PROJECTS

Acting Class of 1977
Martha’s War on War

The Acting Class of 1977 of the National Institute of Dramatic Art produced leading lights of film, television and theatre but not all of this star-studded group became stars. This 52-minute made-for-TV documentary is available streamed online with a fixed-term licence. Martha’s War on War looks at Australian conscription through the personal lens of a family fighting for recognition of the bravery of their son who was killed in action during World War 1. Teaching resources include online streaming and DVD of the live performance, published script and production resource notes.

ORDER & ENQUIRIES

Scattered Lives

Scattered Lives is a contemporary Australian work that explores who and what is ‘Australian’. Episodic in form, the play charts situations that have brought people to Australia from the 1950s to the present day. Providing a dynamic resource to explore the actor-audience relationship, it juxtaposes 4th-wall naturalism with elements of Brecht and Epic Theatre. Originally written and performed as a 2-hander, the Scattered Lives published script has over 20 nominated roles including Narrators who step out of the dramatic action. Teaching resources include the playscript, online streaming and DVD of the live performance and production resource notes.

ORDER AND ENQUIRIES

WAY

WAY is a new research-based 1-person play with videos and soundscapes about four women and their journeys into homelessness. In the process of making a documentary Lynne challenges the media representation of homeless mature-aged women and becomes homeless herself. The women in Lynne’s film include Maysie who lives in her car, Lily of no fixed address and Zahra who stays in a women’s refuge. WAY integrates documentary-style footage with live action. It gives voice to a range of women 55 years and over who are forced out of housing by virtue of their economic circumstances and a culture that discriminates against them.

REGISTER INTEREST

PLAYSCRIPTS PRODUCTIONS    

‘Never thought I’d be homeless. It was never on my radar. But you can go from having everything in place. Everything lined up and neat as a pin. And then a few little twists, a couple of things you never expected and’… Lily, WAY.

‘When my husband and two sons escaped to Australia and leave me in Vietnam, I never thought I would not see them for ten years’… Mai, Scattered Lives.

‘Counting our brothers and sister’s children and of course ours, we’ve got over forty relatives at the front’. Martha, Martha’s War on War.

‘Well I don’t really think of it as art. I think of it as a living’. Mel Gibson, Acting Class of 1977.

PURCHASING INFO

ACTING CLASS/MARTHA’S WAR

  • discounts for multiple playscripts
  • express post, sign on delivery
  • streamed video
  • DVD
  • professionally shot & edited 
  • video of live performance
  • performance rights available

SCATTERED LIVES

  • discounts for multiple playscripts
  • express post, sign on delivery
  • streamed video
  • DVD
  • professionally shot & edited
  • video of live performance
  • performance rights available

WAY

  • register interest in playscript
  • register interest in online video

REVIEWS

‘Acting Class of 1977 is a droll look at the nature of actors, what it’s like to become one and the toll that their careers take’. ‘Way is a play driven by passion and shaped by theatrical skill honed by years of experience’. ‘In Scattered Lives the writing is succinct and immediate and captures the heartache, the anxiety, hope and despair of lives uprooted by political, religious and social warfare’. ‘I sincerely recommend Martha’s War on War. Captivating acting, personal and political context, and an excellent experience of how the elements of drama and production create strong dramatic meaning’. ‘If you love theatre, see this’.