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MEDIA RELEASE COURTESY OF: Melbourne Theatre Company
Melbourne Theatre Company is proud to announce this year’s Emerging Artists appointments - Natasha Jacobs, Michele Lee and David Mence have come on board as our emerging writers and Petra Kalive, Sarah McCusker and Anne-Louise Sarks have been appointed as our emerging directors / dramaturges.
Now in its second year, the program partner’s three emerging writers with three emerging directors; each partnership is provided with resources and support in order to create a project together from its inception. After five months in development each partnership will present their new work as part of MTC’s second round of Cybec Readings which will be held in MTC Theatre, Lawler Studio in November this year.
MTC Associate Director Aidan Fennessy designed the program and partnered artists who he thought would mutually benefit from the pairing: “This is a continuation of our highly successful 2009 Emerging Artists Development Program. What the program does is provide support for these artists to examine and challenge their existing artistic process whilst engaged in the development of a new script-based theatrical work. This year we received funding from the Australia Council as part of their young and Emerging Artists program specifically to develop Women Directors. This year’s teams were paired in some instances because of their sympathetic artistic perspectives but some were teamed for exactly the opposite reason. One wonderful commonality between all artists chosen for this year’s program is the diversity and individuality of their respective artistic voices” said Aidan Fennessy.
Director Petra Kalive and Writer Natasha Jacobs
Petra Kalive is a director, writer, dramaturg and actor. She is a graduate of WAPPA and the PlayWriting Australia Dramaturge Graduate Program. Her recent dramaturgical credits include Melissa Bubnic’s Stop. Rewind for Red Stitch. She has directed extensively for St Martins Youth Theatre and in 2009 her adaptation of the Peter Goldsworthy novel Three Dog Night was staged at the Adelaide Festival Centre.
Natasha Jacobs is a writer and performer. Her writing credits include Red, Fitter Patter and You’re Not The Boss Of Me which was produced at La Mama’s Carlton Courthouse in 2009. In 2010 she co-wrote and performed in Her Private Theatre directed by Laurence Strangio, also at La Mama.
Director Sarah McCusker and Writer Michele Lee
Sarah McCusker is a NIDA directing graduate with numerous credits to her name including One Cloud by Shannon Murdoch, The Bones Love Gringo by Tom McLachlan and A Glass of Twilight by Daniel Keene. She has worked with Company B Belvoir, St Martins Youth Theatre and is currently working on the development of a new project with Back to Back Theatre Company.
Michele Lee is a Melbourne based writer whose produced works include, Kiss Me Where You Punch Me, Oversexed, Sneakers, The Talking Vagina and Love. In 2009, she completed an Asialink Literature Program residency in Laos and developed the one-act plays Fall and The Watering Hole. In 2010 her play The Cellar Children received Arts Victoria funding to develop it into a full-length play called Apple.
Director Anne-Louise Sarks and Writer David Mence
Anne-Louise Sarks is a director, dramaturge and actor. She has studied at VCA and at Columbia University, New York and is the Associate Director of The Hayloft Project. In 2009 she won the Adelaide Fringe Festival Award for best direction and dramaturgy on Yuri Wells and is Assistant Director on Thyestes with The Hayloft Project as part of the Malthouse Theatre 2010 Season.
David Mence is a writer, director, dramturg and Artistic Director of White Whale Theatre. His plays include Macbeth Re-Arisen which has been performed in Melbourne, New Zealand and the 2008 Edinburgh Festival and Melbounalia and Melbournalia No 2. He was a Creative Fellow at the State Library of Victoria in 2008 to research his latest play Convincing Ground.
The Cybec Readings are proudly supported by the Cybec Foundation. These plays were developed with the assistance of the Australia Council as part of their Young and Emerging Artists Program.
Liza Dezfouli 22 May 2012
THE OWL & THE PUSSYCAT: This one-woman show is a nicely rounded piece of theatre that contrasts modern dating dilemmas with the portrayals of love in the novels of Jane Austen.
Nicole Eckersley 22 May 2012
NEXT WAVE: Daniel Santangeli’s post-apocalyptic museum of civilisation ropes in its audience to create a melancholy, humorous and thoroughly enjoyable live art work.
Lynne Lancaster 22 May 2012
CARRIAGEWORKS: An astonishing piece of physical theatre about the preservation of our fragile planet.
Chard Core 22 May 2012
THE NEW THEATRE: Sydney playwright Melita Rowston takes us on a fast-paced, acerbic Gen X ride that drags the ‘lost child’ of Australian myth into the 21st century.
Aleksia Barron 22 May 2012
FORTYFIVEDOWNSTAIRS: Laurence Strangio’s interpretation of Chekhov aspires to sweeping grandeur but doesn’t quite make the distance, with its mismatched cast and logistical failings taking a toll on the production.
Nerida Dickinson 22 May 2012
PERTH INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL: All singing, all dancing puppets for grownups fill the stage as well as the heart, with genuine laughs throughout.
Rebecca Butterworth 22 May 2012
THE AUSTRALIAN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY: Directed by Glenn Elston, this new production is set in a filmic style and uses live cameras, visuals and AV.
Richard Watts 22 May 2012
NEXT WAVE: A cross between Wall Street and Lord of the Flies, this intense work explores the consequences of power turned in on itself in an uncivilised world.
Suzanne Yanko 21 May 2012
MELBOURNE RECITAL CENTRE: A memorable concert featuring Australian soprano and rising star, Greta Bradman.
Nicole Murphy 21 May 2012
STREET THEATRE: Created by Canberra producer/choreographer Liz Lea, this dance narrative blends live performance with vintage film footage to elegant effect.
Nerissa Rowan 21 May 2012
ANYWHERE THEATRE FESTIVAL: This violent, gritty and confronting cabaret is thoroughly enjoyable, but not for the faint of heart.
Nerissa Rowan 21 May 2012
ANYWHERE THEATRE FESTIVAL: Enter an augmented reality where a series of phone calls to your mobile phone direct your body, gaze, and imagination around Brisbane’s public spaces to unravel the story of a criminal only known as ...
Chloe Papas 21 May 2012
PERTH INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL: Five years of graveyard shifts at Triple J provided this Irish-Australian comedian with a wealth of material for his latest stand-up show.
Melanie Burge 21 May 2012
ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE: Ten years after the murder of Matthew Shepard, the Tectonic Theater Project returned to Wyoming to explore the aftermath of his brutal death.
Astrid Francis 21 May 2012
DECKCHAIR THEATRE: Ursula Yovich stars in this one-woman show about the forgotten women in fairytales; the neglected figures of mythology and folklore whose voices have been lost until now.
Chloe Papas 21 May 2012
BLUE ROOM THEATRE: A satirical comedy about two people who meet and discover that neither of them can lie – and then proceed to fall in love.
Flloyd Kennedy 21 May 2012
ANYWHERE THEATRE FESTIVAL: This year's festival extended its reach well beyond Brisbane to France, and youthful company La Petite Famille, thanks to live streaming.
Nerida Dickinson 20 May 2012
PERTH INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL: A stimulating hour of repartee from a rapid-fire raconteur.
Nerida Dickinson 20 May 2012
PERTH INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL: Sweetly told tales of everyday dramas, with attempts to discuss some Important Issues.
Nerida Dickinson 20 May 2012
PERTH INERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL: A tightly scripted exploration of ideas, navigating deep waters with a most jovial pilot at the helm.