NOVEMBER 16 – DECEMBER 2

MALTHOUSE THEATRE PRESENTS


By Tom Wright
Direction Michael Kantor
With Caroline Craig, Diana Emry,
Julie Forsyth, Max Gillies, Francis Greenslade, Eddie Perfect
and Lucy Taylor
Music Iain Grandage
Design Anna Tregloan
Lighting Design Paul Jackson
Choreography Kate Denborough

Don’t go down in the woods today, you’re in for a big surprise. Or rather a
Kantoresque Carnival to delight the senses, entertain the eye and tickle the
funny bone. Malthouse Theatre heralds the return of the Antipodeans’
pantomime extraordinaire – Babes in the Wood – a timely revised adaptation of
Tom Wright’s original extravaganza, directed by Michael Kantor, to reignite a
sense of surprise and delight!

Artistic Associate of the Sydney Theatre Company and long time Michael Kantor
collaborator, Tom Wright has written a larger-than-life spectacle borrowing from
past theatrical form to illuminate, once again, the shock and horror of our times.
In a master stroke of revisionist history perhaps, Tom Wright has hunted through
our rich heritage of original Australian pantomimes to create this triumph of
rhyme over reason - part salute to a lost tradition, part banner to the future.

Back in Australia’s lost theatrical history is a circus of the mind; a place where
vaudeville acts and a music hall runs riot into a night of anarchic and irreligious
fun. Our story begins, as once upon a time, two children have wandered too
far from home. They meet a conga-line of colonial creatures and are caught in
a hysterical collection of tales of caution and alarm, as we witness the birth of
a nation. As the babes are lured further into the happily ever yonder of our
defiled country, nightmares awaken and White Australia’s most pertinent fears
are exorcised – in the most entertaining manner! Don’t be in any doubt, our
enemies are always about…..

This cathartic explosion of melodrama, bawdy romp, trap doors and panto
dames, is led by Michael Kantor in an all singing, all dancing, hurdy gurdy of the
gothic. His troupe includes some our most irreverent and acerbic comic talents
and artists – Max Gillies in another riveting masquerade of gender (who can
forgot his Amanda Vanstone in The Big Con) as the pantomime dame, Eddie
Perfect (Drink Pepsi, Bitch), Diana Emery (Blown), Caroline Craig (Hitchcock
Blonde), Lucy Taylor (Journal of the Plague Year), Julie Forsythe (Ham
Funeral), and Francis Greenslade (The Odyssey), with choreography by Kate
Denborough (Headlock). Be swept away to our colonial past with set, lighting
and music that celebrates the magic of theatre, by the trio that visualised The
Odyssey - Anna Tregloan, Paul Jackson and Iain Grandage.

With new songs by Eddie Perfect and karaoke classics from Air Supply and
Tina Turner, the visceral, scenic spectacle of Babes in the Wood promises to
enchant with the delight of story telling and a night or irreligious fun.

Two Week Season before transferring to Sydney Opera House in December
2006!

Venue: Merlyn Theatre, CUB Malthouse
Season Details: November 16 – December 2 2006
Previews: Thursday 16 November & Friday 17 November 8pm
Opening: Saturday 18 November 8.00pm
Performance Times: Tuesdays 6.30pm, Wednesdays to Saturdays 8.00pm,
Sunday 5.30pm
Matinee – Thursday 23 November 1pm, Saturday 25 November & 2 December
2.00pm.
Tickets: $15 - $45 + booking fee

Bookings: Malthouse Box Office 9685 5111/ www.malthousetheatre.com.au

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

Tamara Harrison
M: 040 1969 458
Email:

Pia Johnson, Media Assistant
03 9685 5175
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