Written & Performed by Stephen House, Almost Face to Face takes a risky journey into a hidden Dublin world as it plunges into an off-beat artist’s process, his unusual wandering life and the bizarre characters that share his world. Moving, brutal, dark and funny, this poetic new work about indulgent creative chaos and lives on-the-very-edge, asks – is it ever too late to face up to what you have become?
Written during an Australia Council Irish literature residency, Almost Face to Face had its world premiere at La Mama as part of the 2014 Melbourne Fringe. Directed by Peter Green, it garnered critical acclaim from audiences and reviewers alike, receiving a Green Room Award nomination for House for Best Independent Performer. The show has been presented in Sydney, and in 2017 was presented at the Kampot Readers and Writers Festival in Cambodia.
Almost Face To Face is the second monologue in a series of three. His last monologue Appalling Behaviour (set in Paris), premiered in Adelaide in 2010 and toured for three years, playing nationally to wide acclaim. Currently in its first draft, the final piece, New Delhi was scribed in India, while House was on an Asia-link literature residency.
House’s process of living research has seen him commissioned often over the years with 20 plays produced, many selected by The Australian Script Centre for publication, and has seen his work being presented nationally and internationally. In addition to Almost Face To Face and Appalling Behaviour, his works include Borrowed Time, Drapes, Go By Night, I Said A Word, Just Like That, Miss Blossom Callahann, A Thing Called Snake and Vin.
House has won two AWGIE Awards from The Australian Writers Guild, an Adelaide Fringe Award, and the 2017 Rhonda Jankovic Poetry Award for Social Justice. He has been shortlisted for the Patrick White and Queensland Premier Drama Awards, as well as the Overland’s Fair Australia Fiction Prize.
Following its Melbourne season, Almost Face to Face plays at the Elysium Theatre, Brisbane (16 May) with shows scheduled in Darwin in July, and Adelaide later this year.
“Original and powerful… lurid and confronting ultimately touching theatre.” – The Age
Almost Face To Face
The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne
Season: 8 – 12 May 2018
Information and Bookings: www.thebutterflyclub.com
Image: Stephen House (supplied)