BLONDE POISON PREMIERS IN MELBOURNE STARRING BELINDA GIBLIN
Given the choice, would you save your family and yourself from persecution or condemn others to certain death? Blonde Poison is a remarkable one-woman play about beauty, treachery and the high price of survival, starring Best Actress Nominee at the 2015 Sydney Theatre Awards, Belinda Giblin like you have never seen her before.
Following rave reviews in Sydney for its premier season in 2015, Blonde Poison will open in Melbourne, (following a return season at the Sydney Opera House) for a strictly limited season at The Lawler from 1 to 11 June.
What is the price of survival? Stella Goldschlag was living illegally in war torn Berlin when she was betrayed and tortured. When offered the chance of saving herself and her parents from the death camps, she agreed to be a “greifer” or catcher for the Gestapo and inform on other Jews in hiding. She was extraordinarily successful in this and is “credited” with finding and capturing 3000 Jews. She continued working for the Gestapo even after her parents had been sent to their death. What would you have done to survive?
The vast dimensions of Stella’s character range from tortured victim to cruel killer, from loving daughter and mother to betrayer of friends, from gentle lover to depraved promiscuity. She was given the name ‘Blonde Poison’ by the Gestapo who revelled in her treachery. Decades after the war Stella agrees to be interviewed by a childhood friend, now a respected journalist -her last chance at redemption. Can she ever be released from her past?
Critically acclaimed as a “90-minute tour de force” the Australian premiere of Blonde Poison enjoyed a sold-out season at The Old Fitz Theatre last year and garnered Belinda Giblin a Sydney Theatre Award nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role in an Independent Production.
The producer of Freud’s Last Session (winner, Best off Broadway Play 2011) and co-producer of Howie the Rookie (winner, Best Actor in an Independent Production, 2014 Sydney Theatre Awards) is thrilled to bring this award winning play to Melbourne for the first time. “The response to the premiere of Blonde Poison was overwhelming,” said producer Adam Liberman. “It had Sydney audiences and critics gripped from beginning to end and was a career-defining role for one of Australia’s most talented actresses. Don’t miss your chance to see one of the finest solo performances you’re likely to see.”
Gail Louw is an internationally acclaimed playwright/writer, whose Jewish background and maternal influence has informed much of her writing, including this production. Blonde Poison has found great success internationally winning an Argus Award for Artistic Excellence at the Brighton Festival and Fringe in 2012 and receiving excellent reviews both in the UK and in Los Angeles, where it was staged in January 2015.
‘One of the ‘Wow’ performances of 2015’ – Sydney Morning Herald
‘It was an academy award winning performance of a brilliant play…’ – Radio National
‘A 90-minute tour de force’ – Kevin Jackson’s Theatre Diary
‘Giblin gives one of the performances of her career with an emotionally layered portrayal that is full of nuance and complexity. (She)…makes the play soar, keeping us gripped, fascinated, appalled and moved as we contemplate what we would have done in her place’ – Scene and Heard
#BLONDEPOISON2016
BLONDE POISON
By Gail Louw
Starring Belinda Giblin
Directed by Jennifer Hagan
Produced by Adam Liberman
MELBOURNE SEASON
Venue: Southbank Theatre, The Lawler
Season: 1 to 11 June 2016
Tickets: $47.90 to $64.90
Times: Tuesday – Saturday evenings 7.30pm; Wednesday matinees 2.00pm; Saturday matinees 1.30pm”Bookings
Bookings: Book at Southbank Theatre Box Office, or 8688 0800 or www.Southbanktheatre.com.au”
*An additional transaction fee and/or a credit/debit payment processing fee may apply
SYDNEY SEASON
Venue: Sydney Opera House, The Studio
Season: 28 April – 12 May
Tickets: $49.90 – $74.90
Times: Tuesday – Saturday 7pm, Wednesday and Saturday matinee, 1.30pm
Bookings: sydneyoperahouse.com or 9250 7777, or www.ticketmaster.com.au or 1300 723 038
TICKETS ON SALE FROM 22 FEBRUARY
*An additional transaction fee and/or a credit/debit payment processing fee may apply
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