Aphids’ much-loved production A Quarreling Pair: A Triptych of Small Puppet Plays has been invited to Rome, to be part of the Festival dei Mondi, a summer programme of works hand-picked from around the world, presented by the Teatro Patologico (Via delle Azzorre, 352) in June 2011.

The invitation, at short notice, follows from a season at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York City, where the two sisters of A Quarreling Pair—and performers Caroline Lee and Sarah Kriegler—charmed and chilled Manhattan audiences, garnering rave reviews.

The Teatro Patologico is a compact organisation founded and run according to the same not-for-profit ethos as La MaMa Experimental Theatre Company in NYC, and Melbourne’s own La Mama Theatre in Carlton—where the Triptych of Small Puppet Plays was first seen in 2004.

HELP the puppets and the A Quarreling Pair team travel to Rome for this extraordinary opportunity to perform as part of an international festival during Europe’s high season!

We are seeking to raise $1500 towards the total cost of airfares, freight and other travel costs.

Any pledge from $5.00 to $30.00 will result in an elated THANKYOU (GRAZIE) resounding between Melbourne and Rome.

Pledges of $35.00 or more will receive a NUMBERED and SIGNED copy of Care Instructions: Script for Single or Multiple Voice, the incantatory text by Cynthia Troup, published by Aphids to coincide with the second Melbourne season of this work at Malthouse Tower Theatre. Created with letterpress artist Carolyn Fraser at Idlewild Press, this hand-sewn, limited edition has been described by delighted readers as ‘so very beautiful’, ‘a completely gorgeous object’, and ‘funny; humorous, light and … coming from something deep within … a wonderful gift, tangible, in the lovely paper, but more than that, something to treasure’.

Copies numbered 3, 4, and 5 of Care Instructions will go to the first 3 pledges of $100.

Copy number 2 will go to the first pledge of $200.

And copy number 1 to the first pledge of $300.

For more information about A Quarreling Pair: A Triptych of Small Puppet Plays, including NYC reviews:

http://aphids.net/repertoire/A_Quarreling_Pair

‘I had forgotten how irreverent and ingenious Australian theatre could be. … It makes sense that the piece is directed by the brilliant Margaret Cameron … The dialogue takes dicey turns: between talk of suffering and isolation in a room that one sister never leaves. On the surface, [this] is about that tricky trap called love. And, in particular, that razor-sharp love that exists between sisters.’ Alexandra Collier, Antipodes, June 2010