TOM COSSETTINI Performer Tom Cossettini is a graduate of Queensland University of Technology, studying a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting). He has previously appeared in: I Want To Know What Love Is (The Good Room), Blackrock (La Boite Theatre Company), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Lost Boys

Theatre Company). QUT Productions include: Eurydice, Enemies, Anna Karenina, The Merchant of Venice, Children of the Sun, and Little Revolution. Tom has appeared in Netflix’s first Australian original series Tidelands as Ian Memphis Reid; Channel Seven’s mini series Hoges; as well as corporate videos and television commercials. Tom is excited to work in the industry and establish a name for himself among the other brilliant artists Australia has to offer.

KATRINA FOSTER Performer Katrina Foster is a NIDA graduate and a professional Actor, Writer and Dramaturg. She has worked as an actor across all mediums including theatre, film and television. Most recently she performed in Dream Home, directed by David Williamson, for Ensemble Theatre in Sydney and she is well known

for her leading roles in Mum’s the Word and Mum’s the Word II: Teenagers, both playing to audiences across Australia. She has worked across all states, for all major theatre companies, including Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, Ensemble Theatre, Griffin Theatre Company, Belvoir, Queensland Theatre and State Theatre Company of South Australia. She has also worked as a Writer and Script Editor for many years and has written regularly for Home & Away and Neighbours. Her professional credits also include working as a Dramaturg, Literary Manager and Script Assessor for Belvoir and Playwriting Australia.

EMILY TOMLINS Performer Emily is a co-founder of the award winning independent theatre company Elbow Room. Her theatre credits include We Get It (Elbow Room/ MTC Neon), The Motion of Light in Water, Now More Than Ever, Fewer Emergencies, As We Mean To Go On, Rule of Three, After All This, a tiny chorus and There

(Elbow Room), Cyrano de Bergerac (Sydney Theatre Company), Edward Gant’s Amazing Feats of Loneliness (Sydney Theatre Company/ La Boite), Hamlet (STCSA/ Queensland Theatre), Constance Drinkwater and the Final Days of Somerset, Puss in Boots, The Woman Before, Far Away (Queensland Theatre), Actors at Work (Bell Shakespeare), Julius Caesar, Operator, Creche & Burn, Urban Dingoes (La Boite Theatre), Tangle, We Built This City, Trailblazer, Drawbridge, Ants, Separation Street, Cerita Anak (Polyglot), Dream Home (Speakeasy/Collyer), Kindness (Flight Festival/Theatreworks), The One (Fire Curtain Co), M+M (Daniel Schlusser Ensemble), Arden V Arden (The Hayloft Project) and The Plague Dances (Four Larks/Malthouse). Film and TV credits include: Winners and Losers, Dr Blake Mysteries, The Underdog’s Tale and the award winning Dumpy Goes to the Big Smoke. Emily was the recipient of the 2005 Matilda Award for Best Emerging Artist. As Performer and Collaborator she has received the Melbourne Fringe Festival Adelaide Fringe Touring Award for There (2008), Melbourne Fringe Festival People’s Choice Award for a tiny chorus (2010), Melbourne Fringe Festival Best Performance and Greenroom Independent Theatre Best Ensemble for After All This (2011).

YEAR AT A GLANCEMAINSTAGE SEASONThe Duke and Me & Robin Hood6 - 9 FebThe Gospel According to Paul26 Feb - 2 MarDust14 - 16 MarFLY11 - 13 AprThe Humours of Bandon8 - 11 MayBarbara and The Camp Dogs5 - 8 JunOnce24 - 28 JulI Want to Know What Love Is14 - 17 AugA View from the Bridge28 - 31 AugThe 39 Steps23 - 26 Oct

ADD-ON SHOWSSenior Moments5 - 7 AprDeluxe Deluxe11 April - 5 MayThe Wharf Revue20195 - 9 Nov

KIDS & FAMILIESWolfgang’s MagicalMusical Circus17 - 28 AprThe Surfer andthe Mermaid18 - 20 JulRevolting Rhymesand Dirty Beasts4 - 5 OctMerrigongCreativity Camps15 - 18 Apr15 - 19 Jul30 Sep - 4 Oct

MERRIGONGXParty Girl28 - 30 MarGood Omens(Development Showing)4 MayThe Believers Are But Brothers16 - 18 MayAustralian Booty 22 – 24 Aug In Transit19 - 21 SepTrash Talk(Development Showing)5 OctMade From Scratch9 Mar20 Jul14 Sep30 Nov

WCC©1511990

Monday - Friday7.30am - 2.30pm (when no shows scheduled)7.30am to show time on performance nightsWeekends - closed; however we are open if there is a show on (at least an hour before the show begins)

STAY CONNECTEDTo stay up to date with show information, competitions and more, head to www.merrigong.com.au

/MerrigongTheatreCo

/MerrigongTheatreCo/Merrigong

/Merrigongmerrigong.com.au/contact/enews

LOVED THE SHOW? Let us know by tagging Merrigong and using the hashtag #merrigong2019

Join us in the IMB Theatre foyer for inspired, insightful conversation and questions

Voices from the HeartCreating theatre by collecting the stories of others. A conversation with Amy Ingram (Co-creator and performer, I Want to Know What love Is) and Michael Pigott (Director and Playwright, In Transit by Flightpath Theatre).

Saturday 17 August approx. 2.45pm IMB Foyer

Our panellists will discuss what inspires us about real-life stories and how these tales are translated to the stage.

Facilitator Leland Kean (Artistic Development Manager, Merrigong Theatre Company).

Talking Points run for approximately one hour and are free. No bookings required.

Cast

THE MERRIGONG TEAMArtistic Director / CEO Simon HintonAssistant to the Artistic Director / CEO Nicole McLennanArtistic Development Manager Leland KeanAssociate Producer Annie ClaptonActing Education Coordinator Justin McCormickCommunity Engagement CoordinatorAnne-Marie Te WhiuProgram Manager Penny Watts Program Coordinators Demelza Haines Diana Timmins

General Manager Pauline DoyleVisitor Services Manager Dayna HuberHead Chef Brooke SilkFood and Beverage Coordinator Eva CeccoliProduction & Technical Manager Pip RigterHead of Sound Elly TurnerHead of Lighting Taryn Brown Theatre Technician Andrew VargaFacilities Coordinator James Clarke Facilities Assistant Don Roth

Marketing & Development Manager Edie Watt Marketing Coordinator (Artistic Program) Amandine Durrant Marketing Coordinator (Strategic Program) Jonathan VillanuevaMarketing Coordinator (Hirer Events) Jacqueline McLeish Marketing Coordinator (Digital Content) Eliza Burrell Box Office Manager Linda HanburyDirector of Finance & Governance Judi DouglasFinance Assistants Fei Kong Jeannine Mulligan

KIERAN SWANN Creator and Designer Kieran Swann is an artist, curator, and producer; working in performance and visual art. His work investigates memorial practice, queerness, performance and bodies as archives, and strategies of co-creation, meaningful engagement of the

audience, or at least displacing the usual audience/artist relationship. His work has received acclaim on a national level, for projects with Next Wave, Conical Inc, Punctum, Firstdraft, Bus Projects, Seventh Gallery, Queensland Theatre Company, Metro Arts, Melbourne Fringe, Linden Gallery, Kings Artist-Run Initiative, inbetweenspaces, and Brisbane Powerhouse. ABC Radio has described his work as “nothing short of brilliant”, and RealTime has noted him a “fabulous liar in a mundane world”. Kieran is a regular collaborator of The Good Room, and is one half of McCarthy-Swann Projects. He has worked with Portland Institute for Contemporary Arts, Performance Space 122, Danspace Projects, Venice International Performance Art Week. He has held positions with Theatre Network Australia, Metro Arts, and fortyfivedownstairs. Kieran is a graduate of Wesleyan University’s Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance, Victorian College of the Arts, and Queensland University of Technology.

JASON GLENWRIGHT Lighting Designer Jason Glenwright has designed over 220 productions specialising in theatre, music theatre, opera, orchestral concerts, cabaret, dance and puppetry with many touring nationally and internationally. He is one of Brisbane’s most highly

awarded designers of the last 10 years having won a Matilda Award for best Lighting Design in 2015 and 2016, a Gold Matilda Award in 2013 as well as further nominations in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2016 and 2017 plus three Groundling Awards and nine Del Arte Chart awards. Jason has collaborated alongside nationally renowned companies including Bell Shakespeare, Queensland Theatre, Opera Queensland, shake & stir, La Boite, Griffin Theatre Company, QLD Camerata, JUTE, Harvest Rain, Expressions Dance Company, Queensland Music Festival, QPAC, Brisbane Powerhouse, QLD Conservatorium, QUT, The Good Room, Little Red, Dead Puppet Society, Hothouse and Zen Zen Zo to name a few. Jason’s most recent highlights include: De Profundis (Gasworks Melbourne/Metro Arts); Welcome to Shameville (Shock Therapy/Festival 2018); Beginnings (Cairns City Council/Festival 2018); George’s Marvellos Medicine and A Christmas Carol (shake & stir); The Longest Minute (Queensland Theatre/JUTE Theatre); Bukal (JUTE Theatre/Woodford Folk Festival); Inter (Liesel Zink/Flowstate); Voices of Remembrance (Queensland Music Festival); as well as a number of Brisbane Festival shows, including Rhonda Burchmore Bang! Bang! (Tam Productions), I’ve Been Meaning To Ask You (The Good Room); and A Coupla Dogs (Dog Spoon).

AMY INGRAM Creator and Performer Amy Ingram is an actor and arts maker. Since graduating from USQ in 2004 she has worked as performer in both theatre and film in Australia and New York. In 2008 she co-founded The Good Room alongside Daniel Evans. Their works include; I Should Have Drunk More Champagne

(Performer/Co Creator/Co Producer), I Want To Know What Love Is (Performer/Co-Creator/ Co Producer), I Just Came To Say Goodbye (Performer/Co-Creator/Co Producer), I’ve Been Meaning To Ask You (Co-Creator), These Frozen Moments (Co Producer) . She has performed over the years with Queensland Theatre: Fat Pig, An Oak Tree, Seeding Bed, Trollop, The Seagull, The Odd Couple; La Boite Theatre Company: Out Damn Snot (with Shake & Stir), Cosi, The Tragedy Of King Richard The Third, Blackrock; Elbow Room: We Get It; and at The Old Fitz in Sydney on Justin Martin’s Low Level Panic. Amy has appeared on Bull, Harrow, Camp and Mabo. Amy splits her time between Australia and New York. Most recently she co-founded Myths Made Here and will be seen in their premiere production of Matthew Whittet’s Cinderella at QPAC in May.

CAROLINE DUNPHY Creator Caroline Dunphy is a director, actor, theatre maker, educator and co-artistic director of Belloo Creative. She specialised in avant-garde theatre in the Suzuki Actor Training Methodology for 15 years, both in Australia and Japan as a senior company member of Brisbane-based Frank Theatre until 2010.

Caroline has appeared on Australian and British television, acted with a range of theatre companies nationally, and holds a repertoire of original theatre works dedicated to innovative performance and new Australian stories. Caroline was on the board of Queensland Theatre from 2003-2006, and has taught at universities nationally, most recently the QUT Acting Program. Recent years have seen Caroline devise, perform and direct shows for Brisbane Festival: Rovers, I Just Came To Say Goodbye, Hanako, I Want To Know What Love Is, The Wizard of Oz; Queensland Theatre/Melbourne Theatre Company: Noises Off, Motherland (national tour co-produced with Critical Stages). Caroline has worked with The Good Room in all three acclaimed works I Should Have Drunk More Champagne, I Want To Know What Love Is, and I Just Came To Say Goodbye.

LAUREN CLELLAND Creator Lauren Clelland is a producer, arts manager and creative who works with small to large-scale multi-art form festivals and organisations around Australia. Currently the Business & Operations Manager at Next Wave, Lauren’s previous roles include Associate Producer for Melbourne Fringe

(2015), Production Manager for the Emerging Writers Festival (2015), Theatre Republic Producer for Brisbane Festival (2014), Venues Manager for Melbourne International Film Festival (2013), Production Manager – Urban Chamber Beyond for Outer Urban Projects/Melbourne Festival (2013) and Venues Manager for The Garden of Unearthly Delights/Adelaide Fringe (2012 and 2013). In addition, Lauren has also worked in event operations for Brisbane International Film Festival, Melbourne Fashion Festival, Great Big Events, Adelaide Fringe, MONA FOMA and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra As a Co-Deviser/Producer with The Good Room, Lauren’s credits include Where We Begin, I Want To Know What Love Is and I Just Came To Say Goodbye. She also collaborated with Dan Koop & Co on the Green Room Award-winning The Stream/The Boat/The Shore/The Bridge (Next Wave 2012/Junction Arts Festival 2013). In 2015, Lauren was selected to attend the Atelier for Young Festival Managers hosted by the European Festivals Association (EFA) in Beirut, Lebanon.

THE GOOD ROOM is a Queensland-based performance collective who use the experiences of ordinary people to create extraordinary theatre works. We ask you – and people just like you – to anonymously share with us fragments and memories, confessions and admissions from your lives, as part of a process that blurs the line between ‘audience’ and ‘maker’ to play with the idea of theatrical collective authorship. Ours is an investigation of empathy, connectedness, stakes and sacrifice. This expresses itself in an aesthetic world that is both dark and light matter; a dichotomy of spectacle and depth. Mirrorballs, rose petals, panda suits and party dresses stud our theatrical universe but totems of party, play and celebration are often subverted; this is richly affirmative, highly contemporary, and widely accessible theatre – underpinned by rigour, ethics, and deep consideration.

thegoodroom.com.au

CRITICAL STAGES TOURING is a leader in national touring, outstanding independent theatre, and audience development – creating original experiences and connecting communities across the country. Since 2005, Critical Stages Touring has partnered with presenters and artists around Australia to deliver a strong and ambitious pool of outstanding independent productions engaging audiences from Bundaberg to Bunbury and beyond.

We broker relationships, connecting artists with presenters – whether they be festivals, small or large performing arts venues, or a much-loved community hall. We bring people together to create unforgettable experiences. We support our artists’ ambitions to breathe new life into their work and build sustainable practices, and we help our presenters foster a love and passion for the performing arts in their local audiences.

Through forums, mentorship and residencies, we also work closely with industry to provide opportunities to exchange ideas, start and continue vital conversations, build skills and resilience, and establish networks across the performing arts spectrum.

criticalstages.com.au

Creative TeamDANIEL EVANS Director Daniel Evans is an award-winning writer, director and producer who has worked across Australia in theatre, festivals, print and television. His most recent play Six Hundred Ways To Filter A Sunset was commissioned as part of Queensland Theatre’s 2017 Scene Project where it was

toured and workshopped in over 60 schools across Queensland. In 2016, he directed a re-imagining of The Tragedy of King Richard The Third, which he co-wrote with Marcel Dorney, at La Boite Theatre Company. He received the 2014-15 Queensland Premier’s Drama Award for his play Oedipus Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a reimagining of Sophocles’ Theban Trilogy (QT; Australian Theatre for Young People). And as part of Brisbane Festival 2015, he adapted and directed The Seagull, after Anton Chekhov, for Queensland Theatre. Together, with Amy Ingram, he founded The Good Room; a performance collective who draw on the experiences of ordinary people to create extraordinary theatre experiences in a suite of critically-acclaimed work that includes I’ve Been Meaning To Ask You (Brisbane Festival) I Just Came To Say Goodbye (Brisbane Festival) I Want To Know What Love Is (Queensland Theatre & Brisbane Festival; Brisbane Powerhouse) and I Should Have Drunk More Champagne (Metro Arts). Dan has worked as a director-facilitator for Griffith University, Queensland University of Technology, University of Queensland and University of the Sunshine Coast; the Co-Director of the National Young Writers’ Festival, a five day event as part of the emerging and experimental arts mecca This Is Not Art in Newcastle; as the Performance Program Manager at Metro Arts; as a senior writer for Frankie magazine, SMITH Journal and SPACES; and as a producer for iTV, Endemol, Network Nine, Ten and SBS.

Created by Daniel Evans, Amy Ingram, Caroline Dunphy,

Kieran Swann & Lauren Clelland

Director Daniel Evans

Rehearsal Director Marcel Dorney

Designer Kieran Swann

Lighting Designer Jason Glenwright

Sound Designer Lawrence English

Stage Manager Jeremy Gordon

Technical Manager Tim Dennis

Wardrobe Coordinator Jaimeson Gilders

CastTom Cossettini, Katrina Foster, Amy Ingram & Emily Tomlins

14-17 AugustIMB Theatre

Illawarra Performing Arts Centre

Running time Approx. 1 hr (no interval)

Merrigong Talking Point Sat 17 Aug, 15 mins after the matinee ends.

Post-Show Q&A Thu 15 Aug, 6.30pm

Age Recommendation Ages 16 +. Contains strong language, adult themes, loud

music, strobe effects, haze and a complete blackout.