Bustown + Desiree Din and the Red Forest

Title: Bustown + Desiree Din and the Red Forest
Author: Philpott, Lachlan and Mellor, Maxine
Price: $27.95

BUSTOWN
By Lachlan Philpott

Cast: 4M 6F 2 either gender
Character Ages: 13 - 25
Length: 1.5 hrs approximately
Target Audience: Middle Years / Senior Years
Style: Absurdist
Themes: Consumerism, contemporary society, exclusion

\"Brave and sad, sad but true, Lachlan Philpott's Bustown un-invents everything and then re-invents it, in the truest way, in a way that honors life and honors the fact that living everyday means, everyday, discovering that there's more behind you than ahead of you. Though, it must be said, everyday, those fewer and fewer things ahead of us become stranger and more beautiful, everyday, because of their very scarcity. Bustown moves us into a time when silly television shows, international terrorism, and fast food are sweet and very distant memories that must be kept alive, for the sake of having a history, because we are animals that understand there must always be somewhere else than here. This is a great play and a heroic act of fear and remembering\". - Will Eno

Breathe in deep, can ya smell it? Smell of bus seats. Vinyl and sweat. Nothing nowhere beats that. See the yellow bus? Thats where we was born. Bustown. A junked paradise of worn tyres and scrap metal, far away from the land of Otherness.

Enjoying the safety of their junkyard town, the people of Bustown happily wait for The Driver to return. But Axel and Cressida cant stop thinking about Otherness. With a chain of keys in close reach, how long will they continue to wait?

A vibrant exploration of small town life, Bustown questions the desperate move young people make to the city and the impact it has on the people and places they leave behind.

PRODUCTION HISTORY
Bustown was first performed in full by the Australian Theatre for Young People, in 2009.

PLAYWRIGHT
Lachlan is a Sydney-based writer, dramaturge, teacher and director. As a recipient of an Australia Council Literature Residency he will spend much of 2012 working with theatre companies in The USA. Lachlan writes for theatre television and film. His first play Bison has had sell-out seasons in Adelaide, Belfast, London, Melbourne and Sydney. His other plays include Bustown, Catapult, Colder [Winner R.E Ross Trust Award 2007], Due Monday, Silent Disco [Winner Griffin Award for Outstanding New Australian play 2009, shortlisted Best New Australian Work The Helpmann Awards, 2011] Truck Stop and The Trouble with Harry.


DESIREE DIN AN THE RED FOREST
By Maxine Mellor

Cast: 5M 4F
Character Ages: 8 - 40
Length: 1.5 hrs approximately
Target Audience: Primary Years / Middle Years
Style: Fantasy
Themes: Divorce, family, relationships

\"The rich overlaping of the real and fantasy worlds of Desiree Din and The Red Forest captures the imagination\" - Alternative Media Group

\"You're destroying everything. You're out of control! Little monster! Monster child!\"

SYNOPSIS
Desiree Din feels like a powerless little girl. Sick of hearing shes too young to understand, she fights with her mother and battles her brother and sister. But one day, Desiree goes too far ...

After an explosive fight with her family, they leave Desiree home alone. Out of her frustration she creates the illusory Red Forest, a magical world full of strange creatures who need her help. In this world of her own, Desiree is finally powerful, but is being in charge really as simple as she thought?

Written by one of Australias most imaginative young playwrights, Desiree Din and the Red Forest reminds us what its like to be young and powerless in a rapidly changing world.

PRODUCTION HISTORY
Desiree Din and the Red Forest was commissioned and first produced by Australian Theatre For Young People in Sydney 2010.

PLAYWRIGHT
Maxine Mellor is a multi-award-winning young playwright from Queensland. She won QTCs Young Playwrights Award (2001, 2002, 2003); the George Landen Dann Award (2005); and a Matilda Award for Best New Work for Production (2005); and a Matilda Award nomination for Best Emerging Artist (2008). She is currently a finalist in the 2012/13 Queensland Premiers Drama Award. Maxine was an Australian playwright delegate at World Interplay (2005), an Associate Writer with QTC (2006-8), an alumnus of the Australian Theatre for Young Peoples Fresh Ink writing program (2008-9); and a recipient of the Fresh Ink inaugural commission. In 2011, Maxine was one of four playwrights to participate in Playlabs Lab Rats program.

Publisher: Playlab Press
Publication date: 01/11/2010
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781921390081
Publishing status: AU Dropshipping