First Love Is The Revolution by Rita Kalnejais

Thursday, November 7, 2024 7:30 PM 19:30
Saturday, November 16, 2024 9:30 PM 21:30

Bluestone Church Arts Space 8A Hyde Street Footscray, VIC, 3011 Australia (map)

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Join us for Rita Kalnejais’s explosive work

First Love Is The Revolution

“I urge everyone to go see this play. You won’t be disappointed” - Theatre Matters ★★★★½

“Pleasantly surprising, completely charming…absolutely not to be missed” - Chuck Moore Reviews

Despite their killer instincts, a misfit teenager and a young fox fall in love. Torn apart by their complicated families and an ever-oppressive society, everything from morals to destiny is tested in this whirlwind romance. Comedic and scarily relatable, First Love is the Revolution is a zany portrait of finding shelter in others when chaos surrounds you.

VCA graduate Rita Kalnejais (Babyteeth) writes a blood-splattered play, a provocative Romeo and Juliet pushed to the deranged extremes.

Throw aside your prejudices and enter into a world of full moons and fluttering hearts, directed by Emma Drysdale (Every Second) and starring Madeleine Magee-Carr (Flit) and Sam Eade (Straight White Males), alongside an endlessly amusing ensemble cast. But remember, these violent delights have violent ends. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

SHOW DATES

Bluestone Church Arts Space l 7-16 November

Wed - Sat eve performances: 7:30pm
Sat/Sun matinee performances: 3pm
Preview: Thursday 7th November
Opening Night: Friday 8th November
Relaxed Performance Saturday 16th November, 3pm (Auslan Interpreted unfortunately cancelled)

Duration: approximately 100 minutes

Age: Suitability: 15+

Content Warning: Coarse language, adult theme, violence, sexual scenes, strobe lighting effects, sudden loud noises, theatrical fog/haze. ( Content warning guidelines.)

With support from Maribyrnong Arts and Culture

book season tickets here

Creative Team

CAST

CREATIVES

INTERNS

Production Manager Assistant Yiwei Ju

The Artists

Featured

Gregory Caine

Gregory has been acting for over 20 years. In theatre, Greg recently starred in Overlook Production 2024 run of I See You. Other roles include the long running anti-suicide play Marooned at Melbourne’s famous Southbank Theatre The Lawler, as well as Bitten By Productions Hunters, Dead Air, The Commune, Dracula: Last Voyage of The Demeter, Lucas Conundrum and The Last Supper. In Film and TV Greg is probably best known for his regular role on Utopia ABC/Working Dog Productions. Greg has upcoming roles in Apple Cider Vinegar (Netflix), Newsreader S3 (ABC) and the Guy Pearce feature film Inside. Previous roles include Neighbours (Ch10/Prime Video), Crazy Fun Park (ABC), Newton’s Law (ABC), The Wrong Girl (Ch10), 7 Types of Ambiguity (ABC), and Jack Irish (ABC), as well as multi-award winning UK feature film Marriage, Fiction Film Company’s award winning short film Safe Space, Bitten By Production’s web series The Pact and short film The Retirement Plan, which has just made official selection at Port Shorts Film Festival 2024.

Tara Daniel

Tara is a performer, director and arts educator, who trained at WAAPA and the VCA. Their most recent directorial projects were Unsorted as part of Theatre Works’ inaugural Children’s Theatre Festival, 2022 and an adaptation of Kafka’s The Trial at Chapel off Chapel in 2024. Tare has a strong background in education and arts for young people and has taught in secondary schools across Victoria. They have also managed arts programs and published resources for NIDA Melbourne, PICA, Theatre Works, Heide MOMA and the ArtsCentre Melbourne. Currently, Tara leads the specialist Theatre Arts program at the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School.

Emma Drysdale

Emma is a British actor and director trained at Central School of Speech and Drama. She has been living “down under” since 2018. Credits in London include: the Olivier award-winning 'Goodnight Mr Tom' (West End/UK Tour) 'That Face' (Tara Arts Theatre) ‘BBC Prom 19: Sondheim at 80’ (Royal Albert Hall) Credits in Melbourne include: ‘The Beautiful Game’ (Chapel Off Chapel) , 'Red Hollywood' (MC Showroom) Midsumma hit 'Eyes Wide Woke' (Bitten By Productions) Film & VO include: 'Perfection' which won Best Comedy - Melbourne Short Film Festival '22, radio play 'The Lucas Betrayal' and voicing the Sprinkle Fairy in 'Big Words, Small Stories' an animation series for ABC Kids.

Sam Eade

Sam Eade is a male actor based in NAARM/Melbourne and a Victorian College of the Arts Graduate (2023). He has a large background in sport, particularly in gymnastics which he didthroughout his childhood. Outside of playing sport, once graduating high school Sam went on to study at the VCA and his credits include Romeo and various roles in Palace of Illusions (dir. Sonya Suares), Rob in New Labour (dir. Alice Qin), Theo in Roulette (dir. Tony Nikolakopoulas), Hugh in All Boys (dir. Max Tassell) and Miles in She Kills Monsters (dir. Joe Paradise Lui). Since graduating Sam has performed at the Motley Bauhaus in Perpetual Stew (dir. Milly Walker &Charles Lawrence) and at La Mamma in Straight White Male as Ryan (dir. Nick Parsons).

Lansy Feng

Lansy Feng is a Taiwanese-Australian actor, singer, writer, and theatre-maker based in Melbourne. A Green Room Award nominee for Leading Role in Independant Musical Thetare (Hidden Tunes by Small Ripple Theatre), she trained at the National Theatre Drama School and the Howard Fine Acting Studio. Alongside numerous theatre and screen credits, Lansy creates multilingual works that celebrate cultural identity, including her acclaimed solo cabaret How I Met My Dead Husband and the original play Dear Mama, There’s Something Maybe I Should Tell You. She is thrilled to present the bold and provocative Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again with this wonderful team.

Lauren Gali

Lauren has been marketing independent (La Mama, Wit Inc) and prestigious (Malthouse) theatre since she graduated from Monash University with a Master’s in Cultural and Creative Industries in 2022. She is a multidisciplinary artist, encompassing writing, photography, and directing. This combines with her marketing skills to deliver a stylistic campaign with data-driven results. She wants you to buy tickets to this show. Please buy tickets to this show. This is Lauren writing. In fact, I was writing about myself in the third person the whole time. How embarrassing. Anyway, please buy tickets to this show. Support local theatre and trust me, you’re going to love it!

Madeleine Magee Carr

Madeleine graduated in 2018 with a dip. in Musical Theatre from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. She joined Wit Incorporated in 2020, running their Wit Kids drama program and as a company member. With Wit, she has previously played Meg in ‘Every Second’ (dir. Emma Drysdale, 2021), Hen in ‘Bleached’ by Laura Collins (dir. Ruby Rees, 2023) and Rdeca in ‘First Love is the Revolution’ by Rita Kalnejais (dir. Emma Drysdale, 2024). She was awarded best actress at Canberra Short Film Festival (2021) for her performance as Jacquie in multi award winning ‘This River’ (dir. Naomi Fryer) which can be streamed on ABC iview. She can currently be seen on the festival circuit in ‘Hold Still’ by Emily Dynes, which won ‘Best Short Film’ at MQFF.

Megan Mitchell

Meg is an actor, writer and creator of theatre in Melbourne/Naarm. She has a background in both screen and stage and has had the good fortune of working both locally and internationally throughout the last 6 years. This year she has performed at both La Mama and Theatre Works, and is expanding her skillset into producing theatre.

Josh Mitchell

Josh Mitchell is a composer, sound designer, and performer. He composes original scores, creative sound design, and spatial audio mixes for theatre, dance and film as well as virtual and augmented reality applications. He has performed as both a musician and a dancer/actor with Blink Dance Theatre, Vital Organs Collective, Melbourne Dance Theatre, and The Lost Rung Physical Theatre. Recently, Josh has written music and designed sounds for the ABC, Phoria XR, Catalyst VR, Blink Dance Theatre, Melbourne Grammar school, Torquay Theatre company The International Paralympic Committee/Meta and the City of Sydney.

Conagh Punch

Conagh (They/He/She) is a queer, non-binary performer and writer based in Melbourne, originally from Newcastle, NSW. Some of their previous performance work includes “Perpetual Stew” with Midsumma Festival 2024, "Guys & Dolls" with Antipodes Theatre Company, "The Last Brunch" with Darwent & Gray, Midsumma festival 2023, "Secret Expedition

Shanu Sobti

Shanu Sobti (she/her) is an Australian-American actor of Indian descent from Meaanjin/Brisbane, and is a 2023 graduate of a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting) from the Victorian College of the Arts. Her recent work includes “In the Wings” (dir. Ophelia Hopkins, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, 2024), “Adventures in Neverland” (dir. Carl Whiteside, Melbourne Shakespeare Company, 2024), “Home Economics” (dir. Stephanie Lee, Midsumma Festival, 2024), and “DANCE NATION” (dir. Emily Tomlins, VCA, 2023). Shanu is a proud South Asian artist committed to the authentic representation of her community and identity on Australian stages and screens.

Darren Thao

Darren Thao is an emerging Hmong Australian actor. He has appeared in various roles spanning across both independent films and theatre productions. His diverse set of skills and devotion to the arts is shown in both his performances and creations. With a background in dramatic arts, and his knowledge as a technician, he is proven to be a valuable asset both on and side of stage.

Yiwei Yu

Yiwei is a multidisciplinary creative, working at the intersection of fashion design, theatre production, and costume design. She graduated with a Master of Fashion Design from RMIT University in 2023. Although specifically trained as a fashion designer, she has a strong passion for theatre and film production. Yiwei's fashion work focuses on challenging traditional notions of garment forms and their relationship with body, often blending sculptural silhouettes with classic womenswear archetypes. She believes clothing is a medium to observe the way people connect and reflect their individual environments. This philosophy extends into the realms of theatre and film, where she brings a unique vision to costume and production design. With her fashion background, she specialised in creating dramatic, exaggerated and nostalgic costume and production designs that evoke a sense of fantasy.

Posted in Main Stage Season, Australian Theatre
Tagged women in theatre, Bluestone Church Arts Space, BMI, 2024, First Love

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