THE DARKENING SKY
VICTORIAN THEATRE COMPANY
Theatre Works
17 - 26 MARCH 2022
14 Acland Street, St Kilda, Victoria.
PLAYWRIGHT Richard Murphet
A neo-noir thriller spanning over seven decades, this gripping story interweaves lives from the past and present in a desperate bid to solve the unexplained disappearance of two women
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ABOUT
The Darkening Sky is an electrifying and all engrossing new Australian work by renowned director Richard Murphet. . Set in the inner suburbs of Melbourne, James (Brian Lipson) dissects his past, navigating through memory to find the truth that has long been hidden. At the same time, Tony (Tom Dent), a private investigator hunts down clues to find a missing person: Chantal St Clair.
In this new work, Murphet brings together film, live music and performance to plunge the audience deep into a noir world of crime, love, loss and memory.
CREDITS
Cast: Rebekah Hill, Brian Lipson, Matthew Connell, Tom Dent, Edwina Wren, Anthea Davis, Adam Pierzchalski, Tony Reck & Mark Tregonning
Stage Managed by Rain Shadrach Okpamen
Composer, Sound Design & Live Music by Adrian Montana
Film Composition by Jak Scanlon
Set & Costume Design by Eloise Kent
Lighting Design by Kris Chainey
Photography by Chelsea Neate
Produced By Samara Barr (VTC), Lauren Bennett (Theatre Works) & Richard Murphet
REVIEWS
''Enough majesty and mystery here to lose yourself in the swirling eddies of THE DARKENING SKY'S ominous storm''
TIMEOUT MELBOURNE
''MURPHET is fearlessly ambitious''
THE AGE
''Intense, suspenseful, mystifying and intriguing''
AUSTRALIAN STAGE
''It's a play you chew over, unravel and reassemble later, on the way home''
STAGE WHISPERS
Richard Murphet discusses his writing process.
Video by Chelsea Neate
THE PLAYWRIGHT
''Richard Murphet is a theatre artist whose work pushes the edge of the theatrical frame. The metaphor of the edge allows for an emphasis on Murphet’s experimentation with theatrical form and his crossing of the borders of theatre, performance, poetry, music, dance and media. His texts feature subjects on the edge of life, death, love, comedy, sanity and paranoia. His characters bear wounds that are physical, emotional and psychic and are connected to postmodern life, wars in Vietnam, terror, battles in the kitchen and motel rooms, and to music and to cinema. His recurring use of blackouts, gunshots, flickering light and bomb blasts push at the edge of aesthetics with alternating grunge energy and sophisticated style."
Source: DENISE VARNEY, RADICAL VISIONS
In rehearsal.
Photos by Chelsea Neate