Following the sell-out success of their debut production (nominated for three Green Room Awards) in 2013, Watch This is taking the show on the road next month with a Victorian regional tour of Assassins.
The ambitious independent company has once again assembled an extraordinary ensemble of actors, singers and comedians, including Nick Simpson-Deeks as Lee Harvey Oswald and Anne Wood as Sarah Jane Moore.
Artistic Director, Sonya Suares is excited to recreate this complex, innovative musical for audiences in West Gippsland, Sale and Geelong.
“We’re piloting a new model to tour large scale shows to regional communities who would otherwise have limited access to this kind of work,” says Suares. “It’s a pretty special project. Getting 21 people on the road is no mean feat, this being only our second year of operation.”
Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s killer black comedy, Assassins kicks off amidst the lurid debris of a traveling carnival, taking the audience on a kaleidoscopic ride through the psychological landscape of nine notorious historical figures – men and women who, for one reason or another, made attempts on the lives of American presidents. It delves dark side of the American Dream and its aggrandising notions of entitlement and ‘manifest destiny’.
The score, by Academy Award-winning composer and lyricist, Stephen Sondheim, runs the gamut from folk to ragtime to big Broadway ballads, hoedowns and barbershop quartets. With a provocative book by John Weidman, Assassins examines the lives, loves and lunacy of nine American assassins, including John Wilkes Booth, John Hinckley, Lee Harvey Oswald and Sarah Jane Moore.
“Assassins is both terrifically funny and terrifying,” says director Tyran Parke. “As a show, it strikes that perfect balance between challenging ideas and sheer entertainment. Having worked for many years on Sondheim projects and with the composer himself, I’m thrilled to be revisiting material that demands so much from both performers and audiences.”
Director: Tyran Parke Cast: Anne Wood, Nick Simpson-Deeks, Mark Dickinson, Glaston Toft, Shane Nagle, Luigi Lucente, Rowan Witt, Nick Christo, Tod Strike, Sonya Suares, James Millar, Johanna Allen, Jennifer Reed, Leighton Young Musical Director: Luke Byrne Set & Costume Designer: Crisanne Fox Lighting Designer: Rob Sowinski
Assassins
West Gippsland Performing Arts Centre
Performances: 14 & 15 October 2014
Bookings: (03) 5624 2456 or online at: www.wgac.com.au
John Leslie Theatre, Sale
Performances: 17 & 18 October 2014
Bookings: (03) 5143 3200 or online at: www.ebbwec.com.au
Geelong Performing Arts Centre
Performances: 23 – 25 October 2014
Bookings: (03) 5225 1200 or online at: www.gpac.org.au
For more information, visit: www.watchthis.net.au for details.
Image: Assassins (2013) – courtesy of Watch This