projects.
Synopsis
What happens when you're a pyromaniac and lose your spark? Or the boy next door disappears? And what if your reputation isn't enough to keep you from falling? Penny, Jane and Sophia find themselves stuck at a crossroads in their lives. Reveling in your passion is one thing, but when does it become an unhealthy obsession?
Three monologues for women and a devised piece about these three very different women meeting.
What if these women met? Would their similarities bring them together or would their differences push them apart? How can each of them make the next step beyond those places and moments and performances where they are thoroughly trapped…
Penny is already taking the first step. Could she help Sophia and Jane find themselves again outside the reflection of husband and reputation and deceased boyfriend? Or are her answers too simple, too straightforward, too destructive?
Sophia is gone. Can Jane help her find her way back? Jane is still grieving – can these older women share ways to cope with an all-consuming loss?
They meet, if only briefly – shared experiences bringing them together to relate their stories to each other. The connections are tenuous, and even as we struggle to understand where and when they meet and converse (the space and moment is impressionistic, not naturalistic by design), we can see them taking those first steps. The first steps are the hardest, after all.
The common threads in their stories allow each of the women the strength to support each other. And they support each other long enough for them all to know they have someone at their backs. And with that knowledge – Penny no longer apologetic, Jane no longer defined by her boyfriend’s words, Sophia no longer trapped by how people perceive her - they (re-) enter their own lives with a new perspective on their worlds.
Revelling in your passion is one thing, but when does it become an unhealthy obsession?
The Wooden Leg presents
Painting with Words and Fire:
February 15th -25th.
Revolt Melbourne: 8.00pm
Full $22.50 concession $20.50 (inclusive of booking fee)
Written by Keith Gow and developed by actors Christine Husband, Renee Palmer and Adrienne Sloan, Painting with Words and Fire gets up close and in your face.
Painting with Words and Fire explores the lives of three women; Penny a pyromaniac who has a penchant for burning brothels, Jane, searching for one more poem from her boyfriend and Sophia, trapped inside Lady M, all find themselves wedged at a crossroad.
Meshed with music and visual images, Painting with Words and Fire explores strong, complicated and flawed characters, altered by seemingly simple decisions.
What they said...
“So up close and personal is the setting that you need to be prepared to be eyeballed by the actors themselves, giving you the feeling that their characters are talking directly to you. It can be a little confronting, but thrilling.” – Stage Whispers
“a rich and absorbing piece of theatre” – Vera Poh, To Dad With Love (theatre review blog)
“With mellifluous lyricism, Gow’s poetry takes us on a labyrithine ride through the young man’s inner space.” – Vera Poh, To Dad With Love (theatre review blog)
PAINTING WITH WORDS AND FIRE
written by keith gow
NEW
Keith Gow talks about immersive theatre and Painting with Words and Fire.
THE WOODEN LEG
at The Owl & the Pussycat
three short plays by Keith Gow & Hayley Lawson-Smith
Three weeks, three spaces, three short plays.
THE WOODEN LEG is born.
September 7th to 11th
The Owl & The Pussycat
We all make plans. We all talk about the plans we have made. But do we all get what we want out of life in the end? Do we get our happy ending?
"You Will Be Kissed by Princess Leia" by Keith Gow
David writes to his fifteen-year-old self and gets a response he doesn't expect.
"Sibling Loyalty" by Keith Gow
Maria and Brendan are as close as brother and sister can be, but Maria is about to ask Brendan for help with murdering their parents. Where will his loyalty lie now?
"Immersed" by Hayley Lawson-Smith
There's a body in the bath and a mysterious woman in a red dress and a writer who may only find comfort in the fiction she writes. So how will she deal with a murderer in her midst?
HOUSE OF GOODBYES
written by keith gow
EIGHT MINUTES
written by keith gow
Its the end of the world!
Eight Minutes is an end-of-the-world comedy about reconciling what you love about a place with what other people hate about it. Adam has been chosen to give the farewell speech, but Eve thinks he's being too easy on the home of humanity. This production was part of Short & Sweet Melbourne 2012 and the actors interacted with the audience during interval before ushering them back into the theatre to hear Adam's speech. It was directed by Clara Pagone and starred Sean Scanlon and Anna Burgess.
Workshops and explorations
Actors Justin Hosking, Andrea McCannon, Brendan Hawke, Ben Kazlauskus and Wallis Murphy-Munn all have many years of experience making challenging and memorable work on stage. They have all been trained in different ways, with different experiences in how to explore texts and create characters. This diversity has been key in developing this work. They are learning from each other, as they develop their characters’ relationship with each other, under the guidance of Keith Gow.
We have utilized long-form improvisations which have been crucial to finding dramatic beats within a story that is both open to and withholding from the audience. Improvising in one of the actor’s apartments has been key to finding dramatic tension in what is revealed within a share space versus information revealed between intimate partners in their own bedroom.
We continue regular workshops of these characters and themes and imagine continuing these explorations for the next several months before jumping into production mode.
Keep an eye out for more news on production dates...
WORK IN DEVELOPMENT
“Crisp in no more than 50 minutes, Wallis Murphy-Munn’s outstanding production also features pianist Claire Healy whose mystical music fills the loading dock of the old tallow with a lingering sense of mystery.”
– Vera Poh, To Dad With Love (theatre review blog)
“It’s a moving narrative by writer Keith Gow.”
– Stage Whispers