DAVID WILLIAMSON’S 18 JANUARY – 16 MARCH 2019 WORLD PREMIERE WELCOME DIRECTOR’S NOTE It is always a pleasure working on a new David Williamson play and particularly one that deals with issues underlining the make it or break it world of entertainment. THE BIG TIME has at its core loneliness, desperation, jealousy, ambition and betrayal while creating a world of likable characters that make us laugh. Quite an achievement given the themes. The play also has a sense of hope, struggling to make itself heard over the noise of ego. David is very good at finding the heightened essence of the world, at once allowing us to laugh and sympathise while recognising the truths of who we are. I feel my job as director is to do two things; cast really well and secondly; let the words fly. David Williamson has, as ever, done the hard work already. I hope you enjoy THE BIG TIME and here’s to a wonderful 2019! Mark Kilmurry Artistic Director SYNOPSIS Celia and Vicki were best friends at drama school, but the game of life has dealt them very different hands. Celia is a high profile soap star earning ridiculous amounts of money and the requisite harbourside views. Meanwhile Vicki is scraping by in gritty, critically acclaimed roles in independent theatre. When Vicki proposes they collaborate on an ambitious new film project, it could be a big opportunity for both of them to prove their mettle in the industry. But are Vicki’s motives as well-intentioned as they seem, or will jealousy rear its ugly head? CAST CREATIVES VICKI FIELDING CLAUDIA BARRIE DIRECTOR MARK KILMURRY NELLI BROWNE ZOE CARIDES ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FELICITY NICOL CELIA CONSTANTI AILEEN HUYNH SET & COSTUME DESIGNER MELANIE LIERTZ NATE MACKLIN MATT MINTO LIGHTING DESIGNER NICHOLAS HIGGINS ROHAN BLACK JEREMY WATERS SOUND DESIGNER MARC Ee ROLLY PIERCE BEN WOOD STAGE MANAGER BRONTE SCHUFTAN COSTUME SUPERVISOR RENATA BESLIK SPECIAL THANKS TO GEOFF MORRELL RUNNING TIME APPROX 2HRS INCLUDING INTERVAL PROGRAMS: $2 which helps enormously with the cost of printing. Ensemble Theatre acknowledges the Cammeraigal people of the Eora nation as customary owners of the land on which we work and share our stories. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. WRITER’S NOTE In the entertainment industry there’s only one That’s why the competition to make The Big place all the hopefuls want to be. The Big Time is so fierce. Beneath the surface of the Time. If they make it, they become wealthy, friendly smiles actors exchange with each but perhaps even more importantly they are other, lies the realisation that only one of finally treated with respect. them is going to get the role. If you’re a struggling writer or actor who Given that I’ve inhabited this world for nearly hasn’t made The Big Time no one reads your fifty years now, and that two of my sons are scripts, no one asks you to audition, or if they NIDA acting graduates, my daughter was CREATIVES do you get to say two or three lines before an actors agent, and my wife was a drama DIRECTOR MARK KILMURRY you’re moved on. Being near the bottom of teacher and a theatre critic, I know that in ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FELICITY NICOL the entertainment ladder is one of the most the industry that creates fictional drama, the SET & COSTUME DESIGNER MELANIE LIERTZ miserable existences on earth. real life drama can be intense. LIGHTING DESIGNER NICHOLAS HIGGINS And that’s what made it irresistible to write SOUND DESIGNER MARC Ee about. STAGE MANAGER BRONTE SCHUFTAN COSTUME SUPERVISOR RENATA BESLIK David Williamson DAVID WILLIAMSON MARK KILMURRY PLAYWRIGHT DIRECTOR David Williamson is Mark is the Artistic Director Australia’s best known and of Ensemble Theatre. most widely performed Recent directing credits playwright. Some of his include: THE NORMAN more than fifty produced CONQUESTS, SHIRLEY VALENTINE, TAKING plays include THE REMOVALISTS, DON’S STEPS, NEVILLE’S ISLAND, TWO, ODD MAN PARTY, THE CLUB, TRAVELLING NORTH, THE OUT, RELATIVELY SPEAKING, BAREFOOT PERFECTIONIST, SONS OF CAIN, EMERALD IN THE PARK, BETRAYAL, GOOD PEOPLE, CITY, MONEY AND FRIENDS, BRILLIANT MY ZINC BED, EDUCATING RITA, ABSENT LIES, DEAD WHITE MALES, AFTER THE FRIENDS, OTHER DESERT CITIES, THE BALL, THE JACK MANNING TRILOGY, THE ANZAC PROJECT, RICHARD III, THE GLASS GREAT MAN, UP FOR GRABS, SOULMATES, MENAGERIE, FRANKENSTEIN, MANAGING SCARLETT O’HARA AT THE CRIMSON CARMEN, RED, THE SPEAR CARRIER and PARROTT, NOTHING PERSONAL, WHEN HAMLET. Mark’s recent acting credits DAD MARRIED FURY, MANAGING CARMEN, include: Frank in EDUCATING RITA, Richard CRUISE CONTROL, RUPERT, DREAM HOME, in RICHARD III, Hamlet in HAMLET; Otto JACK OF HEARTS, ODD MAN OUT, SORTING in THE ACT; Angus in THE DRAWER BOY OUT RACHEL and most recently NEARER THE and Serge in ART. Mark’s recent plays and GODS. His plays have been translated into adaptations include; RICHARD III (with Patrick many languages and performed internationally, Dickson); HAMLET (with John Trutwin); THE including major productions in London, Los BIG DRY (based on the novel by Tony Davis); Angeles, New York and Washington (THE CLUB CASANOVA (based on the TV series by Russell in 1979 and RUPERT in 2014 at the Kennedy T Davis); DIARY OF AN OLYMPIC CABBIE Centre as well as a season at the Theatre (based on the book by Anthony Sharwood); Royal, Sydney). UP FOR GRABS went on to MERCY THIEVES; HAPPY AS LARRY & VIV a West End production starring Madonna in and ONE SHOT. Mark is the recipient of the lead role. David’s screen adaptations of two Norman Kessell Memorial Awards for his own plays include THE REMOVALISTS, Outstanding Performance by an Actor for his DON’S PARTY, THE CLUB, TRAVELLING roles in HAMLET and JAPES. He was awarded NORTH, EMERALD CITY, along with his original the 2006 Hayes Gordon Memorial Award for screenplays for feature films including LIBIDO, Important Contribution to Theatre and the PETERSEN, GALLIPOLI, PHAR LAP, THE YEAR 2017 North Sydney Community Award. OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY, and BALIBO (as co-writer) and for television he adapted ON THE BEACH. Some of David’s many awards include 12 Australian Writers’ Guild Awards, 5 Australian Film Institutes’ Awards for Best Screenplay and, in 1996, the United Nations Association of Australia Media Peace Award. David has been named one of Australia’s Living National Treasures. FELICITY NICOL THE TAIL JOB (2016 Slamdance film festival ASSISTANT DIRECTOR / Jury Award Winner; Best Film at the CATE film festival). As a director Claudia’s credits Felicity is an award-winning include: EURYDICE, BELLEVILLE, BENGAL Performance Director and TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO (MMH/Red Artistic Director of Spark Line Productions- Old Fitz), THE MARTIN Youth Theatre. A graduate LYSICRATES PRIZE, (Griffin Theatre), TIME of NIDA, she has gone on to STANDS STILL (Tap Gallery), YOU GOT OLDER, work with some of the most prominent artists (MMH/ KXT), DNA (L.O.S.T- KXT), DRY LAND around the world, including Ontroerend Goed (MMH/ Outhouse -KXT) THOSE WHO FALL (BEL), Punchdrunk & Gecko Physical Theatre IN LOVE LIKE ANCHORS DROPPED UPON (UK), Illutron (DEN) and Mammalian Diving THE OCEAN FLOOR (Loud Mouth-Tasmania) Reflex (CAN). Felicity holds a particular interest SHIVERED (MMH-PACT) and SLUT-THE in working with young people, specifically PLAY (ACTT Graduates). She received a queer young people & young people Sydney Theatre Award nomination for Best experiencing mental health issues. This interest Direction of an Independent Production for has led her to working with Australian Theatre DRY LAND in 2017. In 2019 she is directing for Young People (AUS), Mit Ohnes Alles (GER), THE GIRL IN THE MACHINE for the National The Torontonians (CAN) and Company3 (UK). Theatre of Parramatta and THE CRIPPLE OF Felicity’s mission as an artist is to interrupt INNISHMANN for the Old Fitz. people’s assumptions about the world and the people we share it with in order to bring ZOE CARIDES these assumptions into question. She does this NELLI BROWNE through humour, debate, gaming, dramaturgy Zoe Carides is an and play. These take their forms through a actress, singer, writer, combination of social media, projection, drag and filmmaker, whose (dress-ups), physical theatre and dialogue. Her career has spanned favourite career highlights include directing at three decades. As an actor, highlights The Sydney Opera House, creating a one-on- include the TV dramas PULSE, JANET one performance for audiences in a moving KING, GP, GRASS ROOTS, PACKED TO THE car, and directing a non-verbal performative RAFTERS, CROWNIES, HOME AND AWAY, memorial via clowning, beer and a slide-show. and the Spielberg/ Hanks produced THE PACIFIC. Theatre includes CARESS/ACHE, CLAUDIA BARRIE BLACKROCK, THE SEAGULL, A MIDSUMMER VICKI FIELDING NIGHT’S DREAM, THE IDIOT, THE VAGINA Claudia graduated with a MONOLOGUES, AWAY, TOT MOM, Bachelor of Performance MURDERERS, INFLUENCE, LA DISPUTE, SPUR from the University of OF THE MOMENT, TARANTULA. Zoe has Western Sydney’s Theatre worked all around Australia in film, television, Nepean in 2004. She and for the major theatre companies, and is the Artistic Director of Mad March Hare also with international directors Mike Leigh Theatre Company. Acting credits for theatre and Steven Soderbergh. Feature films include include; A MOMENT ON THE LIPS (Old Fitz), DEATH IN BRUNSWICK, BRILLIANT LIES, TOP GIRLS and VERNON GOD LITTLE (New THE BLACK BALLOON, NOT SUITABLE Theatre), BABY WITH THE BATHWATER (MMH/ FOR CHILDREN, BLINDER, MYSTERY ROAD, Sydney Fringe Festival), TITUS: THE ULTIMATE TERMINUS, THE LITTLE DEATH, ALEX AND MURDER BALLAD MUSICAL (Gumption EVE and EVENT ZERO. She sings regularly Uber Theatre), and DOLE DIARY (Bareskin with her band, and has also written/directed Productions). Television and film credits include; three short films which have enjoyed festival HOME AND AWAY, HEADLAND, and the feature screenings in Australia and overseas.