NOTES FROM THE DIRECTOR + COMPOSER

CHRISTINE DAVEY - WRITER + DIRECTOR

For me this journey began two years ago when I was gifted a copy of the wonderful Bowl the Maidens Over by Louise Zedda-Sampson. What a story! What an amazing group of women! What a shame they have been lost to history in this most sports mad of nations. For the cast, the journey began last year when they auditioned for an unfinished new work about cricket, with songs – talk about a leap of faith. For audiences it continues – a theatrical adventure full of love, laughter and tears. For the 22 women in the original match, however, the journey began 152 years ago in a cricket fiend in Bendigo. We hope we have done their story justice from the scant information available, and have brought them back to centre stage where they belong. I hope your hearts ache and sing with these women and what they accomplished. The cast has worked so hard and with such energy and enthusiasm, and I can state, categorically, that my words now live beyond the page and it’s just wonderful. Here’s to the 22 women who were the first.

Thanks to everyone who has come to see us over the last year and a half, and to the 22 women who started it all. Thanks to Di Toulson for having faith in us, and for Theatre Works for the fabulous assistance. Thanks to Australian Plays Transform nurturing the play from its inception. Thanks to Creative Australia and Regional Arts Victoria for supporting our development.

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TESS PARKER - COMPOSER

Composing for The Deplorables was an absolute joy. It is a story asking to have songs written for it – songs you can belt out in the car. The songs themselves came readily in the writing process, and I enjoyed deciding on the ensemble of instruments that embodied an ‘Australian sound’ to fit with the period of the story. Someone once said – 'silence is an instrument that should be considered when writing', and I think in writing for actors this is especially true, giving them time to explore the moment and the music. The songs are all very different and I loved writing a menagerie of themes, genres and sounds. Huge thanks to Christine for entrusting me with the music and for her contribution in lyrics, to Simon Parker on guitar and to the cast for singing these songs. It’s been an honour and a privilege, and I hope you enjoy! As to movement – I believe theatre is for all bodies and abilities; both onstage and off and having such a diverse cast that was so willing to explore was exciting from day one. Non-naturalistic theatre is always twice as much fun for movement, and this piece is big, bold and more than a little silly at times! We obviously spent a lot of time talking cricket and perhaps the most challenging aspect of this show physically, is having the women believably learn to play over the course of an hour – watching them go from bumbling novices to prodigies with the bat and ball.

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The Deplorables plays 19-29 August at Theatre Works

Click here to get your tickets!