SEPTEMBER 16 – OCTOBER 3

MALTHOUSE THEATRE PRESENTS

THE HAYLOFT PROJECT

THYESTES

CO-WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY SIMON STONE
AFTER SENECA
CO-WRITTEN & PERFORMED BY THOMAS HENNING, CHRIS RYAN, MARK WINTER
SET & COSTUME DESIGNER CLAUDE MARCOS
LIGHTING DESIGNER GOVIN RUBEN
SOUND DESIGNER STEFAN GREGORY
DRAMATURGE ANNE-LOUISE SARKS

TOWER THEATRE
SEPTEMBER 16 – OCTOBER 3

If you mess with the Ancient Greeks, beware a little blood.

Following the extraordinary creative and popular success of The Black Lung’s Avast series and My Darling Patricia’s Africa, in 2010 Malthouse Theatre extends its Tower Theatre, Company in Residence program to The Hayloft Project.

And the roof-beams are definitely about to be raised once more! One of Australia's most startling theatre groups, The Hayloft Project is about to renovate the house of antiquity with an array of tools definitely not certified by any building authority.

In the charnel house of Greek legend one room is forever reserved for that most ferocious of tales – that of Thyestes, the deposed king whose sons were slaughtered and served as a feast to their unwitting father. Fratricide, adultery, incest and exile: this is the family feud which begets all others.

The Hayloft Project's Simon Stone has set upon Seneca's 2000-year-old play with relish, enlisting the alchemical talents of The Black Lung Theatre's Thomas Henning and Mark Winter, and the divine voice of Chris Ryan (Elizabeth), to rediscover what makes Thyestes one of the most terrifying of all stories - a tragedy without salvation, a plea that falls on deaf ears.

In an ever-escalating and senseless cycle of retribution without redemption, and abandoned by the gods, our only hells are those of our own making. Happy feasting!

A MALTHOUSE THEATRE COMMISSION

THE HAYLOFT PROJECT ARE BENEDICT HARDIE, CLAUDE MARCOS, CARL NILSSON-POLIAS, ANNE-LOUISE SARKS, SIMON STONE
MALTHOUSE THEATRE’S COMPANY IN RESIDENCE PROGRAM IS MADE POSSIBLE WITH GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM THE SIDNEY MYER FUND.

THIS PROJECT IS SUPPORTED BY THE VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT THOUGH ARTS VICTORIA AND THROUGH INTERCONNECTIONS, AN INITIATIVE OF THE AUSTRALIA COUNCIL, THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT’S ARTS FUNDING AND ADVISORY BODY.

PHOTO GARTH ORIANDER PICTURED THE HAYLOFT PROJECT