“Anne-Louise Rentell has created a joyous piece of theatre here that showcases diversity, teamwork and a collaborative spirit. You can tell that the entire team onstage, from the Stage Manager (who makes a couple of excellent cameos) to the musicians to the actors are having an absolute ball performing this show every night. What a treat that Wollongong audiences are afforded the opportunity to hear voices from a segment of the community that is not generally at the forefront. This work is important work and Merrigong Theatre Company and The Disability Trust should be commended for the work they have done to encourage diversity within the arts sector.”
The Outside Man
A Merrigong Theatre Company production in association with the Disability Trust.
Premiere season: 15 – 25 March 2017
LOVE. We all want it. We all need it. We all like to sing about it.
Venture down a dark, rain-drenched alley, through an unmarked doorway to the depths of your subconscious, and step into cabaret night at The Sweet Wrapper Club.
Here, love doesn’t promise a happy ending. There’s no walking hand-in-hand on a beach in the glow of a glorious sunset. This is a world of dream vampires, lonely catbirds, bearded clowns, and hibernating bears. It is a song sung with a mouthful of fairy floss.
Featuring an ensemble of performers, some of whom are perceived to have intellectual disabilities, The Outside Man is a new Merrigong work with a unique artistic vision resulting from a long-term partnership with The Disability Trust.
An anarchic performance in which our learnt experience of romantic love is hijacked and reimagined, The Outside Man is a brave, new and outrageously original musical theatre work, from the team that brought you The Man Who Dreamt the Stars in 2014. Featuring live musicians including Daryl Wallis (Dead Man Brake, Landscape with Monsters), The Outside Man is an entertaining, imaginative and touching exploration of our ability to love.
CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM:
Cast: Malcolm Allison, Elsie Croker, Ricky Gamble, Ethan Green, Rachel Head, Phillip Prentice, Christian Tagliaferro.
Director: Anne-Louise Rentell
Composer/Musical Director: Daryl Wallis
Musicians: Tim Oxley, Jodi Phillis
Set & Costume Designer: Katja Handt
Lighting Designer: Verity Hampson
Dramaturg: Caleb Lewis
