written & directed by Stephanie Briarwood
What the reviewers said:
“Junk Rooms,
presented by Mudlark Theatre,
epitomises all this vibrant young company aimes to bring to the
Launceston
theatre community… Despite the essentially dark nature of the subject
matter,
the script is peppered with hope, humanity and humour.
These elements are wonderfully realised in
the intense, engaging and totally credible performance of Jane Binning.
Binning’s
performance is enhanced by Darren Willmott’s deft lighting and
technical
direction.”
Jeff Hayes, The Examiner, 6
September 2007
“Stephanie Briarwood with her words
and Jane
Binning with her fucking awe-inducing performance smash [a] convenient
stereotype with Junk Rooms… The story of Jenny is
so damn real, there is
no drama, no sanctifying junkie goodness, no cliché except the reality
that
junkies are addicts, but here’s the twist.
Jenny is a person, a person who once felt of value, whose
choices have
reduced what was once clearly a beautiful and uniquely imaginative
woman to
human rubbish… Spend
and hour and a half
with Jenny and you will never feel the same way about junkies again.”
“A
play about drug addiction may not seem to be much fun,
so it was surprising that the audience found a lot to laugh about in
this
engaging one-hander. For
over an hour,
the production gripped the audience. This was an uplifting, often
explicit,
carefully crafted look into a junkie’s life.
Acting, writing and direction and technical expertise were
beautifully
showcased. Binning was wonderful.
Her
portrayal of Jenny was excellent, perhaps even inspired. The use of
space, the
excellent timing, faultless technical input from Willmott, and of
course, the
superb script, was wonderful. A
play I
could definitely see again, and a play I would recommend to teenagers
and their
parents, as an exercise in entertainment and as a cautionary tale.”
Jenny
hasn’t left her room for 2 months. Or is it 3? …But she’s looking for a
way out. Explicit, poetic, courageous and ultimately up-lifting, Junk
Rooms is
the intimate story of Jenny Brotten’s
painful and disturbing drug addiction.
After numerous
Australian productions, Junk Rooms returns to
its birthplace,
where Jane Binning, Darren Willmott and
Stephanie Briarwood come together
again to collaborate on
this ‘special edition’ production.
“The
writing constantly draws you in, and it’s humour was surprising that I
lost count of
how many times the audience laughed out loud.
This positive shooting gallery of emotions
has you
enthralled as it turns itself over revealing surprises and breaking
assumptions.” -
Cairns Post, 2002
Launceston: (JUST ADDED an extra week in Launceston)
5 - 8 Sep @ 8pm
Arts Alive Space, Charles St, Launceston.
12 - 15 Sep @ 8pm
Arts Alive Space, Charles St, Launceston.
Hobart:
20 - 22 Sep @ 8pm
The Backspace
Theatre, Sackville St ( Behind the Theatre Royal)
Full: $20, Concession: $15. Bookings on 0400 429 436 (Stuart)
Image: Jane Binning as 'Jenny' in Junk Rooms. Picture by Nicole Jobson.