BLACKROCK
23-25 JUNE
90 MINS (NO INTERMISSION)
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THURS 23 JUNE, 7.00PM
FRI 24 JUNE, 7.00PM
SAT 25 JUNE, 2.00PM (Open captioning will be provided for this performance)
SAT 25 JUNE, 7.00PM
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General Admission $25.00
Concession $20.00
School groups $15.00
Please contact us for school bookings
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Audience accessibility information (document)
The 2.00pm performance on Saturday, 25 June will provide open captioning.
Vision impaired audience members are welcome to enter the theatre space prior to the performance where an audio description and/or tactile tour of the set will be provided. Please advise Platform Arts upon ticket purchase if you’d like to access these services and ensure you arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the performance start time.
Platform Arts is wheelchair-accessible via our Gheringhap St entrance. Unlocked, accessible bathrooms are available on both ground and first floors.
For accessibility enquiries, please directly contact us at hello@platformarts.org.au
Please note, Platform Arts is a dry venue.
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This presentation contains references to murder, sexual assault, suicide and cancer. Contains depictions of physical violence.
If this raises feelings of distress or anxiety for you please contact:
Lifeline: 13 11 14
1800 RESPECT
Headspace: 1800 650 890
It’s Toby's 18th, and he’s having a party down at the beach—that should mean heaps of drinking, dancing and fun. But by the morning a young girl is found dead in the sand. Who is responsible? Blackrock is a powerful and intimate drama examining community, class, and the impact of social influence on Australia’s youth.
In 1992, Nick Enright wrote The Property of the Clan, a short theatre-in-education play which was based on the sexual assault and murder of 14-year-old Leigh Leigh in 1989. Enright’s play was later redeveloped into a full-length play for a wider audience in 1995 and was retitled as Blackrock.
Blackrock exists because a violent crime was committed against a young woman. Examining the persisting relevance of Enright’s confronting, honest text, Director Olivia Staaf (2020 Winner, Melbourne Fringe Access & Inclusion Award) brings Blackrock to Geelong with an ensemble of emerging, of-age actors embodying the complex authenticity of Enright’s play.
Of Blackrock, Staaf describes it as a play that “delves into the devastating consequences of perpetuating toxic masculinity through privilege, peer pressure and habit.” By working with a troupe of young actors, Staaf’s Blackrock places these social conversations back in the hands of the people it affects the most, making for a challenging and refreshingly inspired approach to the text. The world of the play is quietly insidious, defined by unspoken truths and the omnipresent sand and dust, a reminder of the beach and hold over each of the characters’ intersecting lives.
Supported by Platform Arts, Blackrock presents an exciting collaboration between Melbourne and Geelong-based creatives and performers.
Director: Olivia Staaf, LAB alumna
Production Manager: Harry Dowling
Stage Manager: Celina Mack
Assistant Stage Manager: Ali Cruickshank
Lighting Designer: Georgie Wolfe
Sound Designer: Sam Porter
Set and Costume Designer: Celeste Staaf
Cast: Aram Gelaris, Felix Tyson, Helene Dunlop, Laura Jane Turner, Liam Trumble, Madeline Murdoch, Molly England, Molly Lesosky Hay, Oliver Tapp, PJ White, Conlan Knowles.
