Silo 2000 + 12: THis Is Our Face

MEDIA RELEASE for immediate release
8 December 2011

SILO 2000 + 12
THIS IS OUR FACE
silotheatre.co.nz

Silo Theatre hit 2011 out of the park last night as they welcomed 2012 into the fray with their exhilarating programme launch at the mighty Civic.

First off the block is TOP GIRLS. Thirty years on, Caryl Churchill’s modern classic is as strikingly relevant as it was in the days of shoulder pads and Maggie Thatcher, continuing to trigger questions about gender politics, corporate culture and moral compromise. Fresh from her success with Underbelly: Razor, Danielle Cormack comes home to lead an all-female ensemble in this provocative take on what it means to be a woman in the modern world.

Dedicated to bringing Auckland audiences the very best in contemporary theatre, Artistic Director Shane Bosher’s production of TRIBES is only the fourth production in the world. Told with a daring breadth of expression, Silo gives voice to a very real, very human conversation about belonging, family and the limitations of communication. Not since Children of a Lesser God will audiences have seen a work which captures the voice of the deaf community in such an accurate, profoundly moving way. Icon Peter Elliott heads the family table alongside Go Girl’s Matt Whelan and The Almighty Johnson’s Fern Sutherland.

A stunning debut work from UK playwright Alexi Kaye Campbell, THE PRIDE is a thoroughly grown-up play which examines changing attitudes to love and sexuality on either side of the sexual revolution. On one side true love is weighed down by cautious euphemisms and fearful self-censorship. And on the other, casual sex and empty style collide with the human heart. Brilliantly funny social narrative straight from London’s Royal Court. Newcomer Sophie Roberts follows up her 2011 Silo debut I Love You Bro directing Kip Chapman.

Prepare for champagne whiplash! After a successful revisioning of Moliere’s classic Tartuffe, audiences can expect another salacious romp in 2012 with Noel Coward’s bitchy, witty and cutting PRIVATE LIVES. A dirty martini of jagged sophistication, this is the original rom-com, which finds Amanda and Elyot divorced but together – on honeymoon with their new partners. Mia Blake
steps into the shoes of predecessors Kim Cattrall, Gertrude Lawrence, Joan Collins and Elizabeth Taylor in this insatiable, slap-happy comedy of bad manners. Sexy as hell.

Silo is a tiny bit obsessed with BREL. Dark, sardonic, passionate, rebellious, his songs seem to articulate the Silo sensibility in a very direct way. Their previous celebration of his work, Jacques Brel is Alive & Well & Living in Paris in 2005 triggered a box office frenzy – not for love or money could you get a seat. In this new production, Silo has asked theatrical whizzkid Kip Chapman of Apollo 13 fame to collaborate with musical wunderkind Leon Radojkovic (he of Live Live Cinema fame) to deliver a new take on the words and music of Jacques Brel. Jennifer Ward-Lealand and Tama Waipara star in this cabaret noir.

On top of these productions, Silo will spend much of 2012 developing new work for production in 2013/14, collaborating with luminous NZ playwrights Victor Rodger (Sons; My Name is Gary Cooper) and recent Bruce Mason Award winner Arthur Meek (On The Upside-Down of the World).

Silo launched a bold new identity last night. They’ve spent the last few months working alongside award-winning creatives Alt Group. And as they plug into the cultural life of the city, Silo will perform in a variety of different venues across Auckland in 2012: storming the stage at the Maidment, Q, the Herald Theatre and the Auckland Town Hall’s Concert Chamber.

ENDS

© Scoop Media