5 LESBIANS EATING A QUICHE
BY ANDREW HOBGOOD AND EVAN LINDER
Photographer: Becky Matthews
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If everything that you knew was in danger, what would you finally need to get off your chest?
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It’s 1956 and The Susan B. Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein are having their annual quiche breakfast, where the motto is “no men, no meat, all manners”.
As the ‘widows’ await the announcement of the society’s prize-winning quiche, chaos strikes when the atomic bomb alarm sounds and threatens to end their beloved quiche breakfast. Is it a drill? Has the Communist threat come to pass? How will the widows respond if their idyllic town and lifestyle faces attack?
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Winner of the 2012 NYC International Fringe Festival as Best Overall Production and making its Sydney Debut, 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche is a tasty recipe of hysterical laughs, sexual innuendos, unsuccessful repressions, and delicious discoveries.
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In the face of danger, who knows what you’ll learn about yourself or your fellow woman!
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PRODUCTIONS:
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25-27 February 2021
Mardi Gras Festival Registered Event
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GIANT DWARF THEATRE
280 Cleveland St, Surry Hills
Reviews
Publicity
The Cast
NYSSA HAMILTON
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Nyssa Hamilton has resided on three continents, of which she prefers Australia.
She has recently appeared in Clock and Spiel’s Wit, as Elsa Stanhope in Alison’s House, Mercy Lewis in The Crucible, and Maxine in the Australian premiere of Technicolor Life.
She trained at Seattle Central Community College, The University of Newcastle Australia, and has a Masters in Theatre Making from Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance, London.
Nyssa wrote, produced, co-directed and performed Too Few To Mention at the Hackney Showroom in London in 2015 and the Newcastle Fringe Festival in 2016.
Her dog is named after a comic book character not Shakespeare, in spite of what she tells people.
In 2011 Nyssa won the City of Newcastle Drama Award portraying Honey in Janet Nelson’s NTC Production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
OLIVIA MORTIMER-EADE​
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A born performer, Olivia was raised by her mother and grandparents by the harbours of Auckland, New Zealand.
Olivia’s childhood was animated by her Irish culture, fostering a love for Irish dancing at age four. Her talents took her around the world, competing at the World Championships for Irish dance at 16 and winning a World Medal for New Zealand. In 2015, Olivia moved to London to continue her Irish dance training at Maguire O’Shea Academy.
Upon graduating high school as head prefect, Olivia was awarded the AUT Vice Chancellor Significant Student Leadership Scholarship to study journalism.
During her tertiary studies, Olivia pursued her passion for storytelling as a member of the physical theatre company Massive Nui Ensemble, as well as working as a radio journalist, producing and hosting current events show ‘the Wire’ on 95bfm.
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At 20, Olivia was accepted into the National Institute of Dramatic Art to study Acting and relocated to Sydney, graduating having played such roles as Antigone in Antigone, Lady Wishfort in The Way of the World and Tanya in LOVE. In her time at NIDA, Olivia furthered her artistry in physical theatre under the mentorship of Gavin Robbins, forming a physical theatre troupe focusing on New Zealand storytelling.
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Olivia recently wrote and acted in the short film No News directed by Claire Chitham and produces the podcast Millennial Crisis on Spotify with fellow NIDA graduates.
Olivia is a queer artist, with strong talents in both writing and acting, and is currently in pre-production for her own film works.
JULIA PENNISI​
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Julia has and has been doing drama since 2008, after being encouraged by her mum to break out of her shyness and try acting. It has been her sole desire to pursue a career in theatre ever since. She graduated Excelsia College in 2019 with a Bachelor of Dramatic Art and cannot wait to get back on the stage with this hilarious production of 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche.
Her previous performance highlights include CUT, A Tea Party For Sad People (Short+Sweet), Clinchfield, Love & Information, The Tempest, The Crucible, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Youth In Performing Arts, HissyFest and voiceover work in Lost & Found directed by Lily Drummond. Julia has recently starred in her first short film, Tea Party For Sad People, directed by Michael McLennan that won Best Comedy at the Italian Assurdo Film Festival celebrating Independent cinema.
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Julia would like to thank her family, friends and college lecturers over the years for all their love and support.
DOMINIQUE PURDUE​
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As a recent graduate of the Academy of Film, Theatre & Television (AFTT), Dominique is excited to be working again with Theatre Travels!
She was previously in Theatre Travels’ productions of “The Laramie Project” and “The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later.”
While at AFTT, Dominique was in Dino Dimitriadis’s production of Clinchfield at Downstairs Belvoir and Sean O’Riordon’s production of Antony and Cleopatra. She has also appeared in Collaborators at the New Theatre and How to Change the World and Make Bank Doing It at Limelight on Oxford St.
As well as in Sydney, Dominique has studied and performed in Manila (the Philippines), London and New York. She has appeared in numerous short and feature films.
She is represented by TCM Agency and is a proud member of MEAA.
DEMITRA SEALY​
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Demitra Sealy is an award-winning actress, singer and comedian; who is very excited to celebrate the Mardi Gras festival and be a part of this production!
Her latest acting credits include feature film The Debt Collector 2 (Netflix trending Top 5), short film Euphoria (The Sundance Film Festival), ATYPs 2020 National Studio and playing Mephistopheles in LA Shakespeare Company’s production of Dr Faustus.
In 2020, Demitra was also selected as a finalist in the Warner Brother TV World-wide Talent Search out of of "many thousands of auditions”.
She has completed a BA from AIM in Dramatic Arts and has further training from The Actors Studio NYC, The Bell Shakespeare Company, Playwriting Australia, NIDA and the Upright Citizens Brigade.
The Crew
CARLY FISHER: PRODUCER​
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Carly is the founder and Artistic Director of Theatre Travels. As a producer, Carly is passionate about bringing debut works to stages in new markets and seeks new writers and performances ready to make their Sydney, Australian and even World premieres. Carly also prioritises telling the stories of real, empowered women in Theatre Travels productions.
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Most recently, Carly directed and produced Girl Shut Your Mouth by Gita Bezard at the 2020 Adelaide Fringe Festival to 5 Star Reviews and Critical Acclaim. Carly also produced Bleach by Dan Ireland Reeves at the Adelaide Fringe.
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Though Covid halted the rest of Theatre Travels’ 2020 productions, Carly is proud to be returning to theatre in 2021 with the second NO: INTERMISSION festival and four wonderfully diverse works each making their Sydney and Australian premieres. Carly is the producer for the festival and will also direct In Their Footsteps by Ashley Adelman and Infinite Variety Productions, and the return season of Girl Shut Your Mouth.
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Carly is also extremely proud to be producing 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche by Andrew Hobgood and Evan Linder as a Mardi Gras Registered Event.
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In 2019, Carly produced and co-curated the inaugural NO : INTERMISSION festival, Sydney’s new one-act play festival designed to create opportunities for emerging Artists across the disciplines within the Theatre industry. For the festival, Carly directed Final Placement by Ara Watson, Falling Skies by Brayden Frascone and co-directed Albumen by Mishka Lavigne.
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Carly produced and co-directed Moises. Kaufman and the Tectonic Theatre Companies’ The Laramie Project and The Laramie Project:10 Years Later for Theatre Travels at The Seymour Centre in Sydney.
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In June of 2019, Carly was selected to be part of the Broadway Evolved Educators Stream for an intensive course in New York City.
As Assistant Director and Company Manager, Carly worked on Carmen: Live or Dead at the Hayes Theatre in Sydney in April 2018. She also worked as Production Assistant on Michael Seider's Presents' Alice in Wonderland as part of Sydney Festival. Carly diversified her experience in the industry by holding secondments with leading Arts companies including the Gordon Frost Organisation - working on The Wizard of Oz, Ian Phipps Publicity and ACMN.
Carly holds a Masters in PR and Advertising and a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Performance Studies, both from UNSW with distinction.
Read more about Carly at www.theatretravels.org/about
ROSIE NIVEN: DIRECTOR​
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Rosie is a Sydney-based Director with a portfolio that focuses on LGBT and female-driven works. She is passionate about working with young people and emerging artists to create greater access for everyone in the Australian theatre community, and currently sits as the Marketing Manager for Theatre Travels.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Rosie graduated from the University of New South Wales with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Performance Studies. During this time, Rosie worked with the New South Wales University Theatrical Society (NUTS) to Direct/Assistant Direct a number of shows, including Angela Betzien's War Crimes (2016), for which she was awarded Best Direction.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Rosie has Directed a number of works in Sydney, including Oleanna in conjunction with Maltman Lab and White Ribbon (2016), Deadline for Sydney Fringe (2017), The Laramie Project and The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later at the Seymour Centre (2018), and Preserving Jars and Full Contact as part of Mardi Gras’ PLAYLIST (2019 and 2020).
For the past two years, Rosie has co-curated Theatre Travels' inaugural one-act play festival NO: INTERMISSION, choosing eight works that celebrate emerging artists and groundbreaking work across the globe.
Within that festival, she Directed the Australian Premiere of Bleach (2019, which also premiered at Adelaide Fringe in 2020) and the World Premiere of Queenslander (2019).
Most recently she Directed Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. for Sydney Fringe, which was nominated for an Emerging Artist Award.
She is currently completing her Masters in Drama Therapy at the University of Melbourne, and also working on Rattling the Keys for the 2021 installation of NO: INTERMISSION.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Rosie is excited to be bringing another brilliant female-driven queer work to the stage.
MADDIE HODGES: STAGE MANAGER
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After studying Theatre and Live events in high school Maddie graduated with strong passion for theatre but with no real direction on how to be involved. After many years working in the corporate world she finally took the leap to begin studying theatre production and has recently graduated from the Academy of Film, Theatre & Television (AFTT) and is beyond excited to be working on her first professional production!
While at AFTT, Maddie was the Assistant Stage Manager in Dino Dimitriadis’s production of Clinchfield at Downstairs Belvoir and the ASM on Anthony Skuse’s production of Yerma on the Belvoir main stage. She was also the Stage Manger on Sean O’Riordon’s production of Henry V and Andrew Lindsay’s physical theatre production.
Maddie is excited to expand on her knowledge and passion in 2021as her career continues.
Photo credit: Louise Reily