PRODUCTIONS OF AUSTRALIAN PLAYS


1998
Secrets Whispered Falling
In collaboration with Nomad Dance Theatre
Directed by Lucy Skilbeck
Choreographed by Nick Rowe
Performed at the Sarajevo Winter Festival
The Place Theatre and Jackson's Lane, London
Toured internationally to the Middle East and Australia

“Rewardingly, Secrets Whispered Falling...succinctly abridged a seven hour ordeal into thirty minutes of inventive dance, interpolated by vignettes of dialogue” Dance Europe

1999
Wolf Lullaby by Hilary Bell
Directed by Lucy Skilbeck
Cast: Lucinda Cowden, Andrew Robb, Stan Pretty, Juliet Prew

Sold out its four week run in London and received first rate reviews and Time Outs Critic Choice

“Under Lucy Skilbeck's assured direction...Blue Tongue Theatre's commitment to staging Australian drama in Britain has certainly paid off” Time Out

2000
Sweet Phoebe by Michael Gow
Directed by Lucy Skilbeck
Cast: Susie Lindeman, Patrick Toomey

“Lucy Skilbeck's production is nicely measured...the undeniable quality of Gow's mature, penetrating narratives, the irony that unremittingly questions the characters...and the thoroughly watchable performances” Highbury and Islington Express

2000
Mr Melancholy by Matt Cameron
Directed by Gordon Murray
Cast: Paul Prescott, Sophie Duvall, Rebecca Deren, Daniel Copeland (London)
Paul Prescott, Lucinda Cowden, Rebecca Deren, Andrew Robb (Paris)

“This is a strong piece of work” Time Out


2002
The Recruit by Tony McNamara
Directed by Gordon Murray
Cast: Richard Norton, Rob Carroll, Kristen Keam, David Price, Tom Sharp, Natalie Verney

“ this production will be remembered for the big emotional hits it puts in” TNT Magazine

Wolf Lullaby and Mr Melancholy were also performed at the Theatre des Decharguers in Paris as part of the English Language Theatre Festival, and Sweet Phoebe was also performed in Brussels at the Crucibles of Culture Conference.


2002
Too Far to Walk by Mary Morris
Directed by Lucy Skilbeck
Produced by Wayne Harrison, Ross Mollison and Robert C Kelly
Cast: Prunella Scales, Gillian Axtell, Susan Harrison, Annie Rowe, James Livingstone

“Under Lucy Skilbeck's excellent direction there are fine performances from Prunella Scales, Gillian Axton and Susan Harrison” The Independent

“It's a simple play but in Lucy Skilbeck's sensitive production almost always touching and sometimes heart piercing” The Sunday Telegraph


2005
Half A Life: The Maralinga Story
In association with Alphaville, and the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association
Directed by Lucy Skilbeck
Dramaturgy by Gordon Murray
Cast: Andrew Robb, James Livingstone, Lucinda Cowden, Barry Bloxham, Tabatha Williams, Oliver Senton, Gemma Sinclair, Joseph Carswell

This project grew from a relationship that formed between Australian writer/facilitator Paul Brown and Blue Tongue Theatre. Half a Life is a verbatim play that recounts the experiences of the servicemen (Australian and British) who served in the Nuclear Test Zones during the 1950s and 1960s.
Paul Brown and a team of Australian theatre workers had undertaken extensive interviews with Australian nuclear test veterans and compiled them into a performance piece. Blue Tongue undertook the same process (with Paul Brown) with British nuclear test veterans. Paul Brown then took that material and rescripted the piece so it reflected the experience of both nationalities. This script was workshopped by the acting company, under the dramaturgy of Gordon Murray and direction of Lucy Skilbeck.


Petunia Takes Tea by Vanessa Bates
Directed by Lucy Skilbeck
Produced by The Miniaturists at the Southwark Playhouse
Cast: Paul Prescott, Tabatha Williams, Lucinda Cowden


2008
It Just Stopped by Stephen Sewell
Directed by Lucy Skilbeck
Cast: Susie Lindeman, Gary Merry
A workshop of the play at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, culminating in a
staged reading
A collaborative venture with Stephen, we workshopped the play together with a professional cast, re-locating it to the UK and exploring the potential of a UK production.


A Conversation by David Williamson
Directed by Lucy Skilbeck
Produced at RADA
Third year production in the John Gielgud Theatre
Cast: Oliver Bennett, Brett Brown, Kelly Burke, Jay Choi, Calum Gittins, Emily Houghton, Matthew Hickey, Lauren St Paul


Shelter by Hilary Bell
Directed by Lucy Skilbeck
Produced by The Miniaturists at the Arcola Theatre
Cast: Alison Skilbeck, Ann Firbank

At Sea by Vanessa Bates
Directed by Lucy Skilbeck
Produced by The Miniaturists at the Arcola Theatre
Cast: Hilary Hamilton, Richard Pyros