What Did She Think?

WHAT: How To Save A Tree WHEN: 22-26 August 2023 WHERE: Gasworks (Theatrette) WRITTEN BY: Louise Hopewell, Megan J Reidl, Bruce Shearer, and Gregory Vines DIRECTED BY: Elizabeth Walley SOUND BY: John Jenkin LIGHTING BY: David Silvester PERFORMED BY: Rhys Carter, Lansy Feng, Alec Gilbert, Cosima Gilbert, Cassandra Hart, Rohan D Hingorani, Carrie Moczynski, and Gabrielle Ng STAGE MANAGED BY: Isabella Gilbert Rohan D Hingorani, Cosima Gilbert, Lansy Feng, Gabrielle Ng - photo supplied Melbourne Writers' Theatre has become known for their seasons of short play collections around themes of place and people. The latest iteration is How To Save A Tree which is being presented in the Gasworks Theatrette this weekend and the theme this time is protest. Four short plays by member playwrights have been selected for performance to commemorate moments which have incited protest for social change - to varying levels of success. Bruce Shearer has tackled the suffragette movement with 'Jen

WHAT: Cygnets WHEN: 16 - 26 August 2023 WHERE: Theatre Works (Explosives Factory) WRITTEN BY: Delta Brooks, Rebekah Carton, and Harry Haynes DIRECTED BY: Harry Haynes DESIGN BY: Juliette Whitney LIGHTING BY: Nicholas Moloney SOUND BY: Miles O'Neil PERFORMED BY: Delta Brooks, Rebekah Carton, Tom Richards, and uncredited ensemble. Delta Brooks, Rebekah Carton, and Tom Richards - photo by Matto Lucas I think one of the great truths being revealed in the 21st century is that our understanding of women - who we are, how we behave, what we feel and experience - has historically been man-washed by the great creative writers and artists of Western History. In a desperate rush to scream 'we are human in all it's good and bad' playwrights are looking back at iconic historic/mythic female characters and ripping off the Eve mask to see the flesh and blood of what must have really been going on. The latest in this zeitgeist is Cygnets being presented by The Liminal Space at the E

WHAT: No Former Performer Has Performed This Performance Before #8 WHEN: 10 - 19 August 2023 WHERE: Theatre Works (Acland St) PERFORMED BY: Carolyn Hanna, Michael Havir, and Penny Baron  LIGHTING BY: Bronwyn Pringle VISUAL DRAMATURG BY: Dagmara Gieysztor  Michael Havir and Carolyn Hanna - Photo by Dagmara Gieysztor NFT s are all the rage now in our digital economy. One single digital art work purchased and stored in your block chain to be enjoyed at your private leisure. No Former Performer Has Performed This Performance Before #8 , currently playing at Theatre Works, gives you that thrill of having an experience nobody other than the rest of the audience on your night of viewing will ever see. Every night is a new experience. It is exclusive and it is yours. The members of Born In A Taxi had an idea in 2015. Working with Andrew Morrish , the team decided to create an annual program of improvised performance until one of them dies. That sounds a bit macabre, but the journey for the p

WHAT: Cave of Spleen WHEN: 2 - 12 August 2023 WHERE: Theatre Works (Explosive Factory) WRITTEN BY: Laura Collins DIRECTED BY: Stephanie Ghajar DESIGNED BY: Fiona Macdonald COMPOSITION & SOUND BY: Imogen Cygler and Rachel Lewindon LIGHTING BY: Giovanna Yate Gonzalez PERFORMED BY: Amelia Jane, Nisha Joseph, Pia O'Meadhra, and Heather Riley STAGE MANAGED BY: Piper Knight  Amelia Jane, Nisha Joseph, and Pia O'Meadhra - photo supplied in 8BCE Homer wrote the epic poem  Odyssey . In 8CE Ovid wrote 'Metamorphoses' , another narrative epic poem. In 1712CE  Alexander Pope wrote a mock epic poem called 'The Rape of The Lock '. In 2023CE Laura Collins debuts her play, The Cave of Spleen , at the Explosives Factory. What connects these four literary events? The concept of katabasis is a journey into the underworld where secrets may be revealed which are not available to mortal men. Odysseus was directed to go down to Hades where he spoke with the ghosts of heroes of