ARTHUR

Dirtyland is a cracking new Australian play by young emerging playwright, Elise Hearst.  Production company Arthur is thrilled to be bringing the premiere production of this work to Sydney audiences in April as part of the Spare Room season at the New Theatre.  We are now seeking funds to realise the artistic vision for the production; to build a proper set, and to pay the actors and creatives involved - all of whom have been working on this project for no fee. 

Elise Hearst is a young Melbourne playwright and this production of Dirtyland marks the debut of her work in full production, after development in London and Australia and readings at RADA Trafalgar Studios, the Hampstead Theatre and a reading in Berlin.  Hearst attended World Interplay 2005. In 2007 she attended the prestigious Royal Court Theatre’s Young Writers' Programme in London and in 2010 she held a residency with Griffin Theatre Company, Australia’s leading new writing theatre.  Dirtyland appeared at the 2009 National Play Festival and was developed with the support of Playwriting Australia.

This dynamic eight-character play - set in an unspecified village following the massacre of one half of the residents by the other - traces the quest of a group of youths to form a rock band and get the hell out of town. 

What won’t Anya do to get away from her dirty, dirty land?
There is a burnt patch of grass in the middle of town that won’t grow back.
Half the town is hiding a secret.
The other half is missing.

A dark, adult fairytale.   A haunting and subversive examination of the will to survive. Welcome to Dirtyland.
Sharp, atmospheric and rebelliously comic, Dirtyland is a world with heart, plenty of guts and a fair bit of rock and roll.

Hearst’s writing is notable for its poetic and vivid imagery, a vein of magic realism, and a sense of historical haunting.  Hearst says of Dirtyland, and her work in general, “I am fascinated by the lingering impact war leaves behind; the silences between generations, the joy of first love, the meaning of exile, the relentlessness of desire, and the moral dilemmas of survival. Most of all I am compelled by the human determination to survive at any cost - determination is what binds these elements together.”

The world premiere production of this rowdy and entertaining production, accompanied by live music and a vivid contemporary score, is to be directed by Paige Rattray (2009 NIDA directing graduate, Affiliate Director at Griffin Theatre Company 2010, Resident Director Studio Program, Griffin Theatre Company 2011.)  Rattray and Hearst met and became familiar with each other’s work through their individual association with Griffin Theatre Company – Hearst as resident writer in 2010 – with Rattray helping to develop Hearst’s work.  In 2010, Rattray directed a short but acclaimed season at NIDA of her devised work, Blessed are the Wild, which, with its features of audience participation, live music and dance, performance and spoken word, was a lively introduction to her distinctive aesthetic.  In this work, audience members were able to vote on a combination of elements of dance, music, and text, meaning no performance was ever the same. 

Rattray’s motto of ‘organised chaos’ is a tagline now applied to new producing company Arthur, which makes its first outing with Dirtyland.  Along with Rattray as director, Arthur’s associates include Hearst as company writer and Belinda Kelly as Producer (Griffin Artistic Associate).  In conception, Arthur takes the work it produces seriously, but is also seriously interested in generating fun, for both the audience and themselves in bringing the work to production. Rattray says that audiences for Dirtyland should “expect to be taken into a world familiar yet strange. With live sound, epic atmospheres and striking visuals, the show is full of heart.  It’s funny but with dark undertones, creating an uneasy sensation as you walk hand in hand (not literally this time!) with these teenagers – desperately baracking for them to escape their dystopian world.”

Of bringing this, the first production of Hearst’s work to the stage, Rattray says “Elise is an intelligent and evocative writer, I feel a deep connection to the worlds she creates. Rather than giving the audience all the answers Elise presents a proposition which can be dissected long after you leave the theatre.”

We love the fact that Elise has a unique voice, her writing is superb - poetic and with a vivid imagery - and we think she is going to be a star!  We hope you can come to Dirtyland, helping us realise a rock and roll production and introducing a great new theatrical voice to Australian audiences.

Director PAIGE RATTRAY
Producer BELINDA KELLY
Dramaturg AMELIA EVANS
Set & Costume Design DAVID FLEISCHER
Lighting Design ROSS GRAHAM
Music JOSEPH NIZETI & MARCUS WHALE
Stage Manager LEE-ANNE ROZA
Production Manager BILLY CHEESEMAN
Assistant Director SOSEH YEKANIANS
Graphic Design CLAIRE ORRELL

With....
MEGAN HOLLOWAY
MARCUS MCKENZIE
NETTA YASHCHIN
GABRIEL FANCOURT
LUCY MILLER
TAMI SUSSMAN
ELISE HEARST
 

Season Dates: 14 April - 7 May 2011
Venue: New Theatre, Newtown, Sydney