About the Play

A girls indoor soccer team warms up. From the safety of their suburban stretch circle, the team navigate big questions and wage tiny battles with all the vigour of a pack of adolescent warriors. A portrait of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for nine American girls who just want to score some goals.

After the fever pitch excitement of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, our team is fangin’ to cram that same fierceness and exhilaration to explode it against the walls of our black box theatre. 

CAST

#00 | Chelsea Doran & Maddi Jane Römcke

Chelsea performs the role on the 22nd - 25th of Feb, and 2nd, 3rd, 7th, and 9th of March

Maddi Jane performs the role on the 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 29th of Feb, and 1st & 8th of March

#2 | Malika Savory

#7 | Shanay De Marco

#8 | Aimee Duroux

On the Sunday 25th of Feb Matinee, the role of #8 will be played by Maddi Jane Römke.

#11 | Madeline Armit

#13 | Tainika Kane-Potaka

#14 | Emma Black

#25 | Sharnee Tones

#46 | Emily Marszalek

Soccer Mom | Stella T. Page & Doll Hunt

Stella performs the role on 15th, 17th, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 29th of Feb, and 2nd, 7th, 8th and 9th of March

Doll performs the role on 16th, 18th, 22nd of Feb, and 1st, and 3rd of March

CREW AND CREATIVES

Director | Caitlin Hill

Assistant Director | Samara Louise 

Production Assistant | Michaela Faux

Stage Manager | Carys Maguire

Composer & Sound Designer | Justin Harrison

Lighting Designer | Cale Dennis

Standby Technical Operators | Mitchell Guyatt & Claire Yorston 

Lighting and Sound Design Attachment | Madelyne Leite

Voice Coach - Rosalind Williams

Director’s Notes

My first experience with football—“Soccer!”—was as the little sister at my brother’s soccer practice. My Dad was their coach. I remember his enthusiasm when for only a fleeting moment I showed interest in joining in… and then I got distracted by grass probably or was hit in the head with a ball (the usual story). I never liked sports competition, so I pushed it away, but I remember sidelines and orange slices. I knew I was on hallowed ground.

 Football would follow me through my life, from my Dad falling asleep trying to watch games at 2AM, to dragging him out of a New York bar because he wanted to watch a match, to most recently, trying to read a book on the couch while Justin (our composer and sound designer) watched the Matildas vs les Bleues at the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Before I knew it, the book lay forgotten as I became entranced by the women playing that ferocious game. The Tie! The Shootout! I was sweating, I was rocking back and forth. I cried when Courtney Vine scored that final goal… and I was hooked. I hope you feel the same way when you watch our team perform for you tonight.

 Thank you to Fiona Kennedy, Ad Astra’s Creative Director for bringing this play to my attention after Proof ended and giving me the gift of directing it for Ad Astra’s 2024 season. Thank you always to Dan for all your help and advice. And a very extra special thanks to our Executive Producer, Gregory Wilken, who has given us so much of his free time to help, advise, and keep us on the right path. We have learned so much from you!

 To the designers: Cale Dennis and Justin Harrison.

Cale, so fun to work with you creatively. Thank you for being in sync with me right from the beginning and bringing forth beautiful, dreamy ideas of girlhood and wolf packs.

Justin, once again you have exceeded your role of composer and designer, creating a beautiful melody that has so much meaning within it, to include venue technician (installing the tech and the grass, programming, painting the line, running off to the rescue to keep our actors safe, and so so much more). I love your love for good quality theatre. Love you. And thank you both.

 To my team: Carys Maguire, Samara Louise, Michaela Faux.

Carys, thank you for coffee and being open to taking on this role and really excelling daily at it. Thank you for being there for the team, thank you for making blood and chopping oranges, and keeping the production running smoothly.

Samara, thank you for bringing joy and positivity to this production. I loved your notes and ideas and am so glad we could make them sing. I know everyone appreciated your energy and your professionalism. Thank you for backing me throughout this production.

Michaela, what a pleasure it has been to work with you. To pluck you out of uni during your graduate show week to begin the process I have experienced too, but you do it with such grace and ease that I only wish I could have. You have been there since day zero, and you have helped in so many ways: from editing and printing the marketing material, to scheduling posts and making all the Wolves content, to shopping for the production and adding the Wolf stamp to the costumes to really make them a Team! What a multi-talented individual.

Thank you all for being in my corner and fighting for this production every step of the way. I am looking forward to your careers as artists and bosses in this industry.

 To my Dream Team: The Cast.

My shining beacons in the dark. My saviours and supporters. My dance captains and sports coaches. We made this together. So many of these moments are Yours and I am so grateful for you all. It was such a joy to collaborate with you all and champion you all to keep being your most funny, most incredible, authentic selves. Is  have learned so much from you all, and I will treasure all the laugh-til-you-cry moments and actual-cry moments you made in the rehearsal room and on stage each night. Thank you for working so hard, through injuries and awful shoes, to make The Wolves a truly magical experience.

 Thank you to our invaluable and forever-kind voice coach, Rosalind Williams, and to everyone else who assisted in this production’s journey: Tom Coyle (video marketing), Maddie Armit and Greg Scurr (media), Madelyne, Claire, Mitchell, Sandra Harman and the FOH Volunteers, APRA, and 4ZZZ. 

Show Poster

Reviews

“Ad Astra scores another hit with Sarah DeLappe’s The Wolves”

Beth Keehn - Stage Whispers | Read Full Review Here

“It is exciting to see a professional theatre company focusing their energy on the development of emerging local talent in a supportive environment and I will most certainly be back for the remaining 2024 season.”

Sarah Skubala - Westender | Read Full Review Here

And under Caitlin Hill’s direction, a clear camaraderie is forged, which ultimately sees the pack of players united as their common journey unfolds.  

Meredith Walker - Blue Curtains | Read Full Review Here

The Wolves sharply captures the viciousness, vulgarity, and violence that truly accompanies teenage girlhood, and paints a picture of nine young women grappling with the largeness and unfairness of the adult world as well as the volatile day-to-day of school, friends, family, and relationships.

Backstreet Brisbane | Read Full Review

Overall, ‘The Wolves’ was an exceptional production. Starting with a script that was quietly clever and subtly moving, combined with the creative and powerful directing of Caitlin Hill and then brought together by an exceptional cast. There is not a negative comment to be made about ‘The Wolves’. It is as close to perfect as a piece of live theatre can get.

Yasmin Elahi - Queensland Stage Critics | Read Full Review Here

“What I saw was some incredible performances”

Susan and Oliver Hetherington - The Ride Home | Listen to Full Review Here

“Ad Astra’s production of The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe opened last weekend and was bolstered by strong performances and thoughtful direction.”

Bridie Middleton - Stage Door | Read Full Review Here

Cast

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Creatives & Crew

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Production Photography

Credit : Luke Mayze

About the Play

An itinerant troupe of actors attempt to outrun the Black Plague in The Amateurs, a 14th century-set play by Jordan Harrison. We are thrown into the tragicomedy of a Morality play, experiencing a version of what dominated Western theatre during the Medieval period. Complete with masks and biblical narratives these low status actors rehearse their plays. Stepping in and out of character, we are curious about where this play could take us. The arrival of a mysterious outsider sends Hollis, the leading lady, in search of answers and the14th century plague begins to look like another, more recent one. This inventive and funny new work becomes even more curious when the fourth wall is broken and out steps the playwright.

The play winds back to the tour of Italy — performing not just “Noah’s Ark,” but also those crowd pleasers “Cain and Abel” and “The Fall of Man”. It is a desperate attempt to keep a step ahead of the plague. The theatre troupe do not always succeed. “Half of everyone we’ve ever known,” says Rona, a disgruntled actor, “is in the ground now.”

CAST

Larking | Matthew Filkins

Hollis | Maddie Armit

The Physic | Isaiah Harrison

Gregory | Greg Scurr

Rona | Lia Davies

Brom | Max Phythian

CREW AND CREATIVES

Susan O'Toole Cridland | Director

Cale Dennis | Assistant Director

Laraine Griffiths | Stage Manager

Ella Bromback | Production Assistant

Russell Jensen | Lighting and Sound Designer

Kim Phillips, Tim Cridland, Dan Kennedy | Set Designer

Julia Cox | Costume Designer

Reviews

“Life, death, art, and the search for purpose twist together in Jordan Harrison’s compelling tragic comedy The Amateurs, directed by Susan O’Toole Cridland and superbly performed at Ad Astra”

Elise Lawrence - Backstreet Brisbane | Read full review here

“The theatre in-jokes abound, and Susan O’Toole Cridland directs with a fast pace that doesn’t detract from the depth of performance possible from her superb cast.”

Beth Keehn - Stage Whispers | Read full review here

“The theatre in-jokes abound, and Susan O’Toole Cridland directs with a fast pace that doesn’t detract from the depth of performance possible from her superb cast.”

Yasmin Elahi - Queensland Stage Critics | Read full review here

“The Amateurs’ is hysterical, sorrowful and thought-provoking… Under the masterful direction of Susan O’Toole Cridland, the cast of six are a force to be reckoned with.“

Lachlan Boyes - Magic Ant Network | Read full review here

Cast

Creatives & Crew

Show Poster

Director’s Notes

Early on in this process, I was talking to someone in the industry about “What I’ve been up to?”  I mentioned that I was about to direct a play called Top Girls.  They scoffed and said “Really?  Bit outdated, isn’t it?” 

 And it got me thinking.  Not how the play was outdated, but how someone could believe that issues such as classism, sexism, disparity of wealth, corporate success mongering, burnout, and femininity were outdated.  

Yes, you are about to be transported into the world of late 70’s/early 80’s England and so there may be some particular British euphemisms, phrasings, or political references that go over your head.  But at the heart, the very core of this play, the pressures of the corporate world, the insane strive for “success”, the heartbreaking stories of women, and the relationships of friends, family, and new acquaintances are universal. 

 I have yet to say the F word in reference to this play. 

Feminism.  This word has been prodded and pulled, torn about, reconstructed, utilised, weaponised, demonised, and politicised.   It has become the divine saviour of femininity and the flagship of patriarchal debate.  Feminism and even the idea of femininity is still questioned, belittled, patronised.  Made to feel inferior, weaker, more sensitive, less.  Women must squash it; men aren’t allowed to have it.   It’s still something you have to “own”.  Top Girls explores the wave of feminism we are honestly still battling. 

 You are about to witness seven feminine-identifying actors take on this mammoth endeavour.  They are backed by a team of feminine-identifying crew.  They have all put their heart, their soul, their blood (predominately mine from trying to sow curtains), their tears and their life into this work.  There have been ups and downs, swings and roundabouts, but at the end of the day, they have supported, loved, forgiven, surprised, pushed, and encouraged one another to an extent I never expected.  It has been a joy, a pleasure, a privilege.

  Everyone, Top Girls.

 MH

About the Play

Patriarchy.

It’s a big word in our society at the moment.

Set in the early 1980s, Top Girls depicts the lifestyle and life choices of its central character, Marlene. A successful career woman, who’s just received a major promotion, who indisputably fought her way to the top to get it - Marlene’s star is rising. 

To celebrate, she throws a fabulous Saturday night dinner party for herself. In attendance are not friends, family, or colleagues, but astoundingly famous women from history, literature, and legend.  The women share their extraordinary experiences of life, work, love, and children. 

Enter Marlene to Top Girls Employment Agency, a dazzling hot and prominent business in central London where Marlene has just scored the prime position.   She is Top Girl in a man’s world, but she has a sister whose life is very different. The unequivocal reality of those who have been stepped on, neglected, beaten, and cut by those who succeeded. The uncovering of their secrets reminds us of what is really important and what it is we are prepared to lose.

CAST

Aurelie Roque | Marlene

Natasha McDonald | Isabella Bird/Joyce/Louise

Jazz Zhao | Lady Nijo/Win

Anastasia Benham | Pope Joan/Mrs Kidd

Brigitte Freeme | Griselda/Janine/Nell

Chelsea Doran | Angie/Dull Gret

Emmy Moore | Waitress/Shona/Kit

CREW AND CREATIVES

Mikayla Hosking | Director

Samara Louise | Assistant Director

Lara Rix | Stage Manager

Petria Leong | Assistant Stage Manager

Xanthe Jones | Costume Designer

Claire Yorston | Lighting Designer

Rosie Richardson | Sound Designer

Reviews

"The capacity crowd of theatre-goers proves there’s an appetite for reflective drama that’s well cast and succinctly produced by a top creative team.”

Beth Keehn - Stage Whispers | Read Full Review

"The exceedingly talented women that took the stage and held the audience captive for two hours, as well as those working backstage, were the real top girls in this show. Their performances are not to be missed and this production has once again cemented Ad Astra as a major player for quality theatre in the Brisbane theatre scene.”

Yasmin Elahi - Queensland Stage Critics | Read Full Review

"Caryl Churchill’s award winning 1982 work is a beast of a play with complexity of structure and non-linear execution featuring fast-paced overlapping dialogue in its exploration of the emotional and social costs faced by women. To successfully bring such a sophisticated work to life requires well-honed performances and this production certainly does not disappoint in this regard.”

Meredith Walker - Blue Curtains Brisbane | Read Full Review

“Top Girls’ is a layered production that fully encompasses the complexities of modern Feminism. Hosking and co. have done justice to the text, holding a mirror up to what Feminism and femininity mean in an environment where the underlying issues are ongoing. Overall, Ad Astra’s production is a nuanced piece of theatre that showcases why Churchill’s work is a modern classic.”

Harrison Mills - Theatre Haus | Read Full Review

Cast

Creatives & Crew

Production Photography

Director’s Notes

“I didn’t show this to anyone else. I could have. I wanted you to be the first to see it.”

After a long time away from Queensland stages, it is interesting that David Auburn’s Tony and Pulitzer award-winning play Proof is scheduled to be performed at least three times across the independent theatre community this year. When I read this play for the first time early last year, time paused, the pages flew by, and I felt filled with electric excitement: This needs to be seen again. Has anyone done it recently...? No…? Really? Let’s bring it back now!

Why has this text lit so many creatives up recently?

Could it be because we understand the experiences of living with mental health issues better than we did in 2000? Perhaps we know better that living with a mental illness does not mean one is not deserving of love? Is it because we have seen feminist historians rewrite history over the years with the women pioneers in science, such as Katherine Johnson’s calculations that helped take us to the Moon; or Chien-Shiung Wu’s experiments that contributed to us better understanding the beginnings of the universe, and Rosalind Franklin’s discovery of molecular structures that helped us better understand ourselves? Now add the issue of Believing Women in general in this Me-Too era. What it means to take someone’s word, to not require the dehumanizing experience (I speak only of sexual misconduct matters) of evidence; to trust each other with the most personal of experiences.

You may find me reaching here, but after all we have learned over the last few years, I would like you take a moment to think about where Auburn places the disbelief in a woman’s word: after an intimate experience something precious is found by a key, given to the finder by a woman. I have tried to highlight these moments within this text for a 2023 audience to reflect on.

Finally, the ongoing issue of gender inequality in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematic fields and the further issues of opportunities for women of colour in STEM. Women made up less than a quarter of students studying STEM in 2019 and in 2022 Forbes magazine reported that women’s scholarships and awards in these fields were being eliminated to be fair to men.

Instead of despairing though about the current state of these ongoing issues I would like this play to be offered as way humans can redeem themselves. We do not give up. We take responsibility for our actions. We learn to do better.

I hope you enjoy where we have played with the perception of reality through our lighting design by the multi-talented Justin Harrison and music composed by the also multi-talented Tony Brumpton. We have aimed to put as much Math into the work as possible through utilizing patterns in the music and lighting effects. Alas, that is putting it rather simply... they are casual geniuses after all.

I am so eternally grateful to the beautiful wizard, Justin, who not only took on the lighting design but also helped rig the venue, set the grass, and build and decorate the set. Love you. I adore the intricacy of Tony Brumpton’s composed music (and all sound design) and will always adore Tony for his production guidance for this first-time director. I have learned so much from you and every production would be lucky to have you both for your dramaturgical and theatrical knowledge of what makes a show sing.

To Sam Hocking and Liam Gilliland, I will always appreciate your early enthusiasm for this production, and Sam, all the work you have done behind-the-scenes has been so helpful. Petria Leong, our Stage Manager, thank you for your work and insight and making every production we’ve worked together on at Ad Astra super sweet. Thank you to Bill Haycock for signing off on my idea for the set design and your wise adjustments; to Deidre Grace and PIP Theatre for your generosity in giving me The Boys grass for our Chicago backyard; to Ian Johnson for loading and unloading said grass (very heavy!); for Alyson Joyce and her House of Vincent and Kate Lund and her mad skills for our beautiful promotion photography; Hannah Ariotti and Sandra Harman for the backyard set; B’Elanna Hill for tech advice; and Dead Puppet Society for pretty tech things. Thank you to Marcus Oborn for the safe sound practices you provided us with and Jacqui Somerville for the safe spaces you created for us. Gregory Wilken, your patience with me forgetting everything and helping market this production: wow. Many, many thank yous! And dear Dan and Fiona Kennedy, thank you for giving me this opportunity, I hope you are proud of the work we have made, and Dan, thank you once again for helping build a beautiful world within our sweet little Ad Astra theatre.

Finally, to my beautiful cast. I wanted the best actors who made me feel calm, and no other combination out of all the beautiful auditionees but you five did that for me. I cannot list all the reasons why I love you but here are some:

Janaki Gerard: for always being joyous, digging deep, and working with me to pitch the absolute puzzle that is Catherine.

Malika Savory: for your consideration and dedication to the art of ensemble and for helping me see out of the box.

Doll Hunt: please never leave the theatre scene again. You are a true artist and I am so lucky you agreed to work with me.

Pierce Gordon: for keeping us all laughing and challenging me to get to the heart of the play always.

Aimee Duroux: for my favourite version of Claire and just being you. You have been a breeze to work with and I am so excited for folks to enjoy your work.

Thank you all so so so much for enjoying this process with me. For being so rigourous and detailed with your work (they do algebra before every performance, folks, it’s amazing!) for the long days and nights of a rather short rehearsal schedule, really. We did it. I would like to add an extra special thanks to Pierce Gordon again, for championing and inspiring me to direct my first play. Once he took on this role mid-flight to Adelaide he was on board 100% and beside me every step of the way, at every audition and call back. We’ve worked together now for a couple of years and I look forward to many more.

If you’ve got this far reading this, thank you, you’re cute and I hope you enjoy your night at the Valley’s Ad Astra.

I x2 – |x|y +y2 < 1 you.

Caitlin Hill.

Show Poster

About the Play

On the eve of her twenty-fifth birthday, Catherine, a troubled young woman, has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father, a famous mathematician. Now, following his death, she must deal with her own volatile emotions; the arrival of her estranged sister, Claire; and the attentions of Hal, a former student of her father’s who hopes to find valuable work in the 103 notebooks that her father left behind. Over the long weekend that follows, a burgeoning romance and the discovery of a mysterious notebook draw Catherine into the most difficult problem of all: How much of her father’s madness—or genius—will she inherit?

In a #MeToo era with the issue of Believing Women still a day-to-day battle, and with less than 30% of women making up Australia's STEM-qualified workforce, David Auburn's Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning play is perhaps more timely now than it was in 2001.

CAST

Catherine — Janaki Gerard

Catherine (Understudy) — Malika Savory

(The role of Catherine will performed by Janaki Gerard on June 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 29 & July 6, 7 & 8 and Malika Savory on June 24, 25 and July 2.)

Robert — Doll Hunt

Hal — Pierce Gordon

Claire — Aimee Duroux

CREATIVES

Director — Caitlin Hill

Production Assistant — Sam Hocking

Composer — Tony Brumpton

Vocal Coach — Marcus Oborn

Photography — Kate Lund

Stage Managers — Petria and Ebony Leong

Intimacy Co-ordinator - Jacqui Somerville

THANKS TO

Justin Harrison, Bill Haycock, Alyson Joyce and House of Vincent studio

Reviews

‘Proof’ is a perfect mix of intelligence and creative art. It goes beyond just the words on the page and has created a modern production extremely relevant for today’s society. Hill has touched on these issues beautifully through this multilayered, and intriguing production. The end result is a piece of theatre that transcends our world into the history books. This production will be a favourite around Southeast Queensland for audience members.

Jake Goodall - Theatre Haus | Read more

The team have created such a high energy, dynamic piece. The characters are all distinct and they intertwine and connect seamlessly.

Sarah McNally - Nothing Ever Happens in Brisbane | Read more

Caitlin Hill has pulled together an incredibly strong cast, each one of whom brought wonderful energy to this production. All of the cast worked well off each other; there was an ease and familiarity that allowed these characters to feel fleshed out and able to exist in the world of ‘Proof’ together.

Grace Swadling - Theatre Travels | Read more

First-time director Caitlin Hill gives David Auburn’s 20-year old award-winning play Proof a radiant remake with a cast sent from heaven.

Beth Keehn - Stage Whispers | Read more

Caitlin Hill’s directorial debut of “Proof” is one of obvious intelligence, but also a compassion that transcends the work’s complex plot to an emotional audience connection. She maintains the seeming simplicity of the well-written work through use of a single set, yet also leans into the craftedness of its exploration of the nature of genius (and its vicinity to madness), with touch on bigger issues such as male chauvinism and the continuing gender inequality and lack of opportunities for women of colour in STEM. The result is a multi-layered, fascinating and often quite beautiful piece of light and shade as its heavy topics around the effects of mental health struggles are tempered by moments of laughter, often from Hal’s awkwardness and between-sister banter. The resulting combination of on-point performances from a stellar cast and considered creative aspects makes for a dynamic, intelligent piece of theatre to both provoke and entertain Brisbane audiences who have not seen this work on stage in many years.

Meredith Walker - Blue Curtains | Read more

Cast

Creatives & Crew

Production Photography

Matildas

Director’s notes

Bakersfield Mist is a battle between polar opposites: Maude Gutman, who believes she has acquired a Jackson Pollock in a Bakersfield junk shop and engages an eminent art critic from NYC to assess it; and Lionel Percy, whose job is to flush out fakes as he finds them, and is determined to deny authenticity to this painting. At the heart of the play though, is a journey to a reversal of sorts. Bit by bit these characters are changed by each other; the urbane and intellectual scholar who lives in his "head" versus the raw and feisty ex- bartender who won't be side-lined or looked down on by her "betters". Bit by bit they are changed by each other: he softens and opens up and she starts to understand the spiritual power of Art. The play is an advocate for the wonders of all art forms and their transcendental ability to inspire and sustain us.

 The pleasure of directing a piece of theatre is the slow building of layers in an empty space which starts with the director and the designer and gradually adds all the elements to make a whole: lighting, sound, set, props, fight choreography and of course, two very accomplished actors, Fiona Kennedy and Steven Grives.

I've been lucky enough to have Bill Haycock to create this wonderful version of trailer park life, and Geoff Squires to light it. Bakersfield Mist is so-called realism but that doesn't mean it it's a free for all of everyday living. To extract true meaning from a play means the production must incorporate all the art forms really:  words, music, dance, form, architecture, painting. Together, all of us work with these elements towards the distillation of the play's truthful essence so that it can reveal its themes and provide a thought- provoking and amusing experience for an audience.

I'd like to thank Ad Astra for giving us the opportunity to work in this small black box, as well as provide both an actress - Fiona - and a set builder- Dan- to help bring Bakersfield Mist to life.

Thank you also to Cale Dennis and Greg Scurr - our Stage Manager and Assistant Director respectively- for being excellent fellow- travellers.

Jennifer Flowers

Designer’s notes

Bakersfield Mist has offered some great design challenges. From the earliest discussions with Jennifer, we knew we wanted to create a believable world for Maude, our central character…a space brimming with exuberant detail and her life, crammed densely with her bravado and pain intertwined. It literally took months to carefully find and collage together Maude’s world - her scripted passions - drinking, her beloved son but we evolved a few other more random ones… elephants, owls, flamingos that spoke to her obsessive nature and her dreams. We wanted a desert hotbox - a sanctuary home for Maude but something unsettling and foreign to Lionel.

Over the years I’ve been privileged to work again and again in the same spaces - exploring them afresh with each new play and director - the original La Boite, the original QPAC Cremorne, the Princess when TN! Theatre Company was resident. I’ve similarly enjoyed pushing this tiny intimate Ad Astra space around in different ways - columns to break up the space but ironically make it seem larger for Red, Depression era evocation, textures and illusion for Of Mice and Men (both immeasurably helped by the brilliant lighting of David Walters), the mix of detailed naturalism and stylisation of A Life in the Theatre and now this heightened naturalistic world of Maude’s.This time we’re so fortunate that the brave, talented (and very busy) lighting designer Geoff Squires chose to come on the ride, even taking on the challenge of my claustrophobic ceiling.

Maude’s Pollock painting was another fascinating design and execution challenge - evoke his work well enough but try and leave the decision as to authenticity up to the viewer. I immersed myself in his work and photographs and videos of him working - the meat of Lionel’s wonderful speech about his methods and innovation…and came to appreciate the heady mix of release and control his paintings require to paint and achieve their energy and balance. The series he did in the early fifties are, I think some of his best - ‘Lavender Mist’, ‘One: Number 31’ and so on. There was also the ‘real Maude’ Teri Horton painting to look at and so I drew from each for ‘my’ Pollock.

Bill Haycock

About the Play

Bakersfield Mist is inspired by the true story of a retired long-haul trucker in California, Teri Horton, who went hunting for a gag present for her depressed friend. She found and bought a big painting of drips and splurges and squiggles, in a junk shop. She paid five dollars for the "masterpiece" and, after her friend rejected it, added it to a garage sale. This was where it was seen by an art teacher, who thought it might be a Jackson Pollock, the mid 20th century abstract expressionist. So began an extraordinary determination to have the painting authenticated and, perhaps sold for millions of dollars. The most famous of the experts who came to view the picture was Thomas Hoving, a one-time Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is the meeting of these two characters which forms the basis of this play, albeit with different character names.

Steven Sachs has written a taut, sometimes hilarious, sometimes fraught drama about this encounter which becomes a battle of class, education, common sense versus experience, fake versus real- with two larger than life characters who refuse to shift their perspectives;  his- that the picture is a fake; hers- that the picture is genuine. It's an excellent  vehicle for two virtuoso performers and takes the audience on a roller coaster ride throughout the entire 90 minutes of its duration.

Warning

This production includes: Use of herbal cigarettes, coarse language and sexual references, depictions of violence, mentions of suicide.

CAST

Maude Gutman - Fiona Kennedy

Lionel Percy - Steven Grives

CREW

Director - Jennifer Flowers

Assistant Director/Sound Design - Greg Scurr

Stage Manager/Production Assistant - Cale Dennis

Lighting and Sound Tech - Cale Dennis/Duncan Shipley-Smith

Lighting Design - Geoff Squires

Set & Costume Design - Bill Haycock

Set Construction - Dan Kennedy

Show Poster

Reviews

“Fiona Kennedy was dynamic as Maude Gutman, her comedic rough edges balanced by her unpretentious sincerity. Grives’ performance as Lionel Percy was expressive, and there were many moments of engaging silence, including his first viewing of the painting, as the audience watched his face closely for changing expressions. This kind of close-up storytelling is only possible in intimate theatres like Ad Astra, where it can be utilised and appreciated by an audience in such close proximity to the stage.”

Backstreet Brisbane | Read more

“Ad Astra’s talented cast have brought Bakersfield Mist to life on stage, through different vocal and physical levels, pace and timing, and have highlighted the poignant aspects of the play. It leaves the audience riveted. Congratulations to Jennifer Flowers and cast!!”

Lilian Harrington - Absolute Theatre | Read more

“The culture clash provides a wonderful canvas for the performers who use their wit and timing to keep things moving. The 90-minute single act whizzes by too soon!”

Beth Keehn - Stage Whispers | Read more

“Energised and engaging, Ad Astra’s rendition of Bakersfield Mist is a playful exploration of how art can affect the human experience and how the human experience can in turn affect art.”

Annabel Gilbert - Theatre Haus | Read more

Cast

Creatives & Crew

Behind the Scenes

Director’s Notes

A phrase that comes to my mind when first thinking of the art of theatre-making, is theatre is a blue-collar job. A phrase many wouldn’t normally associate with the arts, with the art form of theatre seemingly having been around for as long as time itself.

This is something that David Mamet highlights and pinpoints regularly in A Life in the Theatre. He paints a gorgeous, nostalgia-fuelled tapestry of the meticulous inner-workings of a long-standing repertory theatre company. This is where we meet Robert, a savvy veteran performer, who is facing the latter years of his illustrious career, and John, a young up and coming actor who has travelled from the US seeking truth and prosperity when it comes to his craft. We follow these two men through a tumultuous season of highs and lows.

A Life in the Theatre explores many themes, yet one that continues to break through, is a search for meaning. It highlights what we all felt one way or another through the trying time that was the first waves of Covid-19. Jutting things into perspective for us all. Forcing everyone to ask themselves those pertinent questions: what is the meaning of this thing called life? And what is important in life?

This creation process has been just incredible from top to bottom. Having worked with Jesse Richardson and Francis McMahon as Assistant Director on Of Mice and Men during 2021, I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to direct them in this piece. I will forever appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with them on this challenging project. Francis has worn multiple hats through this project, having built the entire set and being a key collaborator in every department of this production. I appreciate his hard work, commitment, and overall vision. This project isn’t what it is without Francis McMahon. For Jesse, I can only imagine how daunting it is as an award-winning film director to take on the challenge of returning to the stage after a lengthy absence. But he has done it with charm and a generosity of spirit. As an emerging director I have learned so much in the room from Jesse, and I will forever appreciate the advice and support that he brought to every rehearsal. Like all theatre-making, it’s been hard at times but immensely rewarding and I couldn’t have done anything without this incredible team.

My talented assistant director, Caitlin Hill, was my right-hand man through this process and brought a keen director’s eye to the rehearsal room that could not be replicated. She was integral in giving this show life, she supported not only me but our entire team in seeing out this collaborative vision, making this show what it is.

Bill Haycock, not only built the world of A Life in the Theatre but was a huge help in mining key moments from the script. He has been a joyous presence in the room throughout the entirety of the rehearsal process, and we appreciate his specificity and knowledge of theatre history.

Nathaniel Knight, made the world aglow and made our set come alive. And we appreciate him giving so much of his time, during his busy schedule.

Ben Lynskey, who not only helped us market the show but was influential in the orchestration of the soundscape of the show.

To our Stage Manager, Petria Leong, and ASM, Ebony Leong. We thank you for your time and dedication to this project. This show doesn’t run without you two.

The production team would also like to thank the following people for their contributions to this project: Fraser Smith, Glenda Johnson, Trevor Huttley, Rosa Hirakata, Maria Cleary, Sophia Drakos, Brisbane Arts Theatre, Denise Richardson, Ballet Theatre of Queensland, Justin Harrison, Geoff Squires, Daryl Sparkes, David Walters, Kristy Sexton and Dan and Fiona Kennedy and the entire Ad Astra Executives and Constellation Team.

The Theatre Industry, like any other, still has its social and political issues to wrestle. Written in the 1970s, it’s interesting to see how much has changed (the death rattles of repertory theatre) to how much has not (gender equity and the treatment of women in positions of power), we preserve this text not to perpetuate these issues but to highlight the need to continue tackling them.

This production was an absolute blast and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did making it.

We’ll see you in the foyer!

About the Play

West End. Broadway. Brisbane…

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of “Glengarry Glen Ross” comes a hilarious and heartwarming tale of two actors exploring the meaning of life.

Legendary stage actor, Robert (Francis McMahon, “Elvis” “Ticket to Paradise”), takes aspiring stage actor, John (Jesse Richardson, “A Godless Country” “Elvis”), under his not-so-benevolent wing as they traverse a season of plays, bars, and gigantic egos…

A must-see comedic experience which will have you laughing out loud whilst tugging at your heartstrings…

“Possibly the best play of the year…” — Anonymous

Cast

John - Jesse Richardson

Robert - Francis McMahon

Creatives

Director - Pierce Gordon

Production Design - Bill Haycock

Lighting Design - Nathaniel Knight

Sound Design - Ben Lynskey

Assistant Director - Caitlin Hill

Stage Manager - Petria Leong

Assistant Stage Manager - Ebony Leong

Photography - Fraser Smith

Show Poster

Reviews

“It has been a long time since I have laughed so much in the theatre as in the first show of Ad Astra’s 2023 season “A Life in the Theatre”. The very entertaining 80-minute two-hander is especially so for theatre folk, given that the hilarious and heart-warming tale is of two actors exploring the meaning of life.”

Meredith Walker - Blue Curtains Brisbane | Read full review

“Quirky, thought-provoking and tantalizing, Ad Astra is noted for its boutique productions that just tap into different concerns that affect our society..”

Lilian Harrington | Absolute Theatre | Read full review

“Overall, ‘A Life in the Theatre’ is a comedic and intimate look behind the curtain at the life of actors. For those in the industry, it is a must see as it rings true to the lives of so many performers. Ad Astra’s production, under the talented direction of Gordon, was an incredibly professional, polished and captivating show. A must see for anyone that has ever wondered what happens backstage in the theatre.”

Yasmin Elahi - Theatre Travels | Read full review

“An absurd satire and love letter to theatre, director Pierce Gordon brought the text to life with such nuance; acknowledging the slice of the theatre industry it represents and finding parallels to contemporary theatre practices.”

Virag Dombay - Nothing Ever Happens in Brisbane | Read full review

Cast

Creatives & Crew

Behind the Scenes

Professional photography by I am Fraser

Director’s Notes

“We’re all going to go crazy, living this epidemic every minute, while the rest of the world

goes on out there, all around us, as if nothing is happening, going on with their own lives and

not knowing what it’s like, what we’re going through. We’re living through war, but where

they’re living its peacetime, and we’re all in the same country”.

The Normal Heart reminds us that behind every government decision, or lack thereof, or public prejudice, there is a human person…someone who perhaps needlessly suffers, and in this case – a whole community who can be ignored. What does it take for those who don’t fit into the accepted societal stereotypes, to be heard, seen, and cared for? We have all experienced the , care, and financial assistance of governments throughout the COVID pandemic. It is shocking to juxtapose this alongside the horror of the AIDS pandemic and the sluggish inaction worldwide, born out of deep fear and bigotry towards the gay community.

We are rightly outraged by the prejudice and angered by the discrimination that Larry Kramer has exposed and so carefully crafted into his largely autobiographical work, The Normal Heart. Stories like this must be told and retold, in the hope that we learn from our past to forge a brighter future. The medium of theatre allows us to do this in a very real and present way, and our little black box demands that you are right there in the action. We hope that you are also drawn into the world of Ned Weeks, that you feel his frustration, his passion and of course, his heart. His love for Felix, and the relationship that grows out of this, is the fighting breath of this play.

We are honoured to welcome many new, talented faces to the Ad Astra stage. We are especially excited to meet and work with Madeleine Little – herself a wheelchair user – in the shared role of Emma Brookner. Madeleine is not only a skilled actor, she is also an advocate for performers with disabilities, and is working with Ad Astra to encourage a more accessible space. We look forward to what this will bring to the company in future.

Every member of this incredible cast has dug deep, confronted their own place in the larger narrative, and bravely offered huge parts of themselves as they have come to know and embody the characters of The Normal Heart. We acknowledge what a privilege it is to be trusted to shape the experience, skill, and heart of each one of our actors into this beautiful play. Our biggest love and gratitude to Caitlin, Cale, B’Elanna, Gregory, Felix, Madeleine, Janelle, Sam, Rad, Mathew, Tom, Liam and Luke. Thank you for being brave enough to come on the journey.

We hope you enjoy the show.

Michelle & Anna

About the play

“The Normal Heart was first presented on 21 April 1985 at the Public Theatre in New York City, New York, in a New York Shakespeare Festival Production, produced by Joseph Papp.”

Fierce, powerful and heart breaking. What is a pandemic like when it’s affecting a minority - it’s like being in a war when the rest of the world is at peace. Deafening silence from Government, the media and even your own brother…..

We look into the world through the eyes of Jewish American author, Ned Weeks, the gay founder of a prominent HIV advocacy committee. Ned is loud, confrontational and passionate about getting the message out about this disease while around him his friends are dying and the various government bodies are silent. He is faced with a hostile government even a hostile gay community.

Dr. Emma Brookner, a physician and survivor of polio, as a consequence of which she is using a wheelchair, is the most experienced with this strange new outbreak and bemoans the lack of medical knowledge on the illness, encouraging the abstinence of gay men for their own safety, since it is unknown yet even how the disease is spread.

Ned, a patient and friend of Brookner, calls upon his lawyer brother, Ben, to help fund his crisis organization; however, Ben's attitude toward his brother is to give merely passive support, ultimately exposing his apparent homophobia.

For the first time in his life, meanwhile, Ned falls in love, beginning a relationship with New York Times writer Felix Turner.

This play is passionate, witty, argumentative, heartbreaking, funny and so much more. It is over 30 years since it first hit the stages of the world to critical acclaim, 40 years since the start of the AIDS epidemic and more than a year since the passing of playwright Larry Kramer. At a time when we have just seen the world come together, governments move mountains and love and compassion abound, this story speaks of a completely different response.

Creatives

Cast

Ned Weeks - Gregory J Wilken

Felix Turner - Felix Jarvis

Dr Emma Brookner - Madeleine Little and Janelle Bailey

(The role of Dr Emma Brookner will performed by Madeleine Little on Nov 3, 4, 6, 10, 17, 18, 19, 25, 26 and 27 and Janelle Bailey on Nov 5, 11, 12, 13, 20, 24 and Dec 1)

Bruce Niles - Sam Hocking

Mickey Marcus - Mathew Alec Costin

Tommy Boatwright - Rad Valance

Ben Weeks - Luke O’Neill

Hiram Keebler, David and Examining Doctor - Tom Harwood

Craig Donner/Grady - Liam Wallis

Creatives

Directors - Michelle Carey & Anna Loren

Producer - Gregory J Wilken

Assistant Director & Costumer - Caitlin Hill

Assistant Producer & Stage Manager - Cale Dennis

Lighting Design and Tech - B’Elanna Hill

Artists - Charlotte Trevaskes, Cale Dennis, B’Elanna Hill

Photography - Christopher Sharman, Colin Bushell

Intimacy Coaching - Michelle Miall

Interviews

Two very different theatre companies in Adelaide and Brisbane will mount productions this year of The Normal Heart – Larry Kramer’s powerful play set in 1980’s New York at Ground Zero of the AIDS crisis. Beth Keehn explores why the play still resonates today and interviews Gregory J Wilken, Executive Producer of Ad Astra Theatre Company and Mitchell Butel, Artistic Director of State Theatre Company South Australia who are both playing the central lead role of Ned Weeks.

Beth Keehn - Stage Whispers | Read Interview

“It is approximately 40 years since this was first performed, and now is the perfect time for it to be retold when people have witnessed all that was done by governments and communities to fight COVID-19 compared to what didn’t happen when a virus hit a community that many felt deserved it”.

Frooty Magazine | Read Interview

Reviews

There is something to be said for a small theatre, the closeness and the proximity to the performers delivers an experience more captivating than your average night at the theatre. Couple this with a powerful text and a talented cast and any audience member will be moved more than they could have imagined. Such is the case for Ad Astra’s performance of 'The Normal Heart'. With an ensemble cast of 9 in a theatre built for just over 40 guests this performance is powerful, poignant, and unmissable.

Michael James - Frooty Magazine | Read full review

While it may be a harrowing true story, in Ad Astra’s hands the drama of “The Normal Heart” is gripping and also inspirational. The play is a long one, but it is absolutely absorbing throughout as it presents us with several sides of its issues. Its unflinching look at a horrific time in our history will wring you out and leave you battered in way only live theatre can.

Meredith Walker - Blue Curtains Brisbane | Read full review

Ad Astra continue to surprise and impress with their versatile theatre space and high calibre acting, presenting a highly polished and deeply moving performance of The Normal Heart that celebrated the staunch activism and advocacy of the time and mourned the lives lost with equal vigour.

Elise Lawrence - Backstreet Brisbane | Read full review

Ad Astra’s new production of The Normal Heart opened to a sold-out crowd who were visibly moved by Larry Kramer’s heart-breaking autobiographical play.

Beth Keehn - Stage Whispers | Read full review

The strongest component of the show was the stellar cast.

Annabel Gilbert - TheatreHaus | Read full review

Ad Astra have staged The Normal Heart in a simplistic and slick style, directed by Michelle Carey and Anna Loren. The cast, led by experienced actor, Gregory Wilken as Ned Weeks, are confident and compelling.

Lilian Harrington - Absolute Theatre | Read full review

Annual Reviewer Favourites Lists

Show Posters

CAST

Creatives & Crew

Behind the scenes

Awards

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: WINNER

Madeleine Little & Janelle Bailey (Ad Astra)

Role : Dr Emma Brookner

This play is produced by our Astra Nova youth and scriptwriting division.

Learn More

About the show

Terry Schmidt Jr, a traveling pawn shop salesman for Schmidt’s Pawn and Laundry. He finds himself working his way down the east coast of Australia. T.J is becoming more and more infatuated with this lifestyle as the months sail on. He's in with the wind one minute and gone with it the next.

The women, the drink, responsibilities only seem to be a construct at the best of times. This all comes to a careening halt when he learns that his father., Terry Schmidt Sr, owner and operator of Schmidt's Pawn and Laundry has disappeared without a trace. Terry Jr is forced to trudge his way back up to Brisbane. And with the help of some colourful characters help get to the bottom of his father's disappearance.

Show Poster

Actors

Creatives & Crew

Reviews

There is something to be said about a piece that doesn’t attempt to reel you in with flashy set pieces or technical grandiosity, that instead lets its script, actors and situations stand for themselves. ‘Why Young Men Run At 2am’ almost feels like an Australian comedy of manners, a drawing room comedy a la ‘The Importance of Being Earnest.’

Liam Hartley - TheatreHaus | Read full review

Why Young Men Run at 2am had a little bit of everything – romance, betrayal, comedy, absurdity, mystery – but at its heart was a story about forging your own path, played out by a cast of memorable, lovably dysfunctional characters with plenty of laughs.

Backstreet Brisbane | Read full review

“Why Men Run at 2am” begins with a bang, or rather banging… and sawing… and drilling … as Knoll (Tom Coyle) reinforces the doors to the pawn shop setting of the dark comedy. The barricading in response to a recent robbery is interrupted by appearance of travelling pawn shop salesman Terry Schmidt Jrn, or TJ (Lachlan Engeler). TJ hasn’t set foot in his father’s shop in months, but is back in Brisbane to help to get to the bottom of his father’s disappearance for days without a trace, with help from the shop’s colourful cast of characters. Thus, the trope of an unseen character sets up the direction of the narrative against the tapestry of its richly detailed setting.

Meredith Walker - Blue Curtains | Read full review

Part of the charm is the Brisbane setting and acutely funny characters with a sharp script generously smattered with laugh-out-loud one-liners. Perhaps growing up in Detroit, Pierce has an outside perspective on hearing the Aussie vernacular and witticisms. He certainly has honed his own unique take on local humour. I love it. And he has assembled a dream cast to interpret his characters.

Beth Keehn - Stage Whispers | Read full review

Behind the Scenes

School Workshops

Ad Astra celebrates a strong, ongoing collaboration with the Queensland Education Community.  As a result of the positive responses to our schools’ workshop program for The Laramie Project in 2021, we are continuing to develop targeted workshops for students and teachers of Drama and English. Many of our past and current performers and collaborators have worked as teachers and have first hand experience of the pressures and intricacies of the current curricula. The aims of our schools’ collaborations are:

• To offer a real-world experience of live theatre

• To support and extend elements of the Queensland curricula and,

• To entertain, uplift and challenge you!

Michelle Carey

Ad Astra Executive Team - Education & Industry

Contact Me
For more information about our education programs, please get in touch.

Directors Notes

When I first read the script for Marvin’s Room I was immediately taken back to a series of experiences which were part of my own journey with my mother in her final illness. I wondered how universal the impact of that kind of memory might  be. Then when this cast encountered the script, I watched with interest as they each found their own resonance with an experience as a carer, family member, friend or artist in and around the content of this deceptively domestic drama. It is a rich vein of humanity that Scott McPherson has mined here, and I doubt anyone will leave the theatre without echoes of their own encounters with similar situations. 

The domesticity of the scenarios in this work are actually its strength. We are all going to recognise an interaction with a sibling, a parent, a doctor or some kind of bureaucrat. And we will also recognise the way tragic or dramatic events are always leavened with laughter at some ridiculousness of life. 

The cast of Marvin’s Room have been a gift to direct and have formed their own family for this season. I truly appreciate their dedication to finding their character’s voices and places in the story of Marvin’s family. Marvin is like the playwright for us – he is present, yet somehow gone. There is wisdom left behind, some quirks, some unfinished business and a legacy of love. 

We should all be so lucky to have this. In the words of Marcus Aurelius “Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun.”

PLEASE NOTE : during the performance, there will be strobe lighting effects used.

About Marvin’s Room

Set in Florida, Marvin’s Room is a bittersweet and at times acerbic and darkly humorous study of a family learning to love the ties that bind. A seriocomedy, this play will resonate with anyone who has dealt with issues of aging, mortality and caring.

The script received a number of Drama Desk awards, and the play has had several Broadway runs. In 1996 it was adapted as a film of the same name, with a cast that included Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton, and Leonardo DiCaprio. Keaton received an Academy Award Best Actress nomination for her performance as Bessie.

A story that throws together characters who are dealing with aging, estrangement, mental illness, carer fatigue, and ties that bind a family; this play has a heart that is visible only once you excavate the layers of frustration, conflict, nostalgia, habit and façade which are the everyday stuff of life for all families.

Bessie lives in Florida, where she moved to care for her father Marvin who “has been dying for twenty years” and her aunt Ruth, who has been crippled with back pain until a recent ‘cure’ which involved an electronic implant (with an occasional inconvenient side effect of opening the garage door). Bessie is now facing her own difficult diagnosis, so she needs to call on help from her long-estranged sister Lee. Brash Lee arrives with both real and metaphorical baggage, including her two sons – 17-year-old Hank who is on leave from a mental institution following an incident that burned down several houses, and 14-year-old Charlie, withdrawn and isolated.

The renegotiation of relationships, boundaries, and roles challenges both women. After twenty years in the self-imposed roles of the ‘martyr’ and the ‘wild one’; the siblings have to return to the origins of their division in order to move forward in a new look family. The challenges of Hank’s criminal tendencies and Ruth’s eccentricities derail and divert their attempts to reshape their family at times, while the one constant in their lives – the unseen presence of Marvin – ties them together, against a background of dealing with a range of odd and dubious medical professionals.

Comedy and pathos are balanced and intertwined in this family drama which somehow captures the complexity of modern family relationships. As Lee says to Hank “My feelings for you…are like a big bowl of fishhooks. I can’t just pick them up one at a time. I pick up one, they all come”.

CREATIVES AND CREW

Director and Sound Design – Roslyn Johnson

Assistant Director & Stage Manager - Meg-Louise Snieder

Lighting Design - Donovan Wagner

Set Design & Construction - Ian Johnson

CAST

Bessie - Fiona Kennedy

Lee - Elise Lamb

Ruth - Phillipa Bowe

Hank - Jayden McGinlay

Charlie - Kieran McGinlay

Dr Wally - Tom Harwood

Dr Charlotte/Retirement Home Director - Marita McVeigh

Bob & Marvin’s voice - Nicholas Sayers

Show Poster

Reviews

“Marvin’s Room is a weirdly surreal, sometimes soapish drama: it’s about rebelling against your family history, but also about gracefully accepting the cards you’ve been dealt. One commentator called its style “absurdism shot through with compassion”. It is colourful, sad, but mostly funny. On its surface is a human drama (albeit black comedy), but its subconscious themes of caring, complicated family love, and unfulfilled potential will resonate – and don’t be surprised if the play creeps up on you the next day. It may even make you cry.”

Beth Keehn - Stage Whispers | Read full review

“Marvin’s Room was warm, funny, and moving, balancing the heavy themes of the work with small, close moments of absurdity and earnest emotion..”

Backstreet Brisbane | Read full review

“Directed by Roslyn Johnson, Ad Astra’s Marvin’s Room is enthralling from top to bottom. This rendition of Scott McPherson’s famous play is something magical. Marvin’s Room remains as a fantastic realism play commenting on the trials and tribulations of life.”

Jake Goodall - Bravo Brisbane | Read full review

“Oh life is bigger, it’s bigger than you,” REM’s ‘Losing My Religion’ reminds us along with the character of Hank during Scott McPherson’s 1990 comedy-drama “Marvin’s Room”. It is one of many song snippets that serve to barometer the emotions of the story in Ad Astra’s production of the bittersweet tale.”

Meredith Walker - Blue Curtains | Read full review

Actors

Creatives & Crew

Behind the Scenes

Director’s Notes

Willem Dafoe once said, “Great theatre is about challenging how we think and encouraging us to fantasise about a world we aspire to” I can’t help but agree. Going to the theatre can be so many things. An escape. An appreciation of artists. A chance to see a whole new world come to life in front of us. An invitation into someone else’s life, memories, stories, and emotions. But of all these great and wonderful things, I always think that theatre should be the beginning of a conversation – the journey shouldn’t end as we walk out the theatre door and into the foyer. The conversation can continue on the way home, the next day, or weeks afterward. It should stick with us, create memories, and inspire us to see more theatre and art.

For me, Ruby Moon is a perfect example of a show that should start said conversation. At face value, the premise of the story is simple. A young girl goes missing and her parents are desperate for answers. In a state where the memory of Daniel Morcombe is never far from our minds when we hear of a report of a missing child, we can all relate to this terror. But you dig deeper, and this explores the complex nature of grief, tragedy, unimaginable fear, guilt, suspicion, judgment and anger. We look into our perception of the people that surround us, and how an event such as this can change that. What once may have been seen as innocence is now seen as depravity – what was good, now evil. And how does our memory of these events and actions continue to change our perception over time? Imagine reliving the worst day of your life over and over and over again.

Crossing the genres of Realism, Absurdism, Australian Gothic and Magic Realism allows us to explore what can happen when the lines between reality, memory, and fantasy are blurred. The additional combination of music, sound, dim lighting, and an aged but eerie set all play a huge part in bringing this story to life. If you dare to get close enough to the wallpaper, you’ll see details that reflect all the characters we meet along the way. Most of the dolls, dressings, and pieces you see in the room belong to members of this production and all come with their own history bringing an extra element of nostalgia and sentiment.

This show simply does not work without fearless, committed, flexible and talented actors. I have been extremely blessed to work with Gary and Sandra on this show – and I thank them for their trust and their patience throughout all of my ‘I just want to make one more change’ moments as this show evolved. Working on this production has pushed us all outside of our comfort zones and I am forever grateful for that.

Here’s to creating more conversations in Brisbane.

EXTRA CREDIT

Final Song – performed and recorded by Tallis Tutunoa

Photographs on Set – Christopher Sharman Photography

SPECIAL THANKS

Adsignz Creative Visuals

Tallis Tutunoa

Barbara Schofield

Jim Haworth

Karen Crone

DISCLAIMER

Please note that this show contains sexual references and adult themes.

About the play

It begins like a fairytale...

In Flaming Tree Grove, life appears to be picture perfect. Security and privacy are coveted and seclusion is its own reward, until the day when little Ruby Moon sets off to visit her grandmother at the end of the cul-de-sac and is never seen again.

The neighbourhood fractures into grief and suspicion in the search for answers to a terrible deprivation and potential crime. Ray and Sylvie Moon struggle to come to terms with the disappearance of their six year old daughter, and hoping to trigger someone’s memory of having seen Ruby they keep a child mannequin who is dressed in the same clothes Ruby was last seen in.

The case has long gone cold, and they are almost ready to give up hope when a parcel containing the arm of Ruby’s doll arrives on their doorstep. Desperate for answers, they go up and down the street to re-interview their eccentric neighbours, any of whom could be responsible, including a bible-thumping elderly woman, an ex-soldier who still lives with his mother, Ruby’s creepy babysitter and even a mad scientist. The strangest of all is “The Wizard” – a former runaway who returned home to find his parents had moved away. He is never seen, but will often knock on the Moons' door.

Haunted by their missing child, Ray and Sylvie descend further into a nightmarish world where the boundaries between the real and imaginary become increasingly blurred.

Where is Ruby and who knows what happened to her? Did she ever exist?

Written by Matt Cameron in 2003, Ruby Moon is a contemporary play that explores the grim mythology of the missing child in Australian folklore, about the prevailing fear of our times and looks at the nature of that unease that lurks in the world that we live in. It combines elements of absurdism, gothic horror, black comedy, and fairy tales with the paranoia of post-9/11 suburbia as well as drawing inspiration from real-life headlines about missing children.

CREATIVES AND CREW

Director – Susan O'Toole-Cridland

Assistant Director - Yasmin Elahi

Stage Manager – Petria Leong & Cale Dennis

Lighting Design - B'Elanna Hill

Sound Design - Theo Bourgoin

Costume and Set Design - Kim Phillips

CAST

Ray Moon - Gary Farmer-Trickett

Silvie Moon - Sandra Harman

Show Posters

Actors

Creatives & Crew

Reviews

“Ruby Moon is a dialogue on grief, loss, and the intensity of building emotion. Finding moments of fleeting familiarity in an increasingly unknown world is a difficult task, but director Susan O’Toole-Cridland delved deep into this dark matter. Audience are rewarded with an intricate, timeless, and transformative performance.”

Siobhan - Mystify | Read full review

“This production is a modern take on a theme that needs to be heard .It flowed well and it had energy and a dynamism that held audience interest. The detail given in Ruby Moon is effective, but it leaves an audience with some questions; it is a production not to be missed and it will lead to some post play discussion!”

Lilian Harrrington - Absolute Theatre | Read full review

“Ad Astra’s chilling, atmospheric production of Ruby Moon draws the audience into Ray and Sylvie’s living room to wait and wonder with them, as they try again and again to unravel what could have happened to their little girl.”

Backstreet Brisbane | Read full review

“These are the kind of shows that theatres should venture towards. It left the audience feeling helpless, but more importantly, it made them talk. It shined a light on guilt and mental health unapologetically, as only theatre can do. As a result of that, people asked questions about the twists, they gave their opinion and related it to their own experience. Theatre is a reflection on life, and sometimes it’s ugly. With this production, Ad Astra has masterfully brought a weighted piece to the stage. We strongly recommend catching Ad Astra’s production of ‘Ruby Moon’.”

Aaron Evans | Theatre Haus | Read full review

Reviewer Annual Favourite Lists

Behind the Scenes

Directors Notes

I wanted to direct this play because the action involves two people trying to recover, trying to become whole again and to accept the risk of forming a relationship after profound hurt and loss.  They experience an extreme form of "cabin fever", surrounded by an Alaskan blizzard outside and living through the "black hole" of personal crisis inside themselves. 

 The playwright, Cindy Lou Johnson includes a poem in the published version of the play called "Individuation"  and I am drawn to the verses:

 Let me dance with devils on dead stars

Let my scars leave brilliant traces.

 Throughout the play, she uses images of space and stars  like "flying up to heaven" and "hurtling into space" to describe the emotions that Henry Harry and Rosannah are experiencing while questioning their very desire to exist.

 Brilliant Traces gives us hope that life can be lived even when the intensity of existence is almost unbearable.

 I think Ad Astra is leaving brilliant traces:  all the ephemeral work we do, the productions that seem to disappear when we take the final bows and bump out the set, are leaving traces.    I like the fact that the benches outside our home, at 57 Misterton Street, were part of an award-winning set.    I think the traces of our passion for theatre and the stories we tell, are staying with our audiences and are hidden in plain sight like the benches.  Audiences sound excited after the shows and creative people are coming back to work with us again.

About Brilliant Traces

The place is a remote cabin in the wilds of Alaska. As a blizzard rages outside, a lonely figure, Henry Harry, lies sleeping under a heap of blankets.

Suddenly, he is awakened by the insistent knocking of an unexpected visitor—who turns out to be Rosannah DeLuce, a distraught young woman who has fled all the way from Arizona to escape her impending marriage, and who bursts into the cabin dressed in full bridal regalia. Exhausted, she throws herself on Henry’s mercy, but after sleeping for two days straight, her vigour—and combativeness—return. Both characters, it develops, have been wounded and embittered by life, and both are refugees from so-called civilization. Thrown together in the confines of the snowbound cabin, they alternately repel and attract each other as, in theatrically vivid exchanges, they explore the pain of the past and, in time, consider the possibilities of the present.

In the end their very isolation proves to be the catalyst that allows them to break through the web of old griefs and bitter feelings that beset them both and to reach out for the solace and sanctuary that only hard-won understanding, self-awareness and compassion for the plight of others can bestow.

Crew and other Creatives

Director - Fiona Kennedy

Production Consultant - Leonard Meenach

Assistant Director - Caitlin Hill

Stage Manager - Petria Leong

Lighting and Sound Operators - Grace Jacobson & Emma Richards

Lighting Design - B’Elanna Hill

Sound Design - Theo Bourgoin

Set Design Consultant - Bill Haycock

Set Design and Build - Dan & Fiona Kennedy (and team)

Actors

Kyle McCallion - Henry Harry

Vanessa Moltzen - Rosannah Deluce

Show Poster

Poster photography by : @csharmanphotography

REVIEWS

Brilliant Traces is a complex and layered work, full of imagery in its multifaceted examination of the role and result of isolation in life’s journeys, and conclusions about the humanity at the core of compassion.

Meredith Walker - Blue Curtains Read full review

Ad Astra’s Brilliant Traces is an intense and moving two-person drama, brilliantly performed, and balanced with surprising moments of tenderness and humour.

BackStreet Brisbane - Read full review

Cindy Lou Johnson’s Brilliant Traces is a poetic piece about two lost characters – and it will stay with you long after the one-act play has ended. That is mainly due, in this production, to Brisbane’s indie Ad Astra and two well-crafted performances by Vanessa Moltzen (as Rosannah) and Kyle McCallion (as Henry).

Beth Keehn - Stage Whispers Read full review

Actors

Creatives & Crew

Behind the Scenes

Rehearsal photography by cast and Crew

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Awards

Best Actor in a Lead Role - Nomination

Vanessa Moltzen

Director’s Notes

It’s ironic that I always put off writing these notes until the eleventh hour… it’s a bit like writer’s block! Right now, I’m sitting in the dark theatre, alone, wondering how to shape the creative experience of the past weeks and months into just a few paragraphs …

The playwright, Michael Gow, has lived in my consciousness since my university days when I studied and performed in his classic tale of Australian life in the 1960s, Away. In the same way, Toy Symphony draws on recognisable characters from our collective past – those who have shaped us for better or worse! We’ve had so much fun blowing them up into larger-than-life representations – we all remember the school bully, the mean headmaster, the one sweet teacher who believed in us. And in the middle of all of these and more, Roland Henning struggles with his own identity, his creativity, and his imagination, just as we all do in the hope of being better, more creative people. 

Working as part of an ensemble is my favourite, and this cast and crew have been exceptional. There has been a fantastic and rich sense of collaboration throughout and I thank everyone deeply for agreeing to be a part of that. It’s not always easy to jump into a group creative process, and some of our cast have had to really step up, and work outside their comfort zones. It’s invigorating and I feel humbled to work alongside these incredible humans!

We are so grateful for your support of Ad Astra Theatre, and the Arts in general. This production, like most of the Arts sector, has struggled to survive, but the determination of this cast and crew has been unstoppable and here we are, finally about to open and share this little piece of storytelling with you all. Theatre is a gift of hope, a sign that stories survive in the most unlikely of circumstances. I offer you Toy Symphony, from the artistic heart of our cast and crew, as a gift of hope. Enjoy.

Michelle Carey

THANKS…..

Fiona & Dan Kennedy, Sandra Harman, Pierce Gordon, Ian & Ros Johnson, Donny, Elyse Castro, Christopher Sharman, the Visual Art and Drama departments at St Laurence’s College, Carmel Pryde, Ric Trevaskes and Charlotte Trevaskes for the briefcase paintings @r00tbeerguy

About the play

Toy Symphony follows the journey of Roland Henning, a playwright suffering from dreaded ‘writers’ block’.

As he embarks on a voyage of self-reflection in the hope of finding himself again, we are given glimpses of his troubled past, and the possible causes of his current malaise. The audience is thrown into a challenging relationship with Henning, as he confronts behaviours that delve into his bullying, self-gratifying and narcissistic past.

Although one of his lesser-known works, Toy Symphony reinforces playwright Michael Gow as someone deeply attached to the concept of dramatic tension! In 2016, in his own keynote address at the National Play Festival, Gow talks about the agony of theatre paraphrasing Aristotle when he says “Drama is the description of a struggle.” We see the character of Roland Henning as someone who is full of struggle…with his past and present, with himself and with others. Even we, as an audience, struggle with some of the themes put forward in the play.

The production is a clever combination of real time storytelling with moments of flashback and elements of magical realism. Along the way, we meet characters from the present day, those from his childhood and every now and then, a figure from history who appears and disappears on the whim of Roland’s imagination. It is uncomfortable, disconcerting and hilarious, as the young Roland’s ‘magical’ ability to summon up historical characters, battles with the many adults in his childhood who are desperately trying to suppress his imagination.

Michael Gow was the artistic director of Queensland Theatre company from 1999 – 2010 and he had not written a full-length play while fully engaged in this role. In 2007, his play Toy Symphony received its world premiere production at Sydney's Belvoir St Theatre. It was a critical and popular success. Toy Symphony was awarded Best New Australian Work at the 2008 Helpmann Awards, and the production was also nominated for Best Play. The production also won four Sydney Theatre Awards including Best Mainstage Production.

“Michael Gow's first full-length play in a decade is a dazzling tour-de-force of theatrical invention”

Australian Plays Transform

CAST

Gregory J Wilken - Roland Henning

Caitlin Hill - Nina, Julie Pearson, Lynette and Miss Beverley

Bernadette Pryde - Mrs Walkham and Nurse

Lachlan Stuart/Jonathan Weir - Lawyer, Daniel, The Executioner and Titus Oates

Greg Scurr - Nicolajs, Headmaster, and Chekhov

Sam Webb - Steve Gooding, Alexander the Great, Dr. Maybloom and Tom

CREATIVES AND CREW

Director – Michelle Carey

Producer - Gregory J Wilken

Stage Manager – Cale Dennis

Lighting Design and Tech – B'Elanna Hill

Sound/Technical Designer - Theo Bourgoin

Costume Designer – Eleonora Ginardi

Show Poster

Reviews and Director Interview

Ad Astra is becoming more popular by the year and consistently winning acclaim for its celebration and execution of great theatre. Their latest production of Michael Gow’s Toy Symphony proves why.

Marita Bellas Miles - Theatre Travels Read full review

This boutique production company, Ad Astra, is emerging as an important professional theatrical company, which mounts quality works aimed to wow and impress audiences in this unique space in The Valley. Do not miss this quality production it will enthrall you.

Lilian Harrington - Absolute Theatre Read full review

‘Toy Symphony by Michael Gow is expertly constructed by the cast at Ad Astra’. ‘Under the careful guide of director Michelle Carey, the show is meticulously moulded to this unique space.’

Michael James - QNews | Read full review

‘A display of Astra-nomical talent. The performance is enthralling owing to its animated and dynamic reel of highly relatable characters. Each of the cast members demonstrates an impressive range, employing dramatic tension and impeccable comedic timing. Expert use of lighting ensures Toy Symphony is also a visceral experience, as cool blue tones flood the stage to signify the onset of each larger-than-life, mythical experience. Ad Astra Theatre is unmistakably polished and professional, showcasing the depth of local talent’

Jessica Forbes - My Village News | June edition

The impeccable cast are wonderfully warm, likeable and moving and maximise every ounce of humour and energy in the play. Director Michelle Carey has helped her cast balance the right amount of humour and pathos in Gow’s script.

The lighting design by B’Elanna Hill was economic and effective and costume designer Eleonora Ginardi had enormous fun with the school uniforms and the teachers’ 1960s classroom fashions. In a small theatre space, the technicals can not afford to distract, and stage manager Cale Dennis and sound/technical designer Theo Bourgoin ensured a seamless show.

Beth Keehn - Stage Whispers | Read full review

Ad Astra is an unusual venue situated in the back of a warehouse and trapped right in the middle of Brisbane; to one side the Fortitude Valley nightclubs, and to the other the hubbub of the Brisbane showgrounds. But what it lacks in size, it makes up for in flexibility and intimacy. Ad Astra’s latest, an adaptation of Michael Gow’s 2007 play ‘Toy Symphony’, is no exception with strong performances, subtle yet effective direction and clever design elements – this is not a play to miss.

Oliver Hetherington-Page | Read full review

Experience has proven that Ad Astra is not only to be commended for its interesting production choices, but its often inventive staging of these, especially given the company’s intimate performance space. Michael Gow’s critically-acclaimed “Toy Symphony” (the play was awarded Best New Australian Work at the 2008 Helpmann Awards), stands as testament to both of these truths.

Meredith Walker - Blue Curtains Read full review

Many of the characters in Toy Symphony were larger than life, exaggerated in Roland’s memory, and the cast used melodramatic characterisations to convey this. The cast demonstrated good comedic timing, and commitment to their varied roles, from playful schoolchildren to doctors and drug dealers.

Backstreet Brisbane Read full review

Read the interview with Director, Michelle Carey by Nadia Jade - Nothing Ever Happens in Brisbane

Actors

Creatives & Crew

Behind the Scenes

Professional photography by : @ChristopherSharmanPhotography

First eight pictures of rehearsal are taken by a cast member.

Awards

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: WINNER

Bernadette Pryde (Ad Astra)

Role : Mrs Walkham & Nurse

Directors Notes

Hello,

Firstly, I want to personally thank each and every one of you for supporting independent theatre and independent artists, especially during this time.  Here we all were thinking we were on the way out!   2022 has not gone the way any of us expected (let alone wanted) but the perseverance of my cast, crew, and all other arts practitioners has been truly inspiring.  We feel incredibly fortunate to still have this opportunity to perform for you tonight, as we know many others have not been so lucky.  We thank you once again.  

Grief is a funny, funny thing.  It destroys us and remakes us.  It rips us apart, only for us to try to put ourselves together again.  It is the darkest of dark, followed by a glimmer of light.  It makes us cry, it makes us laugh, it makes us want to tear our hearts out, and it makes us human.  

Rabbit Hole is an exploration of what it is to be human.  What it is to be grieving and not know how to do it right.  What it is to try to put your heart back together when it’s in forty million pieces.  What it is to be a family.  What it is to be alone.  The good… the bad… the ugly… the sometimes accidental violence, the untimely arrivals, the worst gifts, and the best surprises.  

Rabbit Hole’s honesty and fearlessness in its exploration of grief are only second to the honesty and fearlessness showed by those performing it.  This cast has given so much during this process and has brought such life, heartache, and connection to this piece.   I couldn’t be more proud.  

Welcome to the world of Becca and Howie Corbett; the world of their loving, if not slightly hair-brained, family; the world where terrible things happen and all we can do in the aftermath is try to live.  A world where everything is connected… because what else is there to life, if not to connect with one another.

Enjoy.

MH

About the play

Rabbit Hole, written by David Lindsay-Abaire, premiered on Broadway in 2006 and was the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2007. Rabbit Hole is an honest, brave, and searingly touching portrait of a family experiencing the most heartbreaking of griefs.

The play follows Becca and Howie Corbett, a couple in their late thirties, in the months following a horrific accident. Searching for what is still possible in everyday existence after unimaginable agony.

Becca finds pain in the familiar, while Howie finds comfort. He wants to hold on to the memories, cherish them, obsess over them; she wants to move on, erase the past, and start fresh.

Cracks begin to appear in the relationship as Howie bonds with a member of therapy group and Becca reaches out to a teenage boy with an intertwined past. Tensions are only increased with the tumultuous involvement of Becca’s mother, Nat, and her sister, Izzy.

The journey for this couple, this family, is an intimate glimpse into loved ones learning to re-engage with one another, couples learning to love again, and people learning to piece themselves together after everything falls apart.

**CAST**

Becca Corbett – Janelle Bailey

Howie Corbett – Stephen Hirst

Izzy – Vanessa Moltzen

Nat – Julia Johnson

Jason Willette – Fraser Anderson

**CREW**

Director – Mikayla Hosking

Stage Manager - Meg Toni

Assistant Stage Manager – Lara Rix

Assistant Stage Manager - Petria Leong

Costume Designer – Xanthe Jones

Poster by @creativestreetphoto

Reviews

Ad Astra’s The Rabbit Hole is an honest and confronting look at grief and the different ways in which people experience this deeply uncomfortable headspace. It’s an exploration of the rabbit hole that we find ourselves falling down when we’ve lost someone close to our heart.

Virag Dombay - Nothing Ever Happens in Brisbane | Read full review

Rarely do we get to see stage actors at work so close; spaces like Ad Astra provoke emotion from the audience without having to try too hard. Being so close to the actors made this story one to remember.

Ellie Waddington - Theatre Haus | Read full review

This style of theatre directed by the innovative, Mikayla Hosking, which aimed to push the actors to work at a high standard, allowed for good creativity and skill of portrayal and gave the audience a thought-provoking production.

Lilian Harrington - Absolute Theatre | Read full review

At almost 2.5 hours (including interval) “Rabbit Hole” is long, but it is good… very good. The study of grief written by David Lindsay-Abaire was the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2007. Lindsay-Abaire’s cohesive script is well-written, full of naturalistic dialogue and dramatic intensity. And Mikayla Hosking’s restrained direction builds upon this with an approach that is characterised by quiet moments to add to character introspection and emotional tension, which ultimately makes its experience more moving than depressing.

Meredith Walker - Blue Curtains | Read full review

Director Mikayla Hosking and her cast have obviously worked hard to keep all the performances pitch-perfect.

Beth Keehn - Stage Whispers | Read full review

Actors

Creatives & Crew

Behind the Scenes

Photography by : @lifeofrileypictures

Awards

Best Director - Nominated

Mikayla Hosking

15 years ago, Paulina Escobar was kidnapped, held, blindfolded, raped and tortured for several months. Although she escaped, she never recovered.

15 years later, her husband, her refuge when she escaped, inadvertently brings home one of the men that raped and tortured her. Or did he? Recognising only his voice, Paulina holds him at gunpoint and puts him on trial until he confesses. But is it the confession of a guilty man or the confession of a victim?

Reviews

Death and the Maiden was included in the 2021 Theatre Haus Wall of Faves for Best Independent Production and Best Lead Actor (Sandra Harman in the role of Paulina).

Ad Astra has created a considered, claustrophobic experience that appropriately metaphors the experience of characters in “Death and the Maiden”, who are all prisoned in their pasts.

Meredith Walker - Blue Curtains | Read full review

Death and the Maiden was not what I was expecting it to be; though I don’t really know what I was expecting, but it left me feeling many things and overall, I was pleasantly surprised

Regan Baker - Theatre Travels | Read full review

Reviewer Annual Favourites List

Actors

Creatives & Crew

Behind the Scenes

Two drifters, George and his friend Lennie, with delusions of living off the “fat of the land,” have just arrived at a ranch to work for enough money to buy their own place.

Lennie is a man-child, a little boy in the body of a dangerously powerful man. It’s Lennie’s obsessions with things soft and cuddly that have made George cautious about who the gentle giant, with his brute strength, associates with. His promise to allow Lennie to “tend to the rabbits” on their future land keeps Lennie calm, amidst distractions, as the overgrown child needs constant reassurance. But when a ranch boss’ promiscuous wife is found dead in the barn with a broken neck, it’s obvious that Lennie, albeit accidentally, killed her. George, now worried about his own safety, knows exactly where Lennie has gone to hide, and he meets him there. Realizing they can’t run away anymore, George is faced with a moral question: How should he deal with Lennie before the ranchers find him and take matters into their own hands?

Intro by Dramatists Play Services

Matilda Awards - 2021

Bill Haycock was nominated for a Matilda in two categories at the 2020/2021 awards night in March, 2022.

Bill won the category for Best Set Design.

Nominated - Best Costume Design - Bill Haycock, Of Mice and Men (Ad Astra)

Won - Best Set Design - Bill Haycock, Of Mice and Men (Ad Astra)