A Belvoir Production in association with RealTV.
Synopsis
A lonely motel somewhere in the post-intervention NT. Deep in the night, six lost souls play out a small, distant tragedy of lovesickness and social breakdown – only it’s not the same night. The Dark Room is a beautifully formed thriller about the startling idea that, no matter how far apart we are in distance and time, we are all responsible for each other.
Reviews
“Angela Betzien’s spellbinding thriller, The Dark Room, is a remarkable play and director, Leticia Caceres has assembled a high calibre, faultless cast who do this short, taut production absolute justice.”
Rebecca Whitton, Australian Stage
“This is a stunningly gripping production: beautifully written by Angela Betzien, directed with great care and skill by Leticia Caceres and performed by a wonderful cast. It is a terrific thriller.”
John McCullum, The Australian.
“One of the most gripping nights spent in a theatre this, or any, year. The Dark Room is uncommonly well written and structured in the most ambitiously difficult way… All in all, The Dark Room is a wonderful production; beautifully acted and directed, inspiringly well written and perversely entertaining. Not to be missed.”
Dianna Simmonds, Stage Noise.
“Some psychological thrillers are happy to creep you out and let you go. By contrast, Betzien’s microcosmic short play – just 90 minutes long – haunts you afterwards because it looks beyond itself and out to injustices that must be acknowledged even if they can’t be rectified.”
Jason Blake, Sydney Morning Herald.
“Fortunately, The Dark Room delivers and then some, finally generating the vigour and verve you’d expect of an Upstairs show… It’s a whopping high note for the Downstairs Theatre to go out on in 2011, and, here’s hoping, a bellwether for things to come for the venue – because this taste will surely leave theatregoers salivating for more.”
Darryn King, Time Out
Credits
Writer: Angela Betzien
Director: Leticia Caceres
Composer: Pete Goodwin (The Sweats)
Designer: Michael Hankin
Lighting Designer: Chris Page
Cast: Brendan Cowell, Leah Purcell, Anna Lise Phillips, Billie Rose Prichard, Cameron Stewart, Bjorn Stewart.
Photographer: Heidrun Lohr
Past Seasons
Belvoir Theatre, November 3 – December 11, 2011
Articles and reviews
Elissa Blake Sydney Morning Hearld
Awards
- Sydney Theatre Awards
- Best New Australian Play – The Dark Room by Angela Betzien (Winner)
- Best Mainstage Production – The Dark Room (Nomination)
- Best Direction of a Mainstage Production – Leticia Caceres (Nomination)
- Best Actor in a Leading Role of a Mainstage Production – Brendan Cowell (Nomination)
- Best Actress in a Supporting Role of a Mainstage Production – Billie Rose Prichard (Nomination)
- Best Stage Design – Michael Hankin (Nomination)
- Best Lighting Design – Christopher Page (Nomination)
Links
