THEATRE: YELLOW MOON

Director Susanna Dowling describes Yellow Moon as, “A beautiful, fiery, funny, fast ride.” She says of writer David Greig that, “He creates this fantastic mix of gritty, grounded subject matter with a lyrical, poetic musicality in his writing.” It’s about two troubled teenagers, Leila and Lee, who get into trouble one night and go on the run. As a result the story is this kind of epic adventure-narrative as they try and escape the consequences of what they’ve done, but along the way have to confront who they really are. Dowling says Yellow Moon is about, “That feeling that we all have sometimes when we try to be something other than who we are, and create this ‘ideal’ version of ourselves, but ultimately it doesn’t work that way and more often than not we end up doing stupid, damaging things as a result.”

Originally from Dublin, Dowling grew up in a ‘theatre’ family, surrounded by the business, saying, “Her earliest memory is being on a stage.” She loves directing with,”Every bone in her body” and her favourite thing is being in a rehearsal room with a bunch of fantastic actors, making discoveries and finding choices. Dowling also works for PlayWriting Australia, where she looks after their international development, and outreach programs.

Of the cast, Dowling admits she couldn’t have asked for a more generous, talented, funny or better looking cast. Danielle Cormack is just a ‘powerhouse of creativity and energy’, and Dowling describes Ken Moraleda as one of her favourite actors in Australia. Working at Belvoir Street Theatre has been a dream come true for Dowling. She says, ‘”It’s a wonderfully supportive environment for artists, and the permanent Belvoir St staff are a fabulous bunch of welcoming, hardworking people – and Annette and Tahli in particular have been unbelievably helpful on Yellow Moon, guiding us along, reassuring, nurturing, and suggesting on each step of the way. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.”

Sept 2-26, Belvoir St Downstairs, 25 Belvoir St, Surry Hills, $12-32, 9699 3444, belvoir.com.au

BY ANTONIA HAYES