A Dream Play – Arise Theatre

In a bold foray into Brisbane’s theatre scene, Arise Theatre Company will present Stindberg’s Expressionist work, A Dream Play as their debut production at the MetroArts Theatre, from November 7.

Featuring over forty characters played by only seven actors and two dancers, the cast of A Dream Play certainly have their work cut out for them.

AussieTheatre’s QLD writer Bobbi-Lea Dionysius caught up with lead actress Kylie Stephenson during the final weeks of rehearsals.(You know, the time when everyone starts to panic about getting the show up in time!)

“This is the most challenging acting I have done to date, but I’m loving it”, said leading lady Kylie Stephenson.

Playing Agnes, the daughter of the God Indra who comes down to earth to experience the trials and tribulations of men, Stephenson says, “The play is really cathartic, it forces you to look at life from another perspective.”

As a piece of Expressionist Theatre, which Stindberg wrote while in a state of psychosis, the play certainly has its challenges.

“I like to think of it as a bubble. So each bubble is a dream and then the bubbles will slowly collide and you’ll merge with another bubble and go on another journey,” says the former student of The Actors Conservatory.

She adds, “Strindberg was a troubled man. He was a poet, a pessimist, and saw the world in complete dualism. The essence of producing an expressionist play is based in Realism but bounced into the upmost extremities of emotion. So you don’t just experience love, but extreme love, and not just pain, but agony.”

Director Willem Whitfield (who also plays the role of the poet), mixes multi-media film projections with contemporary dance, and an original score. The play’s sound design is a combination of SEQ musicians, Sasha Cuha and the band ARIEL’s original work.

Stephenson says audiences can expect not only to be connected with the emotional journey of the characters in this piece but also have “the thrill of being disorientated by the fantastical element of the dream state.”

Arise Theatre Company’s debut production of A Dream Play is on at MetroArts Theatre from 7-9 November.

For more information, visit Arise Theatre Company’s facebook page: facebook.com/adreamplaybrisbane