Wolf Lullaby

In a desolate Tasmanian country town, a small child is murdered and suspicion falls on nine-year-old Lizzie. Her mother Angela believes her daughter is guilty – but she is torn between ignoring her fears and handing her daughter over to the police.

As the investigation progresses, Lizzie is not the only one who is changed forever by the events that unfold. The adults around her, bewildered and full of denial, find their accepted beliefs challenged as the world they think they know disintegrates, exposing a legacy of violence and deceit.

Winner of the Patrick White Playwrights’ Fellowship for 2013, Hilary Bell taps into the tensions, conflicts and dynamics of tight-knit communities to explore the disturbing subject of children who kill and the fine line between innocence and amorality, posing the question: is there such a thing as intrinsic evil? New Theatre is proud to be presenting this revival of the acclaimed debut play by Hilary Bell in a production directed by Emma Louise.

Hilary Bell writes for stage, radio, screen and music theatre. Her plays include Wolf Lullaby, Fortune, The Falls, the Anatomy Lesson of Doctor Ruysch, Shot While Dancing, Memmie Le Blanc, Open-Cut, and The Mysteries: Genesis. Recent works include The Splinter (STC), The White Divers of Broome (Black Swan/Perth International Arts Festival) and Victim Sidekick Boyfriend Me (National Theatre, UK). In 2013, she was awarded the Patrick Wright Playwrights’ Fellowship.

Making her full directorial debut at New Theatre is Emma Louise, who trained as an actor at University of Southern Queensland and holds a Graduate Diploma in Voice Studies from NIDA. She was Assistant Director on New Theatre’s productions of Jerusalem and Piranha Heights and Vocal/Dialect Coach on New Theatre’s productions of The Farnsworth Invention, Entertaining Mr Sloane, Enron and Top Girls.

“I first had the opportunity to work on Wolf Lullaby as an actor when I was at Uni,” says Emma. “…and found it a wonderfully confronting and challenging piece of theatre to explore. So now, 12 years on, when the opportunity arose to re-visit this play in a directorial capacity, I jumped at the chance.

“It is in some regards such a simple story, albeit a tragic one … following the lives of four characters in the aftermath of the senseless murder of a child. A horrific crime made all the worse by the fact that it was committed by another child. We witness the breakdown of an already fractured family, and their hopeless struggle to understand ‘why’.”

Director: Emma Louise Cast: Maryellen George, Peter McAllum, Lucy Miller, David Woodland Assistant Director/Production Manager: Martin Kelly Set Designer: Allan Walpole Lighting Designer: Heidi Brosnan Costume Designer: Jennifer Ham Sound Designer/Composer: Chelsea Reed Stage Manager: Petra Vakulic Assistant Stage Manager: Julieta Locane Movement Consultant: Shondelle Pratt