|
Past Productions
|
Company Productions:
1992 - Never the Elephant
1993 - Butoh: The Way of Mud (The Brisbane Biennial Fringe Festival)
1993 - Galileo
1993 - The Zoo Story
1994 - The Cult of Dionysus (Japan)
1995 - Macbeth (Japan)
1996 - The Cult of Dionysus (Brisbane Festival)
1996 - Unleashed
1997 - The Marriage of Figaro (Stage X Festival)
1998 - Macbeth: As Told by the Weird Sisters
1998 - Visions of Macbeth (Arts Council Tour QLD)
1998 - Steel Flesh (Brisbane Festival)
1999 - Macbeth: As Told by the Weird Sisters
1999 - Visions of Macbeth (Arts Council Tour of QLD)
1999 - Ashes of Atreus (Creative Development)
2000 - Unleashed (Brisbane & the Adelaide Fringe Festival)
2000 - Visions of Macbeth (Arts Council Tour of QLD)
2000 - The Man Who Sold the World (Brisbane Festival)
2001 - The Man Who Sold the World (Arts Council Tour of Brisbane)
2001 - The Man Who Sold the World (Nexus Arts Tour of SA & VIC)
2002 - Macbeth: As Told by the Weird Sisters (Singapore & QLD)
2002 - The Man Who Sold the World (Arts QLD Tour of QLD)
2003 - The Mayne Inheritance XLD Express (w/ Drama QLD & QPAC)
2004 - The Odyssey (Co-production with QPAC)
2004 - Wicked Bodies (Co-production with La Boite)
2004 - Romeo & Juliet (Arts Council Tour of QLD)
2005 - Those with Lucifer
2005 - Romeo & Juliet (Tour of Metropolitan Brisbane & Hong Kong)
2006 - Sub-Con Warrior 1
2006 - An End to Dreaming (Dresden Dolls, UK, Brisbane & Hong Kong)
2007 - Dracula
2008 - Sub Con Warrior 2.0
2008 - Zeitgeist
2009 - GAIA: The Dairakudakan Project (Co-pro w/ Dairakudakan)
2009 - The Odyssey (Arts Council of QLD)
2009 - The Tempest (Winner of the 2009 Matilda Award for Best Independent Production)
2009 - Zeitgeist (Edinburgh Festival Fringe)
2010 - Dante's Inferno
YOUTH PERFORMANCE PROGRAM:
1996 - Manfred (University of Queensland)
1997 - Ghost Paths (University of Queensland)
1998 - Ubu Rex (University of Queensland)
2000 - Oedipus (Southbank Institute of TAFE)
2000 - The Bacchae (Southbank Institute of TAFE)
2000 - Outcasts (Southbank Institute of TAFE)
2003 - The Mayne Inheritance (Co-production w/ Drama QLD & QPAC)
2004 - Arthur (St Peter's Lutheran College)
2005 - Antigone (Ipswich SHS)
2005 - Azdak's Garden (Brisbane Girls' Grammar School)
2005 - Medea (St Paul's Anglican College)
2005 - Keep Her (Clayfield College)
2006 - The Dream (Kelvin Grove State College)
2006 - The Beauty and the Beast (Corinda SHS)
2006 - Sotoba Komachi (Wavell SHS)
2006 - Pheadra's Heart (Griffith University)
2007 - The Lost Lords (Island School, HK)
2007 - The Forgotton (Corinda SHS)
2007 - Medea (Brisbane Girls' Grammar School)
2008 - Hong Kong: Fa Hoi Fu Kwai (Hong Kong ESF)
2008 - Blood Wedding (Corinda SHS)
2008 - The Tempest (West Island School, Hong Kong)
2008 - War of the Worlds (Renaissance College, Hong Kong)
2009 - A Midsummer Night's Dream (Wavell SHS)
2009 - Antigone (Kedron SHS)
2009 - Iago's Web (Corinda SHS)
2009 - Amadeus (West Island School, Hong Kong)
2009 - A Christmas Carol (King George V School, Hong Kong)
2010 - The Bacchae (Kedron SHS)
2010 - Vs Guilt (Corinda SHS)
|
|
|
 Zen Zen Zo’s first production was entitled Never
the Elephant - a loose translation of “Zen Zen Zo”. This 40-minute work constituted part of Lynne
Bradley’s honours thesis at the University of Queensland on Butoh, and was
showcased for the first time on 29 October, 1992. It was restaged a month later
to a full house at the Cement Box Theatre.
Involving 8 performers, Never the Elephant was Butoh at
its rawest. The response to this show,
Brisbane’s first Butoh, was overwhelmingly positive, and encouraged Lynne to
keep experimenting in this area.
Title:
Never
the Elephant
Dates:
29 October, 1992
Venue:
The Avalon Theatre, Brisbane
Director:
Lynne
Bradley
Choreographers:
Lynne Bradley & Frances Barbe
Designer:
Rachel Konyi
LX Designer:
Simon
Woods
Composer:
Michael Burke
Performers:
Frances
Barbe, Chris Beckey, Lynne Bradley, Sonya Davies, Wendy Freedman, Lorne
Gerlach, Darren Jorgensen, Jim Sinclair
|
|
|
 “The rage against the machine. The dance of utter darkness. Paradox and contradiction are the
constants. Erotic, yet grotesque. Beauty tainted with abject horror. Obsession
driven by alienation and loss. The
ambiguity of dreams. The Way of Mud
gave real form to these concepts.”
SCORCH MAGAZINE, 1993.
An extension of the Never the
Elephant production, this first full-length Butoh work by Zen
Zen Zo introduced the house style and themes that would become hallmarks of the
company’s later Butoh-based productions.
Title:
Butoh:
The Way of Mud
Dates:
20-28 May, 1993 (Brisbane Biennial Fringe Festival)
Venue:
The Cement Box Theatre, Brisbane
Director:
Lynne
Bradley
Choreographers:
Lynne Bradley & Frances Barbe
Designer:
Rachel Konyi
LX Designer:
Simon
Woods
Composers:
Michael Burke & Lorne Gerlach
Performers:
Frances
Barbe, Chris Beckey, Lynne Bradley, Andrew Cory, Sonya Davies, Wendy Freedman,
Lorne Gerlach, Darren Jorgensen, Rebecca Murray, Adam Smart, Simon Woods
|
|
 In 2010, the highly popular IN THE RAW Studio Season production was Dante's Inferno. Based on one of the greatest works of world literature, the first book in Dante's Divine Comedy (Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso) which is richly imaginative and intensely political, Dante's Inferno unpacked the concept of Hell in the contemporary world.
Directed by Zen Zen Zo Associate Artist, Stephen Atkins (Sub-Con Warrior 2.0, Dracula), and performed in Zen Zen Zo's highly visual and physical house style, this performance took audience members through three stations around the grounds of Brisbane's heritage-listed Old Museum Building.
Title:
Dante's Inferno
Dates:
8 - 22 May, 2010
Venue:
The Old Museum Building, Brisbane (IN THE RAW Studio Season)
Director:
Stephen Atkins
Costume Designer:
Alan-John Jones
Lighting Designer:
Ben
Hughes
Composer:
Dale Hubbard
Performers:
Morgan Aldrich, Melissa Budd, Jane Cameron, James Casey, Jillian Guerts, Krystal Hart, Andrea Jenkins, Alexandra Kennedy, Earl Kim, Amanda Laing, Branden Munyan, Hannah Myers, Gabrielle New, Samuel Plummer, Lia Reutens, Martin Ventura, Francis Walton, Annabelle Winkler, Frances Worster
|
|
|
 “This free adaptation of Brecht’s Galileo
was an electrifying production and a riveting dramatic experience that amply
reminded one of the enormous possibilities – seldom realised – of which live
theatre is fully capable. Faithful in
spirit to Brecht’s ideas of Epic Theatre, this production drew generously on a
diverse palette of avant-garde elements from both East and West.”
SCORCH MAGAZINE, 1993.
Galileo was
the debut performance directed by Simon Woods, and marked the beginning of the
company’s interest in producing revitalised versions of classic plays in a
contemporary physical theatre performance style. Balancing text and movement, and drawing
directly from Eastern and Western styles, this production was also an experiment
in cross-cultural performance.
Title:
Galileo
Dates:
3-20 February, 1993 (co-production with Pandemonium Theatre)
Venue:
The Cement Box Theatre, Brisbane
Director:
Simon
Woods
Choreographer:
Lynne Bradley
Designer:
Rachel Konyi
LX Designer:
Simon
Woods
Live Band:
Kylie Belling, David Dargie, Lorne Gerlach
Performers:
Fran
Barbe, Chris Beckey, Lynne Bradley, Andrew Cory, Marcus Dunk, Wendy Freedman,
Dush Kumar, Mark McInnes, Alannah Noyes.
|
|
 Edward Albee’s Absurdist classic tells the
story of Peter and Jerry who meet accidentally (or do they?) on a park
bench. Brought to life with explosive
physical comedy, this production explored the themes of isolation, loneliness,
and dislocation in the modern world.
Title:
The
Zoo Story
Dates:
14 May, 1993
Venue:
La Boite Theatre, Brisbane
Director:
Simon
Woods
Designer:
Rachel Konyi
LX Designer:
Simon
Woods
Performers:
Andrew Cory, Dush Kumar
|
|
|
 “For those who seek theatre that is
challenging, dynamic and affordable, The Cult of Dionysus is an
adventure that is almost too accessible and affordable to be true. Australian company Zen Zen Zo is committed to
very physical “fusion” theatre focussing on stylised movement forms. This is a bold and exciting experiment in
pouring a classic text into an exotic new bottle.”
KANSAI TIME OUT, 1994.
After re-locating to Kyoto, Japan, The
Cult of Dionysus continued the company’s experimentation with
cross-cultural forms and was performed in two languages. Working with professional artists (actors,
dancers, musicians) from around the world, this production was hugely
successful, and began to concrete the performance style that Zen Zen Zo would
later become predominantly known for. It
was also the first of many adaptations of the Greek classic texts for the
company.
Title:
The
Cult of Dionysus
Dates:
21-22 May, 1994
Venue:
Seibu Kodo, Kyoto, Japan
Director:
Simon
Woods
Choreographers:
Jeannie Donald
Set Designer:
Rachel Konyi
Costume Designer:
Marina Mouland
LX Designer:
Shioji
Nobuaki
Composer:
Bob Barazza
Musicians:
Bob Barazza, Adrian
Freedman, Sian Holding, Robin Lloyd, Yo
Performers:
Lynne
Bradley, Koyama Chie, Jeannie Donald, Quentin Durning, Hideyuki Hiraoka, Karen
Holmes, Rebecca Murray, Helen Smith, Tomoko Ueda
|
|
 "The most illuminating and audacious interpretation of this class play by Shakespeare to be seen in a long time."
KANSAI TIME OUT, 1995.
This production marked the first of many
versions of Macbeth for Zen Zen Zo over the next eight years. Drawing on the feudal themes of traditional
Japan and Akira Kurosawa’s famous film version, this production again crossed
cultures and languages featuring actors from 6 different countries, and a
chorus of Japanese and Western witches/narrators/translators.
Title:
Macbeth
Dates:
20-28 May, 1995
Venue:
Seibu Kodo, Kyoto, Japan
Director:
Simon
Woods
Choreographer:
Frances Barbe
Designer:
Rachel Konyi
Costume Designers:
Rachel
Konyi & Marina Mouland
Composer:
Colin Webber
Performers:
Frances
Barbe, Keith Barry, Lynne Bradley, Quentin Durning, Hideyuki Hiraoka, Yuri
Lowenthal, Rebecca Murray, Miki Ogasahara, Helen Smith, Tomoko Ueda
|
|
|
 "The blood-pounding rhythms go on and on - ushering in a crazed,
red-eyed prophet, Cadmus, who erupts out of the sands of an eerie, stylised
desert and beckons us with clawing hands to enter his nightmare memories of the
madness of ancient Thebes...This is a production that followers of first-rate
experimental theatre will not want to miss."
THE COURIER MAIL, 1996.
First staged in
Japan in 1994, this landmark production was remounted for the inaugural
Brisbane Festival in 1996, and began a long and fruitful relationship between
Zen Zen Zo and John Kotzas, Artistic Director of QPAC. Based on Euripides' The Bacchae, this
story followed Dionysus, the god of sex, wine and theatre, as he upset the
bronze-bound order of Pentheus, the totalitarian military dictator of Thebes.
Title:
The
Cult of Dionysus
Dates:
28 August - 7
September, 1996 (Brisbane
Festival)
Venue:
The Princess Theatre, Brisbane
Director:
Simon
Woods
Movement Director:
Lynne
Bradley
Designer:
Rachel
Konyi
Costume Designer:
Glenn
Francis
Lighting Designer:
Simon
Woods
Music Director:
Michael
Burke
Musicians:
Michael Burke, Matt Hill, Michael Cuming,
Souren Tchakerian,
Performers:
Christopher Beckey, Lynne
Bradley, Stacey Callaghan, Helen Cassidy, Lorne Gerlach, Irene Haze, Peter
Lamb, Rebecca Murray
|
|
|
 "The
performers are trans-gendered in their white nakedness. They are living embodiments of unconscious
and supra-personal impulses; terror, anguish, sex, childlike fun and
playfulness. Sometimes the ensemble suggests apocalyptic horror, writhing
beneath the slow-motion impact of some unimaginable catastrophe. Now they are
sweetly clownish, innocently prancing with self-delight. This show will entrance newcomers to this
disciplined yet tonally flexible intercultural performance form and leave them
wanting more."
THE AUSTRALIAN, 1996.
Unleashed debuted in 1996, and went on to have
return seasons in Brisbane and at the Adelaide Fringe Festival in 2000. Taping into the surreal world of the
audience's dreams, desires, and nightmares, this work explored the underbelly of
what it means to be human. Utilising the
Butoh dance-theatre style as its starting point, Unleashed
experimented with a cathartic mix of stylised movement, poetic ritual,
eroticism, horror, burlesque, camp and comedy.
Title:
Unleashed
Dates:
6-23 November, 1996
Venue:
The Princess Theatre, Brisbane
Director:
Lynne
Bradley
Choreographers:
Lynne
Bradley & Frances Barbe
Set Designer:
Rachel
Konyi
Costume Designer:
Glenn
Francis
Lighting Designer:
Simon
Woods
Composers:
Michael
Burke, Lorne Gerlach & Colin Webber
Performers:
Chirs Beckey, Lynne Bradley, Damien Cassidy, Helen
Cassidy, Andrew Cory, Jason Klarwein,
Christina Koch, Kellie Lazarus
|
|
|
 "A
wonderfully hybrid and carnivalesque romp, FIGARO is a triumphantly successful
product of Stage X's looking at what performance skills are out there and
alchemising something inventive, hybrid and funny out of them which seduces
audience factions to encounter different art forms. It dares, and it wins."
THE AUSTRALIAN, 1997.
This
collaboration between the QLD Conservatorium of Music and Zen Zen Zo for the
inaugural Stage X festival explored the divide between high and low art. Paralleling this famous opera's
master-servant relationships, the 12 opera singers and 10 clowns battled it out
for supremacy on the stage of the historic Masonic Hall in Ann St. Loud, funny, colourful, and terribly
controversial, this production divided the theatre and opera-going worlds!
Title:
The
Marriage of Figaro
Dates:
27 August - 7
September, 1997 (Co-production
with the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Stage X Festival)
Venue:
The Masonic Hall, Brisbane
Director:
Simon
Woods
Clowning Director:
Russell
Dykstra
Musical Director:
John
Winter
Designer:
Rachel
Konyi
Designer:
Kate
Stewart
Lighting Designer:
Adam
White
Clowns:
Martin
Challis, Laurel Collins, Andrew Cory, Jared House, Lewis Jones, Jason
Klarwein, Rebecca Murray, Penny Wilkinson, Scott Witt
Opera Singers:
Caroline Chown, Sarah Crane, Jacqui Devereaux, Shannon Foley, Andrew George, Steven Kickbush, Kim Kirkman, Carmell
Parente Spencer Silby, David Woloszko
|
|
|
Macbeth: As Told by the Weird Sisters |
|
 "It's high
energy, visual, dynamic and involving work, in which the cast give their all,
and the audience loved it right back. As
a vibrant textual interpretation and as a high contact promenade experience,
this Macbeth signals the company's triumphant artistic maturity."
THE AUSTRALIAN, 1998.
Originally a
bi-lingual work created in Japan in 1995, Macbeth: As Told by the
Weird Sisters went on to become one of Zen Zen Zo's flagship
productions. Remounted in Brisbane in
1998, 1999 and again in 2002 at QPAC, the show then toured internationally,
headlining the Singapore Youth Festival.
Featuring a chorus of 8 witches, this promenade production plunged the
audience into the midst of Macbeth's increasing madness, sweeping them up
(literally) into the action. This was
the first of many Zen Zen Zo shows to intimately explore the actor-audience
relationship using the promenade convention of allowing the viewers to move
around the space. This production also
went on to tour for three years through schools as Visions of Macbeth
with the Queensland Arts Council.
Title:
Macbeth:
As Told by the Weird Sisters
Dates:
18 April - 9 May,
1998
Venue:
The Princess Theatre, Brisbane
Director:
Simon
Woods
Movement Director:
Lynne
Bradley
Designer:
Sandra
Anderson
Lighting Designer:
Andrew
Meadows
Composer:
Colin
Webber
Fight Director:
Scott Witt
Performers:
Chris Beckey, Julie Brown, Martin Challis, Laurel
Collins, Justin Cooper-White, Peta Downes, Kurt Duval, Jason Klarwein, Jared
House, Kellie Lazarus, Glen Player, Taya Seidler, Nicola Shaw
Title:
Macbeth:
As Told by the Weird Sisters
Dates:
22 May - 12 June,
1999
Venue:
The Princess Theatre, Brisbane
Director:
Simon
Woods
Movement Director:
Lynne
Bradley
Designer:
Sandra
Anderson
Lighting Designer:
Andrew
Meadows
Composer:
Colin
Webber
Fight Director:
Scott Witt
Performers:
Chris Beckey, Larisa Chen, Laurel Collins, Justin Cooper-White,
Marcus Henry, Shane Jones, Jason Klarwein, Kellie Lazarus, Taya Seidler, Bella
Sipthorp, Adam Wade
|
|
|
 "STEEL
FLESH's topic is the apprehension and excitement occasioned by speculation
about the future, especially the interaction between cyber-culture and human
bodies, and subjectivities. Succinct and
theatrically coherent, it zings with intelligence, wit and parody."
THE
AUSTRALIAN, 1998.
Using Butoh
dance-theatre as its medium, this 1997 Brisbane Festival production explored
the impact of technology upon human evolution.
As the performers' bodies were slowly colonised (until they eventually
became full-blown cyborgs), a frightening world of metal, machines and madness
was revealed to the audience.
Cutting-edge in terms of content, the performers dazzled in silver body
paint and Matrix-style cyber-suits.
Title:
Steel
Flesh
Dates:
31 August - 5
September, 1998 (Brisbane
Festival)
Venue:
Merivale Street Studio, Brisbane
Director:
Lynne
Bradley
Choreographer:
Francis
Barbe
Designer:
Sandra
Anderson
Lighting Designer:
Simon
Woods
Composer:
Colin
Webber
Dramaturg:
Louise Gough
Performers:
Frances Barbe, Helen Cassidy, Larisa Chen,
Jason Klarwein, Mobius Bending the Twist
|
|
|
 "UNLEASHED is
a production with an integrity rarely seen on our stages. This is beautiful, wordless theatre that
shows Zen Zen Zo at the height of its powers.
Here we see the perfection of the human body pushed to the limit of
ecstasy and pain, a rare opportunity to experience a flawless embodiment of wit
and passion. I urge you to see it."
THE
COURIER MAIL, 2000.
An extended
version of the 1996 production of Unleashed, this show
became one of the company's most successful works. One of the hits of the Adelaide Fringe in
2000 (presented by Strut & Fret Production House), Unleashed
first introduced southern audiences to the company's work.
Title:
Unleashed
Dates:
9-19 February, 2000
Venue:
The Avalon Theatre, Brisbane
Dates:
29 February - 19 March,
2000 (Adelaide Fringe Festival)
Venue:
The East End Exchange, Adelaide
Director:
Lynne
Bradley
Choreographers:
Lynne
Bradley & Frances Barbe
Set Designer:
Rachel
Konyi
Costume Designer:
Suzie
Russell
Lighting Designer:
Matt
Scott
Composers:
Colin
Webber
Performers:
Chris
Beckey, Lynne Bradley, Helen Cassidy, Larisa Chen, Laurel Collins, Shane Jones, Jodie Le Vesconte, Matt Price,
Taya Seidler, Adam Wade
|
|
|
 Based on the Ted
Hughes' adaptation of this classic Greek play, this co-production between Zen
Zen Zo and Southbank TAFE featured the graduating actors from the Performing
Arts Program. Working alongside the
professional Zen Zen Zo Creative Team, this student ensemble aptly captured the
raw passion, profound ritual and artistic beauty of the story.
Title:
Oedipus
(A co-production with
Southbank TAFE)
Dates:
15-22 May, 2000
Venue:
The Amphitheatre, Southbank TAFE, Morningside Campus, Brisbane
Director:
Simon
Woods
Designers:
Rachel
Konyi & Alison Ross
Lighting Designer:
Matt
Scott
Composer:
Colin
Webber
Performers:
Dean Andric, Joelle
Buckman, Beverley Campbell, Kevin Finn, Jasmine Gbric, Danetia Hardstaff, Greg
Jennings, Luck Lickfold, Nicole McIntyre, Jason Reed
|
|
|
The Man Who Sold The World |
|
 "Zen Zen Zo's The
Man Who Sold the World is a highly entertaining production. Crisply written and directed, this show is a
telling assessment of the sinister impact of television and advertising. Being from Zen Zen Zo, one of Brisbane's
prime proponents of physical theatre, this one-act work is full of energetic
and outrageous movement. The audience
laughed and cheered wildly throughout."
THE COURIER MAIL, 2000.
Starting with the
fascinating life of Rosser Reaves, the grandfather of American advertising,
this work went on to explore the power of the media to shape our
worldviews. The Man Who Sold the
World was Zen Zen Zo's first self-devised text-based theatre
work. Debuting at the Brisbane Festival,
the production went on to have tour for three years through schools with the
Queensland Arts Council (QAC) and Nexus Arts in Victoria.
Title:
The
Man Who Sold the World
Dates:
18-21 October, 2000
(Brisbane Festival)
Venue:
The Visy Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse
Director:
Simon
Woods
Playwright:
Ian Brown
Choreographer:
Lynne
Bradley
Designer:
Rachel
Konyi & Alison Ross
Lighting Designer:
Adam
White
Composer:
Colin
Webber
Performers:
Chris Beckey, Laurel
Collins, Jodie Le Vesconte, Rob Pensalfini
|
|
|
Macbeth: As Told by the Weird Sisters |
|
 "Is this a totally electrifying
production I see before me? Zen Zen Zo's
production of Macbeth: As Told by the Weird Sisters reminds us that
Shakespeare is exciting, passionate and raw."
THE BLURB, 2002.
Remounted in
proscenium configuration for the Singapore Youth Festival, this production had
three seasons and went on to be nominated for a prestigious Helpmann
Award. Reuniting some of the original
cast, this production also introduced a number of guest artists, including
Eugene Gilfedder with whom the company has regularly collaborated since.
Title:
Macbeth:
As Told by the Weird Sisters
Dates:
6-9 March, 2002 (Singapore Youth Festival)
Venue:
Victoria Theatre, Singapore
Dates:
19-23 March, 2002
Venue:
The Civic Theatre, Townsville
Dates:
26 April - 4 May,
2002
Venue:
The Playhouse, QPAC, Brisbane (A co-production with QPAC)
Director:
Simon
Woods
Movement Director:
Lynne Bradley
Designer:
Greg
Clark
Lighting Designer:
Andrew
Meadows
Composer:
Colin
Webber
Fight Director:
Scott
Witt
Performers:
Jason
Chan, Lauren Claire, Laurel Collins, Marcel Dorney, Eugene Gilfedder, Steve Greig, Shane Jones, Jodie Le Vesconte, Dallas
McGuinness, Bella Sipthorp
|
|
|
 "The Odyssey is a stunning and innovative
piece of work...The essential meaning of The Odyssey comes through loud and clear
in this production and I would be thrilled to see general audiences (as opposed
to perhaps the more highbrow among us) take advantage of the opportunity to see
this fine, homegrown, world-class production."
ABC RADIO, 2004.
This 2004
theatrical realisation of Homer's The Odyssey chronicled Ulysses'
journey from war-torn Troy in search of home, love and identity. As he crossed the vast oceans, Ulysses was
swept up in a magical world of tempests and tidal waves, gods and monsters,
testing his courage and fortitude to the last.
Unearthing what it means to be a "hero", this Matilda Award winning
production was the culmination of a 6-month residency at QPAC. In 2010 this show will tour throughout schools
with the Queensland Arts Council (QAC).
Title:
The
Odyssey (A co-production
with QPAC)
Dates:
22 April - 15 May,
2004
Venue:
The Cremorne Theatre, QPAC, Brisbane
Director:
Simon
Woods
Playwright:
Eugene Gilfedder
Movement Director:
Lynne Bradley
Designer:
Bill
Haycock
Lighting Designer:
David
Walters
Composer:
Colin
Webber
Fight Director:
Scott
Witt
Dramaturg:
Kathryn Kelly
Performers:
Julia Billington,
Jaydn Bowe, Larisa Chen, Sandro Colarelli, Katrina Cornwell, Kevin Finn,
Caroline Frances, Eugene Gilfedder, Mark Hill, Katie Hollins, Aideen McCartney,
Aaron O'Brien, Robbie O'Brien, Helen Smith, Simon Tate, Steven Mitchell Wright
|
|
|
 "Wicked Bodies
begins with one. Told in flashback, it
is both a morbid, deeply dark reflection on the horrors of some women's lot,
and a grand, often hilarious, celebration of life and the pleasures of the
flesh."
BRISBANE NEWS, 2004.
This production began
as a rehearsed reading at the Magdalena Women's Festival in Brisbane in 2001,
and after extensive development went on to debut as part of La Boite Theatre's
mainhouse season in 2004. Featuring five
of Brisbane's best female performers, each from a different cultural background,
they wove together a story devised collectively by the writer, directors,
dramaturg and the cast. Set in a
Parisian brothel in the mid 19th century, their collection of tales,
told through text, movement and song, explored the relationship between
gender, race and the physical theatre's body to be deliciously subversive.
Title:
Wicked
Bodies
Dates:
14-30 October, 2004 (A co-production with La Boite Theatre)
Venue:
The Roundhouse Theatre, Brisbane
Director:
Lynne
Bradley & Gavin Robins
Playwright:
Angela Betzien
Designer:
Alison
Ross
Lighting Designer:
David
Walters
Composers:
Katie
Noonan & Colin Webber
Dramaturg:
Kathryn Kelly
Performers:
Larisa Chen, Marie
Dumont, Jodie Le Vesconte, Melissa Western, Anna Yen
|
|
|
 In
2004 Zen Zen Zo launched their hugely successful schools' touring production of
Romeo & Juliet.
This energy packed retelling of Shakespeare's classic began by touring Queensland with QAC for a year, then
went on to have seasons in Hong Kong and Sydney, being viewed by 20,000
students in Australia and abroad. Spectacular imagery, extreme emotions,
dynamic performances and an urban aesthetic brought Shakespeare to students
like never before. Lust, hate, betrayal,
school uniforms and mobile phones - 16th century school kids have
never felt so REAL!
Title:
Romeo
& Juliet
Dates:
March 2004 - July
2007
Venue:
High Schools (throughout Queensland + Sydney + Hong Kong)
Director:
Steven
Mitchell Wright
Playwright:
William Shakespeare
Composer:
Chris
Perren
Performers:
Julia Billington, Jaydn Bowe, Katrina Cornwell (2004)
Katrina
Cornwell, Rowan Davie, Steven Mitchell Wright (2005 & 2006)
Aideen
McCartney, Kevin Spink, Peta Ward (2007)
|
|
|
 "This is a production that does Brisbane
proud. It sets out to smash boundaries and succeeds with intelligence,
creativity and dark originality. The home-grown (if Japanese-influenced) Those
with Lucifer is the kind of performance art more readily imagined in places
like New York than in former shantytowns like our own."
TIME OFF, 2005.
A new Butoh-inspired dance-theatre work, Those
with Lucifer consisted of 7 dances that brought to life the
manifestations of the 7 Deadly Sins in the contemporary world. Fallen like Lucifer from grace, the 12
performers were caught in a kind of limbo, much like Dante's Pergatoria,
between heaven and hell, between life and death, between moral certainties...
Title:
Those
with Lucifer
Dates:
20-30 July, 2005
(IN THE RAW Studio Season)
Venue:
Substation 4, Brisbane
Director:
Steven
Mitchell Wright
Choreographers:
Steven
Mitchell Wright & Lynne Bradley
Designer:
Steven
Mitchell Wright
Lighting Designer:
Simon
Woods
Composer:
Colin
Webber
Sound Artists:
Emma Dean & Lyndon Chester
Performers:
Katrina Cornwell,
Mary Findlay, Kat Henry, Mark Hill, Katie Hollins, Tora Hylands, Robbie
O'Brien, Kat Scott, Helen Smith, Peta Ward, Annabelle Winkler, Steven Mitchell
Wright
|
|
|
 "Sub-Con
Warrior 1 is a theatrical escapade that takes the audience on a "choose
your own adventure" journey with unexpected twists and turns at every
corner. The production is sexy, daring,
fun, edgy and uses space in highly innovative and stimulating ways. It was deliciously refreshing to experience
innovative, experimental theatre in Brisbane that pushed boundaries and
challenged audiences!"
TIME OFF, 2006.
This new devised
work was the beginning of a series of productions under the "Sub-Con" title to
explore the increasing impact of computer games on young people. The audience
(playing as either high or low-level participants) were set a mission - to
"save" the child who had become lost inside the game. Lead around the game world (in real life
spanning several streets, a field and a suburban house), the audience followed
their "Sub-Con Warriors" to overcome a number of obstacles, only to come face
to face with the Big Boss, the Game Master, and their own responsibilities as
gamers.
Title:
Sub-Con
Warrior 1
Dates:
13-29 July, 2006
Venue:
The Albert Park Flexi-School, Brisbane (IN THE RAW Studio Season)
Directors:
Lynne
Bradley & Steven Mitchell Wright
New Media Director:
Keith Armstrong
Choreographers:
Bridget
Fiske, Marrietta Lam, Steven Mitchell Wright
Designer:
Jonathon
Oxlade
Lighting Designer:
David
Walters
Composer:
Jeremy
Neideck & Tyrone Noonan
Fight Director:
Scott
Witt
Dramaturg:
Kathryn Kelly
Animator:
Rob Thwaites
Performers:
Giema Contini,
Katrina Cornwell, Rowan Davie, Katie Hollins, Kevin Kiernan-Molloy, Aideen
McCartney, Chenoeh Miller, Robbie O'Brien, Carly Rees, Noa Rotem, Polly Sara,
Emma Schofield, Dave Sleswick, Rob Thwaites, Erin Walton, Peta Ward, Steven
Mitchell Wright
|
|
|
 "The world is an
uneasy mix of dark history and modern society, where the supernatural is pitted
against modern science, and madness against supposed rationality. Zen Zen Zo is a tight ensemble, and the story
of Dracula is well-suited to the company's characteristically striking visual
and physical style. The nightmarish
tensions of the Gothic horror classic are writ large by the performers'
high-impact energy and the production's spectacular design."
RAVE MAGAZINE, 2007.
A
radical reinvention of Bram Stoker's classic Gothic horror story, Dracula explored issues of gender, sexuality, and desire. Driven by the chorus of ten Bygone Women
bound by 19th century conventions and corsets, and the three
unleashed Brides of Dracula, this new adaptation drove inexorably towards its
bloody end. Staged as a part of the IN
THE RAW Studio Season, this was the first production to take place at the Zen
Zen Zo company's home - the glorious Old Museum Building in the heart of
Brisbane.
Title:
Dracula
Dates:
27 June - 14 July,
2007
Venue:
The Old Museum Building, Brisbane (IN THE RAW Studio Season)
Director:
Steven
Mitchell Wright
Playwright:
Stephen Atkins
Choreographers:
Carly
Rees & Steven Mitchell Wright
Set Designer:
Steven
Mitchell Wright
Costume Designer:
Angela White
Lighting Designer:
Ben
Hughes
Composer:
Kayne
Hunnam
Performers:
Giema Contini,
Katrina Cornwell, Petra Duffy, Kate Ellis, Mark Hill, Kevin Kiernan-Molloy, Genevieve
Manuel, Aideen McCartney, Theresa O'Connor, Anna Patterson, Jena Prince, Noa
Rotem, Polly Sara, Kevin Spink, Simon Tate, Rob Thwaites, Peta Ward, Janine
Watson, Amy Wollstein, Jacinta Yelland
|
|
|
 "It has to be
experienced; writing about it can't adequately convey the fervour of yelling
support to your totem Warrior, or describe the visceral thrills, nervous
laughter and spikes of real fear you'll feel when running from a guy with a
chainsaw or edging towards a big box you know contains a zombie. All that, and there's a sting in the tale, a
deliciously dark moral about human nature's darker side. A triumph, where everything combines -
lighting, video, music, fight scenes, acting - to make an incredible effective
whole."
TIME OFF, 2008.
Sub-Con Warrior 2.0 propelled the audience back into the virtual world of
the Sub-Con. Guided once again by the brave Sub-Con Warriors, the audience
explored a maze of game environments and corporate intrigue. Combining computer
game concepts with promenade theatre, Sub-Con Warrior 2.0 jammed
around the idea of "deus ex machina" (god emerges out of the machine), and the
impact of virtual reality on human consciousness.
Title:
Sub-Con
Warrior 2.0
Dates:
17 April - 3 May,
2008
Venue:
The Judith Wright Centre
Director:
Simon
Woods
Playwright:
Stephen Atkins
Fight Choreographer:
Nigel Poulton
Set Designer:
Jonathan
Oxlade
Costume Designer:
Jonathan Oxlade & Angela White
Lighting Designer:
David
Walters
Audio Visual
Designers:
Markwell Presents
Animation:
Rob Thwaites
Composers:
Colin
Webber & Jeremy Neideck
Performers:
Jane Cameron,
Katrina Cornwell, Jeremy Guttman, Keira Lyons, Carly Rees, Polly Sara, Dave
Sleswick, Rob Thwaites, Jacinta Yelland
| |
|
|
