MEET THE CAST!

Three Actors from Playmates Illawarra discuss the upcoming evening of improvisation madness. Stu McPherson (Team Captain, Wollongong Comedy),  Jen Jackson  (Moonburn) and Evan Kerr (Team Captain, The Drama Studio)

Why did you chose to perform in Playmates Illawarra?

Stu: I love to step out of my comfort zone and try new experiences.

Jen: I really love improvisation, both performing and watching it. I recently saw Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood (of Whose Line Is It Anyway) at the Sydney Opera House and was just in awe of how quickly they turned the audience suggestions into the most brilliant scenes. It made me that happy as an audience member, I thought it must be amazing to be the actor in a performance like this! I moved to Wollongong not long ago and I hooked up with my Moonburn team for this year’s Playmates Competition.

Evan: Attention and self-satisfaction

What Games do you hope you get on the night?

 Stu: Poem. Gibberish interpreting.

Jen: Word At A Time Letter and Poem are both one minute games that prove to be a lot of fun to participate in. Subtitles is also a lot of fun as there’s a lot of work required to accept the offers made on both sides, those doing the scene, and those translating it for the audience. Its a lot of fun!

Evan: Any and all songs, one word poems, and murder endowments

What Games do you hope you DON’T get on the night?

 Stu: Opera.

Jen: I would really rather not play Opera…! At all. The main reason is two of my other team mates are trained opera singers, and are amazing, too! Once the audience hears them sing and then I burst into the song, I’ll clear out the room pretty dam quick! I hope this doesn’t get back to the other teams who pick our games!! There are a few games that are trickier than others, but this is the main one that I would prefer to stay clear of!

Evan: Mime. My greatest asset is my big mouth.

Are you Nervous?

Stu: Yes. Very much. I once heard Glenn Robbins say that if you aren’t nervous you aren’t trying hard enough. I’ve always taken comfort in that.

Jen: Absolutley. We had our training day over the weekend, and I was nervous just doing that! All the actors from every single company are just fantastic; there are quite a few well seasoned Improv’ers, as well as a few newbies. Its a good nervous though; the whole night will be really exciting and as an actor, walking out onto the stage having no idea what scenes/games you’ll be in, what story you’ll be acting out, the dialogue, everything, is terrifying but exciting! It’ll be a great challenge but a lot of fun. The producer told everyone in the 7 years of Playmates, there has never been a hostile audience. I think it’s a night for fun and laughter, and with the actors committing to every scene, no matter the situation, or whether they make an error, everyone will love it.

Evan: Ask me on the night…

Do you think your team can win the trophy?

Stu: I seriously doubt it.

Jen:  There is no question. Roo Theatre have won it for the last 2 years straight and are looking to continue that trend. But Moonburn are ready to win!

 Evan: 100%

Why should people come and watch the show?

 Stu: It’s one of the few entertainment spectacles that is just as good if the participants mess it up.

Jen: Nowadays, I find a lot of people are turned off by the idea of going to the theatre or seeing a play. This is a happy medium for those people, as well as the regular theatre go-ers. Yes, it is a show, but its also a competition between the Illawarra’s theatre companies, so there is that fun, competitive edge to it. The audience will walk in, just like the actors do, not knowing what to expect! It’s guaranteed to make you laugh, all of the actors are extremely talented and witty. As an audience member you get to witness everything being made up on the spot, and contribute to the scenes by shouting out suggestions. It’s definetley going to be a great night. Most importantly though, this show is supporting a great charity in the Denny Foundation, which does a lot of fantastic work for the homeless and less fortunate.

Evan: You have to come and see this; you wont stop laughing until breakfast the next day.

THE PLAYERS 2013

We are very excited to announce the cast of this year’s Playmates, the eighth annual improvisation challenge bringing together six different theatre and entertainment groups in the Illawarra.

ROO THEATRE  (Defending Champions 2011-2012)

Daniel Stefanovski (Captain)
Adam O’Brien
David Rienits
James Poole

THE DRAMA STUDIO  (Grand Finalist 2012)

Evan Kerr (Captain)
Madeleine Diggins
Martin Field
Matt Latham

STANWELL PARK ARTS THEATRE

Kelly-Maree Michael (Captain)
Adam Wade
Sophie Mathieson
Reece Mathieson

UNIVERSITY

Rebecca Hurd (Captain)
Billie Scott
Lisa Omodei

WOLLONGONG COMEDY

Stu MacPherson (Captain)
Adam Armitt
Craig Gnarly Gregory
Will Thomas

MOONBURN PRODUCTIONS

Dr Houston Dunleavy (Captain)
Margaret Dunleavy
Jen Jackson
Matt Sandford

 MEET THE CAST!

Three Actors from Playmates Illawarra discuss the upcoming evening of improvisation madness. Dr Houston Dunleavy (team Captain Moonburn Productions), Rebecca Hurd (team Captain University Faculty of Creative Arts) and David Rienits (Roo Theatre)

Why did you chose to perform in Playmates Illawarra?

Houston: I have been involved as a judge in the past and thought it was a great opportunity to promote live theatre in the Illawarra.

David: Because these games are just what I do every day. Particularly my apartment full of uni students often joins together for a moment of song, dance or carefully designed jokes that flow out of nothing. Being a comedian, a writer and a tactician makes a fun comedy-off the best place to be.

Rebecca: After representing the university in 2011, I was extraordinarily excited when the opportunity arose again. My experience is that it leads to an unnatural amount of fun, new friendships and a healthy dose of competition. Even though the University came second to last when I last competed, it has only added to my determination to prove that the UOW team is a force to be reckoned with.

What Games do you hope you get on the night?

Houston: Opera, Poem, Endowments.

David: Any that involve me … and then some.  Any game where we are given something awesome to go off. There is nothing better than ridiculous stimuli,  which you would think creates an impossible task for us, but it doesn’t. It’s much more fun when we are issued a challenge, because then we are forced to rise to it.
We want to get the weird stuff. In training there was a scene in a submarine that had a horse for a captain and a giant squid as a romantic interest. So we don’t want ‘You’re in a supermarket, shopping’ we want ‘You’re trying to catch bunnies by making carrot-noises in the long grass … while that grass is catching on fire.’

Rebecca: Scene without question is my personal favourite, but only because I’ve been practicing. I think my team, however, would prefer slow motion commentary. We have such a strong physicality in our team that we always bring about roars of laughter from on lookers when we play this.

What Games do you hope you DON’T get on the night?

Houston: Guide.

David: The singing games. Mainly because we smashed them the last year, but everyone is expecting us to do it again. I’m not saying we won’t if it comes up, but we’ve got an upped pressure now. Prepare for voice pops and lots of humming, whistling and freestyle dancing as we try to come to terms with what line comes next and what it needs to rhyme with.

Rebecca: I really hope we don’t get Opera. We have some good singers in the team, however it was the game that lead to our downfall last time I was involved, so I would rather avoid it.

Are you Nervous?

Houston: Of course! imminent execution concentrates the mind wonderfully!

David: I learnt a long time ago that nervousness equates to fear. And I have a beard.

Rebecca: Extremely. You’d be crazy not to be! To create interesting dramatic scenes or songs with no time to prepare really slams on the pressure. That said, there’s generally always someone looking sillier than you, and even if you do look the most ridiculous, that’s not always a bad thing.

Why should people come and watch the show?

Houston: They will discover the true depth of talent in the region, let them get away from the electronic media.

David:  If you’ve seen something similar before, you know why you need to come. If you haven’t, then come enter a world where the audience matters, we entertain you like standup comedians (which some of us are) but need to think quick because we are improvising. We need your help against those pesky judges and we need to make you laugh because that’s what we love doing and also we feel a lot less like dills when we are getting the giggles from an audience who are enjoying themselves.

Also: freaking charity!

Rebecca: People should come and watch the show as, most importantly, it’s just a tonne of fun! It leaves everyone in fits of laughter and it’s more entertaining than anything you were planning to watch on TV.

Black Box Theatre is very proud to announce that Reflections in a Sunday Mirror, its submission to Short+Sweet Sydney, the world’s largest short play festival, has been successful and will appear in the Top 80 early in 2014 at the King St Theatre, Newtown.

Written by award-winning playwright Maree Teychenné, this chilling music drama will be directed by Short+Sweet Silver Artist, Luke Berman. Composer Steven Capaldo has written a haunting and equally chilling score for the work and will now take on the role of Musical Director.

Reflections in a Sunday Mirror is an abstract piece which weaves performance poetry with music and the spoken word. It’s built around three different, unrelated poems: Bare Trees, Identity Unknown and Treacle & Stars (Third Prize in the Second BraVado International Poetry Competition, New Zealand 2005).

The very talented Rebecca Wall plays Jacqueline – a cabaret performer and prostitute who’s full of hatred and sorrow since the Nazi invasion of her beloved native France. Set inside the dressing room of a cabaret café which also serves as a brothel for Nazi officers in occupied France, Reflections In A Sunday Mirror is a unique and gripping piece of ten-minute theatre that is not to be missed!

Black Box Theatre is currently finalising plans for its Sydney premiere of TRAINSPOTTING (adapted by Harry Gibson from Irvine Welsh’s novel). Directed by Luke Berman, TRAINSPOTTING will open its season at the King Street Theatre, Newtown, in April/May 2014. Black Box Theatre is also negotiating with several venues in Wollongong and Canberra for an extended tour of this bold and gripping drama. Also, stay tuned for Black Box Theatre’s submission to Short+Sweet Sydney with Maree Teychenne’s chilling music drama Reflections in a Sunday Mirror. This will also be directed by Luke Berman with musical direction and composition by Dr Steven Capaldo.

Black Box Theatre is also shortlisting other creative works for 2014, including Think Tank, Deb Mulhall’s comedy Hell’s Belles, 24 hour Theatre, Playmates Illawarra and Playmates Western Suburbs.

Stay tuned.

Black Box Theatre is proud to announce the participating companies for the eighth consecutive Playmates – the Illawarra’s annual one-night-only comedy sensation which sees six theatre and performance companies join forces to celebrate and promote the strength and diversity of theatre in the Illawarra.

Bookings are now open through the trybooking website, and reservations can be made by email at bookings@blackboxtheatre.org. The website reservation form will be available soon. If you have been involved with any of the following companies, email info@blackboxtheatre.org if you would like to be in their team and Black Box Theatre will forward your interest to the relevent company liaison officer(s).

This year’s teams are…

ROO THEATRE (2011-2012 Champions)
STANWELL PARK ARTS THEATRE (SPAT)
UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG FACULTY OF CREATIVE ARTS
THE DRAMA STUDIO @ IPAC (Grand Finalists 2012)
WOLLONGONG COMEDY
MOONBURN PRODUCTIONS

Black Box Theatre’s anticipated production of Trainspotting at Wollongong’s new theatre development Renaissance Theatre Playhouse has been delayed indefinitely.

Unfortunately there has been ongoing delays with Renaissance’s plans to open their doors at the Swan Street premises and at this stage Black Box Theatre does not expect this development to proceed as planned by the theatre owner. We appreciate that things do not go to plan, and we wish Shane Chambers all the best luck with his continued efforts to create a new performance space.

Black Box Theatre’s vision of creating an independent theatre hub for the Illawarra region is continuing through other relationships, and we will keep everyone informed when new information is available.

Trainspotting will be delayed as a result of the theatre space delays, however director Luke Berman has started negotiations with other venues. Stay tuned for more information.

Improvisation Games Fun Night – Stanwell Park Arts Theatre

Stanwell Park Arts Theatre (SPAT) President Wayne Turner ups the ante and SPAT’s Theatre Games Social Evening hosted by Black Box.

Produced by Wayne Turner, Stanwell Park Arts Theatre
Hosted by Luke Berman, Black Box Theatre
Saturday 13th April 2013 at CWA Hall Stanwell Park
Photography Courtney Williams

Saturday Night, Black Box’s Luke Berman hosted an Improvisation social evening for the Stanwell Park Arts Theatre, long term participants of the annual improvisation hit Playmates Illawarra.

With a great turn up to support, a great night was had by all and everyone who attended braved the stage to have a crack at one of the most intimidating performance styles around – improvised theatre.

With no script to rely on, guests were thrown in the deep end with 1, 2 and 3 minute challenges where they had to create brand new songs, poems, as well as create brand new scenes, including an adaption of Jaws in the style of Shakespearean Tragedy.

Thank you to everyone for coming to support and to Wayne Turner for inviting Black Box to host the evening.