A new black comedy by Vidya Rajan, Darebin Arts Speakeasy and Elbow Room presents Crocodiles at the Northcote Town Hall Arts Centre from 24 May 2023.
As a migrant, Sandhya is expected to work hard. As an aged-care resident, Helen is expected to be lonely. As a doctor, Priya is expected to take responsibility. And as a nation, we expect them to stay out of sight. Crocodiles is a playful and intelligent exploration of who gets to make mistakes, and who cleans up the mess.
The genre-fusion that distinguishes Rajan’s acclaimed scriptwriting is exemplified in this dark and comic play, which begins with a mysterious death in an aged-care facility and follows the consequences for those involved through increasingly surreal turns.
The interlacing of sharp humour with deep sympathy not only brings a disturbing clarity to the exploitation and neglect endemic in Australia’s aged-care facilities today, but also brings critical visibility to people whom we, as a nation, expect to stay invisible.
Rajan is a writer and performer whose past projects include Looking for Alibrandi (Malthouse/Belvoir), Respawn (MICF, Darwin Festival), The Feed Comedy (SBS), and The Lizard Is Present (Melbourne Fringe). Her work probingly examines contemporary Australian society, and has often been described as inventive, surreal, dark and hilarious.
Produced by the award-winning theatre company Elbow Room, Crocodiles is a hilarious and poignant journey through the realities of the Australian dream for migrants, directed by Marcel Dorney and featuring Rachel Kamath and Shamita Siva.
Vidya Rajan is a former writer-in-residence at the Malthouse Theatre, graduate of the VCA, and a recipient of Screen Australia’s Developer Program. Rajan’s recent sketch writing as part of The Feed (SBS) won the 2022 AWQIE award for Best Comedy Writing, and her digital interactive experience In Search of Lost Scroll took Best Experimental Artwork at the 2022 Melbourne Fringe Awards. Rajan can be seen as part of the core ensemble on the new Aunty Donna sitcom series, Aunty Donna’s Coffee Cafe (2023, ABC).
In fifteen years of critically acclaimed practice, Melbourne artists Elbow Room have become one of the leading independent theatre companies in Australia, collaborating with over a hundred artists and Australia’s premier arts organisations and festival – along the way receiving 7 awards and 16 nominations from Melbourne Fringe, the Green Room Awards (VIC) and the Matilda Awards (QLD).
Director: Marcel Dorney | Featuring: Rachel Kamath, Shamita Siva, Marta Kaczmarek, Tom Dent, Emily Tomlins | Composer: Saieesh Shanmugarajah | Movement Consultant: Devika Bilimoria | Production Designer: Rachel Nankin | Lighting Designer: Kris Chainey | Sound Engineering: Chris Wenn | Producer: Elbow Room | Playwright: Vidya Rajan
Crocodiles
Northcote Town Hall Arts Centre, 189 High Street, Northcote
Season: 25 May – 04 June 2023 (preview: 24 May)
Information and Bookings: www.arts.darebin.vic.gov.au
Image: Shamita Siva and Marta Kaczmarek feature in Crocodiles – photo by Darren Gill