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BY WILLIAM
SHAKESPEARE DIRECTOR MARION POTTS DRAMATURGE MARYANNE LYNCH SET AND COSTUME DESIGNER ANNA TREGLOAN LIGHTING DESIGNER PAUL JACKSON COMPOSER ANDRÉE GREENWELL SOUND DESIGNER DAVID FRANZKE CAST MELISSA MADDEN GRAY SUSAN PRIOR WITH MUSIC PERFORMED LIVE BY BEN HAUPTMANN, DAVID HEWITT, RYAN WILLIAMS BEAUTY WITHIN ITSELF SHOULD NOT BE WASTED. In 1593 William Shakespeare has a hit on his hands. London is in the throes of the Black Death and the playhouses are all shut up, along with most else in the city. Now struggling to earn a living, young Will sets himself the task of rewriting Ovid’s story of Venus and her lover Adonis, and the result is one of the most celebrated carnal poems of desire and death. In its day, it’s said, Venus and Adonis was the reading of ‘courtesans, lascivious nuns, adulterous housewives, or libidinous young girls’ and the well-thumbed text of university students. The story is simple. Goddess meets Boy, Goddess wants Boy, Goddess (in Shakespeare’s version) doesn’t get Boy; instead he turns into a Flower. But of course Shakespeare knows that life is never quite that straightforward - he gives people what they want but also more than they bargain for. And, as generations of readers can attest, the licence to be aroused. In a sparkling new response to Shakespeare’s most popular poem, Venus is a woman with a past who is having trouble with her future. This premiere production is directed by 2006 Helpmann Award winner and Bell Shakespeare Mind’s Eye Artistic Director, Marion Potts (Othello), and brings together Melissa Madden Gray (intimate of Meow Meow) and Susan Prior as a Hydra-headed Venus who is ardent, wilful, wanton, terrifying…but also wondering where the hell she’s heading. Desire is only half the story. A VISION THROUGH MIND’S EYE Shakespeare provides us with an inexhaustible repository of ideas. Debate is found within almost every speech and a new piece of theatre in every image. Mind’s Eye, Bell Shakespeare’s new development arm, is set to harness these images and delve into their alternate worlds, centre-stage. This first-ever collaboration between Malthouse Theatre and Bell Shakespeare promises a steamy night in the theatre and the lingering memory of love’s bittersweet frustrations. A CO-PRODUCTION OF MALTHOUSE THEATRE AND BELL SHAKESPEARE DEVELOPED THROUGH MIND’S EYE  Find out more Bell Shakespeare www.bellshakespeare.com.au Other Season One ‘08 shows Ticket and session information SESSION TIMES TICKET PRICES Getting to the Malthouse FIND US Other information Venus & Adonis will be performed in the Beckett Theatre. Beckett Theatre performances are reserved seating. |
| Photography:
Garth Oriander Pictured: (L-R) Susan Prior & Melissa Madden Gray |
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| Where
to park Public transport Melway reference Learn more! |
The Café is
a great meeting place offering breakfast, lunch and dinner. Don’t rush off. Stay with us after the show and enjoy a drink at the bar. Learn more! |
In 2007 we continue
our Sunday series of commentary and conversation - with a who’s who of guests and lashings of wit. Learn more! |
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