VICTORIAN THEATRE COMPANY
PRESENTS
STILL
late works by samuel beckett
10 - 26 JULY 2025 / THEATRE WORKS: EXPLOSIVES FACTORY
WRITTEN BY SAMUEL BECKETT
DIRECTED BY RICHARD MURPHET
STARRING ROBERT MELDRUM
After the sell out season of the Australian Premiere of Samuel Beckett's Worstward Ho, Richard Murphet and Robert Meldrum return with another boundary pushing work - Still: Late Works by Samuel Beckett
'Worstward Ho is a must if you love Beckett'
Kate Herbert on Worstward Ho, 2023
'you may just find the sublime.'
Theatre Matters on Worstward Ho, 2023
'Here is a phenomenon you may never see again in your lifetime so cherish it.'
What Did She Think on Worstward Ho, 2023
'This challenging solo work will haunt and galvanise'
The Age on Worstward Ho, 2023
'he makes it look effortless'
Australian Book Review on Worstward Ho, 2023
'truly impressive, and truly moving.'
Stage Whispers on Worstward Ho, 2023
Victorian Theatre Company presents Still: Late Works by Samuel Beckett, the latest artistic collaboration between Melbourne theatre greats Richard Murphet and Robert Meldrum.
After the sell-out season of Worstward Ho (Australian Premiere), powerhouse duo Richard Murphet and Robert Meldrum return with a new dramatisation of rarely presented Beckett texts; six short works written towards the end of his life.
‘A man alone in a hut, in the valley, on the backroads, somewhere between the town and the outback, between the sky and the dazzling land. Six short, unpredictable episodes on his journey along the blurred boundary between day and night, between living and dying, out of a conscious life into that threshold, alternately terrifying, revelatory, awesome, prior to the final shutdown. These are joyously, shockingly real vignettes, filled not with philosophical thought on Life or Death, but on the mere ordinariness of existence: a table, a wicker chair, a window, a beech tree, an old hat, the sound of nightingales, a handful of yellow flowers. It has been our delight over the past 12 months to find ways of bringing them alive for a modern audience.’ - Richard Murphet & Robert Meldrum.
These pieces attempt to present the experience of dying - not traumatically, but carefully and irreversibly.
The chance to experience these rare Beckett pieces live on stage is a must for Beckett and theatre lovers alike.
DATES
Thursday 10th July, 7:30pm (Preview)
Friday 11th July, 7:30pm (Preview)
Saturday 12th July, 7:30pm (Opening Night)
Tuesday 15th July, 7:30pm
Wednesday 16th July, 7:30pm
Thursday 17th July, 7:30pm
Friday 18th July, 7:30pm
Saturday 19th July, 7:30pm
Tuesday 22nd July, 7:30pm
Wednesday 23rd July, 7:30pm
Thursday 24th July, 7:30pm
Friday 25th July, 7:30pm
Saturday 26th July, 7:30pm
ARTISTS
Samuel Beckett / Writer
Richard Murphet / Director
Robert Meldrum / Actor
Jenny Kemp / Design Consultant
Matthew Connell / Producer
Joe Hill / Poster Photography & Design
INFO
Venue:
Explosives Factory
Rear Laneway 67 Inkerman St. ST KILDA 3182
Prices:
Full $48.00
Concession $38.00
Mobtix $25
Preview $28
Show Duration:
Warnings:
70 mins
Drug use, violence, sexual themes
With thanks to the Alex Theatre and the National Theatre in St Kilda.
ROBERT MELDRUM
Rob Meldrum has been working as an actor, director and lecturer in acting and voice for over 45 years. He was originally a member of the Australian Performing Group for 6 years at the Pram Factory in Melbourne, where he performed in Dimboola, The Floating World, River Jordan, Mary Shelley and the Monsters, The Hills Family Show, Back to Bourke St. During this time, and under the umbrella of the APG he co-formed Stasis an experimental theatre group who performed to popular and critical acclaim The Young Peer Gynt.Since that time, he has performed with all the major State Theatre Companies in shows including: The Tempest, Scenes From an Execution for South Australian Theatre Company; Miss Julie, She Stoops to Conquer, The Island for Melbourne Theatre Company; The Misanthrope, Woman in Mind, The Three Sisters for Sydney Theatre Company; Brittanicus, Antony and Cleopatra, Speaking in Tongues for Playbox Theatre Company.He has been nominated three times for best actor in the Green Room Awards, and won the award in 1998 as part of Best Ensemble. He was a member of the Bell Shakespeare Ensemble for two years where he performed in five productions: Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet, Richard 111 and As You Like It. More recently he performed in the highly acclaimed four seasons of L’Amante Anglaise at La Mama and Forty-Five Downstairs (which toured nationally in 2019); and recently for La Mama in Four Men, The Chairs, In the Solitude of Cotton Fields.He was a lecturer in acting at the Drama School VCA for 8 years, is currently the voice teacher for Brave Studios, and sessional lecturer in acting with the National Theatre Drama School. Among other commitments he has a private practice as a vocal and acting coach and has recorded over 25 audio books for Bolinda Publishing.
RICHARD MURPHET
Richard has been writing, directing and creating contemporary forms of theatre for 5 decades. His plays have received productions throughout Australia and internationally, and he has worked as a director in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Toronto, New York, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Ghent.His plays include: Quick Death (1979), Slow Love (1983), Dolores and the Department Store (1999), The Inhabited Woman (2003), The Inhabited Man (2009), The Darkening Sky (2019)Recent Productions include: A double bill of Quick Death and Slow Love (La Mama, 2015); a double bill of two Belgian plays, Four Men and Dog Play (Elvis Peeters: La Mama, 2017); In the Solitude of Cotton Fields (B-M Koltes: La Mama, 2019); Broken River (Tony Reck: La Mama, 2019), and The Darkening Sky (Murphet: Theatre Works, 2021). He will direct Julius Caesar for Melbourne Shakespeare Company in August.Murphet worked at the Victorian College of the Arts for 2 decades where he was Head of Drama (2007-2009) and Head of Postgraduate Studies (1996 – 2006). He was a member of the Australian Performing Group, and the Artistic Director of the Mill Theatre Company. He was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award for his work in theatre at the Australian Greenroom Awards (2017). His book on Late-Modernist theatre practice, Acts of Resistance, was published by Brill Publications, Amsterdam in 2020.
STILL