Laura Maitland

Formed in 2011, The Kin Collective is embarking on its second (incredibly ambitious!) theatrical production in its short (but very busy!) history.

Partnering again with our beloved fortyfivedownstairs, The Kin Collective presents Martin McDonagh's The Leenane Trilogy in full. Featuring Noni Hazlehurst, Michala Banas & Linc Hasler in 'The Beauty Queen of Leenane'; Marg Downey, Chris Bunworth & Tom Barton in 'A Skull in Connemara'; and Mark Diaco & Laura Maitland in 'The Lonesome West', each show will enjoy a full week's run before coming together for the Trilogy on Sundays.

With three plays to present; three sets to build; three directors and three casts to support and find rehearsal spaces for; three sound designs; and three lighting designs... we're going to need a little help!

Described as 'Quentin Tarantino meets Edward Albee,' Martin McDonagh is one of England's most successful and celebrated playwrights. His acerbic wit and brilliant black humour steer all three instalments of The Leenane Trilogy into a rare mix of comedy, violence and futility. McDonagh's rural Ireland speaks of a claustrophobia so extreme that family and community alike are driven to the very edges and extremities of love in their desperate attempts to communicate with each other.

The Kin Collective has come back to these plays over and over again in our effort to find a text that inspired, stirred and captured us. But the stories of Leenane were so deeply and soulfully connected, we just couldn't bear to produce them in isolation. And so we made the decision to honour the trilogy...

Practically, the chance to see all three works performed in one season is a rare and unique opportunity for Australian audiences. But so is the opportunity to see the likes of Noni Hazlehurst, Michala Banas and Marg Downey joined by some of Melbourne's finest theatre actors in the explosive intimacy of fortyfivedownstairs.

We're incredibly excited to bring you the sounds and secrets of Ireland... what might shock you, though, is just how familiar they seem...




www.kintheatrecollective.com

$10,000 TOTAL

1) 'Extraordinary' props - $2,000
(Includes cost of 'smashable skulls,' 'actor-safe' guns and weapons, exploding ovens...)

2) 'Extraordinary' personnel - $1,500
(Includes cost of Amourer for gun safety training, fight choreography and dialect coaching)

3) 'Extraordinary' lighting equipment - $1,800
(To light TWELVE actors in THREE shows... in THREE weeks! Phew!)

4) 'Extraordinary' set - $4,700
(It's just extraordinary)


www.kintheatrecollective.com

Our Sunday performances of The Trilogy in full are a very particular challenge for an independent company. Performing the three plays back to back with a one-ticket entry is often seen in International Festivals, but is rarely (if ever) attempted at an independent level.

While we are thrilled to have had some early interest from schools and other community groups, the success and attendance of these three performances will rely on an audience implicitly trusting the company's ability to engage them keenly and sensitively across each of the three plays. As ever, this challenge simply motivates us to explore the text deeper, to be braver with our artistic choices and more focused than ever on serving the stories and the playwright.

www.kintheatrecollective.com