A coming-of-age birthday party.
The threat of an approaching bushfire.
A deeply held family secret is revealed.
It’s the 7th of February 2009 – forever known in Australia’s history as ‘Black Saturday.’ It’s also Tom Robinson’s 18th Birthday. Celebrations kick off at the family’s Kinglake home and nothing seems out of the ordinary. But tensions start to rise between Tom and his older brother Matthew, along with the temperature outside, and before the ice-cream cake has time to melt a deeply held family secret is revealed. But will bringing everything out in the open finally give the Robinsons the peace and acceptance they’ve constantly struggled for – or will it tear them further apart and make them question the very structure they’ve tried to uphold?
Brilliantly striking the balance between pathos and humour, HEARTH immediately draws in audiences with its witty and lyrical dialogue, relatable characters and timely themes. Featuring a stellar ensemble cast including Geoff Paine (TV’s Neighbours), Sonya Suares (Melbourne Talam, MTC), Martin Blum (Boy out of the country, Larrikin Productions), Carole Patullo (Button, La Mama), Eleanor Webster (Rhinoceros) and Kurt Pimblett (Because The Night, Malthouse).
Urgent, heartfelt, at times hilarious, and achingly raw - this compelling new drama is guaranteed to not only be a thought-provoking night at the theatre, but also an extremely enjoyable one.
Brilliantly striking the balance between pathos and humour, HEARTH immediately draws in audiences with its witty and lyrical dialogue, relatable characters and timely themes. Featuring a stellar ensemble cast including Geoff Paine (TV’s Neighbours), Sonya Suares (Melbourne Talam, MTC), Martin Blum (Boy out of the country, Larrikin Productions), Carole Patullo (Button, La Mama), Eleanor Webster (Rhinoceros) and Kurt Pimblett (Because The Night, Malthouse).
Urgent, heartfelt, at times hilarious, and achingly raw - this compelling new drama is guaranteed to not only be a thought-provoking night at the theatre, but also an extremely enjoyable one.
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2022 Season La Mama Courthouse, Carlton: 18th - 29th May Riverlinks Westside, Mooroopna: 7th June Gasworks Arts Park, Albert Park: 10th & 11th June Kingston Arts Centre, Moorabbin: 15th June Burrinja Cultural Centre, Upwey: 17th June HEARTH was selected for the VCAA 2022 Playlist for VCE Theatre Studies Unit 3 & 4. |
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Writer: Fleur Murphy
Director: Tom Royce-Hampton Dramaturge: Emma Fawcett Producer: Fiona Stafford Set & Costume: Chantal Marks Lighting: Clare Springett Sound: Max Royce-Hampton & Tom Royce Hampton Education Consultant: Michele McNamara Stage Manager: Kaite Head ASM/Op: Holly Anderson CAST: Geoff Paine Sonya Suares Kurt Pimblett Carole Patullo Martin Blum Eleanor Webster |
"Fleur writes with acuity, elan and a keen awareness of our shared cultural flashpoints. More than that, there is real heart and a searching honesty in her work." - Chris Mead
“Hearth is an extraordinarily prescient play for our times. With its mixture of pathos and humour, it’s seamlessly crafted from go to woe. The characters are complex and highly conflicted, their stories delicately woven and delivered through emotionally charged language that leaves you floored.” - Raimondo Cortese, Playwright & Course Coordinator of the Masters of Writing for Performance at VCA “I enjoyed it immensely. The piece offers a very strong evocation of so many of the present-day realities of regional family lives. It touches on a range of things that often get dubbed 'issues', but it does so in a way that is so authentic that the audience never feels they are being pushed to a certain position or judgment. I feel sure this work will resonate with audiences and particularly those who have experienced or who are living in regional Australia. We often bemoan the lack of original work coming out of the regions. Even though the author is now city-based herself, there is no doubt this play 'comes out of the regions' and speaks of that significant place in our national society. Thank you Fleur for your fine script. I look forward to seeing it becoming a fully-fledged performance that will have a strong claim to be presented widely.” - Rob Robson, former Manager of West Gippsland Performing Arts Centre HEARTH was long-listed for the 2020 Theatre503 Award in London, and short-listed for the 2021 Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award. |
HEARTH is supported by Creative Partnerships Australia through MATCH Lab, the Besen Family Foundation Arts Grant and Creative Victoria's 2022 Sustaining Creative Workers Grant.
Thank you to La Mama & Small Gems for supporting the presentation of this work.
Thank you to La Mama & Small Gems for supporting the presentation of this work.
The script development and re-drafting of HEARTH was supported by Creative Victoria's 2020 Sustaining Creative Workers Grant.
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