| The Man from Mukinupin | Melbourne Theatre Company and Company B |
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Thirty years since Australian playwright, feminist, poet and communist, Dorothy Hewett wrote the classic Australian musical comedy, The Man from Mukinupin, the Melbourne Theatre Company and Company B are bringing it back to life. Under the steady hand of award-winning director Wesley Enoch and a cast that includes Australian favourites Kerry Walker, Max Gillies, David Page and Amanda Muggleton, The Man from Mukinupin opens at the MTC Theatre, Sumner on 11 June, 2009.
In dusty Mukinupin, wheatbelt WA during the Great War, Jack Tuesday loves snow-white Polly Perkins, the General Store owner’s daughter. So does the travelling lingerie salesman, Cecil Brunner. Polly loves Jack, but when the sun sets it’s Touch Of The Tar who tickles Jack’s drunken fancy.
Dorothy uses black and white, and day and night to paint a picture of a country bursting with light and song, yet revelling in darkness. Peopled with a rabble of broken-down vaudevillians, twins and war heroes, The Man from Mukinupin is one of Australia’s great theatrical creations from one of our favourite ratbags.
Director Wesley Enoch’s (Yibiyung, Parramatta Girls, Capricornia) production presents Jim Cotter’s score, rearranged by Alan John (Scorched, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie), and illustrates why a retelling of this classic tale is as important in now as it was in 1979.
Wesley says, “Thirty years after Dorothy Hewett’s timeless tale was written, it still talks to us about crucial issues, like reconciliation and land use, which are most important in our cultural history. In this sense it’s interesting to see how the story has maintained its value and depth, yet speaks to us in a completely different way now, as if the fullness of our history was always going to pan out this way. Then, Dorothy has wrapped this all up in a way that people can understand and connect with – as a picturesque and happy-go-lucky musical.”
Dorothy Hewett was born in Perth and grew up in a small town in the West Australian wheatbelt. She is probably best known for her poetry and plays, many of which included a musical element, yet produced work from nearly every writing genre. Much of her work focused on societal issues that were, at the time, otherwise unmentionable – such as sex and promiscuity, feminism, gender and race.
Hewett – an avowed atheist – joined the communist party in 1946 while studying English at the University of Western Australia. Her other works include Bobbin’ Up, This Old Man Comes Rolling Home, Mrs Porter and the Angel and The Chapel Perilous. Dorothy – known as the “Grande Dame of Australian Literature” – died at 79 in 2002.
Craig Annis, Suzannah Bayes-Morton, Max Gillies, Valentina Levkowicz, Amanda Muggleton, David Page, Melodie Reynolds and Kerry Walker
Music By Jim Cotter
Musicians Boris Conley, Mark Elton
Director Wesley Enoch
Musical Director Alan John
Designer Richard Roberts,
Lighting Designer Rachel Burke
Musical Arrangements Alan John
Sound Designer Steve Francis
Choreographer Jack Webster
Melbourne Theatre Company and Company B
The Man from Mukinupin
by Dorothy Hewet
Venue: MTC Theatre, Sumner
Season dates: 6 June to 19 July
Opening night: Thursday 11 June at 8:00pm
Tickets: From $58.20 (Under 30s – $30)
MTC Theatre Box Office 03 8688 0888 or mtc.com.au
Mini subscriptions Now on Sale: 3-6 Play Packages start from as little
as $153.00 (Under 30s only $75.00), 03 9684 4555 or mtc.com.au
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