THE MUDDY CHOIR By Jesse Briton
A Gap 2 & 3 Production - October 2024
The humanising power of music in unbearable circumstances
Conscripted into the First World War, Will, a lance corporal, faces the challenge of bringing himself and his eight childhood friends home safely. His triumph in getting them off the front lines and into an observation post is short-lived when they are indirectly responsible for the death of a soldier.
Now, they are forced to choose between singing to draw enemy fire or facing the consequences of their actions before a firing squad.
Can Will and his comrades withstand the unrelenting strain of war, or will the brutal realities of battle shatter their friendship and cost them their lives?
Directed by Ross McGregor
The Enchantment of Ordinary Magic
A Gap 2 & 3 Production - JULY/AUGUST 2024
As his life flashes before his eyes, a dying old man relives the wonders and troubles of his past. Will he rejoice in the life he lived or drown in the regret of “what could have been”?
‘The Enchantment of Ordinary Magic’ follows the story of an old man in his final hours on Earth. As he draws his last breath, his mind is flooded with memories of his greatest achievements and biggest regrets.
A story celebrating ordinary life and the magic that is ever present, this production takes a peek into some of the core facets of humanity. Whether that be love, loss, sorrow, triumph, mateship or even a deep belly laugh. It looks to bare the most vulnerable parts of our lives and create a sense of connectedness and familiarity amongst its audiences in a most delightful way.
Devised and directed by Ellis Pearson
AS YOU LIKE IT by William Shakespeare
A Gap 1 & 2 Production - DECEMBER 2023
When a civil war tears Rosalind from her home and thrusts her into the wild, the young heroine along with her friends must survive the strange and mythical forest where her destiny intertwines with a young man called Orlando.
Alas who knows the fate of these star-crossed lovers if they were to be found by the tyrant Duke Frederick.
In the forest, they encounter a variety of memorable characters, notably the melancholy traveller, Jaques, who speaks some of Shakespeare’s most famous speeches (such as “All the world’s a stage”).
Jaques provides a sharp contrast to the other characters in the play, always observing and disputing the hardships of life in the country.
Directed by Amanda Crewes
ONE OFF
Gap 2 & 3 Production - JUNE/JULY 2023
An Ex-Con is sent back to prison to suffer a sentence worse than hell. Desperate to survive the deafening prison silence, and determined to return to reedom he must triumph over himself and come to terms with the man that he fears he is.
Or else become another chilling statistic of the system.
“When you play the devil’s game, the devil will show up at your door.”
This is just one of many lessons Ric Renton learnt whilst serving time in HMP Durham. After being convicted of grievous bodily harm Ric Renton faced a 3-year sentence in Britain’s worst prison. During a stretch in solitary confinement Ric, refusing a Bible, asked for a dictionary instead. He didn’t know it then, but this simple choice would give him a prodigious power over words, which he would later establish as a primary instrument to communicate the darkest interval of his life.
“One Off” is a genuine account of the experiences Ric faced during his imprisonment.
SHEPHERD (Ric Renton), KNOX and BROWN are all inmates sharing neighbouring cells; each incarcerated for separate crimes, but all suffer under the same lethal circumstances. Between the shrinking cell walls and the ever-present prison anarchy the three men are slowly broken down. They are only given a brief gasp of fresh air when the nightwatchman JOCK, enters their lives and tries his utmost to take the weight off their shoulders. However, for some of them, this small reprieve is too little too late, and a more permanent solution is the only escape.
“One Off” is genuine, gritty, and above all, the harsh truth. It does not shy away from showing you the harrowing reality of life behind bars. However, amongst the shocks and twists the astonishing appearance of quick-witted dark humour is unleashed.
Durham prison had the highest suicide rates in the early 2000s, when the events in this play occurred: coining the term “ONE-OFF” being yelled to signal the suicide of some inmate. This echoing sound still haunts the walls of Durham, and all those who hear it.
Directed by Ross McGregor
RITE
Gap 2 & 3 Production - April 2023
Deep in the jungle, hidden by the mountains, separated from civilization, lies a remote tribal village.
Every year, when the boys come of age, they are cast out by the elders to undergo their initiations. These would-be men must adventure through the jungle and survive all manner of adversity that is only found in the wild places of the world. Abandoned, frightened and surrounded by danger – to give up on courage in this place is certain death.
Will these boys succeed and earn the ‘rite’ to become men?
Devised & directed by Ellis Pearson
FRINGEWORLD 2023 20 January - 19 February, 2023
The Hub graduates perform 4x4x4: a series of four shows, over four nights, for four weeks of Fringe.
4X4X4
The Actors’ Hub Studios
Fringe is once again upon us. And, as before, The Actors’ Hub Studios is presenting four new shows starring the Hub recent graduates and students. Each show is completely different and challenges the actors in different ways.
“When The Actor’s Hub says they are serious about developing actors in every sense – they aren’t joking” ★★★★½ Fringefeed, 2021
“Pocket Full of Posies” A suspenseful story of love and deception. Thinking the floods have finally brought her salvation from her own personal nightmare, a young innocent – trapped on top of a house full of secrets – must learn to play both sides of a world war in order to finally be free – or be left behind to drown in a tsunami of shattered hopes.
“Connection Error 101” A much-needed 360-degree verbatim exploration of finding connection in the digital age. Constructed entirely from real interviews and real stories, we dive into struggles of human to human connection in an era when digital technologies have a formative influence on people’s lives; the impacts of technology on our brains, relationships, mental and physical health.
“Storytellers” An inspiring exploration of those at the top of their field. Impersonations of some of our world’s best storytellers: Bradley Cooper, Tilda Swinton and Tom Cruise. Watch young actors take on the masters of their craft in this delightfully entertaining show in which they embody their role models.
“‘Til Death Do Us Part” Be transported to the Underworld in this dynamic physical theatre re-telling of the legendary Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, finally told from Eurydice’s perspective.
Cymbeline by William Shakespeare
Gap 1 & 2 Production - November 2022
Cymbeline, also known as The Tragedie of Cymbeline or Cymbeline, King of Britain, is set in Ancient Britain and is based on legends that formed part of the Matter of Britain concerning the early Celtic British King Cunobeline.
King Cymbeline rules over Britain under the protection of Rome. His kingdom must pay tribute. Cymbeline learns that his only daughter, Imogen, has secretly married his ward, Posthumus Leonatus, a man of low birth. Furious with the couple’s disobedience, Cymbeline decides to banish Posthumus from Britain.
Directed by Amanda Crewes
GHOSTS by Henrik Ibsen
Gap 2 & 3 Production - September 2022
Is romantic love real or an illusion? It makes us believe the impossible, feel the unimaginable and do the unthinkable.
We are all haunted by ghosts of the past. We live in constant fear of them catching up to us. Ghosts of choices made and sins unrepented. I’m not sure we’ll ever be free of them.
The Alving family seems to be good and just, but at its core a rotten heart beats – whilst a widow tries to protect her son from it all. The late Captain Alving’s memory still haunts the minds of those left behind.
Some legacies are impossible to escape. Some ghosts will never be laid to rest. Will we ever break free from the sins of our fathers?
New English language version by David Watson from a literal translation by Charlotte Barslund
Directed by Ross McGregor
Encore Performance: IS THERE ANYBODY THERE?
Actors’ Hub Studios Production - May 2022
Is romantic love real or an illusion? It makes us believe the impossible, feel the unimaginable and do the unthinkable.
From the ancient, epic romance of Tristan and Isolde to the thrills and chills of love in our current culture, Is There Anybody Out There? explores the idea of romantic love and aims to start the conversation about the uprising of domestic violence in our culture.
This is the third in the Blind Eye Trilogy – following One Punch Wonder and The Innocent Pawn.
The Blind Eye Trilogy is verbatim theatre drawn from interviews conducted across Australia addressing modern social ills and the dissonance between our values and our actions. Exploring our addictions to violence, objectification and control, The Blind Eye Trilogy begs the question: is there a better way to raise our boys and girls?
The three productions form a snapshot of our current culture with the intent of bringing audiences together to start a much-needed conversation.
Written and directed by Amanda Crewes
FRINGEWORLD 2022 January 20th – February 13th, 2022
The Hub graduates perform 4x4x4: a series of four shows, over four nights, for four weeks of Fringe, as well as Naughty Nights at Nine: an extravaganza variety event of fun and intrigue.
4X4X4
Four different shows, four nights each over four weeks of Fringe! The Actors’ Hub have once again pulled out all the stops to put on an action-packed month of shows certain to see audiences coming back for more! From dystopian worlds, to celebrity impersonations, to evocative story telling.
A TRIBUTE – An inspiring exploration of those at the top of their field.
THE HARVEST – What would happen if we began to harvest the many to save the few?
THE STORY OF YOU – If I let in another’s story, do I have to let go of a story of you?
THE AUSSIE WAY – A fun 360-degree verbatim exploration of what it means to be an Aussie.
Naughty Nights @ Nine
An exciting suite of variety shows designed to challenge our local talent and keep audiences on their toes.
WHO DUNNIT? – Could you solve a murder? We transport you to an iconic era with a deadly twist. The clues are there; from murder weapons, hidden motives & shaky alibis and our detective needs YOUR help to uncover the truth.
24-HOUR FILM COMPETITION – Perth’s brightest up-and-coming directors, producers and actors are given 24 hours to film the short-film that will win the audience & beat the competition.
PLAY-IN-A-DAY – A brand new play in just one day! 12 hours to write. 12 hours to rehearse. There’s no turning back and no time for doubt in this chaotic challenge unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before.
IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE?
Actors’ Hub Studios Production - November 2021
A modern day Fairytale
Is There Anybody Out There? explores romantic love and aims to start the conversation about domestic violence.
We have all at one time in our lives wished for a fairytale. Love makes us believe the impossible, feel the imaginable and do the unthinkable. Is There Anybody Out There? is a verbatim 360 degree exploration of the dark side of what it means to fall in love in our modern world.
Originally performed as part of this year’s Perth Fringe Festival, Is There Anybody Out There? is the final chapter of The Blind Eye Trilogy – which began with One Punch Wonder.
Written and directed by Amanda Crewes
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS by William Shakespeare
Gap 1 & 2 Production - November 2021
What happens when two sets of identical twins end up in the same town unknown to each other?
Stolen identity? Perhaps.
Miscommunication and beatings out of frustration? Most definitely.
Everyone being confused and blaming the devil? Highly likely.
Or is it all just a trick played by the other.
What kind of mischief and trouble could four people cause in the span of one day. If two and two look alike, you can bet your bottom dollar it’ll end in tears for some and laughter for others.
Directed by Amanda Crewes
One Punch Wonder
Actors’ Hub Studios Production - November 2021
How much damage does one punch really do?
Moving from a pub-side view of the confronting world of mateship, booze and violence to experiencing loss through the eyes of the grief-stricken, One Punch Wonder pulls up the page, and puts the culture of toxic masculinity under a microscope. Looking into the coward’s punch from all angles, it asks us: “How are we raising our boys?”
While touring our Western Australian communities in June, the cast of One Punch Wonder realised how desperate Australia is to openly talk about the cultural pressures of masculinity and the mental health of our men.
Originally performed as part of this year’s Perth Fringe Festival, Is There Anybody Out There? is the final chapter of The Blind Eye Trilogy – which began with One Punch Wonder.
Written and Directed by Amanda Crewes
SO HERE WE ARE by Luke Norris
Gap II and III production – September 2021
Frankie’s dead. And no-one’s quite sure why
A showcase that allows a three-dimensional look into how young people directly affect each other, and an insight into their primary assumptions that lead them to make decisions as to what life is and should be and how to deal with it.
But wait. A bonus. Laughter. Laugher can align with courage. We are given that freedom and choice.
In the worst of circumstances, our young people find jokes, some of them are terrible, even awful, but we need to laugh at times to cover grief. Even when a loved one leaves us of their own accord.
Directed by Ross McGregor
Concerto De Mirage
Gap II & III Production - May 2021
A fascinating, funny and touching exploration of humanity through the expressive mask.
Aren’t we all deep down inside just loveable twits?
In Concerto De Mirage, seven strangers, all from vastly different walks of life, gather to experience a prestigious music concert.
But these seven characters embody the most conflicting of human inclinations and impulses and, when all are obligated to follow cultured etiquette and meet social expectations, their deep, dark unfulfilled needs start to emerge and collide, as their antics instead take centre stage.
Hiding behind modesty is arrogance, hiding behind shame is pride and hiding behind compassion is insensitivity. Watch closely as these lovable characters navigate the confusion of what it means to be human.
Roald Dahl writes that “A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts it will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.”
Concerto De Mirage transcends spoken language through the magic of the expressive mask to hold up a mirror to our unspoken antisocial thoughts and desires in order to celebrate the humour in being human.
Written & directed by Ellis Pearson
NAUGHTY NIGHTS @ NINE
January-February 2021
Are you ready for the ultimate Fringe experience?
Presented by the Actors’ Hub Studios Inc, Naughty Nights @ Nine is a brand new extravaganza variety event making its debut over 4 nights every week of FRINGE WORLD 2021. Created for people who are out to experience interactive and fresh nights out, these five shows boast everything from hilarious farce through interactive murder mysteries to deadly improvisation. If you like the thrill of competition, something a bit sizzling and a lot saucy, filled with blunders, mystery and hilarity then this is the event for you. All performnces start at 9pm
Lloyd of the Rings
This is it… the big day is finally here, the wedding of her dreams, and everything is going to be absolutely PERFECT! Right? Welcome to the wedding from hell that will leave you rolling in the aisles thinking “Thank God it isn’t me!”
PLAY-IN-A-DAY
They had 24 hours to write, direct and rehearse a play and you see it in hour 25. Experience a night of skill, pressure and chaos. There’s no turning back and no time for doubts in this chaotic challenge that will leave you sitting on the edge of your seats.
24-Hour Film Competition
Can Perth’s up and coming directors and film creatives create a short film in 24 hours and premiere the following week?
Whodunnit?
MYSTERY! MURDER! MOONSHINE! Every Saturday late night delve into a different decade for a dubious and hilarious adventure where you get to solve whodunit!
Improv to the DEATH!
When teams collide in a tussle of wits for improvisation supremacy, only one team will stand victorious at the end with all the bragging rights they can dream of!
4x4x4 at Fringeworld
January-February 2021
FOUR DIFFERENT SHOWS, FOUR NIGHTS EACH OVER FOUR WEEKS OF FRINGE
The Actors’ Hub have pulled out all the stops to put on an action packed month of shows certain to see audiences coming back for more! With dates set across the month you don’t have to compromise on choice – just simply don’t miss it!
The Compound
In 2050 after the second wave of Covid, the world lies in ruin. A community in the heart of Australia has protected themselves from the danger of the new world. A stranger arrives with secrets that threaten to unravel them all.
Twelfth Night-Survivor Edition
Peek backstage into the filthy thoughts & forbidden feelings of these players. In a battle of the (un)fittest, who will survive the 12th night?
Iconic
What makes an icon? An intimate look into what inspires these impersonators about Audrey Hepburn, Cate Blanchett, Tom Holland, Brittany Spears & Bob Marley.
Is There Anybody Out There?
A modern day Fairytale. We have all at one time in our lives wished for a fairytale. Love makes us believe the impossible, feel the imaginable and do the unthinkable. “Is There Anybody Out There” is a verbatim 360 degree exploration of the dark side of what it means to fall in love in our modern world.
JULIUS CAESAR by William Shakespeare
Gap I & II production – December 2020
With every incentive to remain permanently in power, the Caesar administration is looking less like a republic and more like a dictatorship: using systematic efforts to intimidate the media; building an official pro Caesar media network; politicising the civil service, military, National Guard and domestic security agencies; using government surveillance against domestic political opponents; stacking the Supreme Court; enforcing law for only one side; rigging the system; fear mongering and demonising the opposition.
With the economy roaring and the highest voter turnout since 1900, prospects for Caesar’s coronation look strong. This is set to be a presidential campaign like no other. But with Caesar’s sights set securely on dictator, the election was always expected to be a dramatic and eventful ride.
Desperate to hold onto the Republic, Brutus, one of Caesar’s nearest and dearest, is caught in a moral dilemma and it isn’t long before he joins the Conspiracy, led by Cassius, to murder Caesar. Will the Republic, that the conspirators seek so desperately to preserve, be lost forever?
Directed by Amanda Crewes
Flora
Gap II production – October 2020
The Gap 2 students present a self-devised piece directed by Ellis Pearson
Enter the curious world of Flora; an apartment of magic and wonder.
Inside her whimsical home, spirits sing and nature thrives. Her world changes when an assortment of colourful characters enter her apartment and make themselves at home.
Paradise can’t last forever. When her world begins to burn before her very eyes, Flora is left with a choice. Do I stay, or do I go?
Directed by Ellis Pearson
4x4x4 at Fringeworld
January-February 2020
In 4x4x4, the same team perform four separate shows during Fringe World.
The Innocent Pawn gives a 360-degree perspective on people’s experiences and relationships to pornography and how it affects our culture, society and relations.
The Empire looks at what happens when augmented reality bleeds into our reality?
The Verona Mob takes the classical Shakespearean piece, Romeo and Juliet, and transforms it into a modern day whodunit.
In Love Light Laughter we meet eight celebrities as they grapple with the very human lives they lead behind the extraordinary click-bait that our culture consumes.
At Affinity’s End
The Actors’ Hub Studios production – Perth Fringe January 2020
At Affinity’s End’ explores connection, the cost of keeping people at a distance, and what true love really means.
Meaghan and Brendan are madly in love, almost insufferably so. Knowing that the honeymoon period can only last so long, they enlist the help of a therapist. Through the highs and the lows, we follow them across eight years of their relationship in the therapist’s office. While the two of them are learning about each other, themselves and how to communicate their love, the doctor battles with his growing fondness for them, his professional distance and where that line sits for him in an ever isolated world.
Written and directed by Amanda Crewes
Twelfth Night
Gap II production – November 2019
Also known as What You Will, Shakespeare’s comedy, is a tale of mistaken identity and unrequited love – hilarious and heartbreaking.
A young, aristocratic-born woman, Viola, has been shipwrecked in a violent storm off the coast of Illyria. In the process she has lost her twin brother, Sebastian. Finding herself alone in a strange land, she disguises herself as a boy, Cesario, and becomes a page in the service of Orsino, the Duke – with whom she falls in love.
Orsini, however, is in love with Olivia, but she is in mourning for her dead brother, so has rejected all his advances. And when Orsino sends ‘Cesario’ to woo her on his behalf, it all gets a little complicated – especially when others get involved!
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Amanda Crewes
The Empire
Gap III production – November 2019
Over 14 years, the immersive augmented-reality online game, Hubris, and its founders, The Empire, have garnered the undivided attention of over 80% of Australia. When Hubris suddenly goes offline for the first time since its beginnings, a desperate group of vigilantes present the players with an impossible decision, and the Empire are forced to play for their lives.
Presented as a work-in-progress, requesting feedback from audiences. The production will be presented at the Perth Fringe Festival 2020, as part of the Actors’ Hub 4x4x4 event.
Written and Directed by Amanda Crewes
The Return
Gap I production – November 2019
“The greater the number of bystanders, the less likely it is that one of them will help.”
A thug and his junior partner in crime take a late night train from Perth to Fremantle, menacing passengers along the way.
Riding the uneasy line between comedy and terror, The Return is a tautly-written study in peer pressure, anxiety and suppressed violence in a social class which is often silenced.
Written in 2001, the play was adapted in 2006 by Cribb for the screen as Last Train to Freo directed by Jeremy Sims.