Volatile, unpredictable, hilarious and filled with wrath, Theatre Works and Public Service Announcement Theatre presents We’re Probably Really Really Happy Right Now in a world premiere season this February.
Written by VCA Master of Writing for Performance graduate Ellen Grimshaw, We’re Probably Really Really Happy Right Now is a highly original play that defies categorisation. This octane fuelled premiere production rips apart the madness of a culture soaked in ludicrous toxicities ranging from Tall Poppy Syndrome to misogyny, and violence to power dynamics.
Under Sarah Vickery’s direction, seven of Melbourne’s finest actors play multiple personas that just want to be free to express themselves – only no one gives a shit. What do you have to say right now to be heard? What do you have to do to be seen?
Inspired by personal experience, performance art, Commedia Dell’arte and experimental dance choreography (Pina Bausch and Reza Adboh), We’re Probably Really Really Happy Right Now liberates from gender binaries, social compliance and self restraint; this incendiary reaction to absurd and fucked up notions of happiness and conformity, is oh so very out of order…
Come and see this wildly ambitious piece of postmodern theatre for yourself – it is sure to blow you away in one way or another.
Sarah Vickery is a lesbian-queer director based in Melbourne Australia. She is Artistic Director and founder of newly formed radical-queer activ(ism) theatre collective, Public Service Announcement (PSA). She is on the AccompLez Board for Ballez, a lesbian, transgender and non-binary ballet dance company based in NYC. She is also an associate artist with Alyson Campbell and Lachlan Philpott’s company wreckedAllprods.
Sarah recently completed her Masters in Directing for Performance degree at The Faculty of Fine Arts and Music (The VCA) – University of Melbourne, where she directed her graduating work of Lillian Hellman’s The Children’s Hour (2018) under the mentorship of Sarah Goodes. She also studied Directing at NIDA (studio) taught by Imara Savage and completed an advance playwriting course at Griffin Theatre company taught by Hilary Bell.
Her recent credits include PlayList (dir. Red Stitch, Trades Hall, 2019) Sarah is an associate artist with wreckedAllprods most recently at Red Stitch as Alyson Campbell’s assistant director on Lachlan Philpott’s play Colder (2018). Her other credits include Just Us Girls – What’s a Girl (co-dir. Melbourne Fringe, 2019) Unexploded Ordnance: UXO (2017/18, intern, assistant director/collaborator, Split Britches, (dir. Lois Weaver, LaMama ETC, UK Tour: The Barbican Centre, London; Take Me Somewhere Festival, Glasgow), And Then the Snow Fell on Egypt ( dir. Melbourne Fringe Festival, 2017)
Ellen Grimshaw is an actor and emerging playwright in Melbourne. She has a strong feminist perspective, which she draws on when placing comedy, absurdism and surrealism at the forefront of her work. Ellen has been in multiple independent theatre productions in Brisbane and Melbourne, and has received awards for her acting in film.
Ellen has also received several commissions for her writing and a recent scholarship from the Ian Potter Cultural Trust took her to New York to work with the prestigious Wooster Group, Elevator Repair Service, and a mentorship with playwright Sibyl Kempson.
Director: Sarah Vickery Featuring: Anjelica Angwin, Henry Kelly, Hannah Lagudah, Romaine Mcsweeney, Vivian Nguyen, Alexander Thew, Yuchen Wang Assistant Director: Dasha 97′ Sound Designer/AV Designer: Justin Gardam Lighting Designer: Gabe Bethune Costume & Set Designer: Bethany J Fellows Stage Manager: Kaite Head Assistant Stage Manager: Claudia Howarth Dramaturg: Jinghua Qian Creative Access Consultant: Jo Dunbar Producers: Ellen Grimshaw, Kaite Head, PSA Co.
We’re Probably Really Really Happy Right Now
Theatre Works, 14 Acland Street, St Kilda
Season: 25 February – 6 March 2021 (preview: 24 February)
Information and Bookings: www.theatreworks.org.au
Image: We’re Probably Really Really Happy Right Now (Supplied)
Update: please note the new performance dates for this season!