BRISBANE FESTIVAL AND QUEENSLAND PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE PRESENT DEAD CENTRE (IRE) Brisbane Festival is an initiative of the Queensland Government and Brisbane City Council
HAMNET CREMORNE THEATRE Queensland Performing Arts Centre 8 12 September BRISBANE FESTIVAL ARTISTIC DIRECTOR S NOTE Dead Centre is one of the most alive theatre companies in the world right now. Brisbane Festival welcomed them with three productions in 2016, and we had to have them back. They approach so-called great works from the winking edges, not the sinking centre, but do so utterly in the spirit of the canonical author, if not the letter. Here, one letter separates the famous from the forgotten. But Hamnet carries with him all of Hamlet s insecurities, and in a way that marks him as the most familiar of boys. This brilliant creation seizes the centre of things. David Berthold Directors Note Hamnet Shakespeare lived and died. He was eleven years old. Not much else is known about him. Rather more is known of his father, who lived and lived, and continues to live (perhaps a little longer than some of us would like). Hamnet is a typo one letter away from greatness. And from what we know, Shakespeare didn t offer him a great deal of help towards achieving greatness during his eleven short years. He was too busy offering it to the rest of the world, to us. Shakespeare has something of an obsession with parents telling their children how to live. But the parents are often confused, angry, scared, and just plain wrong. Perhaps we re wrong to look to the plays of Shakespeare for a guide to how to live. Perhaps, as Hamlet knows so well, the greater conundrum is how to die. It is notable how often ghosts walk Shakespeare s stages. The dead haunt the living, and the living haunt the dead. Theatre stages that space, the dead holding the living to account, the living suspended like ghosts. Bush Moukarzel and Ben Kidd QPAC EMERGENCY Patrons are advised that the Performing Arts Centre has EMERGENCY EVACUATION PROCEDURES, a FIRE ALARM system and EXIT passageways. In case of an alert, patrons should remain calm, look for the closest EXIT sign in GREEN, listen to and comply with directions given by the in house trained attendants and move in an orderly fashion to the open spaces outside the Centre. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY In keeping with the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Brisbane, the Turrubul and Jagara Yuggera Peoples, and recognise that this has always been a place of creative expression. We wish to pay respect to their Elders past, present and emerging and acknowledge the important role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play within our creative community.
Aran murphy Performer This is Aran Murphy s first professional play. He loves acting and football (LIVERPOOL FC). Bush Moukarzel Director/Writer Bush is co-artistic director and co-founder of Dead Centre. He has co-directed all Dead Centre productions, including Souvenir (Dublin Fringe Festival, 2012), LIPPY (Dublin Fringe Festival, 2013), (S)quark! (New Theatre, Dublin, 2013), Chekhov s First Play (Dublin Theatre Festival, 2015) and Hamnet (Co-Production of Dead Centre and Abbey Theatre) and Shakespeare s Last Play (Schaubühne, 2018). Stephen DODD Lighting Designer Stephen is a Lighting Designer based in Dublin. He trained at The Samuel Beckett Centre, Trinity College. Recent lighting designs include: For Irish National Opera/United Fall: Orfeo ed Euridice (Galway International Arts Festival, 2018) For Liz Roche Company: Wrongheaded (Dublin Dance Festival 2018); For United Fall/ Emma Martin: Girl Song (Dublin Theatre Festival 2017); Dancehall (Dublin Theatre Festival, 2015). For Dead Centre: Hamnet (The Peacock Theatre 2017); Chekhov s First Play (Dublin Theatre Festival 2015); LIPPY (The Young Vic, 2015); For Brokentalkers: The Circus Animal s Desertion (Dublin Theatre Festival, 2016). BEN Kidd Director/Writer Ben is co-artistic director and co-founder of Dead Centre, and he has co-directed all Dead Centre productions. Other work as a director includes Spring Awakening (Headlong), The Shawl (Young Vic) and In the Night Time (Before the Sun Rises) (Gate Theatre, London). Like Aran, he also supports Liverpool FC. BARBARA HUGHES Stage Mangaer Barbara is originally from Dublin, Ireland. Credits include Incantata (Galway International Arts Festival), These Rooms (ANU Productions/ CoisCéim Dance Theatre - LIFT Festival, London) and Hamnet, Chekhov s First Play, LIPPY, and Souvenir (Dead Centre International Tour). Barbara is also Technical Stage Manager for Riverdance. KEVIN GLEESON Sound Designer Kevin studied music technology at both at Windmill Lane Recording Studios and Trinity College Dublin. He has worked as a composer and sound designer for Schaubhüne (Berlin), Cois Ceim Dance Theatre (Dublin) & Crash Ensemble (Dublin). His work on Chekhov s First Play by Dead Centre was awarded with Best Sound Design at the 2015 Irish Theatre Awards. He was the Composer-in-Residence for the Kerry County Council in 2013.
José Miguel Jimenez AV Designer José is an actor, director and filmmaker based in Dublin. He is a theatre graduate from Universidad de Chile and Trinity College Dublin. He is an associate artist to Project Arts Centre and also one third of the artist led initiative DRAFF Magazine, an international magazine focused on dance and theatre. José established The Company in 2008, with whom he directed Who is Fergus Kilpatrick? (Spirit of the Fringe Award 2009), As you are now so once were we, based on James Joyce s Ulysses (Best Production Fringe 2010, Abbey Theatre 2011, tours to L.A. Portugal and Berlin). Other works include Politik and The Rest is Action. José has developed extensive work as a video designer, collaborating with theatre, dance and visual artists. His work includes Blanca with choreographer Maria Nilsson Waller, Elemental with visual artist Siobhan McDonald (screened at Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris), 3D Wabi-Sabi Soul (Dylan Tighe, Lighthouse Cinema) and Medicated Milk, a collaboration with choreographer Aine Stapleton based on the life of Lucia Joyce, screened at the Irish Film Institute. His latest documentary film See the Man was nominated for Best New Doc at Tempo Dokumentär Festival 2017 in Stockholm, and received the main award at LightMoves festival of screen dance. CAST AND CREATIVES Performed by Aran Murphy Set Design Andrew Clancy Costumes and Effects Grace O Hara Light Stephen Dodd Sound Design Kevin Gleeson Video Design Jose Miguel Jimenez Choreography Liv O Donoghue Stage Manager Barbara Hughes Production Manager Nicholas Ree Dramaturg Michael West Producer Aisling Ormonde Direction Bush Moukarzel and Ben Kidd Text by William Shakespeare, Bush Moukarzel and Ben Kidd Brisbane Festival Chair Paul Spiro Deputy Chair Philip Bacon AM Artistic Director David Berthold Chief Executive Officer Charlie Cush
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