Jennifer Piper

Help us bring The Martyrs to Melbourne!

 

Sly Rat Theatre has launched our first production: The Martyrs. Your support will allow us to perform this new Australian play for a full season at Revolt dock space in Kensington. Beyond this, it will allow Sly Rat Theatre to continue to develop new theatre and reimagine existing theatre for Melbourne and Sydney audiences.

All support pledged during this appeal will preserve your place as one of the original Pieces of Cheese, which is what Sly Rats like to call our supporters. 

 

As a foundation supporter, you will be acknowledged in the program as a Cheese Supporter of The Martyrs (because rats love cheese). You will also hold a special place in the heart of every Sly Rat, for years to come. As the company grows, we'll do everything we can to make sure you're a part of the journey.

 

The Company: Sly Rat Theatre

 

Sly Rat Theatre is a brand new independent theatre company working out of Melbourne and Sydney. The company was founded on the desire to make plays. Simple. Emerging out of a deep respect for the cunning of rats, a love of theatre and curated by a nest of pretty untrustworthy folk, Sly Rat Theatre was born, kicking and monstrously squeaking, in the dying months of 2012.

 

The company is dedicated to the pursuit of new Australian work that speaks directly to the fears and concerns of the theatre-going public. By grappling with pressing arguments, frightening truths and the anxious things that keep you up at night, the company wants to provoke dialogue and discussion in a volatile way.

 

The mission statement – if you can call it that – is to produce provocative, immediate and thrilling theatre in ways that are yet to be explored. There is also a healthy dose of the ‘beg, borrow and steal’ ethos. Enough to make a heaving rat-mother proud of her brood.

 

Like a sly rat squashed in a trap, the company is dedicated to squeezing thrilling theatre from the greasy and confusing intestines of politics and culture.

The company will debut this March with a production of ‘The Martyrs’, a new play by Melbourne-based playwright Andy Harmsen. The work is a pitch-black comedy that explores the links between pornography and Evangelical ‘Mega Churches’ that have sky-rocketed in popularity over the last half-decade.

 

Sly Rat Theatre Co. will follow this with a production of Mark Ravenhill’s, Shopping & F**king, for NIDA Independent in Sydney this June.

 

We look forward to your company.

 

The Play: The Martyrs

 

The Martyrs is an absurd, pitch-black comedy about Australian mega-churches and the hot topic of internet pornography. The story is a strange mixture of coincidences and happenings between two energetic youth pastors, a beguiling adult screenwriter, a ‘born again’ couple suffering a mysterious porn addiction and a teenage boy with an erection that just won’t go away.

 

Smashing together a diverse range of theatrical styles, puppetry and a thumping soundtrack, The Martyrs is the violent collision of corporate faith and secularism, the horrors of child abuse and disavowal and the sometimes hysterical way we try to negotiate our often tortured relationship with faith and sexuality.

 

The Director: Alan Chambers

 

Alan grew up in Perth, Western Australia where he developed a great love of theatre and film. He studied at Curtin University (2003-2007) where he directed numerous productions including Clear Glass Marbles, A Resounding Tinkle, Heads, The Censor and an original piece entitled Muller for the Hayman Theatre.

 

Alan graduated from the acting stream at NIDAin 2010 where he trained with international directors such as Richard Cottrell, Aubrey Mellor, and Peter Kleiner. Recent directing credits include a sell-out season of Louis Nowra’s Cosi for Eagles Nest Theatre and the ten minute play, Other People, which won a place in the ‘People’s Choice’ finals at Short + Sweet Sydney 2012.

 

The Writer: Andy Harmsen

 

Andy Harmsen is a playwright and sound artist currently based in Melbourne. He graduated from Curtin University with a double BA Literary & Culture Studies/Social Sciences (2008) and with first-class honours in Performance Studies (2009). He is currently a postgraduate student at the University of Melbourne.

 

Notable writing credits include Dirty Pretty Nails (2007) at the Blue Room Theatre (Perth, WA) and both the play and feature screenplay of Sleeping Dogs Lie (2009) for PACS Screenlab. He is also a member of Black Swan Theatre’s ‘Young Writer’s Initiative’ where he developed the play Dusty Little Things (2009). Currently, Andy is developing a new play, Doomsday Devices, for the University of Melbourne under the supervision of Dr. Eddie Patterson for which he was awarded the ‘Grace Marion Wilson Playwright Fellowship’ for 2013.

 

Andy has designed sound and composed music for several theatre companies in both Western Australian and Victoria. Most recently he has designed sound for Precious Gift Burlesque (Sex Pest, Adelaide Fringe Festival 2012 & Melbourne Comedy Festival 2012) and Eagle’s Nest Theatre (Cosi, 2011/2012 and Lorca 2012 at Revolt).