From the pre-eminent Australian novelist of his generation, The Kin Collective in association with fortyfivedownstairs presents Tim Winton’s searing drama, Shrine in a limited Melbourne premiere season from 24 May 2017.
Shrine is set above the rocky headlands of the South Coast of Western Australia, between a forest and the sea. It’s wine country, and a privileged young man, Jack, has been killed driving friends back to Perth from his parents’ beach house. Jack leaves in his wake a wreck of a father, a shadow of a mother, and the promise of a love affair that never quite happened.
A year later, Jack’s father Adam meets the small town girl, June, who shared a strange and life changing night with Jack hours before he died. Domestic heartbreak transcends into mythology in a landscape inhabited by ghosts.
“It’s a story about ordinary people enduring something which is intensely private and incredibly hard to speak of, and Shrine asks that the people who stage it, enact this, examine this, in public,” says Director Marcel Dorney. “And I think that’s really close to one of the oldest functions of drama.”
Following the resounding success of Glimpse and The Leenane Trilogy, The Kin Collective and Dorney have assembled a stellar cast including Keith Brockett (The Yellow Wave, Happy Ending), Chris Bunworth (Hook Turn, The Leenane Trilogy, Boy Out of the Country), Nick Clark (Summerfolk), Alexandra Fowler (Wentworth, Neighbours), Christian Taylor (How Can You Sleep At Night), and Tenielle Thompson (Small Brown Supporting Role).
Marcel Dorney is a playwright, screenwriter, director, and dramaturg, with 31 full-length professional credits as writer and/or director, including eleven with Elbow Room, which he co-founded upon moving to Melbourne in 2008. Marcel holds a Masters of Performance Creation (Directing) by Research from the Faculty of the VCA, University of Melbourne, where he currently teaches Concepts and Creativity. Since 2016, he has also worked as a consultant for Queensland Theatre as part of their inaugural National Artistic Team.
The pre-eminent Australian novelist of his generation, Tim Winton was born and lives in Western Australia. He has published 28 books, and the only author to have won the Miles Franklin Award four times – for Shallows, Cloudstreet, Dirt Music, and Breath – and has twice been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize (The Riders and Dirt Music).
Winton’s three plays, Rising Water, Signs of Life and Shrine all premiered at Black Swan Theatre in Perth. Rising Water had a season at MTC, and Signs of Life had a season at STC. Kin Collective’s production of Shrine is the first revival of this play.
Director: Marcel Dorney Featuring: Keith Brockett, Chris Bunworth, Nick Clark, Alexandra Fowler, Christian Taylor, Tenielle Thompson Set Design: Leon Salom Lighting Design: Kris Chainey
Shrine
fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Season: 26 May – 18 June 2017 (previews: 24 & 25 May)
Bookings: www.fortyfivedownstairs.com
For more information, visit: www.kintheatrecollective.com for details.