Silent Night

DTC Silent Night A hilarious take-no-prisoners comedy for anyone who feels a mix of terror and affection about spending Christmas with family, Darlinghurst Theatre Company presents the world premiere season of Mary Rachel Brown’s Silent Night at the Eternity Playhouse from November 2017.

Normally Christmas is a time for giving, but for the Lickfold Family it’s a time for winning! Every year for the past 12 years the Lickfolds have entered the ARCE (The Australian Regional Christmas Excellence Awards) – a Christmas lights competition that is bristling with misguided community spirit and over participation.

This year, the Lickfolds are determined to win the ARCE at any cost, but their path to electric glory is thwarted by an unexpected and unwanted Christmas guest. A comic romp, exposing the underbelly of Christmas, Silent Night explores the over consumerism, over eating, over drinking and the danger of unexamined religious beliefs lurking underneath that well hung Christmas tree.

“If you are a Christmas hater, this play has your back, it understands your pain,” says playwright, Mary Rachel Brown. “If you are a Christmas lover, come and watch those Christmas haters get their knickers in a knot. Everyone wins with this Christmas cracker.”

Directed by Australian comedy royalty, Glynn Nicholas (The Glynn Nicholas Show, The Dapto Chaser, The Big Gig), whose own comedic prowess illuminates the play’s innovative physical vocabulary. Featuring some of Australia’s finest comic actors including Michael Denkha (Here Come The Habibs!), Amanda Bishop (At Home With Julia), Richard Sydenham (The Dapto Chaser) and Aaron Glenane (Drift), Silent Night is the perfect antidote to those Christmas blues.

“I feel lucky and better looking directing Silent Night,” says Glynn Nicholas. “We have a wonderful, albeit slightly mad script written by a very funny (and highly underrated) Mary Rachel Brown and the cast all have a very good understanding of the delicate intricacies of how comedy works. Simple things like facing front, hands out of pockets and not mumbling have not been an issue.”

Mary Rachel Brown is an Australian award-winning playwright whose works for stage include: Inside Out, Die Fledermaus (Adaption), National Security And The Art Of Taxidermy, All My Sleep And Waking, The Dapto Chaser and Last Letters. Her TV credits include: The Elegant Gentleman’s Guide to Knife Fighting and Home and Away.

Brown has been the recipient of a number of national playwriting awards including the 2016 Lysicrates Prize, the 2008 Rodney Seaborn Award, the 2007 Max Affords Award and the 2006 Griffin Award, she is currently under commission with Griffin Theatre Company and The University of Wollongong.

A proud member of The Australian Writers Guild and a supporter of Women in Theatre and Screen (WITS), Brown is also under mentorship with Melbourne Theatre Company via their Women in Theatre Program. Her next production is Permission to Spin produced by Apocalypse Theatre as part of the 2018 Old Fitz Season. Silent Night was developed with the support of Playwriting Australia at the National Script Workshop 2015.

Director: Glynn Nicholas Featuring: Amanda Bishop, Michael Denkha, Aaron Glenane, Richard Sydenham Production Designer: Hugh O’Connor Lighting Designer: Richard Whitehouse Sound Designer & Composer: Ross Johnston Stage Manager: Isabella Kerdijk

Silent Night
Eternity Playhouse, 39 Burton Street, Darlinghurst
Season continues to 10 December 2017
Information and Bookings: www.darlinghursttheatre.com

Image: courtesy of Darlinghurst Theatre Company