Burnt May 16, 2010

Drought is different to a fire or flood. Drought is slow, painful and seemingly endless.
Death is all around you.

Sydney Theatre Company’s Education program (STC Ed) proudly remounts the exuberant and deeply moving 2009 production, Burnt. In addition to being a part of the broader outreach program called People of the Soil on extensive tour throughout New South Wales, Burnt is coming to Riverside Theatres for a special season from May 17 to May 21.

Set in the fictitious town of Gilpendry, Burnt dramatises one family’s battle to survive and sustain their property during a punishing drought. Taking both a panoramic view of a community stoically battling hard times and a focused gaze at the consequences of economic stress for individuals, this is a humorous and sometimes heart-breaking play, performed with gusto by Stefo Nantsou, Tom Lycos and Lindy Sardelic. This remarkable ensemble of three actors uses minimal sets and props as well as live music to create multiple characters and locations.

Commissioned by STC Ed with support from the Girgensohn Foundation, Burnt was developed by Zeal Theatre with communities in rural NSW, in response to a government report, It’s About People, compiled by an expert panel examining the social impacts of drought on farm families and rural communities.

“Burnt is an important part of Riverside’s Education Program because of its relevance to Australian society’s collective understanding of hardship. This exuberant and moving play is addresses issues that are very real and relevant to Australians and is a wonderful window into understanding an Australian affliction,” said Robert Love, Director of Riverside Theatres.

Zeal Theatre consciously presents shows that deal with the hard edge stuff of life, and characters and situations that are authentically drawn from their conscientious research of those people and circumstances they are theatricalising. Zeal Theatre became an Associate Company of Sydney Theatre Company in 2009.

Zeal Theatre founder, Stefo Nantsou has written over fifty plays and co-devised a further sixty five productions and he is currently the resident director at the Sydney Theatre Company where he will write and direct a large scale production about the history of Sydney called Leviathan in 2010 and 2011. He co-founded the Ship-O-Fools in 1980, was an ensemble actor/writer with Freewheels T.I.E. and Sydney’s Sidetrack Theatre and founded Zeal Theatre in 1989. Zeal has created over forty original productions, notably Joyride, which had over six hundred performances throughout Australia & New Zealand and The Stones, which was performed with co-writer Tom Lycos over one thousand times worldwide and translated in more than twenty countries. Zeal Theatre received the prestigious ASSITEJ President’s Award for outstanding services to the theatre for young people industry in Montreal in 2005. Nantsou has also directed his plays for companies around Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Hungary, New Zealand and Wales.

The multi-talented Tom Lycos has worked around the world. After two years performing and writing with renowned Dutch company KISS from 1983 to 1984, Tom Lycos returned to Australia to join the Sidetrack Theatre ensemble as actor/musician/writer for five productions including Adios Cha-Cha, Kin and The Runaways. In 1988 he played the lead male role in Jane Campion’s film Sweetie before joining the world famous Circus Oz as acrobat/musician/performer during which time he toured regularly throughout Australia, South East Asia, Europe and the U.S. He was then actor/musician in two stage musicals, Buddy and Escape from the Forbidden Planet. He has also performed in theatrical productions with Melbourne Theatre Company, Arena Theatre, Griffin Theatre, Melbourne Workers Theatre, Back to Back Theatre and Kinetic Energy. In 1994 he was codeviser/actor in the Burning House production of That Eye the Sky with Hugo Weaving and David Wenham. In 1996, Lycos joined Zeal Theatre co-creating five original productions including The Stones, A Secret Place, Mouse, Side Effects, which has played in London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Melbourne and Sydney and most recently Taboo which was commissioned by the Sydney Theatre Company. Along with co-collaborator Stefo Nantsou, Lycos also received the ASSITEJ President’s Award in 2005.

NIDA graduate, Lindy Sardelic has previously collaborated with Nantsou and Lycos in Zeal’s production Taboo and has appeared in the popular television series, Water Rats.

RIVERSIDE THEATRES, Cnr Church and Market Sts, Parramatta
DATES: Mon 17, 1pm; Tue 18, 10am & 1pm; Wed 19, 10am & 1pm; Thu 20, 10am & 6.30pm; Fri 21, 10am
SINGLE TICKET PRICES: Adults $52, Conc $47, 30 & Under $39
SEASON TICKETS*: Adults $45, Conc $40, 30 & Under $35
BOOKINGS: Riverside Box Office 02 8839 3399 or www.riversideparramatta.com.au