Cast Announced For ANATOMY OF A SUICIDE At Old Fitz Theatre

Sugary Rum Productions will present the Australian Premiere of Anatomy of a Suicide as part of Red Line Productions' season at The Old Fitz Theatre from 12 June to 6 July 2019.

Anatomy of a Suicide is a powerful, unflinching look at a family afflicted with severe depression and mental illness. It is a stunning theatrical triptych about mothers and daughters, highlighting how the chaos of what has come before often brings with it a painful legacy. Playwright, Alice Birch, presents three women, Carol, Anna and Bonnie, who we learn are mother, daughter and granddaughter, and who we discover are at various stages of mental collapse. The play interrogates the impact of suicide across three generations of women and questions whether genetic inheritance or social environment determines our character. Alice Birch's script is a detailed examination of human behaviour at its most extreme. With a large cast of ten, three time frames staged simultaneously, and incredibly precise overlapping dialogue it will be a thrilling and thought-provoking night in the theatre.

Following on from the 2018 Sydney Theatre Award nominated production of The View UpStairs, and the recent production of Jess & Joe Forever at Belvoir Downstairs, Sugary Rum Productions teams with director Shane Anthony (The Whale, Songs For the Fallen) to bring this challenging and moving story to the Sydney stage. Isabel Hudson (The View UpStairs, Every Brilliant Thing) will be designing set. Composer Damien Lane and sound designer Ryan Devlin will provide an epic soundscape for the piece. Veronique Benett rounds out the creative team as lighting designer.

This emotionally complex and technically thrilling script requires actors with great dexterity and skill. The powerhouse cast will be led by Andrea Demetriades (ABC's Seven Types of Ambiguity & Janet King), Anna Samson (Helpmann Award nominee for Birdland) and Kate Skinner (Top of the Lake). Jack Crumlin, Charles Mayer, and Contessa Treffone will play their respective partners. The cast is rounded out with the talents of Danielle Catanzariti, Teale Howie, Guy O'Grady and Natalie Saleeba.

To have gathered a stellar bunch of people like this is testament to the beauty and power of Alice Birch's incredible play. We are so thrilled to be bringing this evocative, controversial play to the Australian stage for the first time. The Old Fitz feels like the home of daring, big, bold theatre and we can't wait to share this with Sydney audiences, said producer Gus Murray of Sugary Rum Productions.

Anatomy of a Suicide premiered at Royal Court Theatre in London in June 2017 and won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in 2018.

Venue: The Old Fitz Theatre. 129 Dowling St, Woolloomooloo. Season: From 12 June to 6 July 2019 Times: Tue-Sun Price: $38-$45 Bookings: redlineproductions.com.au.