Ensemble Theatre Kicks Off 2014 Season with PROOF

Ensemble Theatre's 2014 season was launched on Aug 19 at the theatre with over 200 actors, directors, playwrights and group bookers in attendance. First up for 2014 is PROOF by David Auburn, a captivating character study about maths and the fine line between madness and genius directed by Sandra Bates with Adriano Cappelletta, Catherine McGraffin, Matilda Ridgway and Michael Ross.

Second is the 2011 Pulitzer Prize & Olivier Award winning & 2012 Tony Award winning CLYBOURNE PARK by Bruce Norris, a ferociously smart new comedy about race and real estate directed by Tanya Goldberg, with Paula Arundell, Belinda Bromilow, Thomas Campbell, Nathan Lovejoy, Wendy Strehlow and Richard Sydenham.

Next up is the World Premiere of CRUISE CONTROL, the latest hilarious comedy from the pen of Australia's most popular playwright, David Williamson also directed by David Williamson with Katharine Cullen, Helen Dallimore, Peter Phelps, Henri Szeps and Felix Williamson. Three couples book themselves on a holiday cruise that turns into a bedlam of sexual tension and drowning relationships.

Fourth is RICHARD III by William Shakespeare, adapted and directed by Mark Kilmurry, with Danielle Carter, Patrick Dickson and Mark Kilmurry as the power hungry king. A man enters his flat, reveals his passion - Richard the Third. He ropes in friends and potential girlfriends and re-enacts the play in the confines of his living room, with music, household goods and film.

Another World Premiere, a sparkling new comedy by John Misto is next, DARK VOYAGER, directed by Anna Crawford with Jeanette Cronin, Heather Mitchell and Lizzie Mitchell playing Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and Marilyn Monroe. It's Hollywood 1962. Bette Davis and Joan Crawford are at war over who is getting top billing on their latest movie. A very young, very drunk Marilyn Munroe joins them - inspired by real events this sparkling new comedy is as biting and crisp as a dry martini.

THE Jack MannING TRILOGY of community conferencing plays by David Williamson, directed by Sandra Bates plays at the Concourse Chatswood in Aug/Sept with Glenn Hazeldine, Alexandra Fowler, Erica Lovell, Kate Raison, Catherine McGraffin and Fiona Press. These three plays are arguably the most gripping, powerful and life changing plays David has ever written.

The 2012 Pulitzer and Tony Award nominated play OTHER DESERT CITIES by Jon Robin Baitz is a razor sharp family mystery that delivers a killer dose of both humour and pathos. It plays from Sept 4 back at Ensemble, directed by Mark Kilmurry with Rachel Gordon, Deborah Kennedy, Diana McLean, Stephen Multari and Ken Shorter.

The 2001 Olivier Award winning, 2000 London Critics' Circle Award & Evening Standard Award winning play BLUE/ORANGE by Joe Penhall is a riveting comic thriller about sanity, race and power. Playing from Oct 23, directed by Anna Crawford with Ian Meadows and Sean Taylor. A psychiatric patient is due for release but his two doctors can't agree on his diagnosis. Is he crazy or just eccentric?

Alan Ackybourn's hilarious comedy ABSENT FRIENDS rounds up the season from Dec 4, directed by Mark Kilmurry, with Darren Gilshenan, Jessica Sullivan, Richard Sydenham and Queenie van de Zandt. The humble tea party is transformed into a romping comedy through Alan Ayckbourn's notoriously dark-humoured lens.

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