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Past Productions & Events

The Wishing Well

Music Theatre Certificate IV Showcase

thumb-Wishing-Well On New Years Eve, eight girls enter a Sydney nightclub expecting the night of their lives. Some of them believe ‘Doomsday 2012’ is imminent and after taking the second star to the right, Neverland is nowhere to be seen. Be careful what you wish for… Featuring songs from fairytales with the attitude of Facebook, the Class of 2011 invite you to a party THEY will never forget! * WISHING WELL is created by Angela Kennedy* and written in collaboration with the students of ACTT’S Certificate IV course in Music Theatre (Triple Threat: Acting,Singing,Dancing).

Performances:

Wed 16th Nov @ 7.30pm
Thurs 17th Nov @ 6.30pm pre-show performance by Gold Coast Triple Threat*. (The Wishing Well is at 8pm)
Fri 18th Nov @ 7.30pm
Sat 19th Nov @ 5pm

Gold Coast Triple Threat
ACTT is the registered Training Organisation for Gold Coast Triple Threat, situated on the Gold Coast. Students from GCTT can study Certificate IV in Music Theatre, part time or full time. Graduating students from these programs have flown to Sydney to perform. Their performance is a musical review that is a tribute to the great composers of Sondheim, Bricusse, Maltby and Shire, Stephen Margoshes, and Jeff Bowen.

Tickets:

$15/$10
www.actt.edu.au/buy-tickets
02 9213 4508

George Farquhar’s “The Recruiting Officer”

ACTT 2nd Year Actors

A Restoration Play, Directed by Sean O'Riordan

thumb-recruit The Recruiting Officer is a 1706 play by the Irish writer George Farquhar, which follows the social and sexual exploits of two officers, the womanising Plume and the cowardly Brazen, in the town of Shrewsbury to recruit soldiers. The Recruiting Officer was the first play to be staged in the Colony of New South Wales, now Australia, by the convicts of the First Fleet in 1789 under the governance of Captain Arthur Phillip RN (also Commodore of the First Fleet). There have been two television adaptations of the play, one in 1965 for Australian television, and one Play of the Month in 1973, the latter starring Ian McKellen as Plume and Brian Blessed as Sergeant Kite.

Location:

ACTT Main Hall, 505 Pitt Street

Dates:

Thursday 10th November: 7.30pm
Friday 11th November: 7.30pm
Saturday 12th November: 5pm

Tickets:

$20/$10
www.actt.edu.au/buy-tickets
02 9213 4508


Watch the Trailer Video

Showreel directed by John O'Hare, Head of Acting & Artistic Director, ACTT
Showcase directed by Deborah Jones, Course Manager & Tutor, ACTT

We would love to see you for this short event. Anticipated running time will be 75–80 mins but please note BOOKINGS ARE ESSENTIAL AS SPACE IS LIMITED

Venue

ACTT Main Hall, 505 Pitt Street, Sydney

Performances

Tuesday 1 November: 6.30pm (Preview, to which you are welcome)
Wednesday 2 November: 1.00pm (Industry Event)
Wednesday 2 November: 6.30pm (Industry Event)

Bookings

BOOKINGS ARE ESSENTIAL AS SPACE IS LIMITED
E-mail info@actt.edu.au or call 02 9213 4500 to reserve a place.

Cast

Serena Weatherall, Matthew Williams, Samantha Cunningham, Mischa Grunenberg , Gabriel McCarthy, Eleanor Ryan, Amber Davis, Attila Horn-yak, Leanne Mackessy, Sophia Scarpellino, Ulrike Posselt, Nelson Cairelli, Emily Sheehan, Yoni Slama.


Dark of The Moon

An ACTT Professional Actor Program Production adapted and Directed by John O’Hare.

SIDETRACK THEATRE MARRICKVILLE
Please note: This production is at Addison Road Centre, Marrickville, it is not at the Pitt St building.

This unique adaptation is the story of love and desire between a witch boy and a beautiful girl. Set in the Appalachian mountains of Kentucky, “True Blood” meets “Spirited” and some ‘ol Kentucky Bluegrass.

thumb-dotm Originally written by Howard Richardson in 1939 as a dramatization of the centuries old Celtic/European folk song “The Ballad of Barbara Allen” (see below) this adaptation also draws upon contemporary supernatural themes as it tells a story that will appeal as much to anyone brought up on the cult TV series ‘True Blood’ as Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’. This endearing love story uses parody and slapstick to ask questions about fear, racism and mob psychology. The overarching question of whether love can transcend the differences between ‘us’ and ‘the other’ make this production especially relevant to a vibrant and multicultural Australian audience.

A dangerous pact...
After having had his way with his mortal love, Barbara Allen, the witch-boy John makes a dangerous pact to become human so that he can be with her. But the Fair Witch and the Dark Witch want Barbara to pay for stealing John away from them.

Unrequited Love...
The lusty Barbara must remain faithful to John for a full year or she will suffer, and as John runs off to join the townsfolk of Buck Creek, it soon becomes clear that another man is in fact her lover.

A Moral Dilemma...
John is torn between using his witch powers to secure the love of Barbara, while keeping his true identity hidden from the local townsfolk and the fundamentalist Preacher Haggler… the question is, who will fall from grace?

Transcendent love?
Come along and find out if true love does really conquer all.
DOTM-large1

Cast (in alphabetical order):
Nelson Cairelli, Samantha Cunningham, Amber Davis, Mischa Grunenberg, Attila Horn-yak, Leanne Mackessy, Gabriel McCarthy, Ulrike Posselt, Eleanor Ryan, Sophia Scarpellino, Emily Sheehan, Yoni Slama, Serena Weatherall, Matthew Williams.

Assistant Director: Jacobie Gray
Technical Direction: Tony Youlden
Voice: Linda Nicholls-Gidley
Singing: Clare Heuston
Dance: Virginia Ferris

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:

Wed 12 Oct 7.00pm Preview Night
Thu 13 Oct 7.00pm Opening Night
Fri 14 Oct 7.30pm
Sat 15 Oct 7.30pm
Sun 16 Oct 5.00pm
Mon 17 Oct No Show
Tue 18 Oct 7.00pm
Wed 19 Oct 7.00pm
Thu 20 Oct 7.00pm
Fri 21 Oct 7.30pm
Sat 22 Oct 7.30pm Closing Night

CLICK HERE TO BOOK TICKETS

* This production contains coarse language and adult themes*


ACTT’s 2nd Year Actors present ‘BOYS VS GIRLS – a Cabaret’

An introduction by Cabaret Director, Clare Heuston

Perhaps the interestingest piece I had to learn for the show was UGK’s “Two Types of Bitches” feat. Dizzee Rascal. I think rap is a splendid challenge for students’ developing sense of text rhythms.

thumb – boys girls Cabaret is possibly the single most terrifying project in the Professional Actor Program as it gets rehearsed for two weeks and put up in the third. It is also the most miraculous as it involves actors finding themselves standing in the middle of farcical, emotional or completely internal scenes singing their heads off. 2011 2nd year students wanted to fool around with a broad range of musical genres so we went for thematic organisation: and the first and best suggestion was Boys vs Girls. We start with all-out musical misogyny and work our way through rants and accusations and sly jokes and tomfoolery to rapprochement. This is a collaborative project and the students work with each other and with their teachers across their studies on their songs. Choreographer Virginia Ferris provides a chance to work with dazzling speed and clarity; with acting tutor Kate Hankin and voice tutor Linda Nicholls-Gidley they work on sustainability and craft and also the specifics of character.

* This production contains coarse language and adult themes*

Director: Clare Hueston
Staff – Clare Heuston Clare holds an honours degree in Arts from Sydney University and an A.Mus from the AMEB. In 1998 she won the Lady Persia Galleghan Award for Operatic Voice at the Sydney Eisteddfod and made her debut at the National Lieder Society singing with Australian chamber music legend Rachel Valler at the piano. Since then she has performed as a recitalist all over NSW. Her teachers were Frances Hillier, Susan Reppion-Brooke, Sue Falk and Anthea Moller. She teaches in the Diploma and Core programmes at ACTT and runs her own singing practice.

Choreographer: Virginia Ferris
Staff – Virginia Ferris Virginia has had a long career as a Choreographer, Artistic Director, Adjudicator, Dance Tutor and Event Coordinator specialising in retro choreography, musical theatre and jazz styles. Virginia was trained as a ballet dancer appearing with Tasmanian Ballet and Company in Flight Dance Company. As a choreographer her versatility allows her to work across many genres. She was Assistant Director and Choreographer for 2010 Chinese New Year Twilight Parade for the City of Sydney for an audience of over 100,000 people and has choreographed Marilyn Jones, KD Lang, Kath & Kim, Bob Downe, Keith Bain and Jimmy Somerville to name a few.

Acting Tutor: Kate Hankin
Staff – Kate Hankin Kate teaches The Morris System at ACTT. She studied in NIDA young actor’s studio and is a graduate of the ACTT Professional Actor Program (Advanced Diploma of Arts in Stage and Screen Acting). She spent two years training directly under Eric and Susana Morris in the US and goes back there regularly. Theatre credits include the 2010 Griffin playoffs, The Tempest directed by John O’Hare, The Happy House Show directed by Kate Gaul, Other Times directed by Judy Farr and A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Anna Volska. 2010 screen appearances include the feature “While We Were“ directed by Robert Roa (US) and I ROCK on ABC. In October 2010 Kate is on stage in “Jigsaws”, directed by Linden Wilkinson and produced by the Actors Forum.

Voice tutor: Linda Nicholls-Gidley
Staff – Linda Nicholls-Gidley Linda teaches voice, accent & dialect classes with ACTT’s full-time students. She considers the production of voice to be a physical full-body experience and works hard to establish body/breath/sound connections in her students. Linda holds a degree in Acting from Charles Sturt University, a post-graduate diploma in Voice from NIDA and a Master of Creative Arts in Accent/Dialect research from the University of Wollongong. She has also trained with Cicely Berry, Rowena Balos, Catherine Fitzmaurice, Frankie Armstrong, Jenny West and is currently working with Paul Meier. As a voice teacher Linda has taught Callan Mulvey, Damien Walshe-Howling, and Rachael Taylor amongst others. She has worked as an actor, voice artist, director and accent/dialect coach for over 12 years and in broadcasting for the ABC, Channel 10 and The Age on-line.

Location

ACTT Main Hall
505 Pitt St
Sydney, Australia

Performance Dates

Thurs 1st Sept, 7.30pm
Fri 2nd Sept, 7.30pm
Sat 3rd Sept, 5pm

CORE 1 Students present Bareboards

Directed by Sean O'Riordan
This is the first production put on by the students as a class. Comprising a series of ‘raw’ scenes that do not rely on lighting or stage setup, it’s a must-see for anyone who’s taking or thinking about The CORE. (entry by donation).
Location
ACTT Main Hall
505 Pitt St
Sydney, Australia
Performance Dates
Thursday August 25: 8:00pm – 11:00pm.

* This production contains coarse language and adult themes*

ACTT’s 2nd Year Actors present “Shifting Points”

Directed by Fiona Malone
2nd Year Students of the Profesional Actor Program present Shifting Points on Wednesday, 10 August 2011 at 18:00, ACTT Main Hall Sydney, Australia. Each actor will perform three deeply personal, true-life stories written and devised by themselves and the ensemble, using Meyerhold BioMechanics skills.

Location

ACTT Main Hall
505 Pitt St
Sydney, Australia

Performances:

Wed 10th Aug: 6pm (preview)
Thurs 11th Aug: 7.30pm
Fri 12th Aug: 7.30pm
Sat 13th Aug: 5pm

Tickets:

$5/$10 (preview only)
$10/$15 all other performances
To book, phone: 9213 4508 or www.actt.edu.au/buy-ticket​s

FIONA MALONE – Senior Tutor (Meyerhold and Physicality)

Staff – Fiona Malone A graduate of the Postgraduate Diploma in Movement Studies (NIDA), Fiona has been the BioMechanics tutor for The Actors College of Theatre and Television since 2007. Known for her innovative cross media productions, Fiona is an award winning choreographer who had a long international career as a contemporary dancer before expanding her skills to train and choreograph for Actors. Her recent Theatre credits include working for Sydney Theatre Company on productions The Wonderful World of Dissocia and Concussion and with mentor Gavin Robins for The Bell Shakespeare Company on As You Like It.

A Small Theatre Company Production

JUICED: LIAISONS

Directed by Sean O'Riordan
21-23 JULY, ACTT MAIN HALL: 505 Pitt Street
thumb – juiced After five months of full-time training, CORE 2 students present their final performance. This selection of juicy scenes is the culmination of the Certificate III in Theatre & Screen Performance course, that included immersion in instrument training, acting for screen and stage, movement, voice, singing & dancing, but also the technical operations of performance including lighting and sound operations. Anyone considering enrolling in The CORE is welcome to come along and see for themselves what a final production is like.

Box Office

Tickets: $10
$5 for concessions
ACTT Students: Free
For bookings click here
Or call 9213 4508 (phone booking fee will apply)

Performances:

Thursday 21st July, 7.30pm
Friday 22nd July, 7.30pm
Saturday 23rd July, 5pm

ACTT PlayLab Presents: The Crucible

Directed by Glen Hamilton
7-9 JULY, ACTT MAIN HALL: 505 Pitt Street

The Crucible is a 1953 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatization of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as an allegory to McCarthyism, when the US government blacklisted accused communists. Miller himself was questioned by the House of Representatives’ Committee on Un-American Activities in 1956 and convicted of “contempt of Congress“ for refusing to identify others present at meetings he had attended. The production won the 1953 “Best Play” Tony Award and the play became a classic. Today it is studied in high schools and universities as a central work in the canon of 20th Century American drama.

Box Office

Tickets: $10
$5 for concessions
ACTT Students: Free
For bookings click here

Performance Dates

Thursday 7 July 7.30pm Opening night
Friday 8 July 7.30pm
Saturday 9 July 5.00pm

ACTT 2nd Yrs Present: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

A Professional Actor Program Production

Directed by Lex marinos
ACTT MAIN HALL - 22-24 JUNE
thumb – kissbang A succession of bold, energetic writers, directors, actors and teachers emerged from the USA and took the acting world by storm in the first half of the 20th Century – changing the world of stage and screen performance in their wake. ACTT 2nd Year students, currently on the Performance Practice year of the PROFESSIONAL ACTOR PROGRAM, pay homage to them in KISS KISS, BANG BANG, a selection of American Scenes from that remarkable era, including pieces from William Inge, Clifford Odets, Budd Schulberg, Garson kanin, Elmer Rice, Tennessee Williams and Jules Feiffer.

Box Office

Tickets: $10
$5 for concessions
ACTT Students: Free
For bookings click here

Performance Dates

Wednesday 22 June 7.30pm Opening night
Thursday 23 June 7.30pm
Friday 24 June 7.30pm

ACTT CORE 3 Presents: Who’s Afraid of The Working Class

A Small Theatre Company Production*

Directed by Glen Hamilton
ACTT MAIN HALL - 2-4 JUNE
whos afraid ACTT CORE 3 Students will perform a selection of scenes from the award-winning Australian play ‘Who’s Afraid Of The Working Class?’. This is a compassionate, harrowing, hilarious and mysterious piece of political theatre about life on the margins of society at a time when the traditional concept of the working class is being replaced by a workless underclass. Commissioned in 1997 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Melbourne Workers Theatre, Who’s Afraid Of The Working Class? brought together the work of controversial novelist, Christos Tsiolkas (Loaded/The Jesus Man) with award-winning dramatists, Patricia Cornelius (Jack’s Daughters), Andrew Bovell (Speaking in Tongues/After Dinner), Melissa Reeves (Road Movie) and a haunting score by Irine Vela (Little City).
Since its premiere season in Melbourne last year, the play received numerous awards including Best Play in the Queensland Literary Awards, two AWGIES for Best New Play, and the 1999 Jill Blewitt Playwrights’ Award. The play was later adapted into the hit movie ‘Blessed’.

Box Office

Tickets: $10
$5 for concessions
ACTT Students: Free
For bookings click here

Performance Dates

Thursday 2 June 8.00pm Opening night
Friday 3 June 8.00pm
Saturday 4 June 5.00pm

CORE 2 Bareboards

Directed by Sean O'Riordan
thumb – BareBoards2 CORE 2 Bareboards presentation – a series of action packed scenes designed to allow the student performers to follow their instincts and impulses as they connect to their character’s needs and push for what they want from their scene partner with high energy and commitment. (Note: This is a closed door performance to ACTT students, invited family and friends only)


Payment by Donation
Performance Date: Friday 27th May

The Chekhov Project

Directed by Maeliosa Stafford
Second year students of the ACTT Professional Actor Program perform selections from two Chekhov masterpieces Three Sisters & Uncle Vanya along with two of his earlier comedy works The Bear & The Proposal . This is the students first venture into Naturalism and sees them work under the tutelage and guidance of Maeliosa Stafford, one ACTT’s most-loved and highly-regarded Guest Directors.

Chekhov & Naturalism

thumb chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov 29 January 1860[1] – 15 July 1904] was a Russian short-story writer, playwright and physician, considered to be one of the greatest short-story writers in the history of world literature. Chekhov practiced as a doctor throughout most of his literary career: “Medicine is my lawful wife“, he once said, ”and literature is my mistress. Naturalism is a movement in European drama and theatre that developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It refers to theatre that attempts to create a perfect illusion of reality through a range of dramatic and theatrical strategies: detailed, three-dimensional settings; everyday speech forms; a secular world-view (no ghosts, spirits or gods intervening in the human action); an exclusive focus on subjects that are contemporary and indigenous; an extension of the social range of characters portrayed (away from the aristocrats of classical drama, towards bourgeois and eventually working-class protagonists); and a style of acting that attempts to recreate the impression of reality, understood in terms of its given circumstances.

Box Office

Tickets: $10
$5 for concessions
For bookings click here

Evolvelution

e•volve•e•lu•tion
Directed by Brendon Kennedy
br
Pro: [ih – volv - uh - loo - shuh n]
Def: – Evolution + Revolution
thumb_Evolvelution The winds of change are blowing in the Middle East and reach the apartment of two young gamers and their online revolutionary avatars, who find themselves fighting a revolution thousands of kilometres away. Could social networking be used for good rather than evil? Violence and riots in Tahir Square, Cairo, 2011 are intertwined with a global ‘song and dance conspiracy’ and at the heart of it all is a young spiritual poetess struggling to make sense of a world gone mad. This production combines stage performance multi-media, live video feeds and real-life reportage. Probably the first theatre production worldwide that takes on the subject of the current unrest in the Middle East, this epic and far-reaching production asks the big questions:

•Who is pulling the strings (and who are the puppets) ?
•What lies behind the “Arab spring” ?
•Why do ordinary people become “Evolvelutionaries” ?
•Who are the “Illuminati” and how do they operate ?

In the midst of chaos, one person’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter. When confusion reigns the battle between Good and Evil ebbs and flows as a constant undercurrent. We hear the heartfelt cries of…

‘...good, peace-dreaming people who seek neither power nor influence and wish only for the taste of Freedom.’

“Did I not try to do my best? From the age of ten, I support my Mother, my brothers and sisters. Now they prevent me from making a living! I will not live in shame... in my country! Is this God’s will?”

Peoples’ hearts are lifted by the brave calls to action of newly found voices from the past.

“This must be the last war! We owe that to the twelve million murdered victims. We owe that to our children. We owe that to Humanity!”

This unique self-devised piece by ACTT’s Professional Actor Program graduating students explores the idea of “personal power” as it bridges the styles of Naturalism, Grotesque and Musical.

Evolution + Revolution

e•volve
1.To develop gradually: to evolve a scheme.
2. To come forth gradually into being; develop.
ev•o•lu•tion
1. Any process of formation or growth; development.
2. A process of gradual, peaceful, progressive change in social or economic structure or institutions.
3. A pattern formed by or as if by a series of movements:
4. A series of movements of troops for disposition in order of battle
rev•o•lu•tion
1. An overthrow or repudiation and the thorough replacement of an established government or political system by the people governed.
2. A sudden, radical and pervasive change in the social structure often accompanied by violence.

Written and Devised by Brendon Kennedy and the cast:

Serena Weatherall, Matthew Williams, Samantha Cunningham, Mischa Grunenberg , Gabriel McCarthy, Eleanor Ryan , Amber Davis , Attila Hornyak, Leanne Mackessy, Sophia Scarpellino, Ulli Posselt, Nelson Cairelli, Emily Sheehan, Yoni Slama

Technical Direction: Tony Youlden
Voice: Linda Nicholls-Gidley
Singing: Clare Heuston
Movement: Caroline Mooney
Creative Consultant: John O’Hare

2011

ACTT CORE 4 students present: ‘Sweet Dreams’

Directed by Sean O'Riordan
Sweet Dreams are made of this? Realities. Imaginations. Relationships. Shifts of time and place. Danger. Comfort. Tears before bedtime. Sweet Dreams the show covers all of this and more. Everybody’s looking for something!‘Sweet Dreams’ marks the final module for Core 4 who have been working for 17 weeks, learning acting, voice and movement skills, ensemble singing, stage productions skills, camera techniques and much, much more. This production applies the actors’ newly acquired skills to selected scenes from leading Australian and International playwrights, poets and writers including John Masefield, Andrew Bovell, Rebecca Gilman, Tom Stoppard, Sarah Grochala and Philip Ridley.

Over the period of the course, The CORE students have faced many challenges and have learnt many new skills. This show marks the culmination of their acting lessons but they are also responsible for running the show as stage managers, lighting and sound board operators and scene shifters.

Performance Dates:
Thurs 27th Jan @ 7.30pm
Fri 28th Jan @ 7.30pm
Sat 29th Jan @ 5.00pm

2010

ACTT CORE 4 students present: Bareboards

thumb – core 4 bareboards 2010 Core 4 Bareboards presentation – a series of action packed scenes designed to allow the student performers to follow their instincts and impulses as they connect to their character’s needs and push for what they want from their scene partner with high energy and commitment. Directed by Sean O’Riordan Plays: Friday 3 December (closed door performance to invited family and friends only)

ACTT CORE 1 Students present: Love and Duty

thumb – love and duty CORE 1 Small Theatre Company Production presents Love and Duty: A series of powerful scenes focussing on the issues of love and duty, desires and responsibilities featuring the work of playwrights Neil Labute, Sam Shepherd, Martin Crimp and many others... When does love become duty? How far is duty love? In a series of intense scenes we explore many aspect of the love/duty divide. Relationship commitment and the clash with ideals – moral uncertainty and truth and delusion. Join the students of CORE 1 as they explore the boundar.ies and deal with the consequences of Love and Duty. Directed by Sean O’Riordan. Plays: Thurs 9th, Fri 10th@ 8.00, Sat 11th @5pm Open to everyone: Tickets: $10/ $5 BUY TICKETS HERE

PlayLab presents: The Memory of Water

thumb – images of water PlayLab: The Actor and the Play, presents “The memory of water“ by shelagh Stephenson…“ 3 sisters meet on the eve of their mothers funeral. Through the journey of their grief comes a simmering melting pot of conflicts, jealousy, memories and the strains of family relationships. A funny, volatile and heartfelt glimpse into the frailties of a family dealing with their past through the sadness of their present.” Directed by Glen Hamilton.
Plays Tue 14, Thur 16 and Fri 17 December @ 7.30pm
Plays Saturday 18 December @ 5pm
Open to everyone: Pay as much as you wish (by donation).

ACTT CORE 3 students present: Bareboards

CORE 3 Bareboards presentation – a series of action packed scenes designed to allow the student performers to follow their instincts and impulses as they connect to their character’s needs and push for what they want from their scene partner with high energy and commitment. Directed by Glen Hamilton. Plays: Wednesday 15 December (closed door performance to invited family and friends only)

The Living Room Theatre

Billie, a Girl, a Swing and Underpants

billie_web At the back of the theatre, a small girl swings in and out of her own imagined and real worlds. Her mother has left her in a doorway of light, wearing nothing but a pair of white underpants, packing box, clinging to an old family recipe that cooked up comfort impending disaster and ye haunting question of “What if…“ Amid the smells and sounds of her grand mother s kitchen, Billie conjures up the patchwork story of the moment in time following her mothers departure. Not knowing what is real, what is imagined and what is a distorted memory, the experience of watching Billie is like looking through a glass bottomed boat at the shapes and colours of someone’s private submerged world. Images and repeated moments dart in and out of view, only to return in a slightly different version of events later on. Deftly weaving together an enigmatic film and sound score with the delicately nuanced performance of Michelle St Anne as the young girl, the woman her mother, the girl pretending to the woman and the girl becoming a woman. Billie immerses the viewer in visually rich territory and leaves you pondering a myriad of possibilities of what did, might have or didn’t happen. It is given all the more punch because of the beauty with which a horrifying tale is told and questions too awful to consider are posed; “What if…?”

_The content may disturb but the performance will inspire – Emily Cooney, EXPRESS MEDIA, Oct 2009
Evocative and atmospheric …the story of Billie unravel slowly…in a poignant and delightful performance._ Kate Herbert, Sun Herald, April 2004

Previous seasons:
2009 – Man 40 seeks Woman with Good Legs & Billie: A double bill, Melbourne Fringe Festival, fortyfivedownstairs, (sold out)
2005 – Billie, a girl, a swing and underpants – Season La Mama, Melbourne
2005 – Billie, a girl, a swing and underpants – Showing The Studio, Sydney Opera House, Scratch Night Series
2004 – Billie, a girl, a swing and underpants – Showing Live Bait Festival, Bondi Pavillion

Made and Performed by: Michelle St Anne
Sound design: Soncha Iacono
Lighting design: Jared Lewis
Realised by : Jo Elliott
Film: Curtis Moyes
Slides: Sharyn Smith

ACTT’s second year actors present Man of Mode

Directed by Sean O'Riordan
thumb-Manofmode Combining the wit and cruelty of Liaisons Dangereuses with the slapstick comedy of the Marx Brothers and the high level farce of Fawlty Towers George Etherege’s classic comedy The Man of Mode is a restoration romp full of twists and turns secret plots and confusions. Based on the exploits of the historic figure Second Earl of Rochester the libertine and bawdy poet John Wilmot, the play centres around the man about town and ‘rake’ Dorimant and his quest to ditch his numerous mistresses in order to find true love and money. When he hears of a rich, country beauty newly arrived to the sinful and gossipy world of 17th century London he springs a plan to become single again and to gain the affections of this much talked about heiress. Soon all the characters in his circle are involved and mixed up in plot and counter plot secrets are revealed, love is denied and blood boils as the action both in and out of the bedroom intensifies. Forced marriage, scandal, secret lovers, large energetic characters, song, dance, colourful costumes, wig, make up – this Restoration classic has it all. 1675 has never been so good!

Man of Mode
By George Etherege
Directed by Sean O’Riordan
Vocal direction: Linda Nicholls-Gidley
Movement: Fiona Malone
Singing: Clare Heuston

ACTT Graduating Actors present ‘Lord of the Flies’

An ACTT Cleveland Street Theatre Production
Directed by John O'Hare
Tony Youlden and his team have designed an incredible stage set – here is a clip of them in action:

Based on William Golding’s classic novel, this is a disturbing tale of conflict and savagery. ‘Lord of the Flies’ begins with an airplane crash near a deserted island. The adults perish, yet some children survive and fashion a reasonably democratic government that soon collapses into total anarchy. LORD OF THE FLIES explores what happens to a group of young people who are forced into a new world where they have to create their own society, structures, norms, standards and laws and how this leads to unexpected and disturbing experiences.

Are we all animals at heart?

This production is an exploration of what makes us civilised. We’re familiar with the pictures and news clips of “child soldiers“ and “street gangs” around the world and their capacity for brutality and violence as societies struggle with questions of personal freedom and the need for intervention to prevent a descent into chaos. This throws up questions: Are we are all animals at heart? Is it nurture, or the rule of law, that civilises us? Because this story touches nerves on all these sensitive areas and because it raises a primal fear about our own human nature, LORD OF THE FLIES is both topical and confronting.

A blend of emotional and physical strength

The production is an excellent display of ‘The ACTT System’: A blended acting approach that combines the emotional strength of the Morris acting technique, as advocated by Director, John O’Hare (see biog below) with the physical expression of Meyerhold BioMechanics as directed in this production by Fiona Malone (see biog below).
Lighting: Tony Youlden. Voice: Russell Smith. Main Cast: Imogen Rose Carn, Billie-Rose Crane, Kailey Higgins, Reece Vella, Sophie Richardson, Timothy Selby, Laura Peach and Tiffany Stoecker.

"My belief about the play is... the 'Beast' is something inside ourselves, 'Evil' is inside our own natures and comes from human kind." John O'Hare, Director

The actors dig deep and bring forth raw emotion as they explore the journeys of their characters and fulfill the story. This production takes the audience through a roller-coaster ride of emotions as it draws us in. Are you sitting comfortably? Take a deep breath and watch as a group of dynamic young people wrestle to make sense of their own ethics and human nature…

2ND YEAR CABARET: THE WHITE ALBUM

White Album Poster design 2 final The White Album was written and recorded by the Beatles during a period of turmoil for the group. After visiting the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India and having a particularly productive songwriting session in early 1968, the group returned to the studio for recording from May to October 1968, only to have conflict and dissent drive the group members apart. Drummer Ringo Starr quit the band for a brief time, leaving Paul McCartney to perform drums on some of the album’s songs. The album is notable for the eclectic nature of its songs, which has divided critics in evaluating the album’s legacy. In 2003, the album was ranked number 10 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time“. In 2010 the ACTT 2nd Year Diploma Students take the White Album in a new and exciting direction, as it becomes the theme for their CABARET. Not to be missed!

Wretched Refuse

Wreched Refuse ACTT’s 2nd Year Students bring you a collection of scenes from prolific American Writers such as Edward Albee and Tennessee Williams. Directed by Lex Marinos, Wretched Refuse promises to be a night brimming with American energy and gusto.

Around the World in 80 JOKES – 7:00pm Sunday 11 April – 1 Sydney show

Sam McCool – 80 Jokes_Small
Sam McCool goes Around the World in 80 Jokes
Tickets: $20 Full/ $15 Concession

An epic of comic proportions! Direct from the Melbourne Comedy Festival. A show about laughing with each other… not at each other.

This story takes us on a unique journey around the globe, searching for the “funny spirit“ in all of us… one comic stereotype at a time. For those of you who’ve ever felt that PC’s going a bit too far, and that to make fun of anyone, you have to make fun of everyone. Incorporating stand up comedy, film, and song in a highly original 1 man stage show. Hosted by local Sydney comedy legend, Jacques Barrett, and followed by emerging reggae, rock, ska wonderboys “the My Ty’s”... there’s something for everyone.

There’s no show quite like it… come see for yourself.

www.sammccool.com

2009 Productions at ACTT…

Hollywood Babylon 11th, 13th and 14th Nov

The final show of the year for ACTT’s second year actors. Join them on a behind the scenes tour of Hollywood and meet your- and their- favourite stars. Playing at ACTT Studio Theatre- 505 Pitt St Sydney. Wed and Fri at 7.30pm; Sat at 4pm and 8pm

The Hunted and the Haunted 19 to 21 November

ACTT Core students present their end of course show: The Hunted and the Haunted. A selection of scenes directed by Sean O’Riordan and performed at the ACTT Studio theatre at 505 Pitt St, Sydney (directly opposite Central station).

Graduating Actors’ Showcase 5th and 6th November

Members of the performing arts industry attended the final showcase of the Advanced Diploma of Arts in Stage and Screen Acting students. The live showcase was followed by the premiere screening of the 2009 ACTT showreel which is the pinnacle of the results of the ACTT training system.

Black Kat Kabaret 28th to 31st October

ACTT’s Music Theatre performers presented their brand new production: Black Kat Kabaret. The characters at the Black Kat sang the songs of the greats at Cleveland St Theatre, 199 Cleveland St Central.

What’s Love Got to do With it.. 22nd to 24th October

ACTT’s first year actors presented their end of year show, a collection of great scenes from near and far: gritty, raw, funny and touching at the ACTT Studio Theatre, 505 Pitt St Sydney.

Turning Points 14 to 17 October

ACTT’s second year actors presented what has become known as one of the highlights of the ACTT’s annual calendar: Turning Points. The work is personal, moving, physical and powerful.

The Imagine Festival 9th to 11th October

ACTT’s Cleveland St Theatre hosts The Imagine Festival over three days and nights includes performances, exhibitions, play readings, forums, music, dance, comedy, bands, free classes, talks, networking and FUN. Click here for program

Interrogation

Presented by ACTT CORE 2 Students
Directed by Sean O’Riordan

In The Shadow of Uncle Sam

Presented by ACTT’S Second Year Actors
Directed by Lex Marinos
A night to experience some of the great scenes from some of the great plays from some of America’s greatest playwrights; Miller, Williams, O’Neill and more…
A country’s development is revealed through its creative artists who seek to explore their truth. This is what drives them to tell their stories, and tell them specifically.
These scenes also map the arc of a nation. From the country that continues to inform our own culture of theatre, film and television comes the work of the Americans who pushed their art form to the edge, over and over again.

Our Country's Good

By Timberlake Wertenbaker Our Country’s Good
Presented by 3rd Year Actors
Directed by Pete Nettell

Misery

Scenes by Chekhov, Ibsen and Strindberg
Presented by 2nd Year Actors
Directed by John Sheedy

2008 Graduating cast present The House of Bernarda Alba

by Federico Garcia Lorca
Directed by Maeliosa Stafford.
With the death of her husband, Bernarda Alba strives to contain the passions of her five unmarried daughters, but desire triumphs in a thrilling climax of maddness and violence.

2008 Graduating cast present Mojo

by Jez Butterworth
Directed by John O’Hare
Against the beat of new music, easy money, temptation and corruption, a dangerous power-game is played out between low-life, small time gangsters.
Music Theatre Students in award winning musical Two Gents of Verona
2nd Year devised movement piece A Peek At The Past
2nd Year Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream
ACTT’s 2008 graduating cast present The Jungle
By Louis Nowra
Directed by Pete Nettell

2007

Mongrels and The Boys
In 2007 ACTT’s Advanced Diploma students performed Mongrels by Nick Enright and directed by Maeliosa Stafford and The Boys by Gordon Graham and directed by John O’Hare.The show played at ACTT’s Cleveland St Theatre.The Cast also performed Roberto Zucco by Bernard-Marie Koltes in early 2007.
Roberto Zucco
By Bernard-Marie Koltes,
Translated by Martin Crimp
Directed by Camilla Ah Kin

2006

Hatful of Rain and Top Girls
In 2006 ACTT’s Advanced Diploma students toured a highly acclaimed double bill of Top Girls by Caryll Churchill directed by John O’Hare and A Hatful of Rain by Michael V Gazzo directed by Sean O’Riordan.
The show played at ACTT’s Pitt St theatre space along with a tour to Melbourne.

2005

ACTT graduates hit the big screen in their graduate showreel
Launching what are sure to be illustrious careers on stage and screen, the ACTT graduating actors presented their showreel at Star Bar, 600 George St, Sydney, on Thursday 25 November.

2004

Touring Production The Tempest
ACTT’s Advanced Diploma students will be touring a production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest in 2004! Directed by John O’Hare, ACTT’s Director of Acting studies known for his work at QUT and with O’Punksky’s theatre company, the show featured movement direction from former Legs on the Wall member and Bell Shakespeare movement coach, Gavin Robins. The show played the Footbridge Theatre, Parramatta Riversides, Laycock St in Gosford and Theatre 3 in Canberra throughout June and July.

2003

Showcase
The Advanced Diploma students presented their graduation showcase, Waiters in Waiting. The show comprised film and stage pieces, as well as musical and dance items, and was a great experience for all involved. Industry day was held on Wednesday October 22 at 2.30pm, with public performances at 7.30pm on 22–25 October.
Advanced Diploma Touring Production The Threepenny Opera directed by John Senzcuk & Andrew Davidson. Bertolt Brecht's The Threepenny Opera was given a new lease on life when ACTT's Advanced Diploma students took it on the road in late June. This adaptation of John Gay's The Beggars Opera gives new significance to the tale of the glamorous conman Macheath and his betrayal of a corrupt Establishment. Avarice, duplicity, betrayal and lust are the keywords for this musical play, which was directed by John Senczuk, with musical direction by Andrew Davidson. It toured Penrith, Taree, Woy Woy, Sydney and Port Macquarie, The Threepenny Opera showcased the remarkable talents of ACTT’s final year Advanced Diploma students in venues beyond Sydney.

2002

Advanced Diploma Touring Production Single True Things
adaptations of Tim Winton’s stories written and directed by Adam Macaulay
Single True Things Tour – September 2002
Happy Families
Wounds to the Face
Lovers, Lunatics and Poets
Director: Chris Ryan
Cast: 3rd Year Acting

2000

Vassa Zheleznova: A Mother
By Maxim Gorky.
Director: Adam Macaulay
Cast: 2nd Year Acting
Crew: Tech Prod Students
Naturalism Project, performed in the Actors College Theatre
I Don’t Know Who to Feel Sorry For
By John Romeril,
Three Australian One-Act Plays
Director: Deborah Jones and Kim Hardwick
Cast: 1st Year Acting (Mid-1999 intake)
Cloud Nine
By Caryl Churchill
Director: Ken Boucher
Cast: 3rd Year Acting
Metro Screen Project
Technical Trainer: Sienna Brown
Co-ordinator: Ken Boucher
Participants: Tech Prod Students, and 3rd Year Acting class
Showreel Project
Director: Brigid Kitchin
Participants: 3rd Year Acting
Just Off Broadway IV
Musical Director: Brendan Monger
Cast: 2nd Year Acting
Furious
By Michael Gow,
The Gun in History
By Tobsha Learner
Director: Crispin Taylor
Cast: 3rd Year Acting
Macbeth
By William Shakespeare.
Director: Chris Canute
Cast: 2nd Year Acting
Australian Plays
Director: Ken Boucher
Cast: 1st Year Acting (2000 intake)

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