has fashioned both a heartbreaking family drama and an urgent moral examination from events as contemporary as last night’s news bulletin. The Glory is the winner of the 2006 Wal Cherry Play of the Year.
Director:    Aidan Fennessy
Cast:    Craig Annis, Deborah Kennedy, Belinda McClory, Colin Moody, Louise Siversen
When:    March 27 – April 5
Where:    Hume Building Society Butter Factory Theatre Wodonga
Cost:    Adult $42, Concession $32, Red Hot Rush tickets for under 26's $16 available at the door 15 minutes prior to show commencement.
Bookings:    Online, or call (02) 6021 7433 (surcharge applies).

The Pitch By Peter Houghton

Watch in delight as Walter Weinerman, aspiring screenwriter, desperately practices pitching his film to Hollywood executives. It’s his one shot at the big time and there’s a lot at stake. It’s a chance to prove to the world and his former girlfriend that he’s got what it takes. Walter’s script is a heady cocktail of action, mystery, revenge and romance set in way too many exotic locations. In a hilarious panic-stricken effort, Walter demonstrates all the roles he wants played by Hollywood’s A-list, including a clenched-teeth Clint Eastwood, a debonair Sir Anthony Hopkins and a scintillating Catherine Zeta Jones. This brilliant new satire about the trials and tribulations of cracking the big time in Hollywood was a huge hit in Melbourne and picked up two prestigious Green Room Awards for performance and best new play along the way.
Director: Anne Browning
Cast: Peter Houghton
When: May 20 – 24
Where: Hume Building Society Butter Factory Theatre Wodonga
Cost: Adult $42, Concession $32, Red Hot Rush tickets for under 26's $16 available at the door 15 minutes prior to show commencement
Bookings:    Online, or call 02 6021 7433 (surcharge applies).

POCKETFOOL PRODUCTIONS
6 Malcolm St,
Preston, Vic, 3072
Ph: (03) 9354 2459
Mob: 0413 244 810
Email: info@pocketfool.com
Website: www.pocketfool.com

In a Little, Little House
Suit: 1-4 years
Synopsis: A pocket sized show for tiny children. Songs, rhymes and stories are performed in Pocketfool’s uniquely warm and whimsical style, creating a little world of tenderness and beauty. Ideal for childcare centres, libraries and playgroups.
Season dates: All of 2008
Venue/s: Touring
Cost: $200

Cheep-Cheep
Suit: 3-6 years
Synopsis: An intimate, non-verbal comedy. Ah Ha and Pom Pom tussle over a golden egg. Using music, magic and gags-a-plenty, they are carried into a fantasy world of their own making. They become pirates, one is hypnotised into a chook, and they are caught in a storm. As glittering snow falls around them, the egg hatches and friendship wins the day.
Season dates: All of 2008
Venue/s: Touring
Cost Preschools and childcare centres - $300 for up to 40 children. Schools - $400 for up to 60 children.

The Squeaky Window
Suit: 4-8 years
Synopsis: Two friends discover a wonderful window. But it squeaks! They draw pictures on the glass, solve their problem and embark on a hilarious and touching journey where the 2D and 3D worlds blend into one. A joyful and surprising show with mime, music, sound effects and drawings.
Season dates: All of 2008
Venue/s: Touring
Cost Preschools and childcare centres - $300 for up to 40 children. Schools - $400 for up to 60 children.

Workshops
Available all year: Drama workshops for children and professional development workshops in creative story telling for teachers and carers.

Pocketfool for Preschoolers
Theatre workshops for 3-6 year olds at ArtPlay, Birrarung Marr and City. Each fun and stimulating workshop explores a different theme through the elements of theatre and different experiential learning styles. Held on the first Sunday of each month in 2008 at 11am.
Bookings through www.artplay.com.au or phone (03) 9664 7900.

POLYGLOT PUPPET THEATRE LTD
27A Cromwell Road
South Yarra VIC 3141
Ph: (03) 9827 9667
Fax: (03) 9826 1937
Email: info@polyglotpuppets.com.au
Website:www.polyglotpuppets.com.au

Polyglot has a very exciting, busy couple of months coming up. We will have Checkout! on tour in Queensland, Headhunter showing at two congresses and our usual Workshop and Roving programmes. Have a look at our new website for details on all upcoming events.
CHECKOUT! - Polyglot’s new show Checkout! Will be touring Queensland schools in terms One and Two. Checkout! is a wickedly funny show about the child consumer bonanza in which Baby learns that you need more than just stuff to see you through.
HEADHUNTER - Polyglot will also be performing the award winning show Headhunter at the UNIMA congress and the ASSITEJ congress. Headhunter is an indigenous tale of a road trip with puppets, music and a very cool car.
Workshops – Polyglot offers a variety of exciting puppet making workshops for classrooms and festivals. Available all year round.
Roving Performances – Perfect for festivals we have a large selection of Roving puppet acts. Our talented puppeteers can add that extra dimension to your festival.

ST MARTINS YOUTH ARTS CENTRE
28 St Martins Lane
South Yarra VIC 3141
Ph: 03 9867 2477
Fax: 03 9866 2733
Email: info@stmartinsyouth.com.au
Website: www.stmartinsyouth.com.au

2008 Workshop Programme
Term Two begins April 21. Theatre workshops for 5 – 25 years, of all levels of experience. Acting, musical theatre, improvisation, comedy, physical theatre, devising, writing and directing. All of our workshops are taught by professional artists. Email info@stmartinsyouth.com.au for more information

2008 Winter Holiday Programme
Our popular holiday program returns for winter! Week long programs for 5 -16 year olds, running from June 30 to July 4 and July 7 to 11.
Story telling, improvisation, character play, voice, movement and more!

Wanderlands
Wanderlands is a fantastical new play from award-winning dramatist Nic Velissaris, especially commissioned by St. Martins for our 13 to 18 year old members. Wanderlands tells a wondrous tale of survival and adventure as a group of outcasts embark upon an epic journey of discovery and salvation.

Wednesday to Saturday, May 14 to May 24. Venue: The Randall Theatre.

Bookings on 9252 0760 or online at www.stmartinsyouth.com.au.

UNION HOUSE THEATRE
1st Floor, Union House, University of Melbourne
Parkville VIC 3010
Ph: (03) 8344 6975
Fax: (03) 9347 1645
Email: uht@union.unimelb.edu.au
Website: www.union.unimelb.edu.au/theatre

Acting Explorations 2
Wednesdays 9, 16 April 5.30-7.30pm Union Theatre, ground floor, Union House
Improve your physical vocabulary and capitalise on your stage presence. These dynamic, focused workshops will be useful whether you want a broader range of tools to approach a written character or to improve your ability to improvise. Designed for actors with some experience and led by director Daniel Schlusser who will create Union House Theatre’s Semester 2 production The Zombie State.

Physical Theatre Workshops
Mondays 7, 14, 21 April 5.30-7.30pm Des Connor Studio, Union House
These three workshops encompassing Acrobalance, Contemporary Improvisation and Phunk will be varied in form and run by different guest artists. All will involve techniques using the body's mechanics. Guaranteed to be challenging and fun.

Directing Masterclass
Saturday 24 May 2-5pm Guild Theatre, first floor, Union House
An intensive masterclass on how to direct a play - exploring auditioning and working with actors, creating a cohesive rehearsal schedule, shaping the creative elements and the director’s craft.

Attempts on Her Life by Martin Crimp
Director: Susie Dee
A series of darkly comic, irony-laden scenarios in which the identity of Annie, Anja or Anne is repeatedly imagined, discussed, dissected and possibly dismissed.

Martin Crimp’s postmodern play subtitled ‘17 scenarios for the theatre’, is a rollercoaster of 21st century obsessions. Its strange array of nameless characters attempt to invent the perfect story to encapsulate our time. Shocking and hilarious by turns, it’s as innovative as theatre can get.

By special arrangement with Dominie Pty Ltd
16-24 May 8pm, 23 May 1pm matinee
Guild Theatre, first floor, Union House
Tickets: Full $20/ Conc $12/ Student Union member $10
Bookings: 8344 7447