Latest news with #CloudStreet
Sydney Morning Herald
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
This play treats the siege of Troy like one of today's culture wars
Not so long ago, Ian Michael was working in the Malthouse Theatre box office. He was doling out tickets, taking phone enquiries or just sweeping up cigarette butts outside while the parade of theatre makers ascended to the hallowed rehearsal rooms. 'I used to sit in the box office and watch all those amazing artists walk up those stairs and go, 'I'll get there. I'll get there, I'll get there'.' He got there. Right now, he's back at Malthouse to direct the world premiere of Tom Wright's Troy. The show's original director, Malthouse artistic director Matt Lutton, had to give the project up after securing a new role as Adelaide Festival AD, and Michael was handpicked by Wright to take over the production. The 35-year-old is currently resident director at Sydney Theatre Company. His production of Wright's adaptation of Picnic at Hanging Rock earlier this year drew rave reviews, and two days after it opened he got the call. 'The process was so wild. It all happened so fast.' At STC he's previously directed hit productions of large-scale shows such as Stolen and Constellations, but he's never faced anything on the scale of Troy. One of the big challenges he confronted when taking on the play was inheriting an ensemble of seven actors that he hadn't cast himself: 'Part of the process has been building that relationship, building that trust.' Luckily, the director began his own career as an actor. In 2019 he performed in Cloud Street on the same stage he's directing for today: 'It's a beautiful kind of homecoming.' Then there's Wright's writing, which is famous for the research and erudition he brings to plays including other Greek adaptions like Medea, The Odyssey and Oresteia. Before coming onboard for Troy, however, Michael had never spent much time with the Greeks. 'I never even studied them at school. I come from a town that has 7500 people in it, one set of traffic lights. We didn't have any arts after year eight. There was no drama, there was no visual art or anything like that.'
The Age
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
This play treats the siege of Troy like one of today's culture wars
Not so long ago, Ian Michael was working in the Malthouse Theatre box office. He was doling out tickets, taking phone enquiries or just sweeping up cigarette butts outside while the parade of theatre makers ascended to the hallowed rehearsal rooms. 'I used to sit in the box office and watch all those amazing artists walk up those stairs and go, 'I'll get there. I'll get there, I'll get there'.' He got there. Right now, he's back at Malthouse to direct the world premiere of Tom Wright's Troy. The show's original director, Malthouse artistic director Matt Lutton, had to give the project up after securing a new role as Adelaide Festival AD, and Michael was handpicked by Wright to take over the production. The 35-year-old is currently resident director at Sydney Theatre Company. His production of Wright's adaptation of Picnic at Hanging Rock earlier this year drew rave reviews, and two days after it opened he got the call. 'The process was so wild. It all happened so fast.' At STC he's previously directed hit productions of large-scale shows such as Stolen and Constellations, but he's never faced anything on the scale of Troy. One of the big challenges he confronted when taking on the play was inheriting an ensemble of seven actors that he hadn't cast himself: 'Part of the process has been building that relationship, building that trust.' Luckily, the director began his own career as an actor. In 2019 he performed in Cloud Street on the same stage he's directing for today: 'It's a beautiful kind of homecoming.' Then there's Wright's writing, which is famous for the research and erudition he brings to plays including other Greek adaptions like Medea, The Odyssey and Oresteia. Before coming onboard for Troy, however, Michael had never spent much time with the Greeks. 'I never even studied them at school. I come from a town that has 7500 people in it, one set of traffic lights. We didn't have any arts after year eight. There was no drama, there was no visual art or anything like that.'
