Windmill Announces Ambitious 2014 season with Three Major Adelaide Festival works

Windmill Theatre today released its season for 2014 which includes three major works as part of the Adelaide Festival.

Girl Asleep, Fugitive and School Dance form a unique trilogy of rites-of-passage stories by Helpmann Award-nominated writer and director team RoseMary Myers and Matthew Whittet. All placed in the pivotal teenage years, each of the three works are linked through the common rites-of-passage theme and explode defining adolescent moments.

The launch of the season follows a period of unprecedented success in the company's 11-year history. Windmill performed to more national and international audiences than ever before in 2013, with Grug completing a six-month tour of the US and Canada, including a stint on New York's Broadway. School Dance toured Australia earlier this year, with a sell-out season at Sydney Theatre Company, as well as seasons at Arts Centre Melbourne, Brisbane Powerhouse and Wollongong's Merrigong Theatre. The company won two 2013 Helpmann Awards for School Dance, and was nominated for five in total, including Best New Australian Work and Best Director. It also recently won a South Australian Ruby Award for Best Work for Pinocchio, and a second Business SA Export Award for Grug in October.

2014 is set to be another whirlwind year for Windmill with Big Bad Wolf playing Melbourne Theatre Company in January and its major family musical Pinocchio, co-produced with State Theatre Company of South Australia playing a four-week season at Sydney Opera House in April.

"It's been an exhilarating 12 months and we're excited for the next period in the company's creative journey. Presenting the trilogy in the prestigious Adelaide Festival gives context to this body of work and we are currently creating the newest production, Girl Asleep for its world premiere in February," says RoseMary Myers, Artistic Director of Windmill Theatre.

"Windmill Theatre is one of our local and National Treasures and I feel it's important for the Adelaide Festival to present the very best South Australian work. When I heard that Girl Asleep was part of a coming-of-age trilogy I thought the best way to present the final tale was to also present Fugitive and School Dance. Presenting three productions from any company at the festival is a significant commitment to make and that speaks to the quality of the company," says David Sefton, Artistic Director of Adelaide Festival.

Minister Assisting the Minister for the Arts Chloë Fox added that presenting three productions at the prestigious Adelaide Festival is a major commitment from Windmill Theatre.

"Next year's ambitious program is testament to the quality of our premier youth theatre company. The 2014 season shows once again that Windmill is capable of creating contemporary works that speak on many levels to both children and their parents," Ms Fox said.

The company received $275,000 from the State Government, through Arts SA grants, towards commissioning Girl Asleep.

Windmill General Manager and Producer Teena Munn commented on the company's future plans adding, "Looking ahead, we've recently confirmed a two-week season of our large-scale family musical of Pinocchio on New York's Broadway in January 2015, and we're in the planning phase of an exciting feature film version of Girl Asleep, which will premiere at the Adelaide Film Festival in 2015."

Meanwhile, the 2014 Adelaide season also features an international co-production, an innovative mixed-media installation and the return of a favourite character in a brand new show.

GIRL ASLEEP
A Windmill Theatre and Adelaide Festival presentation.
World Premiere. Part of the Windmill Theatre Trilogy.
Written by Matthew Whittet, Directed by RoseMary Myers.
28 February to 15 March 2014, Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre.

Together with the critically acclaimed teenage works Fugitive and School Dance, Girl Asleep forms the third work in a bold and hilarious trilogy of rites-of-passage stories that explore the teenage experience. Girl Asleep follows Greta Driscoll, who is chronically shy and privately falling apart. Frozen in the spotlight of her fifteenth birthday, things go from bad to worse when a stranger arrives propelling her into a parallel place; a latent world that's weirdly erotic, ultra violent and thoroughly ludicrous. Part fairytale and part lipstick-smeared vigilante escapade, this is a girl's own adventure where heroism and gender implode in a unique exposé of the sisterhood.

SCHOOL DANCE
A Windmill Theatre and Adelaide Festival presentation.
Part of the Windmill Theatre Trilogy.
Written by Matthew Whittet, Directed by RoseMary Myers.
12 - 16 March 2014, Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre.

Following sell-out seasons across Australia including the 2013 Sydney Festival, a string of major national awards including two Helpmanns and a Ruby Award for Best New Work, School Dance is back by popular demand. Regarded as a 'festival hit' by The Australian and 'the funniest things on stage in years' by Sydney Morning Herald, this hilarious tale about three losers who go to the school dance is set to delight Adelaide Festival audiences once again.

FUGITIVE
A Windmill Theatre and Adelaide Festival presentation.
Part of the Windmill Theatre Trilogy.
Written by Matthew Whittet, Directed by RoseMary Myers.
1 to 9 March 2014, Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre.

It's a fantasy, manga, hip-hop, slacker Australia, some time in the near future. The leaders have disappeared and it's every man for himself. In the fog of this urban chaos, a young man returns. A guy with strange power and a backpack of destruction. His name is Robin. In a bold retelling of the classic folklore Robin Hood, Fugitive is a hysterical, anarchic knife-edge ride that is contemporary Australian theatre at its best.

MY ROOM
A Windmill Theatre project
A free online interactive experience
Launching with the opening of the 2014 Adelaide Festival, myroom.org.au

Launching with the premiere of Girl Asleep as part of the 2014 Adelaide Festival and in conjunction with Windmill's Trilogy, My Room is an interactive website that paints a democratically-generated portrait of the contemporary teenage psyche. Developed in conjunction with innovative participatory cross-platform company Sandpit, this unique project will culminate in an outdoor public installation in 2015, in conjunction with the release of Windmill's first feature film, Girl Asleep.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF JOSEPHINE BEAN
Adelaide Festival presents a Shona Reppe production, with the support of Windmill Theatre.
Created by Shona Reppe, Directed by Gill Robertson
5 to 9 March 2014, Odeon Theatre

Wonderful things come in small packages in this witty and mysterious detective adventure starring the award-winning Reppe (Cinderella) as professional scrapologist, Dr Patricia Baker. Bit by bit, through careful examination of an old scrapbook's quirky contents (seaweed, food stains, train ticket stubs, photos and a list of 'dangerous things' including porridge) we delve into a secret and magical world, uncovering the surprising answer to the question: who was Josephine Bean? Charming, inventive, gripping and funny, this is Sherlock Holmes meets Mrs Pepperpot in irresistible theatre for the imagination.

THE BALLAD OF PONDLIFE McGURK
A Windmill Theatre and Barking Gecko Theatre Company co-production with Catherine Wheels Theatre Company.
Created by Shona Reppe, Directed by Gill Robertson
4 to 9 August 2014, Tandanya Theatre

In association with acclaimed Barking Gecko Theatre Company and Scotland's award-winning Catherine Wheels Theatre Company, The Ballad of Pondlife McGurk is simply told, powerful theatre about the fragile nature of the schoolyard and just how difficult it can be to stay true to your friends. Directed by renowned international director Gill Robertson, the production also tours regional South Australian schools in late 2014.

GRUG AND THE RAINBOW
A Windmill Theatre and Adelaide Festival Centre presentation.
More stories based on the much-loved picture book character created by Ted Prior.
19 to 30 November 2014, Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre.

Following an extensive six-month tour across Canada and the US, including New York's Broadway, and two Business SA Export Awards under his belt, Australia's most unlikely superstar is back by popular demand. Featuring exquisite puppetry and more of the gentle storytelling that has delighted more than 50,000 children around the world, this brand new show has been especially created for the next generation of our littlest theatregoers. Directed by Adelaide-based Sam Haren and designed by Helpmann-nominated artist Jonathon Oxlade, this new installment follows Grug on his own epic journey to find a rainbow, which always seems just beyond his grasp.

2014 Season Tickets are on sale from 9am on Wednesday 30 October.
To receive a 2014 brochure SMS name and address to 0402 766 404 / CALL (08) 8415 5355

windmill.org.au