THE ORCHID AND THE CROW to Explore Faith, Sex and Identity at Holden Street

Fresh from critical success in Melbourne, a five-city Canadian tour and a month in Edinburgh, Salvador Dinosaur presents THE ORCHID AND THE CROW -- a tragi-comedy about faith, sex, identity and ritual, created and performed by Daniel Tobias and directed by Christian Leavesley. THE ORCHID AND THE CROW will be performed in The Studio, Holden Street Theatres, 34 Holden St Hindmarsh, from 29 February to 13 March.

Reflecting on Daniel's real life (and almost death) experiences, THE ORCHID AND THE CROW is a solo performance that features original songs from the award-winning writers of Otto & Astrid (Die Roten Punkte) -- the lipstick-smeared, tantrum-loving, sonic collision that has gone down a storm at various Edinburgh and international Festivals.

At eight days old, Daniel's secular Jewish parents chose to have him circumcised. Having not read the fine print in the Old Testament, this unknowingly triggered God's ongoing contract with the Hebrews. In return for following his rules, God promised to look after the Israelites.

At 29, Daniel is an atheist, single and living the life of a bohemian artist in Melbourne And lo, God was not pleased! Appalled with Daniel's lifestyle choices, God makes an example of him and appears on earth to smite him with Stage Four testicular cancer. Stage Five is death.

As Dan prepares for his upcoming treatment he is left in a spiritual vacuum. He is reaching for faith in something, but he's certainly not going to find it in a deity who has already stolen one of his balls. Instead, Daniel finds salvation in an unlikely modern messiah, seven-time winner of the Tour de France and testicular cancer survivor Lance Armstrong.

Now of course, Armstrong is a fallen angel and after Daniel's full recovery, he wonders - how many times will he be cheated by a God.

Since Daniel Tobias finished school he has fronted every type of live band that you can imagine in Melbourne clubs. A 15-piece Northern Soul band, and Elvis band, a grunge band, a top 40 dance band, a reggae band, and a new wave tribute band called 80s Enuff (which has now been going for twice as long as the 1980s).

Daniel has had lead guest roles on Australian television shows, Neighbours, Blue Heelers, MDA, and Good Guys Bad Guys. He is a founding member of Rawcus Theatre Company, winner of Most Outstanding Production award at The Melbourne Fringe 2005 for Not Dead Yet. He performed in Collisions, a Rawcus / Melbourne Symphony Orchestra work for The Melbourne International Festival of the Arts 2005. Daniel has toured with the multi-award winning musical KEATING!, to the Brisbane Powerhouse and The Darwin Arts Festival. Daniel is the co-creator and writer of the multi-award winning, five-star Berliner comedy/cabaret duo Die Roten Punkte (The Red Dots). Since 2007 DRP have been constantly touring internationally through North America and Europe.

IF YOU GO:

THE ORCHID AND THE CROW
29 February - 13 March (Preview 29 Feb. No show 7 Mar)
The Studio - Holden Street Theatres
34 Holden Street, Hindmarsh
Bookings: FringeTix
Show Time: 9:10 pm (8.00 pm 29 Feb, 1 & 6 Mar)
orchidandcrow.com

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