THEATRE PROGRAM FOR FULL SEASON 2014 www.hothousetheatre.com.au FIND US THANKS TO: ‘A cell, on being opened, I found to be HOTHOUSE BOARD John Baker completely darkened. THIS IS Dougald Frederick Rachel HealyIt seemed empty, so I passed within the door John Hunter to examine its construction. Paul McGill (Chair) It looked like the den of a wolf, and I almost COMMUNITY CONSULTATIVE GROUP started back when from the extreme end of EDEN Loretta Foster, Liz Heitmeyer, John Hunter, By Emily Goddard Kathryn Pyle,the Ross floor Sewell, I Maryfound Sloan a pair of bright, flashing eyes ARTISTICfixed DIRECTORATE on mine. Their owner arose and took a Geordie stepBrookman or two forward. It was a small, slight, and Travis Dowling Jon Halpin quite young girl – very beautiful in feature Chris Meadand complexion, - but it was the fierce beauty Vanessa Pigrum PROGRAMof the wild cat. I am a steady married man, Jon Halpin of– Artistic a certain Director age, but at no period of my life Tahni Froudist – General Manager Travis Dowlingwould – Associate I, for Director a trifle, have shared for half an ADMINISTRATIONhour, the cell of that sleek little savage.’ Beck Palmer – Company Manager Andrea Nixon – Marketing Manager Erica LowcockGodfrey – ADO/FOH Charles Manager Mundy, Our Antipodes, 1852 Amandu Frazer– Finance Officer VENUE& TECHNICAL Rob Scott – Operations Manager Cameron Moffat – Technical Trainee AUGUSTTHEATRE 11-15 PROGRAM PROGRAM MESSAGE FROM LYN WALLIS THIS IS EDEN FOR FULL SEASON 2015 We are grateful for the support of: HOTHOUSE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR A HotHouse Production in www.hothousetheatre.com.au OUR COMPANY PARTNERS FIND US KELLY Residence This is Eden is Emily Goddard’s personal and very moving response to a little-known slice By Matthew Ryan of Australian colonial history. It becomes a powerful lens through which she observes PRODUCTION TEAM contemporary Australia, and compares and Writer & Performer contrasts the distant cruelties of our white THANKS TO: Emily Goddard ancestors, and the indignities suffered by Director many recent newcomers to our shores. HOTHOUSE BOARD Susie Dee Dougald Frederick Emily is an electrifying performer, and her Rachel Healy Dramaturg effortless transformation from a female John Hunter Mark Wilson convict clutching the remains of her sanity, to Paul McGill (Chair) Set/ Costume Design the many authoritarian figures in her wretched Sara Quon Romanie Harper life, is wonderful to witness. It’s also in turn, Amy van de Ven funny, unsettling, and deeply sad. Directed Composer/ Sound Designer by the incomparable Susie Dee, This is Eden Ian Moorhead is sure to delight, challenge and lead us all to COMMUNITY CONSULTATIVE GROUP Lighting Designer ponder the current moral state of ‘the wide Loretta Foster, Liz Heitmeyer, John Hunter, Gina Gascoigne brown land’ we call home. Kathryn Pyle, Ross Sewell, Mary Sloan Additional Dramaturgy Melissa Reeves & Susie Dee ARTISTIC - Lynno Lyn Wallis - Artistic Director Production Manager Tahni Froudist - General Manager LOCAL SUBSCRIBER PARTNERS Emily O’Brien Travis Dowling - Associate Director Albury Osteopathic Clinic, Bobby Whybrow - Black Border Coordinator Aljoy Photography, Border Just Foods, Dymocks Booksellers Albury, ADMINISTRATION La Maison Cafe, St Ives Biere Cafe, BUTTER FACTORY THEATRE TEAM Beck Palmer - Artistic Administrator Leads To Clients - Online Client Attraction Erica Lowcock - Marketing Coordinator Systems for Service Professionals, Deputy Operations Manager Regent Cinemas Showcase. Jordan Hiles Amandu Frazer - Financial Officer Rachel McNamara - Education Manager L y Technical Trainee n Carm Hogan - Teaching Artist W THIS IS WHERESPECIAL WE THANKS LIVE Cameron Moffat a Isaiah Carney - Administration Trainee lli s Thank you to Vines Florist for the – A rtis lovely flowers for our Season. To order tic Director VENUE & TECHNICAL Running Time: Approx. 60 mins, no COMING THISflowers for thatJUNE special someone call Vines interval Jordan Hiles - Deputy Operations Manager Cameron Moffat - Technical Trainee Florist on (02) 6021 3103. A very special thanks to Manifeasto Photography for opening night photography. WRITER’S NOTES what end if we are now complicit in a society that is perpetuating this cruelty? I knew nothing about female convicts before a trip with my mum to Tasmania in It’s also important to note that this work is 2012. We went to trace my great great great QUIET FAITH not a representation of colonial settlement grandmother Sarah Ford, transported in in its entirety. The transportation era was a 1837, aged 22. Until then, my experience of complex and devastating period involving the By David Williams our convict past had been limited to clichés. mass genocide of the Indigenous people. By Sea shanties and bonnet dramas had left me the time this play is set, Tasmania’s Indigenous disconnected from what I quickly realised population had been decimated. Female was the horrifying treatment and miraculous convicts were one part of a deeply disturbing survival of my own ancestors. whole. Sarah had been sent to the Cascades Female This has been a collaborative creative pro- Factory, one of the prisons for the 25,000 cess. I’m indebted to the great minds of Susie female convicts transported to Australia. Dee, Mark Wilson and the entire creative Most of the women were young and less team, whose willingness to step into the than 2% violent criminals. They were divided unknown has brought this piece to life. I’m into three classes in the factory. Those also very grateful to HotHouse Theatre for deemed the worst subject to hard labour, supporting our premiere season. those deemed the best assigned as servants to free settlers without regulations for their With a new work of this style, our first audi- treatment. The factory was overcrowded, ences are pivotal in the next phase of its the women undernourished, the punishment growth. Thanks for being part of our maiden barbaric, with an infant mortality rate of voyage! 75%. I was shocked that, with one in seven Australians having convict ancestry, I had - Emily Goddard never been taught about what these women had been through. In the face of this treatment, the women used humour to rebel, to expose the hypocrisy of their captors and to endure a system designed to break them. They rioted and created performances that mocked the authorities. These performances are strikingly similar in spirit to the centuries-old clowning method of Bouffon, where outcasts ridicule their oppressors, which has inspired the creation of This is Eden. The events of this show are based on the records of the women’s provocative resistance and the characters within their world. Production Photo by Manifeasto Photography But despite many of these women going on to mother the next generation of Australians, this isn’t a happy ending. We can be proud of OCTOBER 8-17 our ancestors for surviving oppression but to DIRECTOR’S NOTES Emily approached me to work with her on this most ambitious adventure early last year, HOLIDAY I had recently directed Emily in Declan Greene’s Moth for Arena Theatre Company, which toured to HotHouse theatre in 2013. WORKSHOPS We worked well together - having a shared history of Philippe Gaulier’s techniques and a sense of play and rigour in our performance Our workshops teach confidence, empathy, curiosity and creative making. thinking through collaboration. I must admit that I was not fully aware of the ‘female factory’ on the outskirts of Hobart … It’s Good To Be Here and what a nasty piece of history was at our For ages 9-12 doorstep. Production Photo by Manifeasto Photography Since our development in February last SYNOPSIS Bring the BOOK WEEK ADVENTURES to year, I have now been to the actual ‘site’ and 1839. Cascades Female Factory, Hobart Town. life on stage! Join us these school holidays have read numerous texts/books/articles In a solitary cell, on the edge of survival, ‘a and receive specialised training from our As- along with Emily regarding the history. The sleek little savage’ waits in the darkness. sociate Director Travis Dowling as you create subject matter is rich. The female characters Ankle deep in mud she plots escape and your own piece of theatre to perform at The that inhabit these history books are feisty, prepares with biting mockery, an elaborate Butter Factory Theatre. This workshop is for unabashed, tragic and inspiring. tale for her captors. lovers of books, drama, making friends and have fun! create a ‘bonnet drama’ but knew the stories Using the French clowning technique of that were unfolding needed to be told. We Bouffon, where outcasts ridicule and provoke This workshop runs 23-25 September, developed the work further late last year those in power, Emily Goddard (Moth) and 9am to 3pm each day. culminating in a series of showings at La Susie Dee (Savages, Berry Man) will tread a This Is Us Mama Theatre in Melbourne. It was a great fine line between charming and grotesque For ages 7-9 opportunity to trial some of the ideas and to bring to life a darkly humorous tale of our Literacy Based Holiday Workshops play with form and style. female convict past. Here’s hoping you enjoy this brave new work. DIVE into the wonderful world of PICTURE This is Eden is an extraordinary tale of BOOKS! Inspired by the work of the best - Susie Dee rebellion and survival. Australian authors and illustrators. Your children will create a MAGICAL piece of visual theatre, to be SPECIAL THANK YOU performed for family & friends in the Butter A special thank you to The Goddard Fam- Factory Theatre. ily, Bryan Davidson Blue, Jon Halpin, James This workshop runs 21 - 23 September, Macaughey, John Ellis, Chrissie Best, Robina 9am to 3pm each day. Burton, Gasworks Arts Parks, La Mama Theatre, Paul Bourke, Simon Yates, Polygot Theatre, Noelene Wilks, Margaux Hayes, Our holiday workshops always fill fast, so book early to avoid disappointment! Erin Milne, Paul Lim, Justin Batchelor, Sarah For more details and to book call (02) 6021 7433 or email [email protected] Walker, Female Convict Research Centre, and all the team at HotHouse.