Last Train To Freo
by Reg Cribb       

 

August 3 - 20

 

This is the 20 year revival of the Patrick White Award winning play The Return by Perth's own champion of the theatre Reg Cribb. Reg will be directing this fresh edition of this thrilling show, speeding down the tracks to our very own port-city, as the Last Train to Freo.

 

Last Train to Freo is set in the claustrophobic atmosphere of a Perth train compartment, where two rough and wayward misfits take advantage of a guards' strike to terrorise the occupants.

 

Cribb was inspired to write the play after he witnessed two thugs harassing an attractive woman on a Midland to Freo train, and what he has written in response is an inspired, richly layered, dramatic story with several themes intertwined and unraveling as one.

 

The work tackles the treaty of brotherhood and revenge, from two very different angles.
 

Influenced by the author's own experience of loss, the main theme of the play explores the ever-present violent element in society, and our fragile sense of relative security and/or vulnerability. Of course, Last Train to Freo also deals with the other side of this shiny coin; how the socially disenfranchised feel eternally on the outer of mainstream society.

 

The play is a ticking time-bomb, winding-up-and-up energetically, as the train approaches it's final destination: Fremantle. At each new stop, more is revealed about the passengers aboard and the tensions that unite them. And along the way, the work tears open some key discourses that rippled through the Perth social climate at that time, and quite unsurprisingly, now.

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Running time: 80 minutes, no interval.

Warnings: Violence, bad language, sexual themes.

Not suitable for audiences under 15yrs.

Twelfth Night          
by William Shakespeare

WA Tour: Dec 28 - Jan 21

The FTC Shakespeare In The Park is back! For another whirlwind tour up and down the coast, to Margaret River, Albany, Bunbury and Perth - to delight families and and fun-in-the-sun seeking folk.

Shakespeare’s final and finest comedy is one of consummate costume-swapping, role-reversal and a genuine no-holds-barred, dogged pursuit of love – Woof! Replete with love-triangles, terrible tricks and devilishly mistaken identities. ‘Oh disguise, I see thou art a wickedness!’ 

In this down-under re-telling of an already truly topsy-turvy tale, hearts will be on sleeves, swords in hand and all manner of tongues will be firmly pressed in cheeks. And you can be assured of an hilarious evening at the theatre, under the stars, amidst the splendour of our incredible WA summer skies! 

Pack a picnic, get a drink at the bar, gather round your friends & family and roll-out the rug with all of us in the Park!
 

 

Running Time: 125 minutes, 20 minute interval
Access: Each venue is open to ticket-holders two hours ahead of the show, arrive early enough to park, find your spot and enjoy the open-air ambiance of each site.
Limits: No BYO, the venues are licensed and you can buy onsite.




The Effect.                                 
by Lucy Prebble

May 10 - 27 

 

A difficult and touching exploration of the rarest thing. The dearest thing. The tiny spark that binds two hearts. Penned by the award-winning playwright and current co-executive producer and writer on HBO's smash-hit Succession (Golden Globe winner for Best Drama Series, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress) and is the co-creator of the new HBO Max series I Hate Suzie.

 

Haddaway asked us in 1995 ‘What is Love?’. And we beg the question anew:

Is it physical? Cerebral? Accidental? Is it chemical?
Is it controllable? And what do you do if it’s just a side-effect?

In the search for a drug to battle depression, a clinical trial runs into tricky waters, when it is realised that keeping people cooped up together in an adrenaline-saturated lab leads to much more than happiness.

 

As two volunteers on the trial begin to develop some strange attractions, Lucy Prebble's love-sceptical play catches fire. And takes a heart-pounding run at the issues embedded in the development of anti-depressants: their importance in our lives, our need for them, and their inevitable consequences.  It is all examined via the taut gauntlet of a drug-trial process, complete with the Docs and the Lab Rats. In this case the Lab Rats are Connie and Tristan.

 

We know little about them before the trial, and they know little of each other. But it's clear that something is sparking between them - is it the drugs? Their own personal chemistry? And how could either of them be able to tell the difference if we are all electricity and chemicals to begin with?

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'An astonishingly rich and rewarding play, as intelligent as it is deeply felt.'  Daily Telegraph (UK)

 

"There's no shortage of things to think about in British playwright Lucy Prebble's The Effect. By interval, your mind is buzzing."  Sydney Morning Herald

 

"The foyer of Wharf 1 was packed afterwards with people debating their ideas."  **** 4 star review, Time Out Sydney


Running Time: 90 minutes, no interval.

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Moth                                            
by Joel Jackson

 

Postponed.

Moth is a sweeping, warmly-funny and very intimate coming of age epic, inspired by a long decade of having lived life with white-knuckle fever, in pursuit of a meaningful and sometimes absurd existence. Where it seems that in order to seek out that singular spark of life that sets your heart aflame...  or to find where it is that your anchor is fixed, so deep in the unknown...  you sometimes have to journey out into darkness and find it for yourself.
 

Jump in the car with Moth on a riveting adventure and speed into the tempting unknown where curiosity meets fear and the wild frontiers of life begin. Because this is an energetic, edge-of-your-seat performance, filled with strange road companions, enchanting yarns, rollicking music and some wandering allegories that soothe the soul - all accompanied by a live band!

Be a part of this thrilling and emotional road saga cabaret as you, the audience, choose your own adventure and push your curiosities and the performers to their limit.

 

Moth is for the faint at heart in need of inspiration to fall in love with the unkempt wilderness of life again or wandering souls searching for a lens to hone their vision or for anyone who relishes live performance at its best. Performed in the cabaret inspired 'round', with influences as diverse as outback campfires to the Rat Pack, through a range of storytelling methods including; large doses of audience interaction, sweeping melodies from a live onstage band and a 'choose your own adventure' style performance, with no two performances ever the same.

Written and performed by Logie and AACTA award winning actor and musician Joel Jackson, Moth is set to put a spark in your heart.

 

No stranger to life on the road and the delightful madness of live performance, Joel Jackson has been touring and performing since he was 16 years old. Opening for the likes of Diesel, Jon Stevens, Ian Moss, Ross Wilson, The Beautiful Girls and Birds of Tokyo to name a few, before leaving home and launching into an acting career that has seen him work with global heavyweights, starring on the silver screen internationally and theatre stages across the country. AACTA award winning series include; Deadline Gallipoli, Peter Allen; Not the Boy Next Door (AACTA award for Best Actor in a Drama Series), Safe Harbour (International Emmy award winner) and Mystery Road. Feature films include West Australian made H is for Happiness and I Met A Girl, and the adventure thriller Jungle, alongside international superstar Daniel Radcliffe for Netflix. Jackson has starred for Melbourne Theatre Company in Born Yesterday and will appear in the Tennessee Williams' classic, The Glass Menagerie, for Black Swan State Theatre Company in August 2022. Jackson made his Fremantle Theatre Company debut in the outrageously successful and deliciously naughty, A Midsummer Night's Dream, for FTC's Shakespeare in the Park tour and Moth excitingly marks Jackson's theatre debut as writer and performer.

 

 

Running time: 80 minutes, no interval.
Warnings: May contain mature themes.

Fremantle Theatre Company regularly receives requests from young artists and art workers who are looking to further their experience and to have guidance within the profession.

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The  FTC Executive leadership has experience in many areas of the performance industry which gives them the ability to mentor broadly in the industry.

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Our Artistic Director, Renato Fabretti, has a particular interest in ensuring that homegrown talent is nurtured and is given a place on the stages of our state.  His work in film and on stage as an actor and a creator, makes him ideally placed to mentor young artists wishing to make their way in the profession.

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Our General Manager, Pippa Davis, has a background in design, production management, venue, and arts management.  This diverse background gives her the ability to mentor people in many areas and to guide them in integrating the various skills into a cohesive approach within the performing arts industry.

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This funding will allow the company to work in a more structured way with aspiring artists and arts workers.  The mentee can be in professional or community work and at any stage of their career.

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To apply please send an email to victoriahallfremantle@gmail.com letting us know what area you are interested in and whom you would like to work with.  Please include contact details and a short statement of your artistic practice or area of interest.

 

Proudly supported by Lotterywest.

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