What's on - demens, a controversial new play about mental illness

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written and produced by Amedeo Astorino
directed by Bruce Langdon
set/costume design by Emily Collet
lighting design by Jason Bovaird

featuring Nicholas Barker-Pendree, Sarah Bollenberg, Glen Hancox, and Ian Rooney

Valerie is a feminist. She is also homicidal. Gabriel is the sadistic nurse who wants to save her soul. Osmond is the respected doctor tormented by secret desires. Allan is going to be ‘cured’ of his homosexuality by undergoing electro shock treatment. A disturbing and often surreal psychodrama set behind the walls of a psychiatric hospital.

Playwright Amedeo Astorino was diagnosed with clinical depression in his twenties. He battled the illness for a number of years, before finally being hospitalized. He wrote this play in an attempt to exorcise a few demons of his own. His other works have been produced at La Mama, Chapel Off Chapel, Cromwell Road Theatre, and the Newtown Theatre in Sydney.

“The goal of most playwrights is to achieve honesty and insight in their work. Astorino brings this to the table with little pretension…expect to see his name up in lights before too long.”
Australian Stage Online

“Amedeo Astorino is a rare talent to be watched and nurtured…his instinct for drama is unparalleled among our new playwrights.”
Alex Miller

mixed media painting InsurrECTion by Jae Dee Scott (jdscreative@yahoo.co.uk)