| Motortown | This One Show |
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 Cruelty, Love and Politics In The Time Of War
Written by English playwright Simon Stephens in 2005 over four days, between the day London won the 2012 Olympic bid and two days after the London bombings, Motortown is going to have its West Australian premiere at The Blue Room Theatre (17 June – 5 July 2008) as part of the City of Perth Winter Arts Festival. “When it was announced that London had won the bid, there was such incredulous happiness”, says Stephens. “I think there is an element of that energy and euphoria in Motortown”.
In the same way, so too did the sense of terror from the bomb attack permeate Stephen’s writing. “This is a play about the fallout of the ‘war on terror’”, he says. “This is a play about the fallout of the war in Iraq.”
Motortown sees Danny (Richie Flannigan), a soldier formerly stationed in Basra, the third-largest city of Iraq, return home. He does not recognize his country anymore. His life is in disarray. Rejected by his old girlfriend, he begins a different battle. He buys a gun and goes on a blistering road trip through the new home front.
“I don't blame the war. The war was all right. I miss it…
It's just you come back to this.”
Debuting company This One Show has chosen the powerful, cruel and complex Motortown to launch itself full force into the Perth performing arts industry, with Renato Fabretti as the producer and with Marisa Garreffa directing into The Blue Room Theatre for the first time.
Garreffa says there will be scenes of death from iraq stencilled on the theatre walls. Motortown, she believes, will open up a social dialogue about the effects of this war. “The play is not about an external enemy or the political agenda of our governments, it is about the way that this war can turn young men into agents of terror”, she says. “Instead of focussing on the enemy, we need to think about what we're creating by sending soldiers into a war zone where there is no distinction between civilians and criminals”
Fabretti and Garreffa join WAAPA graduates Skye Hegarty (Designer), Karen Cook (Lighting), Natalya Alessi (Choreographer) and other talented young WA performers to create a production that takes to our understanding of what theatre may achieve with an aerosol can and a chisel.
“This is a searingly honest play... recklessly brave... with a deadly coiled energy.” Guardian
“A deeply unsettling piece.. and one that taps potently into the troubled spirit of the times in which we live.” Daily Telegraph
The Blue Room and This One Show present
Motortown
by Simon Stephens
Director Marisa Garreffa
Producer and assistant director Renato Fabretti
Production manager Laura Jayne Henderson
Lighting design Karen Cook
Composer Steve Hearne
Choreographer Natalya Alessi
Stage Manager Jenni Stevens
Costumes designer Skye Hegarty
Starring Glenn Hall, Richie Flannigan, Melanie Munt, Ben Russell, Glenn Hall, Amanda Woodhams, James Helm, Anita Erceg
The Blue Room Theatre, 53 James St Northbridge.
Preview Tuesday 17 June
Season 18 June – 5 July
8pm Tuesday – Saturday, plus 2pm matinees 28 June & 5 July.
Bookings: 9227 7005 / www.pacs.org.au
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Saturday, 22 November 2008
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