The Chiral Collective was founded in 2011 by Claire Yeomans, an AFTRS graduate and award winning writer/director. Dedicated to creating emotionally resonant, innovative and evocative physical theatre The Chiral Collective uses devised methods to create groundbreaking new work. Inspired by companies such as Frantic Assembly, The Hayloft Project, DV8 and Kage, The Chiral Collective aspires to create new Australian theatre that explores universal themes in a fresh and unique way. 

Development for our upcoming show L.O.V started way back in August and has been independently funded thus far, but now we need some help to get us across state lines and into Adelaide. Your contribution will help cover the costs of getting us from Melbourne to Adelaide and keep us off the streets when we get there. It will also go towards the show - the props, lighting, sound and all those little incidentals that don't seem important until you realise you don't have them.

This is our company's premier show and we want to make it as breathtaking as we can, your help will ensure it reaches it's full potential. Adelaide Fringe offers us the chance to start a dialogue with an incredibly broad audience and, if we can succeed in our goal of creating an innovative and evocative show, it allows us an opportunity to continue this conversation long into the future.

Why is it when boys play they always play at killing each other? 

By dissecting the cocoon-like relationship of two childhood friends, L.O.V pries into the space between love and violence to explore the intricacies of mateship and morality. It demolishes the foundation of adolescent games to expose the chaos that can incur when the rules of play are transferred into an adult world, and the full weight of expectation and consequence are brought to bear. 

This three-man show combines traditional scenes with reenacted video games and spoken word with physical theatre to piece together fragments covering a six year period and expose the dangerous realm we inhabit when all levels of communication breakdown and connection between friends becomes forced instead of freely given. It questions the role of mateship in present day society and examines the tragic fall out that can occur when fighting for your mates turns into murder. In doing so it also aims to question how closely linked love and violence really are and examines how flexible individual morality actually is when friendship and loyalty push against it. 

Primarily though, L.O.V is a story about connection and communication and the tragic consequences that can occur if these are lost. It expands the second it takes for an accidental hit to cause a myriad of consequential blows into a sixty minute show that is, at its heart, simply a story about our enduring need for love.

Writer/Director - Claire Yeomans is the Artistic Director of The Chiral Collective. Claire has completed a BA in Arts (Literature), a Diploma in Professional Writing & Editing, and Graduate Certificates in both Directing and Screenwriting at AFTRS. She has written and directed 3 short films and won multiple awards for her short stories. In 2011 she moved from film to theatre and worked as assistant writer/director for The Rock, a Kurunpa Live Arts production, which premiered at TheatreWorks in October 2011.

Assistant Director - Andrea Jenkins is the Artistic Director of KURUNPA LIVE ARTS founded after she completed a Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre Internship in 2010. In 2006 Andrea completed a degree in Performance Studies at Curtin University in Perth. After University she moved into devised work as performer/writer/director and dramaturg with City of Cake (2007), One Is Warm In Winter, The Other Has A Better View (Platform Youth theatre 2009) Dante’s Inferno (Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre 2010), Love Meats Mouth (2 Hours Traffic 2010) Home Address (2high Festival and Kurunpa Live Arts 2010), and The Rock (Theatre Works and Kurunpa Live Arts 2011). She completed the Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre Internship in 2010.

Cast:

Michael McFarlane trained in London, graduating from Rose Bruford College with a BA (Hons) Degree in European Theatre Arts. Primarily a devised, collaborative course, focus was on 20^th century European theatre practitioners. Since graduating, Michael has worked with various young theatre companies on commissioned shows playing at the National Student Drama Festival, The Camden Fringe and the Arcola’s Adventures in Movement. Most work was of a physical nature, embracing the innate expressivity of the body. Physical theatre, European theatre practitioners and workshops in Eastern practices such as Butoh, has proved a rich source of inspiration for work. Since moving to Melbourne, Michael has worked with Eagles Nest Theatre on two Shakespearean productions, worked on nine events with Underground Cinema's acting troupe, had lead roles in three short films and has just concluded a two week run of Rhinoceroswith 5 Pound Theatre as part of the Melbourne Fringe. He is also a founding member of Melbourne based physical theatre company The Chiral Collective.

Joseph Appleton is a former student of Charles Sturt Universities Acting (for Screen and Stage) Bachelor degree. Predominantly trained in the Stanislavsky and Michael Chekhov techniques for acting his work aims at achieving truthfulness and ease of performance. Through the incorporation of intellect, impulse and spontaneity he delves into the characters mind and quality of movement and speech. Having study and practised Authentic Movement, Yoga, and Feldenkris Technique he strives to act with precision and fluidity. Joseph has performed in numerous productions in Melbourne, Sydney and Wagga Wagga including physical, naturalistic and devised pieces. From modern plays such as The Twits and Cosi to Chekhov and Shakespeare he is continually broadening his knowledge of acting and theatre. He is also a founding member of Melbourne based physical theatre company The Chiral Collective. Joseph hopes to continue study into mime, mask and clowning.

Fabio Motta studied Commedia dell’Arte with Venezia InScena in 2006, The New York Film Academy Los Angeles and H.B. Herbert Bergohof Studio’s, New York in 2007. He has also trained with St Martin’s Ensemble Theatre and 16th Street Acting Studio (2009-10). Fabio’s performance history includes Brain Dead (St Martin’s Theatre), Manikins and Fraternity for the Class Clowns Grand Final (Melbourne Comedy Festival), The History Boys (Boroondara Theatre Company) La Locandiera and L’aria del Continente (Commeartefo` Theatre Company). He has also appeared in various film and television projects including Carla Cametti P.D., Canal Road, With Bad Blood (Palm Springs International Short Film Festival), Triple Happiness and Hating Alison Ashley.

Thank you so much for your time and your support.