Creatrix

Armidale Playhouse - May/June 1994

Directed by Eva Brown
Produced by Melita Weller

An Armidale Playhouse Youth Theatre production

DIRECTOR'S NOTES

Creatrix is a group devised piece of theatre, synthesising movement and language. The movement is sometimes in conjunction with the language and at other times it is separate but its purpose remains the same, to heighten understanding and to forge another dimension of meaning

A great deal of time was spent researching for material that would illuminate the concept of the production. The sources are wide and varied, incorporating poetry, prose and dramatic monologue. These pieces tell the story of our inherent creativity and drive for life that is present at birth but which can be stifled by the social forces around us. It can however be rediscovered and enjoyed.

A positive conclusion was fundamental to the concept. It was founded in the idea that all things are interconnected and that out of darkness is born light, that out of negative can arise the positive and out of death, the renewal of life. The production is divided into five stages, these being: Birth, Initiation, Discovery, Creativity and Wisdom, concluding with the renewal of that cycle.

SOURCES

Margaret Atwood: Good Bones
Gwen Harwood: The Penguin Book of Australian Women Poets
Doris Lessing: Briefing for a Descent into Hell
Sandra Martz: When I am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple
Slyvia Plath: Collected Works - "Three Women"
Adrienne Rich: The fact of a Doorframe - "Driving into the Wreck"
Franca Rame & Dario Fo: A Woman Alone and Other Plays
Dylan Thomas: Collected Works
Timberlake Wertenbaker: The Grace of Mary Traverse
Donna Wilshire: Virgin, Mother, Crone
Judith Wright: Five Senses - "Woman to Child", "Naked Girl and Mirror", "The Maker"

CAST

Kristie Moore, Rachel Gorman, Emily Tucker, Priscilla Hall, Kamila Sethi, Natalya Hughes, Carolyn Hall, Simon Gorman, Georgie Rogers, Toby Newell, Helen Kaspar

PRODUCTION

Director: Eva Brown
Producer: Melita Weller
Stage Managers: Russell Stockley, Robin Pennycuick
Lighting Design: Adam Cunningham
Lighting Operation: Adam Cunningham, Melita Weller
Sound: Robin Jackson
Set Construction: James Brown
Choreography: Dorit Pagliari
Costumes: Carolyn Hall
Poster Design: Kristie Moore
Piano: "Wisdom" composed and performed by Simon Gorman

THANK YOU

UNE Theatre Studies, Andrew McCue, Betty Hall, Bargain Box Fabrics, 2AR-FM, Harvey World Travel, Louise Drielsma, Duval High School, Brent James & Associates