The world premiere season of CONTROL by Keziah Warner will open tonight!
It has been immensely rewarding being involved in its development though our INK program over the years with Keziah working closely with the ensemble, dramaturg Tom Healey and director Julian Meyrick. Keziah is a notably unique and exciting writer, and we can’t wait to share her exceptional premiere with you.
The script and program have been published by Currency Press. Copies are available for purchase at the Red Stitch box office, or you can order your very own copy here!
Julian Meyrick is no stranger to Red Stitch, having previously directed The Realistic Joneses, Lamb and Dead Centre/Sea Wall. We have loved having him back in our big, little theatre. Here are some of his thoughts on coming back to Red Stitch to work on CONTROL:
“Control by Keziah Warner was commissioned and developed as part of Red Stitch’s Ink Program. Bold in theme, brilliant in uniting core playwriting skills with a post-dramatic performance style, Control is a fascinating take on contemporary ideas about Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Control‘s genre is sci-fi, but its style is fluid and assured. It starts with realism, goes darkly into non-realism, then returns to realism but in a partly AI world, raising the question ‘what do we mean by “real”?’
The way that Control asks questions about humanness, human emotions, human thinking and Artificial Intelligence is sophisticated. What the play does not do is give a technological lecture about super-intelligent computers. Instead, the advanced level of technology is assumed, and the focus is on what human beings make of AI – where it pushes us, as people.
The Ink Program has now notched up a substantial number of world premieres in Red Stitch’s annual seasons, making new Australian drama a key part of its program. Such a contribution is both notable and laudable; the company punching well above its weight in comparison to the resources it receives. New drama is the soul-task of the theatre in Australia, and Control is an example of the imagination, courage and skill that Red Stitch brings to realising that task.“
See you at the theatre,
The Red Stitch Ensemble
CONTROL
by Keziah Warner
Featuring Christina O’Neill, Dushan Philips, Samuel Rowe,
and Naomi Rukavina
Director Julian Meyrick
Dramaturg Tom Healey
Set & Costume Design Emily Collet
Lighting Design Lisa Mibus
Sound Design Justin Gardam
Assistant Director Shaun Wykes
Stage Manager Alysha Watt
Assistant Stage Manager Maxine Palmerson
Duration: 90 minutes, no interval
Playing until November 3.
Book now.
Big thanks to: City of Port Philip, Copyright Agency Cultural Fund, Malcolm Robertson Foundation, Cybec Foundation and our Kindred.