A casualty of the 2021 Victoria Lockdown, Wil King and their real-life partner, award-winner Patrick Livesey now finally bring Melbourne audiences Angus Cameron’s gripping new work, DIRT, to Chapel off Chapel from 24 May 2022.
Directed by Bronwen Coleman (The Actors Studio, NYC), DIRT is a thrilling and seductive exploration of sexuality, solidarity and persecution. A multi-award winning production, it scooped four awards at the 2021 Adelaide Fringe Festival, two at the 2022 Fringe World, was nominated for Best Independent Production by The Adelaide Critics Circle Awards, and has earned over a dozen five-star reviews.
Traversing the compelling course of one night, DIRT presents as a simple meet cute – but all is not as it seems. When a Russian and an Australian walk into a bar in modern-day Moscow, they decide to drink and party together – but both need something from the other, and both have something to hide.
“Wil and I had talked a lot about queer persecution across the Russian Federation and were aware that not many people in Australia knew what was happening,” explains Actor/Producer Patrick Livesey.
“During the 2020 lockdown we decided to commission Angus Cameron to raise money for LGBTQIA+ organisations in Russia and Ukraine. DIRT is a thriller that really plays with the audience’s perception of what is real and what is not.”
“We wanted the tone of the work to emulate the experience of being persecuted, of having to be on guard constantly. It’s hard to bring thrillers and live theatre together, but we feel we’ve achieved that here,” said Livesey.
“The dialogue is sharp, the characters well explored, the staging simplistically effective and the direction (by Bronwen Coleman) as tight as a drum.” – Australian Arts Review
Director: Bronwen Coleman | Performers: Wil King, Patrick Livesey | Sound Design: MzRizk | Lighting Design: Matt Ralph | Dramaturgy: Alice Qin | Writer: Angus Cameron
DIRT
Chapel off Chapel, 12 Little Chapel Street, Prahran
Season: 26 May – 5 June 2022 (previews: 24 & 25 May)
Bookings: www.chapeloffchapel.com.au
For more information, visit: www.patrickhlivesey.com for details.
Image: Patrick Livesey and Wil King – photo by Jacinta Oaten