ON THE BODILY EDUCATION OF YOUNG GIRLS

 

PRODUCED BY FRAUGHT OUTFIT IN ASSOCIATION WITH ST MARTINS

NEON FESTIVAL, MELBOURNE THEATRE COMPANY.

 

PREMIERED MAY 2013

 

"(The production has) an intense and wholly surprising emotional effect, working at a level below language to ambush the conscious mind." ALISON CROGGON - ABC ARTS

 

A theatrical experience of radical and daring intimacy, inspired by Frank Wedekind’s 1903 novella.

 

In the middle of nowhere lies a unique boarding institution for girls. Here, in this idyllic refuge, cut off from the outside world, a group of young girls studies ballet and biology. We watch as they’re groomed for an unknown future. Silent and tranquil, the safety of their surrounds is laced with threat. Each aspect of their lives – presented and viewed in lucid, cinematic detail – is book-ended by their unexplained arrival and departure.

 

On the Bodily Education of Young Girls brings together some of Melbourne’s most exciting theatre makers, to create a sublime exploration of innocence and power.

 

director: Adena Jacobs

dramaturgue: Aaron Orzech

set design: Dayna Morrissey

costume design: Chloe Greaves

lighting: Danny Pettingill

composer: Kelly Ryall

associate artist/photography: Pia Johnson

production manager: Bindi Green

stage manager: Nick Wollan

assistant stage manager: Evelyn Stravrinidis 

 

performed by Mika Andrew, Fantine Banulski, Bianco Coppa, Tove Due, Luisa Hastings Edge, Cindy Hu, Annie McKenna-Freeman, Anna Schlusser, Lois Scott, Karen Sibbing, Carla Tilley, Artemis Wilson

 

"It would be easy to say that this is about the parts women are taught to play, literalising cultural indoctrination into gender roles. But the meanings of this graceful elegy are subtler than that, mourning a lost innocence that remains forever out of reach." REBECCA HARKINS CROSS - THE AGE

 

 

Nominated for 3 Green Room Awards:

Best Independant Production

Best Direction

Best Set Design