O, Ophelia
written and directed by Amber Grossmann
SYNOPSIS
Ophelia is a walking tragedy, her fate dictated by circumstances of misfortune, grief and naivety. Enter Hamish; an aloof, mysterious older boy with a penchant for chaos and eyes for Ophelia. He drags her into his underworld, and slowly erodes her agency, identity and prospects for the future.
This modern tale of codependent relationships explores themes of coercive control and emotional abuse in young relationships, shedding light upon these important themes, while exploring the role of Shakespeare’s the tragic heroine in “Hamlet”, Ophelia. In the original text, Ophelia exists solely for the furthering of the male narrative, and once she has been expended, she dies. O, Ophelia takes control of the tragic narrative and brings life and agency to this otherwise two dimensional female character.
CAST
Charlotte Davies
Matt Domingo
Harrison Everingham
Chorus:
Grace Meyers
Lillian White
Tess Wilson
Maya Hassall
GENRE
North Queensland Gothic
CONTENT ADVISORIES
Contains loud noise, theatrical lighting and asthma safe haze, depictions / representations of coercive control, drug use, sexual violence, and contains coarse language. Recommended for audiences aged 15 and over.
RUNNING TIME
Approximately 70 minutes
CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM PAGE INDEX
PLAYWRIGHT AND DIRECTOR
Amber Grossmann
DIRECTORIAL MENTOR
Suellen Maunder
Suellen is the Artistic Director and CEO of JUTE Theatre Company and is one of the founding members of the Company. Suellen is also an actor and director and has extensive experience in the development and direction of new work. Directing credits include: Insignificance, Slave, Demolition Pile Driving Hard Hats and Donkey Dick (Assistant to Hilary Beaton), Black White & Shades of Brown (BWASOB). Her Creative Development and Productions include: Bedtime Stories by Aunty Dee, Dad & I, Fetish and Junk Rooms.
At JUTE, Suellen has directed La Bella Figura, Queenslander, Flutter, Surviving Jonah Salt, Crackle Snap Pop, The Boathouse, Summaris is a Tropical Paradise on Top of a Shoe Factory in Footscray, Victor & Sass, Gods of Spicy Things, Cancelled by Popular Demand, Rosa, At Sea, Staring Up, Soph and the Real World, Half & Half, Propelled, Delirium and Is My Lipstick on Straight. Her skills in large-scale stage direction were demonstrated with the Commonwealth Games celebration community musical production in 2018, ‘Beginnings’. Suellen has also directed and nurtured multiple creative developments within JUTE’s script development programs.
DRAMATURG
Kathryn Ash
As JUTE Theatre Company’s Creative Producer, Kathryn Ash is a Cairns-based dramatist and dramaturg, working a variety of company writing development projects including JUTE’s Write Sparks writing development program and also their online learning program Write Out Loud. She has worked as playwright and writing mentor on an extensive Arts Festival program for Cairns City Council and Commonwealth Games in 2018 and in 2019 was co-writer of a highly acclaimed musical drama ‘Woven” with AustraNesia Choir.
She is also a published playwright, including an award-winning play Bag O’Marbles, winner of the New York Dramatist Exchange in 2002, and over 25 produced plays to date, her most recent play Here We All Are. Assembled produced by JUTE and published by Playlab (2019).
She worked as dramaturg on the 2019 Matilda Award-Winning play The Longest Minute during its 2-year development process. During the pandemic, she has been busy with two national writing projects Dear Australia for Playwriting Australia and Come To Where I Am by Critical Stages, both of which resulted in online presentation of her work through those two peak playwrighting bodies.
Ash was also the driving force behind JUTE’s award-winning and highly respected dramaturgical script development program, Enter Stage Write, which operated for 16 years, and opened up long-term career pathways for over 25 regional playwrights. She is a founding member of JUTE, and is delighted to continue her long relationship with a company that has grown to be a regional force in writing practice.
CAST
Charlotte Davies
Hailing from Townsville, Charlotte has been acting since she was 8 years old and playing music since she was 12, literally growing up in the theatre, working with Props Youth and Full Throttle Theatre. She simply loves performing and no role is too small; it is the feeling of being a part of something bigger than yourself, working hard and feeling like you’ve earned your spot alongside your team; your family. In 2020, Charlotte auditioned for a production with TheatreiNQ and was invited to join their professional training program, The Bridge Project the following year. She had never thought about making her love for performing officially a career but found the audition process a life changing experience illuminating
what acting really is and how it can really feel. Charlotte completed the Foundation Year of the project, performing in 2 parts of TheatreiNQ’s Wars of the Roses Trilogy in 2021; ‘The White Rose and the Red’ and ‘Blood Will Have Blood’. After taking a year off acting to focus on music, Charlotte continued training with The Bridge Project as an actor in 2023 – featuring in ‘Bloody Mary’, ‘Measure for Measure’ and the leading role of the loving rebel Megan Jones in ‘Puffs’.
Harrison Everingham
Concluding his study at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University in 2024, Harrison has proven himself as a skilful and hardworking emerging artist, most notably leading the production ‘Vernon God Little’, and playing pivotal roles in ‘The Cherry Orchard’, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, ‘Common Ground’ and ‘Tartuffe’ whilst frequently collaborating with Griffith Film School. Passionate and driven from a young age, Harrison has been a member of numerous acting programs including Queensland Theatre’s Youth Ensemble, wherein he worked alongside industry professionals whilst deepening his love for the arts.
Matt Domingo
LIGHTING DESIGNER
Bernie Tan-Hayes
SOUND DESIGNER
Wil Hughes
Wil’s credits as a composer, songwriter and sound designer for theatre have ranged from contemporary ballet to musicals, and include Tiddas, Single Asian Female, The Dead Devils of Cockle Creek, The Village, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Wind in the Willows (La Boite Theatre Company); Face to Face (Playlab); Arc, Still Life (Australasian Dance Collective); Kill Climate Deniers (That Production Company); Elizabeth I (Monsters Appear/Wonderland Festival); Rice, The Scene Project 2018 (Queensland Theatre); Mind Your Head, From Within, Sonder, B-Sides (Queensland Ballet); Propel (Expressions Dance Company); We Will Not Kiss/Touch/Frighten You in the Dark, Caligula (The Danger Ensemble); The Theory of Everything (Brisbane Festival/Metro Arts); Dust Covered Butterfly (Metro Arts); and Sweet Meniscus (Anywhere Theatre Festival).
Wil is also an internationally acclaimed composer for film, television and other media, and in 2018 was awarded Composer of the Year by the California Independent Film Festival.
PROJECTION DESIGNER
Russell Milledge
Russell Milledge has been engaged in producing, presenting and promoting contemporary art for over three decades. Based in Cairns, he has worked closely with visual and performing artists in the context of regional practice. Russell is a founder of Kick Arts Contemporary Arts and been associated with the foundation of Tanks Arts Centre, Cairns Art Gallery, the Centre of Contemporary Arts, New Move Network, Cairns Indigenous Art Fair and a number of other grass roots creative arts initiatives in Far North Queensland. He has a focus on the development of contemporary forms of expression and is co-producer of Bonemap, an independent micro arts outfit that has produced creative outcomes annually since 1999. Russell has been involved in national and international exchanges that include tours to Asia, Europe and America. Currently, along with ongoing artistic projects, he has research roles with James Cook University, as a fellow with the Cairns Institute, the Tropical Urbanism and Design Lab and the Humanities and Creative Arts Academic Group. He holds a PhD in Creative Arts (JCU, 2017).
SET DESIGNER
Simone Tesorieri
Born in Bologna (Italy), Simone started off as a sculptor, trained in Conservation, fresco and ornamental design. Passionate for the Opera theatre, he completed his academic studies in Scenic design at the Fine Art Academy of Bologna, the School of Melodrama and Teatro Bonci in Cesena.
He designed his first Madama Butterfly at 22 years and developed his knowledge and skills in years of training, and contracted work with major theatre companies such as Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Rossini Festival, Regio di Parma, Teatro la Scala, Piccolo, to name a few.
He worked with internationally awarded directors as Peter and Irina Brooks, Luca Ronconi, Pier’Alli, Yoshi Oida and iconic artists such as Dario Fo. Since he moved to Cairns in 2012, he has designed for the major local theatre companies and entities like JUTE productions To Kill A Cassowary, Here We All Are. Assembled, and the Matilda award-winning The Longest Minute; Queensland Theatre as costume designer on Othello, as designer on City of Gold , My Name is Jimi (Matilda Awards nominee Best design in 2017) and Commonwealth Games production Beginnings.
Since COVID-19 he has developed his own work with his wife Simona, writing, producing and designing for a new children production Lucky, in collaboration with Grin and Tonic, and JUTE Theatre Company.
COSTUME DESIGNER
Simona Cosentini
Simona is a set and costume designer, scenic designer, and artist who blends traditional artforms and techniques with technologies. Before arriving in Australia in 2012, Simona trained and worked in professional theatre while graduating with honours at the fine Art Academy in Bologna in Scenic design.
Simona started off in Opera Theatre in several capacities. She was a costume designer for Teatro Comunale di Bologna and OperaOvunque, an AV designer with Teatro Bonci di Cesena, Scuola del Melodramma, Accademia di Belle Arti and also a scenic artist with the latter. She has also freelanced as decorator and scenic artist in the interior design and events industries.
Since her arrival in Cairns in 2012, Simona has worked as set/costume designer for JUTE Theatre Company (To Kill a Cassowary, Here we all are. Assembled,The Longest minute-Matilda awards). She currently is also working with Queensland Theatre as costume designer on Othello (at Bulmba-ja this November) and previously worked for them as set designer (City of Gold, My Name is Jimi-Matilda Awards nominee in Best design). Simona is developing and producing “Lucky” a new children’s production in collaboration with Grin and Tonic, and JUTE Theatre Company, working as designer and puppeteer.
PRODUTION MANAGER AND STAGE MANAGER
Aaron Jeffery
CHORUS
MENTEES
Claudia Harms – Directorial Intern
Jordan Locke – Sound Design Mentee
Cate Harbert – Lighting Design Mentee
Rose Milledge – Projection Design Mentee
