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OWCA
OWs collaborate on the fringe
Theatre goers at this year’s Melbourne Fringe Festival immersed themselves in a brilliant new play by multi-talented Actor, Writer, Director Olive Weeks (OW2019).
Playing on the main stage at Theatre Works, A Play about Ivy, that is really about June showcased not only her insights into love and human nature but raised the concept of OW collaboration to a whole new level! No less than five other OWs had key roles in putting this show together and the crowd funding that got the production over the line no doubt caught the attention of other OW friends. Joining Olive on this journey were Tansy Gorman (OW2014) as production dramaturg, Ella Newton (OW2018) as script dramaturg and playing the role of June, Sian Tjia Hennessy (OW2018) as both stage manager and sound designer, Antigone Yannoulidis (OW2019) as both costume and set designer and Vasilika Tsingos (OW2019) as the play’s visual artist, all driven no doubt by their combined Wesley theatre experience.
This two-person play covering the complexities of an all-encompassing friendship, was at once gritty, brazenly heartfelt and delicately intimate - a coming-of-age story that interrogated the perimeters of friendship as we know it. In a new apartment devoid of June, Ivy faces being alone for the first time in her life. She reconciles with her own company, heartbreak, and solitude, learning how to be alone, and healing. Then June comes to visit. It is the first time June is coming over to the new place after leaving Ivy in their home of two years. ‘This play makes my heart ache and scream with joy all at once,’ Olive said in a recent interview. ‘The play was born during a period of time when I felt completely awestruck by my bursting love, connection and gratitude for those around me.’
We applaud this dynamic and new independent piece of theatre created by a team who were only recently in a Wesley classroom.
Images: Writer/director Olive Weeks (OW2019); Costume and set designer, Antigone Yannoulidis (OW2019); Production dramaturg Tansy Gorman (OW2014); Script dramaturg Ella Newton (OW2018), who also played the role of June; Visual artist, Vasilika Tsingos (OW2019); Stage manager and sound designer, Sian Tjia Hennessy (OW2018)
