Last night (April 23rd) we held the Australian premiere of Anonymous Theatre, with two one-act plays. "Sketches Amore" was created and directed by Desiree Munro, and "The Tiger" was directed by Tim Long. The whole process (the actors rehearse individually with the director and only ever meet the rest of the cast on stage as the curtains open before the audience) was so exciting and exhilerating! There were of course unforeseen difficulties with this process, mainly centering on the technical aspects of sound and lighting rehearsals - the necessity of having experienced and competent tech people is absolutely vital - but the whole process went off beautifully.
We had correspondence from one of the originators of Anonymous Theatre, Darius Pierce, in the US, during this process. His group is about to stage their fourth (?) Anonymous Theatre venture, and have chosen another comedy. He informed us they had never tried a drama. We found there were reasons for this, but if the drama is carefully chosen, it can certainly work well. "The Tiger", by Murray Schisgal, is perfect for the excercise, as it explores what happens between two complete strangers - Ben drags a woman at random off the street. The terror of the woman and the tension in Ben were real! Desiree Munro chose pieces in "Sketches Amore" that were enhanced by the spontenaity of actors meeting for the first time. The dance sequence in particular was spell-binding.
We are now in (conventional) rehearsals with the two plays for the next week, and open next Friday night, April 29th, for a three week run. Both plays are well worth seeing in their own right, and bookings can be made by phoning (03)9583 6896.
We welcome any queries or comments about the whole Anonymous Theatre experience.

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