The past haunts the present, and the present is a kaleidoscope of infinite possibilities, as the cast is announced for the premiere of site-responsive experience, Darkness at the Library, formerly the historic Newtown School of Arts Building, in January 2023.
Created by Andrew Bovell, Zoey Dawson, Dino Dimitriadis, Dan Giovannoni and Megan Wilding, the site-responsive production will be brought to life by actors Alec Snow, Caroline George, Drew Wilson, Imogen Sage and Jerome Meyer.
“We are thrilled to finally announce our talented team of actors who alongside some of the country’s most admired creatives will create one of the boldest and most exciting theatrical experiences,” said Producer Rodney Rigby (Come From Away, Jersey Boys).
Inspired by an extraordinary gathering in 1816 – the year without a summer – but reimagined in the near future, Darkness is a rich, seductive work set to transport audiences to overlapping worlds of mystery, transformation, fantasy and wonder.
In an abandoned house is the infamous poet Lord Byron and his deeply curious and combative friends who, confronted by nature’s wrath, turmoil and plague, are caught in a tug of war of life and death.
Playing poet Lord Byron is Alec Snow (Holding the Man, The Nether, Home and Away), with Caroline George as Mary Shelley (The Marriage Agency, Three Fat Virgins Unassembled, Breathe), Jerome Meyer (War Horse, Storm Boy, Laser Beak Man) as Percy Shelley, Imogen Sage (The Last Tentacle, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Claudel, Woyzeck + Marie) as Mary’s stepsister Claire Clairmont, and Drew Wilson (Holding the Man, Othello, A Midsummer Night’s Dream).
Darkness was created by artists Andrew Bovell (Lantana, Head On, When the Rain Stops Falling), Zoey Dawson (Australian Realness, The Unspoken Word is Joe, Calamity), Dan Giovannoni (Loaded, Merciless Gods, Jurassica) and Megan Wilding (GAME. SET. MATCH, A Little Piece of Ash), together with director Dino Dimitriadis (Cleansed, Angels in America Parts I & II, Overflow).
“Darkness dares to ask bold questions of our times, what it means to be human, and how we hunger for pleasure and connection,” said Director Dino Dimitriadis. “Some of the boldest artists in the country have come together to create an experience that transports audiences in worlds of story and transformation.”
For Darkness, the site will be transformed into an eerie mansion of lost and extinct things by designer Isabel Hudson (The Mousetrap, American Psycho, Cry-Baby), in collaboration with lighting designer Benjamin Brockman (Lady Tabouli, Angels in America Part 1 & 2) and music and sound designer Danni Esposito (Stay Woke, Overflow, The Sound Inside).
Darkness
The Library, 5 Eliza Street, Newtown
Performances from 10 January 2023
Information and Bookings: www.experiencedarkness.com.au
Image: Are you ready for the site-responsive experience, Darkness? (supplied)