Machinal
by Sophie Treadwell
Machinal
by Sophie Treadwell
“Stunning... Fabulous performances, no weak links... A VERY powerful production – possibly the first student production that I have given a standing ovation to in decades. A MUST SEE.”
Role: Director and Movement Coach
Description
The West Australian premiere of ‘Machinal’ was performed as part of FRINGEWORLD 2019 and the Hayman Theatre’s 2019 season.
Join us in an age of contradictions: of jazz, prohibition and speakeasies; suffrage and exploitation; modernism and mechanisation. It is the 1920s. Based on a true story Machinal by Sophie Treadwell tells of an ordinary woman who is at odds with her world. She is searching for something… somebody…
Sophie Treadwell’s expressionist masterpiece rings as true today as it did when it was written with urgency in 1928. Performed by a cast of (mainly) Australian millennials in 2019 it challenges us to ask how we can disrupt the machine…
Season - 15,16,19-23 February 2019
Photos by Leigh Brennan
“The ensemble work right from the start is very tight, we graphically see the ‘strange’ young woman trapped in the prejudices and assumptions of her co-workers by the disrupted rhythm and then resumption of their menial tasks, by the ensemble trapping the Young Woman in a physicalisation of the subway scenario, and by the entrance of the boss and everyone’s quite distinct reactions to his presence… There were many memorable performances by this young cast, most notably the tour de force by Amber Gilmour who played the Young Woman. Her performance, however, could not have shone without the tight-knit ensemble cast that whirred and whirled around her, binding her more and more tightly into a web of meaningless conformity and unhappiness…
‘Machinal’ has left me with a deep desire to sing out: be brave! Be free-spirited in your thinking, don’t be bound by dogma. You’ve got more inside of you than that, and the world needs it! Well done Teresa Izzard and all the ensemble cast and crew that wrought the world of the ‘Machinal’ theatre production so palpably and viscerally that it prompts me to question and to seek to transform the mundane aspects of my life.”
Afternoon
by Jon Fosse
Afternoon
by Jon Fosse
Role: Director and Movement Coach
Description
The Australian premiere of ‘Afternoon’ was performed as part of the new Hayman Theatre’s 2017 season.
A meditation on time and the fragility of the human condition Afternoon offers audiences a chance to peek into a world in which what the characters don’t say often reveals more than what they do. Witness their struggle to understand themselves and to embrace life.
Jon Fosse is a contemporary Norwegian playwright who has been compared to Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter due to his spacious, non-naturalistic style. His work is well known in Europe but less so in the UK and Australia.
Season - 3rd-7th October 2017
Photos by Chantall Victor
“… thanks to the skills of the director, Teresa Izzard, who has truly conquered this complex style the cast were magnificent … An unusual play that all theatre students and creative writing scholars should see. Superb work.”
“The staging and acting both worked, I felt, towards a mythical simplicity which played perfectly into Fosse’s liturgical hum and post-dramatic theatricality.”
Love and Information
by Caryl Churchill
Love and Information
by Caryl Churchill
Role: Director, Dramaturg and Movement Coach
Description:
“Do you love me?”
This tragicomedy consists of 57 provocative vignettes that offer insight into how the overload of information in our outside world affects the way we experience our lives and our relationships. What do we remember? What disintegrates? How do we differentiate between what is real and what is constructed? How do we make meaning? Is anything meaningful?
The play was written with a lack of the kind of information a playwright usually provides … no characters, stage directions or locations. Churchill has left it up to the theatre makers themselves, including the order some of the scenes appear in and the division of the lines.
In creating our production the members of the company have been challenged to bring their experiences and ideas to this kaleidoscopic and mysterious work. Come with us as we delve into the matrix of life, love and theatre in the 21st Century.
The Western Australian premiere of Caryl Churchill’s 2012 work was part of the Hayman Theatre Company’s 2016 season.
Image credit: Leigh Brennan
Reviews and Testimonials:
“Izzard keeps things rattling along as scenes follow each other in rapid succession or even overlap briefly as the actors rotate through scenarios and personas with alacrity … One of the standout scenes simply called Wife involved Moyle and Brown in a ballet like sequence of intense emotion and intimacy that utilised all of the stage to stunning effect.” (Richard Hyde on Love and Information, Perth Theatre Reviews)
“A very enjoyable night at the theatre, with something a little offbeat.” (Independent Theatre Association on Love and Information)
Spring Awakening
by Frank Wedekind (trans. Franzen)
Spring Awakening
by Frank Wedekind (trans. Franzen)
Role: Director and Movement Coach
Description:
“Authentic ... but horrible!” Frank Wedekind
Spring Awakening is a tragi-comedy about truth and lies, about growing up and growing old. This poetic and confronting play written in 1891 wrestles with the light and dark of the human condition. Come with use to a world that was then, but could easily be now.
This production was staged as part of the Hayman Theatre Company’s 2015 Season.
Image credit: Leigh Brennan
Reviews and Testimonials:
“The acts of violence are well-handled and director Teresa Izzard utilises the ensemble to give this real movement and energy … It is at times a difficult watch but a rewarding one… (Richard Hyde on Spring Awakening, Perth Theatre Reviews)
I was immediately struck by the design and use of the space … It was used to full effect by the actors, with nooks and crevices in the auditorium being used by characters in ways that underpinned the turbulent, repressed nature of the piece. The opening scene set the tone of the piece beautifully and gave full expression to Teresa's skill as a director for whom embodied movement is integral to the narrative. It was sensual and evocative and the actors rose to the demands of the style with maturity and grace. I felt it was an exciting and nuanced production and one that gave the students a terrific opportunity to work with a professional artist of Teresa's calibre. (Caitlin Beresford-Ord on Spring Awakening, Artist and Educator)
Illyria
A story about war and new beginnings
Illyria
A story about war and new beginnings
Role: Director and Movement Coach
& Co-Producer for FRINGEWORLD season
Description:
Illyria is a play about war - its futility and machinations. It is also a play about the journey towards forgiveness and peace. Through poetry and vivid storytelling Illyria follows the life-altering journey of an Australian journalist, lost in a war-torn land. Written by British playwright Bryony Lavery the play functions as a metaphorical landscape through which we can investigate our experience of war as first world citizens. Powerful text and evocative movement will show the darkness and the light of this confronting play.
This production was the Australian premiere of Bryony Lavery’s 2002 work. Originally staged as part of the Hayman Theatre Company’s 2013 season it was remounted for Perth FRINGEWORLD in 2014.
Image credit: Leigh Brennan
Reviews and Testimonials:
“The shocking war themes are dealt with in a daring manner through storytelling and movement …Their ensemble movement sequences are phenomenal; they don’t once miss a beat. They generate a fluid, enthralling roller coaster that propels the performance from its gripping beginning to its moving end. Teresa Izzard and the ensemble of Illyria have shaped a genuinely unique take on Lavery’s touching, graphic script and made it their own.” (Courtney J. Pascoe on Illyria for FringeWorld, Aussie Theatre)
“Each act of violence (murder, torture, rape and sex) is cleverly translated through energetic and committed acting and beautifully executed body movement … acting as the pivot upon which, for the next hour or so, the audience turns … The choreography added depth and poetry to the play and was an inspired juxtaposition against the raw and traumatic subject matter.” (Kim Coull on Illyria, Poet and Writer)
“Teresa Izzard’s direction is exciting and filled with creative ideas ... It is rare to see a large cast working in perfect harmony. There were no weak links, just superb team work and a total commitment from everyone. An exciting, admirable production.” (Independent Theatre Association on Illyria)
The Yellow Wallpaper
Adapted by Teresa Izzard and Silvia Lehmann
The Yellow Wallpaper
Adapted by Teresa Izzard and Silvia Lehmann
Role: Producer, Co-Adaptor, Director and Movement Coach
Description
Charlotte is a writer … but she cannot write
She is a mother … but she cannot bear to be with her child
She is a wife … but she cannot talk to her husband
Something is wrong
A ‘rest cure’ is the suggested solution – cutting edge medicine in 1892. Witness the characters spiralling through twelve secret diary entries in this gothically twisted tale. Be drawn into the world of this contemporary adaptation of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s infamous story.
The world premiere season at The Blue Room and the tour to the Denmark Civic Centre was supported by The Blue Room Theatre, Healthways and Denmark Arts. The work won the Phillip Parsons Prize for Excellence in Performance as Research and was nominated in the ‘Best New Play’ category of the 2013 Equity Guild Awards.
Image credit: coming
Reviews and Testimonials
“The production is inventive in space and form … it succeeds in adapting for the stage the perilous “inner worlds” typical of Gothic texts. The staging decisions say more about the marginalisation and torture of females and their bodies that any essay on the short story could … The Yellow Wallpaper is the perfect haunting.” (Sarah Dunstan, The Pelican)
“The Yellow Wallpaper gives new direction to old themes and leaves an eerie lasting impression, particularly on the colour yellow. Characterisation is complete and intimate, and every other dramatic element functions with the perfect synchronisation of a well-oiled machine from start to finish.” (Courtney Pascoe, Aussie Theatre)
“This beautiful play gives a twisted physicality to the tale of a woman, Charlotte, who is struggling to cope after the birth of her first child … Though there are only three principals in The Yellow Wallpaper, I feel I should name a fourth: the wallpaper itself. Laura Heffernan’s brilliantly crafted set, complemented by clever lighting design from Karen Cook, gives the peeling yellow wallpaper a life of its own. The actors interact with the paper until it has a towering presence in The Blue Room’s small theatre; they stare into it, tear strips off it, and rub its dust onto their clothes. Silhouettes dance behind it and disembodied eyes blink through secret holes. It is delightfully creepy …The Yellow Wallpaper is a truly stunning production ...” (Kaitlyn Plyley, Theatre People)