A decidedly personal monologue that examines creation, death and what makes us who we are, Griffin Theatre Company presents End Of. written and performed by Ash Flanders at the SBW Stables Theatre until 5 November 2022.
There’s no crueler thing you can say to an actor than ‘Don’t quit your day job’. Fortunately, thanks to cover bands and theatre restaurants, Ash Flanders never needed one.
But after years of glittering appearances on stages and in school gyms across the country, Ash unceremoniously finds himself seated at a computer terminal in a decidedly un-sparkly corporate office.
No longer an acclaimed playwright and performer, Ash is now a legal transcriptionist – typing the words of suspected criminals who are not nearly as fascinating as TV suggested.
As Ash painstakingly types out the narratives of petty crims, he begins to interrogate his own poor choices. That thing he did in an abandoned carpark. The visit to the horse knackery. Those people at the old folk’s home. All of it in service of one thing: making people laugh.
But as his own transcript unravels, Ash realises it’s about making her laugh. His toughest audience. A heavy drinking, chain-smoking behemoth named Heather Flanders. And her health is getting so dire it’s, well… laughable.
Ash Flanders (Blackie Blackie Brown) is a consummate showman—an awarded writer, actor, and elder millennial shaman. But in End Of. he is stripped uncommonly bare.
Under the dreamy direction of Stephen Nicolazzo (The Happy Prince), Ash has created an honest, hilarious gut punch of a one man show… End of.
“Shockingly honest. It’s careful and elegant, emphatic and rich. Vigorous and electrified.” – The Australian
Director: Stephen Nicolazzo | Starring: Ash Flanders | Set & Costume Designer: Nathan Burmeister | Lighting Designer: Rachel Burke | Sound Designer: Tom Backhaus | Stage Manager: Jen Jackson
End Of.
SBW Stables Theatre, 10 Nimrod Street, Kings Cross (Sydney)
Season continues to 5 November 2022
Information and Bookings: www.griffintheatre.com.au
Image: Ash Flanders (supplied)