Published Script

‘The texture and intelligence of the writing, its refusal to be simplistic’. WAY is a multi-narrative, researched, 1-person play that interweaves a fictional character with those based on research. Lynne is a documentary-maker. As she pitches her film to the broadcaster on her mobile, struggles with relationships and her own precarious life circumstances, we meet the women in her film who initially appear on the screen. There’s Maysie who lives in her car, Zahra who lives in a women’s refuge, Lily whose couch surfing options have run out and Julie who sleeps with her dog Clancy at Southern Cross Station. As the women’s lives fall down around them like the walls of the homes they can no longer afford, Lynne’s on-going battle with the broadcaster, the reality of her mother living in Care and her financial difficulties create an underlying, spiralling tension. ‘Sally McKenzie has a case to make about real people… She engages us by seamlessly interweaving a personal story which has itself a rising tension as it builds toward a crisis’.

Production

‘Sally McKenzie grips the audience’s attention for a complex seventy-five minutes with an astonishing sustained theatre performance’. Documentary-style footage integrates with live action. Soundscapes ‘capture everything from the cityscape noise to the lingering fizz of a dissolving aspirin’. Videos, contextualised as Lynne’s film, initially grab focus as the actor moves between characters. As WAY progresses minimal costume changes are done in view of the audience. ‘Sally McKenzie is riveting; she inhabits each individual character with a change of cardigan or jacket, subtle shifts of physicality, voice and above all, through revealing their different attitudes to life and the struggles they face. Equally subtle is Sean Mee’s direction. Everything about this spare, beautiful production draws our attention to the inner life of the play’. WAY is a response to the housing crisis gripping Australia. It opens conversations on both content and form. ‘The women in WAY speak to us directly through the prism of a filmmaker’s interviews’.

Resources

Published Script. A hard copy of the play is an ongoing resource and invaluable reference tool. Use the script to analyse social and political contexts.

Production Resource Notes. These include notes on content, research stages, writing process, form, rehearsal and production processes. Also interviews with key creatives. Stage director Sean Mee discusses conventions such as character and place transformations. An interview with playwright Sally McKenzie highlights the creative development approach to this new Australian work. Sound designer J. David Franzke talks about how he uses recordings from public places in the WAY sound design.

Complimentary Zooms with playwright-actor at times suitable to your school. A video of a live performance will be available online via an online link.