New independent theatre company finds joy within the anger

Presented by new indie outfit Workhorse Theatre Company, That Pretty Pretty: Or, the Rape Play is a powerful, darkly funny play that subverts stage conventions as we follow a pair of radical feminist ex-strippers through what else but a murderous rampage? They’re hunting down right-wing pro-lifers, blogging about their explots in gruesome detail.

Their paths soon collide with Owen, a screenwriter, who is trying to bang out his magnum opus in his hotel room while his best friend The Rod (yes, The Rod) holds forth on rape and other manly enterprises. When Owen decides to put the strippers into his screenplay, the boundaries of reality begin to blur… and only a visit from Jane Fonda can attempt to keep these worlds from blowing apart.

Written by one of playwright Sheila Callaghan, who Marie Claire magazine called one of the “18 Successful Women Who Are Changing The World”, That Pretty Pretty: Or, the Rape play is set to make an explosion of a debut at Sydney’s TAP Gallery next month. Full of guns, girls, jelly wrestling, war, and a whole ton of profanity, it’s a fitting first project for the new Workhorse company, who are committed to taking risks and producing thought-provoking theatre, and Callaghan says the play finds “joy within the anger”.

That Pretty Pretty: Or, the Rape Play is directed by Netta Yeschin and stars Zoe Trilsbach, Katherine Beck, Kellie Jones, Troy Harrison and Ben O’Donnell. Design is by Dylan Tonkin, with Larry Kelly (lighting) and Guy Fenech (sound).

That Pretty Pretty; Or, The Rape Play by Sheila Callaghan
February 8th – 18th (Preview 7th Feb)
The TAP Gallery, 278 Palmer Street Darlinghurst
Tickets: $28 / $15 student conc  (Preview $20)
Bookings: www.workhorsetheatreco.com  or 1300 31 41 51