Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC) continues to light up Southbank with the announcement of an esteemed group of directors who will join the play reading series, Cybec Electric in February.
MTC Literary Director and Cybec Electric curator Chris Mead said, “We are thrilled at the directors coming on-board for this year’s Cybec Electric play readings. We welcome Lee Lewis (MTC’s Rupert), Iain Sinclair (MTC’s The Beast), Tanya Dickson (Assistant Director, MTC’s Private Lives) and Sarah Giles – all of them with impeccable credentials for ushering promising new writing towards powerful theatre.”
Opening Cybec Electric is Frogs Cry Wolf – the debut play from Dan Lee inspired by his time living and working in the Kimberley. Directing this comedy of great heart is award-winning theatre practitioner Iain Sinclair. Iain is a director, dramaturg and playwright and Associate Director of Playwriting Australia.
Sarah Giles takes us back to Adelaide 1948 as director of Tobias Manderson-Galvin’s The Unknown Man on Somerton Beach – which follows the story of two cops determined to crack one of Australia’s most confounding murder mysteries. Sarah was Co-Resident Director at Sydney Theatre Company in 2013 and was awarded a 2011 Sydney Theatre Award for Best Director of an Independent Production for The Ugly One by Marius von Mayenburg.
Tanya Dickson will direct Melissa Reeves’ black comedy Archimedes’ War – a story about DIY psychology in the internet age, protecting the young and the dark side of simulated war games. Tanya is a participant of the 2015 MTC Women Directors Program and was Assistant Director on MTC’s Private Lives in 2014.
Lee Lewis takes on Moths – a play of riotous truths, furious invention and fearless honesty by Michele Lee. Lewis is Artistic Director of Griffin Theatre Company and has directed works for MTC, Bell Shakespeare, Sydney Theatre Company, Belvoir and Griffin Theatre Company.
Bringing their expertise to four new works from some of Australia’s most promising playwrights, the directors will work with professional actors to present each script at public, semi-staged readings. Moths and The Unknown Man on Somerton Beach will also feature as part of SummerSalt Outdoor Arts Festival complete with a pop-up stage and relaxed cabaret-style seating in the VCA Visual Arts Courtyard.
“It is thrilling to see MTC work with Playwriting Australia, Griffin, Red Stitch and MKA to deliver the finest new plays to such appreciative audiences, and of course it’s thanks to The Cybec Foundation that we’re able to make it happen,” says Chris Mead.
“There is also the added frisson that any of these plays could sit on our mainstages – which might it be? Join us in the Lawler, or al fresco as part of SummerSalt, and let us know which of them you love.”
Cybec Electric is possible due to the support of Dr Roger Riordan AM and The Cybec Foundation, and runs 12 to 21 February 2015. For more information, visit: www.mtc.com.au/cybec for details.
Image: courtesy of MTC