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Artwork for Escaped Alone and What If If Only
Artwork for Escaped Alone and What If If Only
Artwork for Escaped Alone and What If If Only
Artwork for Escaped Alone and What If If Only
Artwork for Escaped Alone and What If If Only
Escaped Alone and What If If Only

7 Aug — 9 Sep 2023

Southbank Theatre, The Sumner

ONE EVENING, TWO SHORT PLAYS

A world-first pairing of two separate works from one of the world's greatest living playwrights. Artistic Director Anne-Louise Sarks directs What If If Only, the micro-meditation on grief and possibility; and Escaped Alone, a visionary play about afternoon tea and the apocalypse.

Approx. 1 hour and 30 minutes, including a 20-minute break

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This is rated 5 out of 5 stars

‘An inimitable night of theatre.’

Australian Book Review (on Escaped Alone)
This is rated 4 out of 5 stars

‘An excellent showcase for [Churchill's] talent and skill.’

The Guardian
This is rated 4 out of 5 stars

‘A gem about grief and possibility.’

Limelight (on What If If Only)
This is rated 4 out of 5 stars

‘Carefully crafted, poetic, rhythmic language.’

The Age (on Escaped Alone)

ABOUT THE SHOW

An Obie Award-winner several times over, Caryl Churchill (Top Girls) is widely considered one of the world’s greatest living playwrights. In this world-first theatrical experience, Melbourne Theatre Company Artistic Director Anne-Louise Sarks directs two separate Caryl Churchill works: What If If Only, the micro-meditation on grief and possibility starring Alison Bell; and Escaped Alone, a visionary play starring Helen Morse, alongside Kate Hood, Debra Lawrance and Deidre Rubenstein, about afternoon tea and the apocalypse.

In Escaped Alone, a woman joins her three neighbours for an afternoon of swapping memories and sharing secrets, in between the telling of catastrophic events, bleak but blackly humorous. In What If If Only, a partner laments their lost love and conjures up countless possible futures, with and without love. In both works, the characters’ hopes, fears and dreams are palpable, visceral and remarkable.

Showcasing the dazzling alchemy of Churchill’s writing, these two short works are separate plays that share some deep thematic parallels. Their combination in Sarks’s hands promises a profound, surreal, funny and thrilling theatrical experience.

Accessibility

  • Wheelchair Accessible

  • Hearing Assistance

  • Audio Described

  • Tactile Tour

  • Open Captioning

  • Auslan Interpreted

Performance Type Performance Date(s)
Audio Described
by Vision Australia 		Saturday 26 August at 2pm
Tuesday 29 August at 6.30pm
Tactile Tour
by Vision Australia 		Saturday 26 August, 2pm (Tactile tour commences at 1pm)
Open Captioning
via screen 		Saturday 2 September at 2pm
Auslan Interpreted
by Auslan Stage Left 		Tuesday 5 September at 6.30pm
Artwork for Kate Hood

Kate Hood

Lena

Kate is excited to return to Melbourne Theatre Company as an actor with disability, having previously appeared in Diving for Pearls. She is also a valued member of the Company’s group of Artistic Associates, contributing to discussions on the diversity and inclusion of future programming decisions. Other theatre appearances include Pygmalion, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Mercury Theatre, Auckland); Elephant Man (Malthouse Theatre); Hotel Sorrento (Hit Productions) and That’s Why the Lady Needs a Ramp (Raspberry Ripple FCAC). Kate has appeared in musicals Marat/Sade (State Theatre Company of South Australia); Chicago, Tomfoolery (Mercury Theatre, Auckland) and opera Romeo and Juliet (Opera Australia). Kate’s screen appearances include Neighbours and Prisoner Cell Block H. Kate was Deputy Chair of Actors Equity's Diversity Committee, is founder and Co-Chair of the Performers with Disability Committee, sits on the board of Arts Access Victoria and has her own theatre company Raspberry Ripple Productions.

Current as of August 2023.

Artwork for Debra Lawrance

Debra Lawrance

Vi

Debra Lawrance is a 1977 NIDA graduate. Her theatre highlights for Melbourne Theatre Company include the First Born Trilogy by Jack Davis, a co-production with Marli Biyol Company, which included the London tour of No Sugar, the Australian tours of Sylvia and Second Childhood and the role of Vi in The Memory of Water. Other theatre credits include A Christmas Carol for GWB Entertainment, Steel Magnolias, Driving Miss Daisy, A Murder is Announced and the role of Professor McGonagall in the hugely successful Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Television credits include the Amazon Series Class of 07, the soon to be released Nine Network Series Human Error, Fisk, Five Bedrooms, Blue Heelers, Home and Away, where she played the role of Pippa, and Please Like Me, where she received the 2015 AACTA Best Performance in a Comedy, and 2017 Logie Award for Most Outstanding Supporting Actress. Film credits include Silver City, Two Brothers Running, Evil Angels with Meryl Streep and The Jammed.

Current as of August 2023.

Artwork for Helen Morse

Helen Morse

Mrs Jarrett

Helen Morse has worked with Melbourne Theatre Company in over 20 productions of classic and modern plays including John, Daniel Keene’s Photographs of A (Antechamber/NEON), Frozen, A Little Night Music, Arcadia, The Crucible and The Tempest. She premiered Alma de Groen’s The Rivers Of China (Sydney Theatre Company/Melbourne Theatre Company) and The Woman in the Window and played Theodora Goodman in Adam Cook’s adaptation of Patrick White’s The Aunt’s Story (Melbourne/Brisbane Festivals/Belvoir). Her stage work includes Memorial for the 2018 Adelaide, Brisbane and Barbican (UK) Festivals (Brink); 33 Variations (Cameron Lukey Productions); Angels In America, Wit, Dreamers, Ivanov (fortyfivedownstairs); The Rain (KTTP/Sydney Festival); Good Works, Away (Playbox); Once In Royal David’s City (Belvoir); Love.War.Death.BREL (Adelaide Cabaret Festival); Signs Of Life, The Year Of Magical Thinking (Black Swan State Theatre Company); Robyn Archer’s Architektin, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (State Theatre Company of South Australia). Helen has toured nationally with Duet for One; Europe (MTC); Death and the Maiden (STC) and Sundowner (KAGE). Many recitals include L’Invitation au Chateau with PLEXUS Trio and The Power of Love (fortyfivedownstairs) devised with Paul English and violist Isabel Morse.

Current as of August 2023.

Deidre Rubenstein

Deidre Rubenstein

Sally

Deidre Rubenstein has appeared for Melbourne Theatre Company many times, most recently in Admissions, Shakespeare in Love, A Doll’s House, Part 2, Ladies in Black, North by Northwest, His Girl Friday, Circle Mirror Transformation, Richard III, August: Osage County, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The History Boys, Life x 3 and The Seagull. Stage highlights elsewhere are My Fair Lady, Violet, The Glass Menagerie, Loving Repeating, Three Sisters, Cloud Nine, Candide, Mother Courage, Top Girls, Wild Honey, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Broken Glass and The Winter’s Tale. Deidre created and performed in highly acclaimed solo shows What's a Girl to Do and Confidentially Yours, touring nationally and internationally. Television work includes Neighbours, G.P., Mercury, City Homicide, MDA, The Secret Life of Us, Blue Heelers, Superwog and Palace of Dreams, which won her an AFI Award for Best Actress. Film work includes The Rooster, Hellion, Force of Destiny and Salvation.

Current as of August 2023.

Artwork for Lucy Ansell

Lucy Ansell

F

After graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts, Lucy was cast in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child for Michael Cassel Group. Lucy most recently performed in the two-hander theatre piece Moth at Theatreworks to outstanding reviews. Lucy also performed in Wild Cherries directed by Beng Oh, Patalog Theatre’s Tusk Tusk and She Is Vigilante for which she received a Green Room award for Best Performer, Independent Theatre. Lucy plays Bree in feature film Forces of Nature, Robert Connolly’s forthcoming follow up to the highly successful film The Dry. She also recently wrapped in a main cast role on TV series Strife for Binge. Previous screen credits include guest roles on My Life is Murder for Network Ten, Utopia and Sean Micallef's Mad as Hell both for ABC.

Current as of August 2023.

Artwork for Alison Bell

Alison Bell

S

Alison Bell is an actor, writer, director and producer who started her career at Melbourne Theatre Company and is thrilled to be back. She has appeared in several productions here including Constellations, Betrayal, Tribes, Blackbird, The Ugly One, Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Doubt and King Lear. She’s worked for Belvoir, Malthouse Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company and State Theatre Company of South Australia and received Helpmann Awards for Hedda Gabler (2013) and Doubt (2006), and a Green Room Award for her 2007 body of work. For the screen Alison is best known for co-creating, producing and starring in the ABC/Netflix Original series The Letdown. Her work on the show earned her four AACTA awards. Most recently she wrote on Love Me season 1 (Binge/Hulu) and Summer Love (ABC) and appeared in ABC drama Significant Others.

Current as of August 2023.

Steve Mouzakis

Steve Mouzakis

P

Returning to Melbourne Theatre Company, Steve Mouzakis has previously been seen in The Lifespan Of A Fact, Golden Shield, Death and the Maiden and in his Green Room Award-winning performance for The Cherry Orchard. Recent film and television credits include the US series Prison Break, Clickbait, Irreverent and the feature film The Stranger which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Additional screen roles include the films Where The Wild Things Are, I Frankenstein, Darkness Falls, The Suicide Theory, My First Summer, Downriver, Big Mammas Boy, Acute Misfortune, That’s Not Me and Late Night With The Devil. Known also for his numerous television roles he has featured in The Slap, Killing Time, Fat Tony & Co., Jack Irish, Miss Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries, Wentworth, Satisfaction, Stingers, Blue Heelers and The Secret Life Of Us.

Current as of August 2023.

Artwork for Anna Francesca Armenia

Anna Francesca Armenia

Fs

Anna Francesca Armenia completed her training at the Ballarat Arts Academy (Bachelor of Arts, Music Theatre). Recent credits include Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Michael Cassel Group); RENT (The Court Theatre NZ); Charlie and the War Against the Grannies (CDP Theatre Producers). Other credits include Hamlet: Prince of Skidmark (Critical Stages Touring); SING on Tour (Universal Studios Japan); A Little Night Music (Watch This); Paw Patrol Live (Life Like Touring, Nickelodeon); Jason Coleman’s Razzle Dazzle (Ministry of Entertainment); In the Heights (StageArt). Film credits include Perfection is Terrible (Roman a Clef Productions). Anna Francesca has been a proud member of Actors Equity since 2015.

Current as of August 2023.

Artwork for Iopu Auva’a

Iopu Auva’a

Fs

Iopu Auva’a graduated from the University of Ballarat Arts Academy in 2013. What If If Only is his first mainstage production with Melbourne Theatre Company. His previous credits include Away (Theatre Works); Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Michael Cassel Group); The Dream Laboratory (Essential Theatre); Twelfth Night (Melbourne Shakespeare Company); Memphis, The Color Purple, Dreamgirls and Hair (StageArt).

Current as of August 2023.

Artwork for Sepideh Fallah

Sepideh Fallah

Fs

Sepideh Fallah is an Iranian-born actor residing in Melbourne. A native Farsi speaker, she completed her acting training in both Iran and Australia. Her performance experience includes plays The Second Son (Cinespace); Is that real? (Global Education Centre); television shows Race Relations (ABC); City Homicide (Channel 9); and films Shayda (Origma Productions); The Green Door (Three Feet of Film); Saved (SBS). Sepideh obtained her Master of Writing and Directing from the Victorian College of the Arts. Her writing focuses on the lives of the marginalised and women, which won her the Social Justice Award for her Master’s degree project. Sepideh is a follower of the Bahai faith who sought refuge in Australia on the basis of religious persecution under the Islamic regime in Iran. She has worked as a translator and an educator. Sepideh is thrilled that Melbourne Theatre Company is embracing her diverse background with open arms.

Current as of August 2023.

Artwork for Kate Hood

Kate Hood

Fs

Kate is excited to return to Melbourne Theatre Company as an actor with disability, having previously appeared in Diving for Pearls. She is also a valued member of the Company’s group of Artistic Associates, contributing to discussions on the diversity and inclusion of future programming decisions. Other theatre appearances include Pygmalion, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Mercury Theatre, Auckland); Elephant Man (Malthouse Theatre); Hotel Sorrento (Hit Productions) and That’s Why the Lady Needs a Ramp (Raspberry Ripple FCAC). Kate has appeared in musicals Marat/Sade (State Theatre Company of South Australia); Chicago, Tomfoolery (Mercury Theatre, Auckland) and opera Romeo and Juliet (Opera Australia). Kate’s screen appearances include Neighbours and Prisoner Cell Block H. Kate was Deputy Chair of Actors Equity's Diversity Committee, is founder and Co-Chair of the Performers with Disability Committee, sits on the board of Arts Access Victoria and has her own theatre company Raspberry Ripple Productions.

Current as of August 2023.

Artwork for Debra Lawrance

Debra Lawrance

Fs

Debra Lawrance is a 1977 NIDA graduate. Her theatre highlights for Melbourne Theatre Company include the First Born Trilogy by Jack Davis, a co-production with Marli Biyol Company, which included the London tour of No Sugar, the Australian tours of Sylvia and Second Childhood and the role of Vi in The Memory of Water. Other theatre credits include A Christmas Carol for GWB Entertainment, Steel Magnolias, Driving Miss Daisy, A Murder is Announced and the role of Professor McGonagall in the hugely successful Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Television credits include the Amazon Series Class of 07, the soon to be released Nine Network Series Human Error, Fisk, Five Bedrooms, Blue Heelers, Home and Away, where she played the role of Pippa, and Please Like Me, where she received the 2015 AACTA Best Performance in a Comedy, and 2017 Logie Award for Most Outstanding Supporting Actress. Film credits include Silver City, Two Brothers Running, Evil Angels with Meryl Streep and The Jammed.

Current as of August 2023.

Artwork for Helen Morse

Helen Morse

Fs

Helen Morse has worked with Melbourne Theatre Company in over 20 productions of classic and modern plays including John, Daniel Keene’s Photographs of A (Antechamber/NEON), Frozen, A Little Night Music, Arcadia, The Crucible and The Tempest. She premiered Alma de Groen’s The Rivers Of China (Sydney Theatre Company/Melbourne Theatre Company) and The Woman in the Window and played Theodora Goodman in Adam Cook’s adaptation of Patrick White’s The Aunt’s Story (Melbourne/Brisbane Festivals/Belvoir). Her stage work includes Memorial for the 2018 Adelaide, Brisbane and Barbican (UK) Festivals (Brink); 33 Variations (Cameron Lukey Productions); Angels In America, Wit, Dreamers, Ivanov (fortyfivedownstairs); The Rain (KTTP/Sydney Festival); Good Works, Away (Playbox); Once In Royal David’s City (Belvoir); Love.War.Death.BREL (Adelaide Cabaret Festival); Signs Of Life, The Year Of Magical Thinking (Black Swan State Theatre Company); Robyn Archer’s Architektin, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (State Theatre Company of South Australia). Helen has toured nationally with Duet for One; Europe (MTC); Death and the Maiden (STC) and Sundowner (KAGE). Many recitals include L’Invitation au Chateau with PLEXUS Trio and The Power of Love (fortyfivedownstairs) devised with Paul English and violist Isabel Morse.

Current as of August 2023.

Artwork for Jalen Ong

Jalen Ong

Fs

Jalen Ong is grateful to be making his Melbourne Theatre Company debut. Born and raised in Malaysia, he is a trans actor and a graduate of Federation University, Arts Academy. Before moving to Australia, he was a control system engineer. Stage credits include The Tempest (Melbourne Shakespeare Company); Liminal Treats (Scratch Arts); Ego Machine showing (Citizen Theatre); Polite Mammals (Wholesome Hour) and And She Would Stand Like This (Antipodes Theatre). Upcoming TV credit is Gold Diggers (ABC). He is an ensemble member of the Melbourne Playback Theatre Company and the Anthropocene Play Company. He also performs with Brunswick East Entertainment Festival and Born in a Taxi. He is fascinated with incorporating AR and VR into live performances. In his free time, Jalen is a tech enthusiast and is curious about trauma healing.

Current as of August 2023.

Artwork for Tomas Parrish

Tomas Parrish

Fs

Tomas Parrish (they/them) is a multidisciplinary artist born on Dharawal Country, Wollongong, and acknowledges the Dharawal People's sovereignty. Tomas is making their Melbourne Theatre Company mainstage debut in What If If Only, having previously been part of the ensemble for Vivid White. Other theatre credits include When the Light Leaves (La Mama Theatre); Patti LuPone - Don't Monkey with Broadway (Hamer Hall); Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Hayes Theatre Co); Metropolis (Little Eggs Collective/Hayes Theatre Co); The Sight (Dark Mofo). Tomas’s screen debut was In Our Blood (Hoodlum Productions/ABC). As a writer and composer, Tomas’s work has been performed in association with The Australian Ballet, Orchestra Victoria and the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. They are currently undertaking their doctorate in music composition research through the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and workshopping new work with Antipodes Theatre Company, and with support of the Ron and Margaret Dobell Foundation.

Current as of August 2023.

Deidre Rubenstein

Deidre Rubenstein

Fs

Deidre Rubenstein has appeared for Melbourne Theatre Company many times, most recently in Admissions, Shakespeare in Love, A Doll’s House, Part 2, Ladies in Black, North by Northwest, His Girl Friday, Circle Mirror Transformation, Richard III, August: Osage County, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The History Boys, Life x 3 and The Seagull. Stage highlights elsewhere are My Fair Lady, Violet, The Glass Menagerie, Loving Repeating, Three Sisters, Cloud Nine, Candide, Mother Courage, Top Girls, Wild Honey, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Broken Glass and The Winter’s Tale. Deidre created and performed in highly acclaimed solo shows What's a Girl to Do and Confidentially Yours, touring nationally and internationally. Television work includes Neighbours, G.P., Mercury, City Homicide, MDA, The Secret Life of Us, Blue Heelers, Superwog and Palace of Dreams, which won her an AFI Award for Best Actress. Film work includes The Rooster, Hellion, Force of Destiny and Salvation.

Current as of August 2023.

Artwork for Teja Kingi

Teja Kingi

C

Teja Kingi is thrilled to be returning to Melbourne Theatre Company, after making her professional musical theatre debut playing the role of Small Alison in Fun Home. Teja loves acting and is an accomplished dancer. She studies all styles of dance and singing at Michelle Slater Performing Arts Studio. Teja’s other credits include short films, commercials, modelling and corporate performances. She thanks her family for their support and hopes you enjoy the show.

Current as of August 2023.

Artwork for Caleb Lee

Caleb Lee

C

Caleb Lee (he/him) is a talented young actor and performer who recently made his professional debut in the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (TML Enterprises) as Benjamin/Potiphar at The Regent Theatre. Caleb’s passion for the arts has been nurtured since the age of three, when he began training at the renowned May Downs School of Dance. His dedication and commitment have allowed him to excel in various disciplines, including ballet, tap, jazz, musical theatre, acrobatics, singing and music. Caleb’s music skills include singing, acoustic guitar, double bass and piano. Now at age 10, Caleb is thrilled to be making his Melbourne Theatre Company debut in What If If Only as the role of C. Performing on the mainstages around Melbourne is a dream come true for Caleb, and he is grateful for the opportunity to showcase his talents in this professional production. Caleb is proudly represented by Centrestage Agency.

Current as of August 2023.

Artwork for Imogen Premraj

Imogen Premraj

C

What If If Only is Imogen’s first show with Melbourne Theatre Company. She made her professional debut last year in the Melbourne season of Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (TML Enterprises). You may recognise Imogen from a Toyota commercial she filmed earlier this year with her brother as well as a previous commercial for Tourism Australia. She is a student at 16th Street Actors Studio, Greenroom Singing, Imogen Brough, Stage Arts and Jason Coleman’s Ministry of Dance. Imogen would like to thank her family and Triple Talent Management.

Current as of August 2023.

Artwork for Aubrey Flood

Aubrey Flood

Fs

Aubrey Flood is a Filipino-Australian Naarm-based actor, singer and director. This is Aubrey’s first stage appearance with Melbourne Theatre Company, having previously been a directing intern on Cybec Electric: Malacanang/Montgomery earlier this year. Aubrey graduated from the Ballarat Arts Academy, and has trained extensively with Anne Bogart and the SITI Company in New York. As a performer, Aubrey’s credits range from children's theatre, solo cabarets, corporate events and concerts, a cappella groups, fringe festivals all over Australia to major works in theatres and performances in NYC. Aubrey most recently featured as the Duck in Chris Horsey’s tap dancing adaption of Peta & the Wolf. Aubrey is an emerging director with assistant credits including working with Kenneth Moraleda on new Filipino-Australian musical LOLA! by Jordan Shea and Victoria Falconer and recently made her directing debut with HOT.FAT.CRAZY. which had a sell-out season as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and will have a return season for the Melbourne Fringe Festival.

 Current as of August 2023.

 

Artwork for Aram Geleris

Aram Geleris

Fs

Aram Geleris is a Melbourne-based actor and theatre maker making his debut with Melbourne Theatre Company. After graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2021 Aram has been making a name for himself in the independent theatre scene in Melbourne, playing Prospero in The Tempest (Melbourne Shakespeare Company); Peter ‘Da’ Devlin in the Australian premiere of Crocodile Fever (TART Theatre Collective); and multiple roles in Blackrock (Platform Arts). Aram is also a player and co-host of The Dirty Twenty Podcast which has been accepted to multiple international web festivals.

Current as of August 2023.

 

Artwork for Jonty Reason

Jonty Reason

Fs

Jonty Reason is delighted to be debuting for Melbourne Theatre Company, hopefully, the first of many. Jonty trained with The Actor’s Company in London and has been seen on the West End stage as George Wickham in an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (Westminster Theatre) and Morris in Noel Coward’s Present Laughter (Aldwych and Wyndham’s Theatres) as well as numerous tours around the UK and Europe. Jonty toured Southern Europe playing the eponymous Dane, Hamlet for Lindy Jordan’s Limelight Productions as well as guest starring in the BBC series El Dorado and Doctor Who with Colin Baker. His most recent film appearances include the Robbie Williams biopic Better Man (directed by Michael Gracey,) Of an Age (directed by Goran Stovelski) and The Eastfield Exorcism (directed by Nick Kovakis).

Current as of August 2023.

 

Artwork for Caryl Churchill

Caryl Churchill

Writer

Caryl Churchill’s plays include Owners, Light Shining In Buckinghamshire, Traps, Cloud Nine, Top Girls, Fen, Serious Money, Ice Cream, Mad Forest, The Skriker, Blue Heart, This is a Chair, Far Away, A Number, A Dream Play, Drunk Enough To Say I Love You?, Seven Jewish Children, Love and Information, Here We Go, Pigs and Dogs, Escaped Alone, Glass.Kill.Bluebeard.Imp and What If If Only. Music theatre includes Lives of the Great Poisoners and Hotel, both with Orlando Gough. Caryl has also written for radio and television.

Current as of August 2023.

Artwork for Anne-Louise Sarks

Anne-Louise Sarks

Director

Anne-Louise Sarks is Artistic Director & Co-CEO of Melbourne Theatre Company. As Artistic Director her first show for the Company was Bernhardt/Hamlet. Previous work includes Minnie & Liraz and The Seed. An internationally acclaimed director, writer and dramaturg, Anne-Louise has directed over 30 productions with her work seen in Melbourne, Sydney, London, Helsinki, Mexico City, New York, Warsaw, Dublin, Auckland, Mumbai, Perth and Basel. Her recent productions include Avalanche at the Barbican in London, Our Town and Medea at Theater Basel and Stop Girl at Belvoir in Sydney. Her production of Blasted at Malthouse Theatre was nominated for four Green Room Awards. Medea, co-written with Kate Mulvany, won five Sydney Theatre Awards including Best Direction, Best Mainstage Production and Best New Australian Work. It was also awarded an AWGIE for Best Stage Play and was nominated for four Helpmann Awards including Best Direction, Best New Australian Work and Best Play. Anne-Louise was previously Artistic Director of the Lyric Ensemble at the Lyric Hammersmith in London and of the leading Melbourne independent theatre company The Hayloft Project. She has been Resident Director at Belvoir, Director in Residence at Malthouse Theatre, and in 2010 she was Emerging Resident Director at Melbourne Theatre Company.

Current as of August 2023.

Marg-Horwell.jpg

Marg Horwell

Set & Costume Designer

Marg Horwell is a multi-award-winning set and costume designer. Marg’s previous credits with Melbourne Theatre Company include Bernhardt/Hamlet, Girls & Boys, The Truth, The House of Bernarda Alba, Lilith: The Jungle Girl, Birdland, I Call My Brothers, Peddling, Cock, Constellations, Music and Marlin. Other credits include The Picture of Dorian Gray, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, How to Rule the World, Lord of the Flies, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Sydney Theatre Company); Because The Night, Blasted, Melancholia, Caravan, The Testament of Mary, The Real and Imagined History of The Elephant Man, Edward II, I Am a Miracle and The Good Person of Szechuan (Malthouse Theatre); The Confessions (Alexander Zeldin Company, touring internationally 2023–24); The Marriage of Figaro, The Sopranos, The Human Voice & The Call (Opera Queensland); Lorelei (Opera Queensland/Victorian Opera); Die Tote Stadt (Oper Am Rhein, Dusseldorf); Salome (English National Opera); Avalanche (The Barbican); Unsere Kleine Stadt (Theater Basel); Common Ground (Chunky Move) and Leviathan (Circa). Marg has won eleven Green Room Awards and three Sydney Theatre Awards.

Current as of August 2023.

Paul-Jackson.jpg

Paul Jackson

Lighting Designer

Paul Jackson’s lighting designs with Melbourne Theatre Company include Sunday, Cyrano, The Sound Inside, The Truth, Home, I’m Darling, Arbus and West, The Children, Gloria, Hay Fever, Di and Viv and Rose, Three Little Words, Endgame, Miss Julie, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Double Indemnity, The Ghost Writer, Ghosts, Dinner, Frozen, The Speechmaker, Enlightenment, Madagascar and Private Lives; and for Sydney Theatre Company include Do Not Go Gentle, The Lifespan of a Fact, Death of a Salesman, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, No Pay? No Way!, Mary Stuart, True West and The Mysteries. He has also designed for The Australian Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet, Berlin Staatsballett, West Australian Ballet, Queensland Ballet, Chunky Move, Victorian Opera, West Australian Opera, Queensland Opera, Bell Shakespeare, Malthouse Theatre, Belvoir, Queensland Theatre, Circa and Chamber Made Opera. He has lectured in design at the University of Melbourne, RMIT University and VCA. Paul has won a Helpmann Award, seven Green Room Awards, two Sydney Theatre Awards, four Australian Production Design Guild Awards and a Critics’ Award for Theatre in Scotland. Paul was Artistic Associate at Malthouse Theatre from 2007–13. In 2017, he received an Australia Council of the Arts Fellowship.

Current as of August 2023.

Jethro Woodward

Jethro Woodward

Composer & Sound Designer

Jethro Woodward’s credits include Sunday, The Truth, Home, I’m Darling, Astroman, Birdland (Melbourne Theatre Company); Apocalypse Meow: Crisis Is Born (Malthouse Theatre & BAM NYC); Solaris (Malthouse Theatre & Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh); The Black Rider (Malthouse Theatre & Opera Victoria); Blasted, The Elephant Man, Timeshare, Antigone (Malthouse Theatre); Meow Meow’s Little Mermaid (Malthouse Theatre, Edinburgh Festival, Sydney Festival, Auckland Festival, Perth Festival, Brisbane Festival); Antigravity (Malthouse Theatre & Chunky Move); Pinocchio (Malthouse Theatre, Windmill Theatre, State Theatre Company, New Victory Theatre Broadway New York, Sydney Opera House & Adelaide Festival Centre); Lazarus (Production Company); Distant Matter (Staatsballet Berlin & Anouk van Dijk); Common Ground (Anouk van Dijk & Chunky Move); Life of Galileo, Sammi In Paradise (Belvoir Theatre); Paul Capsis & The Fitzroy Youth Orchestra (Sydney Festival, Adelaide Cabaret Festival); Rumpelstiltskin (Windmill Theatre & State Theatre Co, London Southbank Centre); Lot 57 (Marcia Ferguson); The Crossing (Donna Chang & Marieka Walsh); Tim Winton’s The Turning – Fog (Robert Connolly); Van Diemen’s Land (Jonathan auf der Heide & Maggie Miles).

Current as of August 2023.

Geraldine-Cook-Dafner-600x800.jpg

Geraldine Cook-Dafner

Voice & Text Coach

Geraldine Cook-Dafner previously worked for Melbourne Theatre Company on I Wanna Be Yours, Bernhardt/Hamlet, Sunday, Girls & Boys, The Lifespan of a Fact, Home I’m Darling, The Golden Shield, Wild, The Children, Hay Fever, Di and Viv and Rose, Melbourne Talam, John, The Odd Couple, Straight White Men, The Distance, Birdland, The Waiting Room, Top Girls, The Heretic, The Swimming Club, The 39 Steps, The History Boys, All My Sons, The Clean House, Boy Gets Girl, Take Me Out and The Glass Menagerie. Geraldine was recently the voice and dialect coach for &Juliet (Regent Theatre). Geraldine has also worked at SBS, Malthouse and Musica Viva. She trained at Middlesex University, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and has a doctorate from the University of Melbourne. Geraldine is an Honorary Senior Fellow at the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne, where previously she held positions as Head of Voice, Head of School of Performing Arts and Associate Dean. She is currently voice and dialect coach for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and &Juliet.

Current as of August 2023.

Brigid Gallacher

Brigid Gallacher

Assistant Director

Brigid Gallacher makes a welcome return to Melbourne Theatre Company. Her previous work as an actor with the Company include Circle Mirror Transformation and Dangerous Liaisons (as a part of NEON Festival) and she has completed directing attachments with Kate Cherry and Pamela Rabe. Other theatre appearances include Timeshare (Malthouse Theatre); Baal (Malthouse Theatre in co-production with Sydney Theatre Company); Lamb (Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre/Critical Stages national tour); Colder and The Way Out (Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre); Romeo and Juliet and Dreamers (fortyfivedownstairs); Dracula, Nightingale and the Rose and Merciless Gods (LittleOnes Theatre); The View From Up Here (VIMH) and Prehistoric (Elbow Room/Edinburgh Fringe Festival). Brigid’s screen credits include Secret Bridesmaids’ Business, Underbelly: Tell Them Lucifer Was Here, Force of Destiny and Holding The Man. Brigid works as a director and dramaturg on her own projects and recently completed a dramaturgy placement on Monsters (Malthouse Theatre). She is also an accomplished singer and musician.

Current as of August 2023.

Learn more about Escaped Alone and What If If Only

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The Sumner

140 Southbank Boulevard

Southbank, Victoria 3006