Fortyfive Downstairs Announces Upcoming Productions

fortyfivedownstairs has announced its upcoming productions and exhibitions through July. They are as follows:

Theatre: Othello
The Kingsmen
7 - 26 June

One of the greatest of Shakespeare's plays, and a tragedy that is open to many interpretations - the character of Othello has been described as the "most romantic of Shakespeare's heroes" - 400 years on, this wonderful play is still exciting audiences and performers.

The role that has attracted actors ranging from John Gielgud to Paul Robeson, will be taken by the brilliant young Tongan actor Anthony Taufa, an outstanding recent NIDA graduate. The company as a whole includes some of the brightest young talents in the country. We are eagerly anticipating this production by director Peter King, which is bound to arouse much discussion and debate.

Preview Monday 7 June, Season 8 - 26 June
Tuesday - Saturday 7.30pm, Sunday 5.00pm
Full $35 / Conc $25 / Preview $20

Gallery: Pip Stokes
A Shrine for Orpheus
Until 5 June

These are the last few days to see the sensitive, multi-sensory installation by Pip Stokes, A Shrine of Orpheus.

A measure of the significance of this work is the number of well known, senior artists who have dropped by to see the work, and the length of time that people spend in the carefully lit gallery. Using an extraordinary range of natural objects, from beeswax and honey, to feathers, twigs and ancient bones, Stokes has created an environment that evokes a meditative mood that is a rare experience.

Gallery: Rebecca Jones
Open Water
Until 5 June

Also closing this weekend is Rebecca Jones' series of dreamlike drawings of figures underwater. Elegantly mounted on perspex, and hung in a sequence that shows the swimmer diving and rising again towards the surface, there is almost an illusion of peering through windows into the water.

Gallery: Simone Hine
Rooms
15 June - 3 July

Next week, Simone Hine will be installing her exhibition which is part of her Ph.D in Creative Arts at Melbourne University.

Opening on June 15th, the exhibition which will fill both gallery spaces, includes performance, video works and installation. Hine's work focuses on the art of stillness, and contemporary art and cinema.

Theatre: Topsy
Here Theatre
30 June - 7 July

Topsy won an R.E. Ross Trust script writing award in 2007, and received a reading at fortyfivedownstairs the following year which delighted us all.

Finally, this intriguing and magical play by Kit Lazaroo receives a full scale production, directed by Jane Woollard. This is the sixth collaboration by Lazaroo and Woollard, and the play is an extraordinary blend of comedy, song, and whimsy, telling the true tale of Topsy, the notorious rogue elephant, condemned to die on Coney Island in 1906.

Preview Wednesday 30 June, Season 1 - 11 July
Wednesday - Saturday 8.00pm, Sunday 5.00pm
Full $29 / Conc $24 / Preview $20

fortyfivedownstairs is located at 45 Flinders Lane in Melbourne, Australia 3000. Since 2002, fortyfivedownstairs has offered a evocative urban space and a friendly, hands-on, personalised service to an eclectic mix of artists for theatre, visual arts, forum, music and dance events. Described by The Age as "a cultural powerhouse", this not-for-profit organisation prides itself on showcasing the emerging, the independent, the experimental and the thought-provoking. Centrally located in the heart of Melbourne, fortyfivedownstairs is found within a beautiful 19th Century building and features a theatre and two gallery spaces, offering a diverse programme of theatre, performance, exhibitions and forums. For tickets and more information, visit www.fortyfivedownstairs.com.

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