Is My Lipstick on Straight?

Is My Lipstick On Straight?

By Susan Prince

Is My Lipstick On Straight? 2015 Season flyer featuring Susan Prince.

PRESENTER’S INFORMATION

A JUTE Theatre Company Production

Contents

COMPANY PROFILE......

ABOUT THE SHOW......

PERFORMANCE SPECIFICS......

AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT......

MARKETING......

PRODUCTION DETAILS......

CONTACTS......

COMPANY PROFILE

JUTE came into being in 1992 when three passionate theatre makers living in Cairns met and the creative sparks began to fly. The three founding members of JUTE are Kathryn Ash, Suellen Maunder and Susan Prince. JUTE’s first production launched International Womens’ Day in March 1993 at the height of summer in the unairconditioned arts centre (shed!). The work was fiery, raw and unique in the region…..it was an instant success!
Since then, the company has dedicated itself to carving out a niche for its work. Within the first two years JUTE began to focus on new work, both text based and devised, that told stories from our region. Designed in collaboration with regional writers, the Enter Stage Write script development program has been the creative heart of the company from which JUTE draws almost all of its work.
Over two decades our theatre artists and audience have been part of an extraordinary outpouring of new Australian stories. JUTE is a unique company in the Australian theatre landscape through its high quality productions, depth and reach of development programs, artistic collaborations, and touring and networking of the regional theatre sector.

ABOUT THE SHOW

SHOW SYNPOSIS

A warm, witty and honest performance, where the audience is taken on a personal journey through one woman’s crazy, turbulent and hugely entertaining theatrical life.

Discovering her gift for performance at the age of four, we follow the roller-coaster ride of Gem's life, through marriage, motherhood, lack of money and the shadow of epilepsy that threatens.

Susan Prince wrote and stars in this one-woman show, as her character, Gem, takes us from that four year old singing to her parents, through to the present day. What she creates is a mesmerising telling of a magical life, where battles are fought and won with laughter, song and the odd soft shoe shuffle, while lurking in the background the dark shadow of epilepsy hovers, adding to the sense of bravery that infuses Gem, who will not give in to its frightening unpredictability.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Directed by Suellen Maunder

Playwright Susan Prince

Dramaturg Peter Matheson

Set & Costume Design Simone Tesorieri & Simona Cosentini

Lighting Designer Jason Glenwright

Sound Design John Goodson

Featuring Susan Prince

JUTE Funding Bodies

Sponsors

Production Sponsor

BIOGRAPHIES

Suellen Maunder - Director

Suellen is the Artistic Director and CEO of JUTE Theatre Company and was also 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. Her performance credits include: Bag O’Marbles, Love Child, Barmaids, Latitudes, The Chicken Play, Constance Drinkwater and the Final Days of Somerset, Tiptoe, Macbeth, Dancing Back Home, and Bastard Territory. Directing credits include: The Rape, Insignificance, Slave, Demolition Pile Driving Hard Hats and Donkey Dick (Assistant to Hilary Beaton) & Black White & Shades of Brown. Her Creative Development and Productions include: Bedtime Stories by Aunty Dee, Dad & I, Fetish and Junk Rooms. At the JUTE Theatre Company, Suellen has directed 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 and Delirium. Suellen has also directed and nurtured multiple creative developments within the Enter Stage Write & New Works’ Department, script development program.

Susan Prince – Playwright & Actor

Susan has been acting on stage since she was seven years old and has been a professional actor, director, producer and writer since 1990. Susan finds that most of the roles she has had the opportunity to play in her life have impacted in ways of making her a better technician in the skill of acting as well as a better observer of the people in her environs. She has written seventeen plays and won an award of excellence in writing in 1989 for AIDS The Musical. JUTE Theatre Company produced her widely acclaimed play Demolition, Pile Driving, Hard Hats and Donkey Dick in 1994. She was commissioned by the Education Department - Arts Division through La Luna Youth Theatre to write a film for bus safety, through this process Susan became interested in melding movement, music and action. She is constantly writing and has been part of the Enter Stage Write community for many years and finds this resource a constant inspiration and skill enhancer. Susan has performed in over seventy plays since being seven and some her most outstanding memories for characterisation were performing in Cake, Tiptoe, Surviving Jonah Salt, The Boys and Grace. As a founding member of JUTE Theatre Company, Susan has performed in fifteen JUTE productions over its twenty year history.

Peter Matheson - Dramaturg

Peter Matheson is a freelance dramaturg with a scattered stable of clients all over Australia and several overseas. Since becoming freelance in 2002 he has assessed scripts for Melbourne, Sydney, Queensland, La Boite, PlayLab and Griffin Theatre Companies, the Australia Council, the Australian Script Centre, the Australian Writers Guild and Playwriting Australia/Australian National Playwrights Centre. He has been the dramaturg/facilitator with JUTE’s Enter Stage Write Programs since 2006, The Street Theatre’s Hive Program since 2009 and in 2014 he also became the resident dramaturg for Blue Cow Theatre’s script development program, the Cowshed. He received the 2013 Media and Entertainment Arts Alliance/Green Room Special Peer Acknowledgement Award for his work, recognizing his expertise and development of Canberra writers through his dramaturgical work with The Street Theatre. The following year he was the recipient of the Australian Writers Guild 2014 Hector Crawford Award for an Outstanding Contribution to the Craft via a Body of Script Editing Work, for his generous and creative work with playwrights and theatre companies across Australia.

Simone Tesorieri – Set Designer

Simone Tesorieri is an Italian scenic designer. He has worked as a stage and prop designer in opera and musical plays. He has also been a producer for the main Regional and Civic Theatre in Italy and independent theatre companies. His stage design credits include Madama Butterfly (2000), Traviata (2001), Don Pasquale (2002), Boheme (2003) and Cavalleria Rusticana (2004) with the Bonci Theatre. From 2005 to 2011 he worked as a professional prop designer for the TCB Theatre in Bologna and also started his independent production and creative development for opera plays and drama with Operaovunque and Teatro Colli. Simone’s JUTE Theatre Company works include Propelled, Sentinel Chickens, Proper Solid, Delirium, Stewed and now Is My Lipstick On Straight?

Simona Cosentini – Set Designer

Simona Cosentini is an Italian scenographer, having graduated in Stage Design in 2007 at the Fine Art Academy in Bologna. In 2003 she started out as a stage painter, working both as a charge artist and a prop. Simona then joined the dressmaking staff working her way to be the Chief of Stage Design in opera plays for the main regional theatres in Italy as well as dramas with independent theatre companies. She continues her personal artistic career and research in traditional art and performance. Her costume design credits include Paolo & Francesca (TCB 2006), La Serva Padrona and Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Operaovunque 2007-2009). She started her independent production and creative development in opera plays and drama mainly for Operaovunque, and Teatro Colli. Recently arrived in Australia, Simona has worked at JUTE as the Costume Designer for Half & Half, Propelled, Sentinel Chickens, Proper Solid, Delirium, Stewed and now Is My Lipstick On Straight?

Jason Glenwright – Lighting Designer

Jason is an award winning professional Lighting Designer with over 176 Lighting Design credits to his name. Previously for JUTE Theatre Company, he has designed Stewed, Delirium, Soph & the Real World, At Sea Staring Up, The Shining Path and Cake. Other career highlights include Faustus (Bell Shakespeare and Queensland Theatre Company), I Want To Know What Love Is, A Tribute of Sorts, The Removalist, Water Falling Down, The Little Dog Laughed, Thom Pain (Queensland Theatre Company), A Hoax (Griffin Theatre and La Boite), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Pale Blue Dot, Ruben Guthrie, Julius Caesar (La Boite), While Others Sleep (Expressions Dance), Wuthering Heights, Revolting Rhymes & Dirty Beasts, Tequila Mockingbird, Out Damn Snot, 1984, Animal Farm (Shake & Stir), The Kursk (Critical Stages/Matrix Theatre), Cats, Guys and Dolls, Blood Brothers, Oklahoma!, Hairspray, The Wizard of Oz, Jesus Christ Super Star (Harvest Rain) and Chasing the Lollyman (Debase). Jason was awarded a Gold Matilda Award for his body of work in 2013. In 2010, 2012 and 2013, he won Groundling Awards for Best Body Of Work. Jason has also received six Del Arte Chart awards over the last five years.

John Goodson – Sound Designer

John Goodson has worked as a teacher, actor, musician, songwriter, and puppeteer, primarily in the Townsville region since 1996 when he graduated from James Cook University with a Bachelor of Theatre. In 1998 he started touring with the Billabong Puppet Theatre, an independent children’s puppet theatre which toured throughout Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, performing at Schools, Child Care Centres, Shopping Centres, Festivals and the occasional private party. In 2001, he decided to settle down into the stable world of stage acting, and working primarily with Tropic Sun Theatre and appeared in a whole bunch of plays until 2004, when he got married John went back to uni, got a degree in education and headed into the heady world of secondary education. He is a songwriter and musician, and was the composer of the music for JUTE’s production, Cake (2009).

Sam Gibb – Stage Designer & Senior Technician

One of Sam's earliest introductions to theatre was performing at age seven in a pantomime written & directed by Susan Prince. Twenty-four years later and Sam still has an unquestionable passion for theatre, dramatic arts, theatrical creativity and technical theatre. Sam’s passion and expertise within the theatre and live events industry, combined with his excellence in the execution of what he does, makes him a sought-after individual. With a professional career exceeding over fifteen years, Sam has managed countless national and international events / productions in a variety of roles. Extremely hands on, Sam has worked with national and international companies as Production Manager, Event Operations Manager, Technical Manager, Technical Designer, Stage Manager, Technical Operator and Theme Designer. Sam has worked in a variety of dynamic and challenging roles / venues around Australia – from the Rainforest to Rural Outback Australia to the Sydney Opera House - sometimes working around the clock to ensure nothing but the best outcome is realised. Sam is excited to be a part of this production from behind the scenes and is overjoyed with having the opportunity to work with Susan again. Is My Lipstick On Straight? will be Sam's fifteenth production with JUTE Theatre Company.

PERFORMANCE SPECIFICS

DURATION

Act 1 – 80 minutes

Interval – none

Act 2 – none

SUITABLE VENUES

Proscenium Arch/Black Box/Thrust/Flat Floor Hall/Band Room Cabaret/Outdoor Stage or Outdoor Street

MAXIMUM NUMBER OF PERFORMANCES PER WEEK

8performances

MINIMUM BREAK BETWEEN PERFORMANCES

240 minutes

LICENCING AGREEMENTS

10% writer royalties

APRA OBLIGATIONS

5 works used in the production fall under Part A of the APRA Dramatic Context Licence.

TOURING PERSONNEL

The touring party consists of 2 people.

PERFORMANCE HISTORY

AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT

OVERVIEW

1) Q&A Session open to the public

DESCRIPTION / DETAILS

A Post show Q&A is a conversation with the cast following the performance. Immediately following the show, the actors will return to stage. It's a great opportunity to discuss the response to the show and ask questions about the process of creating the work and allow the audience to delve into the creative process.

Like a TED talk, it's only 20 minutes and the audience can come away knowing more about how theatre is created (the tricks of the trade), the problem solving that the creative team went through to come up with solutions, and an understanding of how these creative beings work. And of course it's a great opportunity to meet the cast after their performance.

COST

None, included in the ticket price

TARGET AUDIENCE FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Audience that have seen the show on the night of the Q&A.

2) Actor Workshop open to Amateur and Professional Actors

Workshop: Acting

45 minute with up to 10 participants

In a Masterclass setting, the actors will be invited to take part in recreating a scene from the play.

Working with the cast on the set with lights and sound, and with scripts in hand, the participants will be rehearsed into the scene and get a sense of what it is like to be directed in a professional setting. The participants will learn performance techniques such as:

• working from impulse
• creating character
• working with given circumstances
• finding truth

They will then perform sections of the scene.

COST

$50 per participant.

TARGET AUDIENCE FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

The targeted audience is: Amateur and Professional Actors in the region.

MARKETING

MARKETING COPY

One line

She could have been anyone but screw that, she wanted to be herself.

Short

A warm, witty and honest performance, where the audience is taken on a personal journey through one woman’s crazy, turbulent and hugely entertaining theatrical life.

Extended

A warm, witty and honest performance, where the audience is taken on a personal journey through one woman’s crazy, turbulent and hugely entertaining theatrical life.

Discovering her gift for performance at the age of four, we follow the roller-coaster ride of Gem's life, through marriage, motherhood, lack of money and the shadow of epilepsy that threatens.

Susan Prince wrote and stars in this one-woman show, as her character, Gem, takes us from that four year old singing to her parents, through to the present day. What she creates is a mesmerising telling of a magical life, where battles are fought and won with laughter, song and the odd soft shoe shuffle, while lurking in the background the dark shadow of epilepsy hovers, adding to the sense of bravery that infuses Gem, who will not give in to its frightening unpredictability.

MARKETING SUMMARY

TARGET AUDIENCE:

-Women aged 35 – 52 (ticket buyers)

-Academics – JCU students

-High Schools Students and Drama teachers

-Indigenous Community

-Indigenous organisations

-Government organisations

-Youth organisations

-Tourists

TOOLS USED TO REACH THEM:

-Several Enewsletter JUTE databases (approx. 5000 emails)

-Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Google + etc)

-Youtube videos (1000+ views)

-Big banners on highways and venue

-Ads on local newspapers

-Listing on several Event listing websites

-Cross promotion with local events

-Strong publicity through editorial on newspapers

-Several radio interviews (ABC, Indigenous and commercial stations)

-Flyers & Posters distribution around town in coffee shops, restaurants, shopping centres etc

-Flyers in hotels and tour desks

-Social Clubs and Fundraising Organisations

-Cairns Chamber of Commerce & Young Chamber

-Hospital social groups

- HighSchools Drama teachers database

-Visit of the over 45 Indigenous organisations (land councils, health departments, arts organisations etc)

MEDIA QUOTES

“…it is our own story as well as hers. We live it with her every inch of the way. It is, however, Susan Prince’s versatility and sheer acting genius that makes Gem’s story resonate so well with ours….I found the whole performance quite easy to follow, well-shaped and well-acted, and done with flair. That it all comes together so well is a tribute to the theatrical experience…Don’t miss this one-woman play; you’ll love every minute of it and go out wanting more.”

Glyn Davies, ArtsHub -

"...loved the show. And loved everything that Susan did. So vivacious, yet so sad and wrung out when that was called for. Her lightning change of character, or age, was marvellous. And the subtle change of singing voice when she jumped from being an adult, back to a 13 y.o. was impressive. As for the last lines that brought such applause, I would imagine that there may have been tears mixed in there as well"

Beverly Blaauw, FM89.1 Radio

“…She reels the audience in with an intimate style and executes multiple scenes with confidence and relaxed timing. She sings, is agile, and is outstanding at creating vivid scenes with many characters alone. Her writing is simply impeccable. The show offers plenty of laughs and poignant honest when dealing with issues like domestic violence.

Denise Carter, The Cairns Post -

“brilliant, funny & moving. She made me weep.”

Fiona Sewell, ABC Radio, Far North