WORLD PROBLEMS By Emma Mary Hall To Get Australian Premiere

Multi-award winning writer and performer Emma Mary Hall presents the Australian Premiere of her third work, World Problems, at fortyfivedownstairs from 12-24 March.

The Melbourne season follows successful development showings at Theatre Oostblok in Amsterdam last year and is accompanied by a public events program informed by Naomi Klein's social impact program accompanying the book and documentary, This Changes Everything (2014).

Written between the Netherlands and Australia, World Problems is a somewhat funny, slightly bizarre depiction of our monolithic, interconnected world.

"I wanted to write a science fiction about the future and ended up writing a true story about the past. The piece is inspired by German historian and philosopher Oswald Spengler, ecofeminist cyborg aficionado Donna Haraway and the multi-million-billion-trillion lifeforms living and dying together in our biosphere," said Emma Mary Hall.

Each night, we build a world. Each night, we start again from scratch.

One woman lists real and imagined memories of life on Planet Earth. What results is a gradual accumulation of the momentous, tragic and joyful events shaping global consciousness and the tentacular human connections that make a world.

World Problems features interactive post-show workshops and discussions on 14, 16, 17, 23 and 24 March. These are facilitated, practical conversations on themes including climate and human change, futurist gardening, future-proofing our houses, and 'frugal hedonism'.

Opening night features Emma Mary Hall in discussion with Alex Kelly - filmmaker and former Global Impact & Distribution Producer for Naomi Klein's This Changes Everything documentary.

An award-winning international team has collaborated on World Problems including Tasmanian-based composer SS.Sebastian (Electric Moon's Music of Twin Peaks national tour), lighting designer Rachel Lee (Fallen, Romeo Is Not The Only Fruit), Fleur Dean on set design (founding member of Big hART), and the award-winning theatre director Prue Clark as Dramaturg (Contest, MTC's 2018 Cybec readings). Melbourne-based artists Mark Wilson and Susie Dee, and Amsterdam-based artists Sarah Nixon and Jasna Veli?kovi? also collaborated on the Oostblok season.

World Problems is Hall's third piece, succeeding her two previous Melbourne Fringe hits We May Have to Choose (2015) and Ode to Man (2017), both of which were directed by Prue Clark.

Emma received the Best Emerging Writer Melbourne Fringe 2017 Award for Ode to Man and Best Theatre Auckland Fringe 2017 Award for We May Have to Choose.

World Problems was developed with the support of Cultureland Residency and Theatre Oostblok in the Netherlands, and City of Melbourne in Australia.

WORLD PROBLEMS

Dates: 12-24 March 2019, Opening Night 14 March 2019

Interactive post-show workshops and discussions on 14, 16, 17, 22 & 23 March

Times: 7:30 PM, Sun 5:00 PM, no show Monday (55 mins)

Workshops: 14 March - World Problems, Art & Change - Alex Kelly & Emma Mary Hall

16 March - The Art of Frugal Hedonism - Annie Raser-Rowland

17 March - Future-Proofing our Homes & Neighbourhoods - Joel Meadows

23 March - Eating the Future - Kat Lavers

24 March - Economic Activism - Rachel Deans

Venue: fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne Victoria 3000

Tickets: Weekdays (no workshop) Full: $30 Conc. $26;

Weekends (inc workshop) Full: $35 Conc. $30

School booking discounts also available

Bookings: Online - fortyfivedownstairs.com.au or call (03) 9662 9966