Sydney Theatre Company, La Boite Theatre Company and The Sydney Morning Herald present
Edward Gant’s Amazing Feats of Loneliness
by Anthony Neilson

without further ado, I present for your astonishment, the Extraordinary! The Terrible! The AMAZING FEATS OF LONELINESS

And so begins Edward Gant’s extraordinary show: a show that enacts fantastical and tragic stories of human loneliness, all the while sweetening these stinging tales with whimsical humour.

Over the course of the evening Victorian impresario, Edward Gant, and his troupe of performers will create ‘a freak show of deformed minds’; they will conjure ‘an array of lonely souls for your fascination and entertainment’. We meet Sanzonetta, the girl whose pimpled face conceals an inner radiance and an unusual gift that her cruel, opportunistic sister cheerfully exploits – regardless of the suffering caused. We also meet Edgar, the heartbroken lover who travels across the globe to find release from the aching grief that torments him, only to discover that love is an affliction that few medical men are qualified to treat.

But tonight is unlike any other show Gant has performed. Tonight a member of the ensemble will mutiny. Tonight the show may not go on. And after tonight it may never go on again.

Sometimes grotesque, sometimes exceptionally beautiful, Edward Gant ’s Amazing Feats of Loneliness is an affecting existential play that contemplates our aloneness in the universe. From the pen of British playwright Anthony Neilson (whose The Wonderful World of Dissocia we presented in 2009), this is contemporary writing at its most exhilarating; a fanciful celebration of the magical, imaginative act of theatre.

Director Sarah Goodes has conceived a production that is visually rich, using costume to create Gant’s wonderous worlds, stories and characters. Her collaborators include Luke Sales and Anna Plunkett from fashion house Romance Was Born, whose outrageous and flamboyant clothing designs are known for their inherent theatricality. Together this team will create a production that simultaneously embraces the mysteriousness of the play and relishes in its extravaGant humour.


WHARF 1
Schools Day Wed 29 June
Pre-show Intro 10:30am, 45 minutes
Performance 12:15pm
Duration 1 Hour 40 Minutes, no interval
Post-show Q&A immediately following, 15 minutes

Content Adult themes, language

Suits Years 10 - 12

Cost $21/student

Curriculum Links: 
Drama - Costume design, Multiple character & role

English - Belonging

Textiles and Design - Costume

PDHPE - Self and Relationships

Resources:  Comprehensive student and teacher resources provided