Ahead of announcing their 2016 Season next week, Red Stitch Actors Theatre present their final play for the year, Will Eno’s Middletown in an Australian Premiere from 20 November 2015.
Mary Swanson has just moved to Middletown. Population: stable; elevation: same. Along with her fellow townsfolk, Mary searches for comfort and meaning in their world, somewhere between a beginning and an end.
Eno’s delicate, wry story full of heart and humour centres around the burgeoning friendship between Mary and the vague John Dodge, a local handyman. The lives of them and the town’s residents intersect in strange and poignant ways throughout in a journey that takes them from the local library to outer space and every point between.
Will Eno is one of America’s most exciting playwrights. Best known for Pulitzer Prize nominated and internationally heralded Thom Pain (Based on Nothing), other works include Tragedy, Oh The Humanity and 2004 Oppenheimer Award for best debut production in New York – The Flu Season. Following its premiere at the Vineyard Theatre in 2010, Middletown was the inaugural winner of the Horton Foote Prize for Promising New American Play. It was subsequently produced at Steppenwolf Theatre in 2011.
Middletown is brought to life under the direction of Alice Darling – recipient of the inaugural graduate director position at Red Stitch in 2014. Alice’s directing credits include: Tuesday by Louris van de Geer (VCA), The Last Time I Saw Richard by Cat Commander (VCA), I Want You but I Don’t Need You’ by Fleur Kilpatrick (PlayList – Red Stitch) and more.
“Mr Eno’s gift for articulating life’s absurd beauty and its no less absurd horrors may be unmatched among writers of his generation.” – The New York Times
Director: Alice Darling Featuring: Jordan Fraser-Trumble, Evelyn Krape, Christina O’Neill, Gareth Reeves, Edwina Samuels, James Wardlaw Assistant Director: James Cook Set & Costume Design: Emily Collett Lighting Design: James Lipari Sound Design: Chris Wenn Choreographer: Dale Thorburn
Middletown
Red Stitch Actors Theatre, Rear 2 Chapel Street, St. Kilda East
Season: 20 November – 19 December 2015
Bookings: (03) 9533 8083 or online at: www.redstitch.net
For more information, visit: www.redstitch.net for details.
Image: Christina O’Neill and Jordan Fraser-Trumble feature in Red Stitch’s Middletown – photo by Jodie Hutchinson