VISION + MISSION
Based in Launceston, Tasmania, Mudlark is an adult contemporary theatre company producing new work that is theatrically rich, socially current, and emotionally complex; crafted around the Tasmanian experience.
We produce one fully funded show a year, have another in development for the year following, and around that, create development opportunities for Tasmanian theatre workers.
We aim to put Tassie on the stage... live.
HISTORY
Mudlark has created five significant new works for the mainstage (The Midlands, The Sea Project, Beautiful, Dancing Back Home, Cross, and Cafe). It has also reinterpreted a number more (Junk Rooms, Action, Rooted, Underneath the Lintel, What is the Matter with Mary Jane?).
In development at the moment is a work by Cameron Hindrum I am a Lake, which we will stage in 2016. Drawing its title from Sylvia Plath’s poem ‘Mirror’, I Am A Lake explores the challenges encountered by a young girl, Alice, coming of age in the often confronting social and physical domains of Tasmania’s west coast during the 1970s and 80s. The narrative and metaphorical culmination of the play comes with the filling of Lake Burbury, one of the last major hydroelectricity infrastructure projects in Tasmania.
Alice is plagued by nightmares relating to the death of her father, which occurred when she was six years old. She lives with her mother, with whom her relationship is problematic, and who often leaves Alice in the care of Nugget, a family friend who professes to have been in love with Alice’s mother almost Since meeting her when they were teenagers. For various reasons, Mum cannot bring herself to return or even acknowledge Nugget’s affections; her own Fears and doubts often cloud her parental judgement. As Alice grows up, she becomes increasingly aware that there is more to her father’s death than she initially realised. She fondly clings onto affectionate memories she has of him, including one in which he saved her from drowning. She also becomes aware that in order to pursue her dream of becoming a nurse, she will have to leave Queenstown to study—and that once she leaves, she may never come back. The three characters circle each other, becoming increasingly wary and afraid, until in a chilling denouement the truth of Alice’s father’s death is revealed and she is finally and completely set free.
Mostly you can find our performance history in the archive section of this website.
COLLABORATORS
As a company, Mudlark looks outward and is continually seeking partnerships with artists and art organisations. We value the extraordinary links we've made with companies such as JUTE, Arthur and Siren Theatre and are always on the look out for new creative collaborators, especially in our home state Tasmania.
BOARD OF MANAGEMENT
Angela Driver (Chair)
Megan Jolly (Deputy Chair)
Ben Coxen (Treasurer)
Anna Lydon (Secretary and Public Officer)
Darren Willmott (Artistic Coordinator)
James Calvert
Madeline Gordon
Chris Jackson
Based in Launceston, Tasmania, Mudlark is an adult contemporary theatre company producing new work that is theatrically rich, socially current, and emotionally complex; crafted around the Tasmanian experience.
We produce one fully funded show a year, have another in development for the year following, and around that, create development opportunities for Tasmanian theatre workers.
We aim to put Tassie on the stage... live.
HISTORY
Mudlark has created five significant new works for the mainstage (The Midlands, The Sea Project, Beautiful, Dancing Back Home, Cross, and Cafe). It has also reinterpreted a number more (Junk Rooms, Action, Rooted, Underneath the Lintel, What is the Matter with Mary Jane?).
In development at the moment is a work by Cameron Hindrum I am a Lake, which we will stage in 2016. Drawing its title from Sylvia Plath’s poem ‘Mirror’, I Am A Lake explores the challenges encountered by a young girl, Alice, coming of age in the often confronting social and physical domains of Tasmania’s west coast during the 1970s and 80s. The narrative and metaphorical culmination of the play comes with the filling of Lake Burbury, one of the last major hydroelectricity infrastructure projects in Tasmania.
Alice is plagued by nightmares relating to the death of her father, which occurred when she was six years old. She lives with her mother, with whom her relationship is problematic, and who often leaves Alice in the care of Nugget, a family friend who professes to have been in love with Alice’s mother almost Since meeting her when they were teenagers. For various reasons, Mum cannot bring herself to return or even acknowledge Nugget’s affections; her own Fears and doubts often cloud her parental judgement. As Alice grows up, she becomes increasingly aware that there is more to her father’s death than she initially realised. She fondly clings onto affectionate memories she has of him, including one in which he saved her from drowning. She also becomes aware that in order to pursue her dream of becoming a nurse, she will have to leave Queenstown to study—and that once she leaves, she may never come back. The three characters circle each other, becoming increasingly wary and afraid, until in a chilling denouement the truth of Alice’s father’s death is revealed and she is finally and completely set free.
Mostly you can find our performance history in the archive section of this website.
COLLABORATORS
As a company, Mudlark looks outward and is continually seeking partnerships with artists and art organisations. We value the extraordinary links we've made with companies such as JUTE, Arthur and Siren Theatre and are always on the look out for new creative collaborators, especially in our home state Tasmania.
BOARD OF MANAGEMENT
Angela Driver (Chair)
Megan Jolly (Deputy Chair)
Ben Coxen (Treasurer)
Anna Lydon (Secretary and Public Officer)
Darren Willmott (Artistic Coordinator)
James Calvert
Madeline Gordon
Chris Jackson