Love Me Tender

ThinIce, Company B Belvoir and Griffin Theatre Company in association with PICA

20 February - 6 March 2010
PICA Performance Space

ThinIce is one of Australia's newest and fastest growing contemporary theatre companies. Incubating and presenting unique performance projects that exceed the common expectation of what is possible in theatre in Australia, ThinIce is a mobile unit, working on a national scale, creating new projects in collaboration with other organisations. Through its productions, ThinIce re-inspires existing theatregoers and builds audiences for the next generation.

ThinIce's website

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

TOM HOLLOWAY (Writer) is an award winning Tasmanian playwright. His play Beyond the Neck was featured at the Royal Court Theatre's International Young Playwrights Festival in London and had a sell-out season in Tasmania 2007. The play's Sydney season was presented in 2009 by B Sharp and Bambina Borracha Productions and was developed into a radio play for ABC Radio National. Beyond the Neck won the 2008 Australian Writers' Guild AWGIE Award for Best Stage Play, received two nominations at the 2009 Sydney Theatre Awards for Best Independent Production and Best New Australian Work, and was published by Playlab Press in 2008.

Tom's play Don't Say the Words, directed by Matthew Lutton, and was co-produced in 2008 by the Tasmanian Theatre Company and Griffin Theatre Company. It was shortlisted for the 2009 NSW Premier's Play Award, the 2009 Young Vic/Theatre503 Season Award in London and was published by Currency Press in 2008. Red Sky Morning won the 2007 R. E. Ross Trust Development Award and was commissioned and produced by Red Stitch Actors Theatre. It was described as 'play of the year' by The Sunday Age, won the 2008 Green Room Award for Best New Writing for the Australian Stage and received a nomination for Best Production. Red Sky Morning was re-staged in 2009 by Full Tilt Theatre and The Victorian Arts Centre and will tour nationally later this year.

Tom is currently working on commissions for Melbourne Theatre Company and Bell Shakespeare under their development arm Mind's Eye. He is a Contributing Artist to Gambling being produced at Soho Writer's Theatre, London in March 2010 and will be a resident writer with the company later this year. Tom has written the libretto for an operatic adaptation of the film The Secret Life of Words that will be produced by the Bavarian State Opera at the 2011 Munich Opera Festival, directed by Matthew Lutton and with music composed by Miroslav Snrka. Tom's will also be collaborating with Matthew on a theatrical staging of Schubert's Winterreise.

MATTHEW LUTTON (Director) is a Perth-based theatre-maker and director, and currently the Artistic Director of ThinIce. He directed Don't Say the Words for Griffin Theatre Company, The Duel for Sydney Theatre Company and ThinIce, Tartuffe for Malthouse Melbourne and Black Swan State Theatre Company's The Lady Aoi for the 2007 Perth International Arts Festival. With ThinIce he has directed Antigone (adapted by Eamon Flack) for the 2009 Perth International Arts Festival and Red Shoes (adapted by Humphrey Bower) for the 2008 Artrage Festival. From 2003 to 2006 Matthew was Artistic Director of Black Swan State Theatre Company's BSX-Theatre program where he directed productions of Woyzeck, The Visit, and Mountain Language. Matthew received a Young People and the Arts Fellowship from ArtsWA in 2007, and was awarded Young West Australian of the Year for Arts in 2005. He is currently on the Theatre Board for the Australia Council for the Arts. Love Me Tender is Matthew's first production with Company B Belvoir.

SHARON CUSTERS (Production Manager) is Griffin Theatre Company's resident Production Manager. She has also worked as Production Manager for Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, The UNIMA World Puppetry Festival, Lighting and AV Technician for His Majesty's Theatre, Perth and Deckchair Theatre. Her credits include Concussion, The Call, Savage River, Strange Attractor (Griffin Theatre Company); 1,300 Ashtrays, A Bell in the Storm (Deckchair Theatre); The Arrival, The Velveteen Rabbit, The Little Prince, Blueback (Spare Parts Puppet Theatre) and Broom Broom (Flying Heart Productions).

ADAM GARDNIR (Set Designer) is a 2003 graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts. For Company B Belvoir he has designed the sets for The Promise and Paul. His other stage credits include The Eisteddfod (B Sharp/Stuck Pigs Squealing); Don't Say the Words (Griffin Theatre Company); Grace (Melbourne Theatre Company); Saturn's Return (Sydney Theatre Company); the costumes for the Walking With Dinosaurs World Tour (WW T-Rex/BBC Worldwide); A View of Concrete, The Autobiography of Red, The Yellow Wallpaper, Drink Pepsi, Bitch! (Malthouse Melbourne); Volcano (Stuck Pigs Squealing); Virgins (Echelon Productions); Jet of Blood, Grace (TheatreWorks); the set of Know No Cure (Bangsar Actor's Studio, Malaysia/TheatreWorks); The Bamboo Flute (Canute Productions); Shirley Valentine and The Breath of Life (Hit Productions). His work for opera includes The Little Sweep and The Beggar's Opera (OzOpera), and for dance Interplay/Semele (The Australian Ballet). He was also the designer of M2006, the Cultural Festival of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. Adam designed the feature film The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark and the short films Ingrid Sits Holding a Knife, Shocked, Dishpig's Lament and The Hollow Men. He has been nominated for Best Design at the Green Room Awards for Virgins, The Eisteddfod and The Yellow Wallpaper, the BOH Cameronian Arts Awards (Malaysia) for Know No Cure and prior to studying two CONDAs (City of Newcastle Drama Awards). M2006 received a 2007 Helpmann Award for Best Special Event. In 2004 Adam conducted a three-month tour of European arts festivals as winner of the VCA Dr Ron Rosenove Travelling Scholarship and in 2005 he was awarded a Besen Family Scholarship as an observing designer on the Malthouse Melbourne's production of The Odyssey.

LUKE HEWITT (Cop/Chorus) has been a professional actor for more than 15 years and we welcome him to Company B Belvoir for the first time. Among his extensive list of theatre credits are An Oak Tree, Speed-the-Plow, Amadeus, Face to Face, Milk and Honey (Perth Theatre Company); Much Ado About Nothing, Cyrano de Bergerac, Red Dog, One Destiny (Black Swan State Theatre Company); Krakouer!, Wonderlands, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet (Deckchair Theatre Company); Tours of the Gun, Road Train (kompany M); One Day in '67 (Sydney Theatre Company); King Hit (Yirra Yaakin); Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, The Wind in the Willows (EHJ Productions); Windows (Jedda Productions); Road Train (Make a Mile Productions); Strong Left Hand (Mark Turton); Bombs and Suitcases (White Crow Productions); The Monkey Bomb, Green Meat is for Takeaways (The Blue Room); Chat - The Musical (Handzon Theatre); Bouncers (Shining Wit); Thermophobia (Fairweather Productions); A Tuna Christmas (Hole in the Wall and Theatre Kimberley) and 1959 Pink Thunderbird Convertible (Eureka! Productions @ Swy Theatre). For television his credits include Building Australia Series: Pipe Dreams, Streetsmartz, Parallax, Wormwood, Bush Patrol, Ship to Shore and for film Two Fists One Heart, Stone Bros, Crush, Wait Till Your Father Gets Home and The Codopple. Luke was the winner of the Perth Theatre Trust/Equity Guild Award for Best Actor in 2009 for Speed-the-Plow and 2008 for Road Train. He is a founding member of kompany M and has been a proud member of Actors' Equity since 1986.

BELINDA McCLORY (Clytemnestra) A graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, Belinda has an extensive list of theatre credits including 2,000 Feet Away (B Sharp/Frogbattleship); The Modern International Dead (Griffin Theatre Company); The City, Concussion, Frozen, Holy Day (Sydney Theatre Company); The Ghost Writer, Boy Gets Girl, Frozen, Proof, Sweet Bird of Youth, The Rover, Honour, Macbeth, This Old Man Comes Rolling Home (Melbourne Theatre Company); Jesus Hopped The A Train, The Glory (Hothouse Theatre); The Odyssey (Playbox Theatre/2006 Perth International Arts Festival/2005 Melbourne Festival); Rapture (Playbox Theatre); Man with the September Face (Full Tilt Theatre); Zastrozzi (Black Swan State Theatre Company); Snorkel (La Mama); Mother Courage (Anthill) and Daily Grind (Melbourne Workers Theatre). She has appeared in the films Acolyte, The Book of Revelation, Dark Love Story, Mullet, The Matrix, Redball, Hotel de Love and Life, and on television in Kath & Kim, Starjackers, All Saints, Corridors of Power, Backberner, Australians at War, Blue Heelers, SeaChange, Murder Call, Good Guys Bad Guys, Frontline, Lano and Woodley, Simone de Beauvoir's Babies, Shark Bay, Halifax f.p. and Janus. Belinda has been nominated for Helpmann, Green Room, Australian Film Institute and Film Critic's Circle of Australia awards. She was the winner of a Green Room Award -Best Female Actor in a Featured Role for Proof and Sweet Bird of Youth, a Helpmann Award - Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play for Frozen and the 2006 Melbourne Underground Film Festival - Best Actress Award for Dark Love Story. Love Me Tender is Belinda's first production with Company B Belvoir.

KRIS McQUADE (Ensemble) returns to Company B Belvoir after performances in Snugglepot & Cuddlepie and Little Ragged Blossom, Our Lady of Sligo, The Threepenny Opera and the acclaimed Cloudstreet. Her extensive stage credits include Wicked Sisters (Griffin Theatre Company); When the Rain Stops Falling (Brink Productions); The Odyssey (Malthouse Melbourne); The One Day of the Year, Mourning Becomes Electra, The Rain Dancers (Sydney Theatre Company) and King Lear, The Orestian Trilogy, Rockola, The Duchess of Malfi (Nimrod Theatre Company). Kris' film credits include Subdivision, December Boys, Ned Kelly, Mullet, Better Than Sex and Strictly Ballroom, and for television My Place, The Circuit, Supernova, Home and Away, Hell Has Harbour Views, Stingers, Farscape, Grass Roots, Wildside, G.P., Stingers and Fields of Fire. Kris is an AFI Award winner and has been nominated for Helpmann and Mo Awards. She is a graduate of NIDA and a proud member of Actors Equity since 1972.

ARKY MICHAEL (Ensemble) is a NIDA graduate and for Company B Belvoir has performed in Baghdad Wedding, The Tempest, The Alchemist, Ubu, The Underpants and The Small Poppies. His other theatre credits include Coralie Lansdowne Says No, The Heartbreak Kid (Griffin Theatre Company); Milli, Jack and the Dancing Cat, Pearlie in the Park (Monkey Baa Theatre); Romeo and Juliet, The Servant of Two Masters, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Much Ado About Nothing, The Merchant of Venice (Bell Shakespeare) and As You Like It, Playgrounds, Troupers, Comedy of Errors (Sydney Theatre Company). His television credits include All Saints, Wildside, Water Rats, G.P., Hey Dad and A Country Practice.

COLIN MOODY (Agamemnon) Since graduating from NIDA Colin has established a successful career in Australian theatre, film and television. For Company B Belvoir he has previously appeared in The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Birthday Party, Macbeth and Splendid's. His other theatre credits include 2,000 Feet Away (B Sharp/Frogbattleship); An Oak Tree (B Sharp/Ride On); Live Acts on Stage (Griffin Theatre Company); Antigone (ThinIce/2009 Perth International Arts Festival); Hamlet (Bell Shakespeare); Midsummer Night's Dream, The Art of War, The Season at Sarsaparilla, The Bourgeois Gentleman, The Lost Echo, Mother Courage, Macbeth (STC Actor's Company); The City, The Herbal Bed, Mourning Becomes Electra, Closer, Broken Glass, Sweet Phoebe, The Crucible, Titus Andronicus, Two Weeks with the Queen, Angels in America, Uncle Vanya, The Homecoming (Sydney Theatre Company); King Lear, Cruel and Tender, Great Expectations, The Duchess of Malfi (Melbourne Theatre Company); The Frail Man (Playbox); The Glory (Hothouse Theatre) and Goodworks (Queensland Theatre Company). His film credits include roles in the next Chronicles of Narnia instalment, The Wayfarers, Road to Alice and Escape from Absalom. For television his credits include Stingers, Pirate Islands, Marshall Law, M.D.A., Something in the Air, The Track, Wildside, Big Sky, Return to Jupiter, Law of the Land, Feds, G.P., The Leaving of Liverpool, The Flying Doctors, Mimi Goes to the Analyst, A Country Practice and Wicked Science.

KAREN NORRIS (Lighting Designer) has worked extensively as a lighting designer in Australia, United Kingdom, France and Italy across theatre, dance and music. She has worked for numerous theatre and dance companies and production houses including Griffin Theatre Company, Sydney Opera House, Bangarra Dance Theatre, State Theatre, Red Shed Theatre Company, State Theatre of South Australia, One Extra Dance Company, Powerhouse Museum, Ensemble Theatre, Melbourne Theatre Company, Royal Queensland Theatre Company and Sydney Dance Company. For Company B Belvoir she previously designed the lighting for Uncle Vanya. Other recent credits include Timecode (Royal Ballet/Royal Opera House Education Program); The John Metcalfe Band (Royal Festival Hall) and Eros/Eris (Liz Lea Dance); Ingkarta (Adelaide Festival 2008); In Glass (workshop with Bangarra Dance Theatre) and In the Shape of a Girl (Sydney Opera House).

NELL RANNEY (Stage Manager) graduated from Charles Sturt University in 2006, completing a Bachelor of Arts Communication (Theatre/Media). For Company B Belvoir she was Stage Manager for Gethsemane, Ruben Guthrie and Assistant Stage Manager for Baghdad Wedding, The Seed, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Parramatta Girls. Other credits in stage management and production include Ladybird (B Sharp/Small Things Productions); The 39 Steps (Tinderbox Productions); Mum's the Word 2: Teenagers (New Theatricals); The Age I'm In - Creative Development (Force Majeure); Juditha Triumphans (Pinchgut Opera); Swan Lake (The Australian Ballet); The Eyes of Marege (Australian Performance Exchange) and Miss Saigon (Cameron Mackintosh Productions). Nell's credits as a Producer include Spring Awakening (B Sharp/The Hayloft Project); Mistero Buffo (Stage Left Productions) and as Assistant Producer The Seed (B Sharp/Mimmam Productions). As Director/Producer Nell has created two original productions including The Kiss (Sweet Apples Theatre) and most recently The Nutcracker (Free Association/CarriageWorks).

KELLY RYALL (Composer & Sound Designer) is an award winning composer, sound artist and devisor, working in theatre, film and dance. His recent work for theatre includes Thom Pain (based on nothing) (B Sharp/Arts Radar); Savage River, Don't Say The Words (Griffin Theatre Company); Chocolate Monkey, Space Monkey, Love Monkey (The Amazing Business); Chapters from the Pandemic, Detest, Wretch (Angus Cerini's Doubletap); Mercury Fur (little death); The Meat Show (The Town Bikes); Coop (Black Hole Theatre); The Glory (Hothouse Theatre); Attempts on Her Life (UHT); Mr Freezy (Arena Theatre); Red Sky Morning (Red Stitch Actors Theatre); God Of Carnage (Melbourne Theatre Company); One Night the Moon (Malthouse Melbourne) and The Harry Harlow Project, The Man with the September Face (Full Tilt Theatre). Kelly's credits also include music for the dance work Pieces for Small Spaces (Lucy Guerin Inc.) and the short film One Night. He is an Artistic Associate of the Storeroom Theatre Workshop and a musician with his band High Pass Filter. In 2009 Kelly received two Green Room Awards for Love Monkey and Coop, in 2007 he received the Melbourne International Arts Festival Award, and in 2005 received a Green Room Award and Fringe Festival Award for outstanding composition and sound design.

LYDIA SARKS (Assistant Stage Manager) is a graduate of Charles Sturt University - Bachelor of Communications Theatre/Media. For Company B Belvoir she was Assistant Stage Manager for Ruben Guthrie, Antigone: The Burial at Thebes and completed her university secondment on Toy Symphony. Other theatre credits include The Land of La (Stuck in the Mud Productions); The Kiss, Powerhouse, Jane Doe (Cycle Productions); and The Wiggles touring productions of Dorothy the Dinosaur's Rockin' Christmas and The Kingdom of Paramithi. Lydia is the co-founder and producer of independent theatre company Free Association producing The Nutcracker at CarriageWorks and Under Milk Wood at Australian Theatre for Young People. She has worked in wardrobe on My Fair Lady (Opera Australia) and Phantom of the Opera (The Really Useful Company Asia Pacific). Her film credits include The Wiggles DVD productions and TV series. Lydia has also worked on events such as Sydney Festival, World Youth Day 2008 and NSW Australia Day Celebrations.