Siren Theatre Co in association with Griffin Independent 

THE NEW ELECTRIC BALLROOM by Enda Walsh

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7 - 31 March, 2012

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Director Kate Gaul
Assistant Directors Katharine Cullen & Jacobie Gray
Set Designer Tom Bannerman
Sound Designer and Composer Daryl Wallis
Lighting Designer Verity Hampson
Vocal Coach Natasha McNamara
Performance Studies Observer Jacinta John
Stage Manager Michael Cutrupi

Photographer Heidrun Lohr
 

Cast Odile LeClezio, Genevieve Mooy, Jane Phegan, Justin Smith

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In a remote fishing village on the West Coast of Ireland, three sisters (Breda, Clara and Ada) are haunted by days gone by at The New Electric Ballroom.   A time when The New Electric Ballroom thronged with bodies moving, men crooned, champagne flowed; and anything and everything was possible. A time which would stand the sisters still in time as they re-enact one fateful night again and again.

A beautifully lyrical story about longing, broken hearts and the power of storytelling, The New Electric Ballroom won the Fringe First Award and Herald Angel Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

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One of the most electric and imaginative voices of contemporary theatre, Enda Walsh creates a universe as vivid and crazy as it is moving and beautiful.

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What the Critics Said - 

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‘The New Electric Ballroom will subtly reach inside you, tug at the deepest, darkest corners of your mind and make you consider love, romance, family and your own purpose.’ Stage Whispers 

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‘Crucially, Gaul has cast cast these curious characters extremely well…this strong production and its fine acting keep us locked in with these sad sisters for the duration.’ SMH

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‘..a richly realised production of a play that deserves and needs such treatment.’ StageNoise

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‘flawless performances from all the cast,’ Alternative Media

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A must see. Thumbs up!’ OZ Baby Boomers

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‘The sisters play with the innate Irish aptitude for storytelling, delivered with a whipper-snipper race of words down a rabbit warren of memories.’ Concrete Playground

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‘Kate Gaul’s production is slick, finely nuanced and……beautifully cast.” Sydney Arts Guide

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“There’s a lot to love about Siren Theatre’s production … the performances from the cast of four are uniformly superb..’ Daily Telegraph

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‘The New Electric Ballroom is an exciting work of theatre, and worth all the iced coffee cakes in Ireland…’ Arts Hub

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‘…. through the skill of the writer and the deftly wrought and devoted performances of the actors, and the subtle support of the artistic team … under the sensitive and disciplined direction of Kate Gaul, one is seduced into the music of the text and the wealth of the imagery.’ Kevin Jackson’s Theatre Diary

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‘Director Kate Gaul has crafted something very special – she’s made her actors so raw you can see the nerves twitching below the skin…’ M/C Reviews

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‘Director Kate Gaul has harnessed the energetic forces of some of Australia’s finest theatre makers to present this story about the redemptive and the stunting qualities of narratives.’ Augusta Supple

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‘With The New Electric Ballroom, Walsh confirms himself as one of the most dazzling wordsmiths of contemporary theatre, and one who has a direct conduit to our wanting hearts’ The Guardian

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‘…soars to fantastic heights, veering between rapid and hilarious ironic evocations of town life, and a dark, bitter erotic lyricism… this is shatteringly fine theatre‘ The Scotsman

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‘The New Electric Ballroom is The Walworth Farce’s shiver-down-the-spine companion piece, a beautiful and devastating play of broken hearts and maimed lives. It evokes Donne and Beckett as it asks: “To what purpose?” The answering call is a howl of despair brought in on the tide with the stink of fish.’ Lyn Gardner, The Guardian

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See Enda Walsh in conversation with Joe Dowling

Read an interview with Enda Walsh on the Theatre Communications Group website

Photographer Heidrun Lohr