Kitten

Production still for "Kitten". L-R: Kate Kendall, Natasha Herbert. Photographer: Ross Bird

Kitten

By Jenny Kemp

03 October 2008 – 25 October 2008 Beckett Theatre

Malthouse Theatre, Black Sequin Productions, Melbourne International Arts Festival,

Commission Theatre World Premiere Co-Production

Kitten looms on the edge of a cliff, her lover perhaps lost to the sea, his best friend at her side. She is a song in three movements, a fragmented, untameable self. She surrounds herself with the relics of a love lost, but memory alone won't fill the void. This yearning becomes a vacuum so powerful it threatens to devour her world.

The landscape of a mind in disorder has no horizon. Kitten's rollercoaster journey from the depths of despair to soaring hope makes for theatre at its most powerful, freeing us from the illusion that everyday life is a realm removed from our hidden interiors.

 

"KEMP'S EXTRAORDINARY TALENTS AS A CREATOR OF HAUNTING PAINTERLY BEAUTY ... STRIVING TO CONNECT WITH THINGS THAT EXIST WITHOUT A VERBAL LANGUAGE TO EXPRESS THEM."

—The Age

Production still for "Kitten". Natasha Herbert. Photographer: Ross Bird
Production still for "Kitten". L-R: Margaret Mills, Natasha Herbert, Chris Connelly. Photographer: Ross Bird
Production still for "Kitten". Kate Kendall. Photographer: Ross Bird
Production still for "Kitten". L-R: Kate Kendall, Natasha Herbert. Photographer: Ross Bird
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Production still for "Kitten". Natasha Herbert. Photographer: Ross Bird

Production still for "Kitten". L-R: Margaret Mills, Natasha Herbert, Chris Connelly. Photographer: Ross Bird

Production still for "Kitten". Kate Kendall. Photographer: Ross Bird

Production still for "Kitten". L-R: Kate Kendall, Natasha Herbert. Photographer: Ross Bird

Creatives

Richard Murphet

Dramaturg

Darrin Verhagen

Darrin Verhagen

Sound Designer, Composer

Anna Tregloan

Anna Tregloan

Set Designer, Costume Designer

Jenny Kemp

Jenny Kemp

Playwright, Director

Helen Herbertson

Helen Herbertson

Choreographer

Francesca Smith

Dramaturg

Maryanne Lynch

Maryanne Lynch

Dramaturg

Niklas Pajanti

Niklas Pajanti

Lighting Designer

Angela Cole

Angela Cole

Sound Operator/Engineer

Darren Kowacki

Darren Kowacki

Stage Manager

Tanith Harley

Tanith Harley

Assistant Stage Manager

Willoh S. Weiland

Besen Family Artist

Danny Pettingill

Besen Family Artist

Carl Anderson

Besen Family Artist

Acknowledgements

Kitten was jointly commissioned by Melbourne International Arts Festival, Malthouse Theatre, and Black Sequin Productions. THe script has been develloped with support from Major Festivals Initiative, the Theatre Fund, and the 2006 Australian National Playwrights Conference