NEON Festival returns with five new works

Dangerous LiaisonsBuilding on the success of the inaugural NEON Festival in 2013, MTC will welcome five independent companies – to present a work of their choice, each for a ten-day season in the Lawler at Southbank Theatre from May 29.

NEON is dedicated to celebrating the diverse and wonderful independent theatre landscape in Melbourne, supporting independent companies and the work they want to make,” says MTC Artistic Director, Brett Sheehy.

“We’re delighted to once again open our doors to discussion, debate and discourse and to another five innovative companies as they each present a brand new work. It is guaranteed to be three months of exhilarating and daring theatre.”

The five new works that make up NEON in 2014 are:

Dangerous Liaisons
29 May – 8 June 2014
After tackling the sixties beach horror movie, Psycho Beach Party, and Oscar Wilde’s byzantine melodrama, Salomé, Little Ones Theatre present a deliciously queer vision that promises to be seductive, extravagant and opulently playful.

Resplendence
12 – 22 June 2014
angus cerini / doubletap delve into the nature of existence, using the international trade in weapons, drugs and humans to springboard into an expressionistic response to the world in which we live.

Photographs of A
26 June – 6 July 2014
Starring Helen Morse, Antechamber Productions & Daniel Keene present a poetic production about the 19th century medical muse and extraordinarily influential figure in modern psychology, Louise Augustine Gleizes.

The Myth Project: Twin
10 – 20 July 2014
A mix of opera-noir, cabaret and naturalistic drama, Twin is a mythic weighing of the past against the present. Featuring a large chorus ensemble from regional Australia and multiple writers, this is the first instalment of Arthur’s multi episode exploration of the Australian psyche.

Green Screen
24 July – 3 August
Part careers expo, part social experiment, Green Screen is a show about the way we work and how we are in the world. It is a passionate rumination on the relationship between doing and being, set in a room with a group of people discussing the beginning of a new nation.

Taking place across three Friday nights, NEON UP LATE will feature a series of informal readings at Southbank Theatre. Curated by MKA, Lord Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise by Morgan Rose, Triumph by Louris van de Geer and Alraune by Meredith Penman will be brought to life by a team of directors and actors selected by MKA.

NEON EXTRA will also once again feature an impressive range of free workshops, masterclasses and networking opportunities for independent theatre makers, providing valuable knowledge and insight into the arts industry.

Publicly speaking about his career in Europe and thoughts on Australian culture, Barrie Kosky will shake things up in a free keynote conversation with ABC Arts critic Alison Croggon in the Sumner.

While an eclectic mix of esteemed industry professionals, journalists, writers and arts commentators including John Safran, Patricia Cornelius, Lyn Wallis and Alice Pung will come together to tackle some thought-provoking questions that face storytellers of Australia in NEON TALKS.

For more information, visit: www.mtc.com.au/neon for details.

Image: Dangerous Liaisons – Little Ones Theatre