K.I.J.E. – (rhymes with TJ)
AussieTheatre.com is thrilled to announce Joanna Erskine’s highly anticipated first full-length play, K.I.J.E. (pronounced Kee-Jay) will open on 12 July at The Old Fitzroy Theatre, Woolloomooloo.
Erskine was a reviewer and contributor to for AussieTheatre.com several years ago, while pursuing her career as a playwright. She is a graduate of the NIDA Playwrights Studio, past winner of the Sydney Theatre Company Young Playwrights Award and creator of popular playwriting blog, Cluster.
K.I.J.E. is directed by Sarah Giles with a cast including established actors, Jonathan Elsom (The Power of Yes, The Schelling Point, Timothy West’s UK premier production of LETHE), TJ Power (Eat Pray Love, Wasted on the Young, Vulnerable) alongside some of Australia’s fresh young talent; Fayssal Bazzi, Wade Briggs, Michelle Durman and Gabriel Fancourt.
Set in a world where Elvis and Sinatra reign supreme, K.I.J.E. is loosely based on Yury Tynanov’s 1927 novella, Lieutenant Kije, and Prokofiev’s five part suite of the same title, Crow Crow Productions and Eliza Ocaña are presenting the show as a part of Tamarama Rock Surfers 2011 season.
Four soldiers in training escape their barracks one night to graffiti a wall in an attempt to engage with an enemy they’ve been training to fight – but have never seen. They make up a tag using the first letter of each of their names, Konrad, Irving, Jono and Ed; K.I..J.E. When their superior catches them he mistakes the tag for a name; the solider Kije is born. Proving a convenience at first, this soldier Kije gets more and more out of hand until the four boys who invented him are faced with a world they are wildly unprepared for. How do you get rid of someone who doesn’t exist? K.I.J.E. is fantastical, funny and frightening; a reminder of the dangers of blurring the lines of reality and fantasy.
Emerging main stage director Sarah Giles is Sydney Theatre Company’s Richard Wherrett Fellow 2011. Her recent credits include Ruby Moon for STC Ed, The Pigeons for Griffin and Kreutzer Vs Kreutzer for the Australian Chamber Orchestra.
Season: July 12 – 30 Venue: The Old Fitzroy Theatre, 129 Dowling Street, Woolloomooloo
Performance Times: Tuesday – Saturday 8pm, Sunday 5pm Matinee
Previews: July 7-10 @ 8pm
Ticket Prices: Preview/Cheap Tuesday: $21 General Admission, $29 Beer, Laksa and Show
Other Performances: $25 Concession, $33 Adult, $40 Beer, Laksa and Show
Bookings: click here
