Presented as part of the La Mama Nordic Noir season, Public Front return to the Melbourne stage with the Australian premiere of Courage To Kill – a haunting thriller from Sweden’s most acclaimed playwright, Lars Noren.
When an alluring young woman enters the room, friction is ignited between Father and Son. Fuelled by sexual tension, this work asks audiences to look at how dysfunction and fear can destroy a family. Exploring this volatile familial dynamic, Courage To Kill asks the age old question: “Can the past ever be separated from the present?”
Widely recognised as being one of the most performed playwrights in Europe, Public Front Artistic Director Luke Mulquiney talks about the impetus behind staging this premiere season. “Lars Noren is a writer whose work has rarely been seen on the Australian stage,” says Mulquiney.
“There’s a rhythm and tension in his work that doesn’t quite reveal itself at first. It’s confronting and challenging for both artists and audiences. There is only one way out for these characters and that is through themselves and each other. Works like these are destined to linger in the mind long after the show is over.”
Winner of the 2003 Swedish Academy Nordic Prize and with over 100 plays and a vast array of poetry published, Lars Noren’s melancholic works regularly see him compared to the likes of August Strindberg, Eugene O’Neill, and Ingmar Bergman. A controversial writer/director, he once used convicted felons as actors in a productions that dealt with prison and captivity.
Courage To Kill heralds a long overdue return to the stage for Public Front – a Melbourne-based company that has been in action since 2012. Created as a vehicle to stage unique works that are otherwise unseen in Melbourne theatre, past productions include the Green Room nominated, I Am The Wind – a co-production with Turtle Lab, and Luke Mulquiney’s Run.
Director: Richard Murphet Featuring: Stephen House, Luke Mulquiney, Tamara Natt Sound Design: Adam Casey Lighting Design: Kris Chainey Set / Costume Design: Charlotte Lane Stage Management: Daniel Barca
Courage To Kill
La Mama Theatre, 205 Faraday Street, Carlton
Season continues to 17 July 2016
Information and Bookings: www.lamama.com.au
Image: Luke Mulquiney will feature in Courage To Kill – photo by Sarah Walker Photography