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25 Belvoir Street

Surry Hills, 2010

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THE POWER OF YES

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THE POWER OF YES

WRITTEN BY: DAVID HARE

DIRECTED BY: SAM STRONG

BELVOIR ST UPSTAIRS THEATRE

WITH: JOHN DERUM, JONATHAN ELSOM, RUSSELL KIEFEL, BRIAN LIPSON, TONY LLEWELLYN-JONES, AMBER MCMAHON, RHYS MULDOON, LUKE MULLINS, MARSHALL NAPIER, GRAHAM ROUSE, CHRISTOPHER STOLLERY, DAVID WHITNEY

SET & COSTUME DESIGNER: DALE FERGUSON

LIGHTING DESIGNER: DANNY PETTINGILL

COMPOSER & SOUND DESIGNER: STEVE FRANCIS

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: NIKOLA AMANOVIC

VOICE & ACCENT COACH: DANIELLE ROFFE

Capitalism works when greed and fear are in the correct balance. This time they got out of balance.

Too much greed, not enough fear.

power-of-yes-sml.jpgDavid Hare’s latest play The Power of Yes puts the giants of finance on stage in their own words, for a terrifying and wickedly funny account of the global financial crisis. Sam Strong makes his Company B Belvoir directorial debut, with this witty explanation of where it all went wrong.

Written in London in 2009 as a timely response to the crisis, this isn’t so much a play as a jaw-dropping account of how, as the banks went bust, capitalism was replaced by a socialism that bailed out the rich alone. Featuring a cast of characters that includes private equity investors, bankers, a journalist, an academic and a lawyer as well as the playwright himself, the script is taken entirely from Hare’s manuscripts of interviews with the power players of the new millennium. The Power of Yes crowns a Company B Belvoir/ David Hare political trilogy, following on from Gethsemane (2009) and Stuff Happens (2005).

Director Sam Strong said, ‘The Power of Yes not only cuts to the heart of one of the most significant global phenomena in recent history - it crafts that event into a story that is as gripping and entertaining as it is unbelievable. David Hare’s work is both timely and timeless – a work of instant history that reveals Masters of the Universe to be all too human.’

An award-winning director and dramaturg, Sam Strong is the Literary Associate at Company B Belvoir. Sam recently made his main stage directing debut at the Melbourne Theatre Company with an acclaimed production of J.T.Rogers Madagascar, featuring Noni Hazlehurst and Asher Keddie. Prior to that Sam had built an impressive body of work in Melbourne and Sydney including: Faces in the Crowd (Red Stitch), Thom Pain (based on nothing)(Arts Radar/ B Sharp), Red Sky Morning (Red Stitch/Full Tilt); Shedding (La Mama); Dogs Barking (Rubber Dog); Ashes to Ashes (fortyfivedownstairs); The Example (Fairfax Theatre – Short and Sweet Festival); Not I/The Stronger (Pilot Theatre); Miss Julie (VCA); and Closer (The Storeroom). His production of Tom Holloway’s Red Sky Morning was nominated for six Green Room Awards including Best Production, Best New Writing and Best Direction. Sam has also worked as a dramaturg and script editor and has worked with PlayWriting Australia, Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, Griffin Theatre, Australian Theatre for Young People, Windmill, Red Stitch and La Mama. Sam is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts Director’s Course and the University of Melbourne and has been admitted to practice as a barrister and solicitor in the Supreme Court of Victoria.

The stellar cast unites John Derum (Lady Windermere’s Fan, Darlinghurst Theatre), Jonathan Elsom (A Family Affair, Drama Lab Productions and B Sharp), Russell Kiefel (Stuff Happens, Company B Belvoir, A Streetcar Named Desire, Sydney Theatre Company), Brian Lipson (Scorched, Company B Belvoir), Tony Llewellyn-Jones (The Crucible, Sydney Theatre Company, The Cherry Orchard, Melbourne Theare Company), Amber McMahon (The War of the Roses and Vs Macbeth, Sydney Theatre Company), Rhys Muldoon (Gethsemane, Company B Belvoir, Tot Mom, Sydney Theatre Company), Luke Mullins (Thom Pain (based on nothing), Arts Radar and B Sharp), Marshall Napier (View from the Bridge, Company B Belvoir), Graham Rouse (Paul, Company B Belvoir), Christopher Stollery (Hamlet, Comedy of Errors, Julius Caesar, Bell Shakespeare) and David Whitney (The Alchemist, Bell Shakespeare).

David Hare is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter, librettist, author and director, and has described working with Company B Belvoir as ‘one of the great artistic relationships of my life’. Company B Belvoir has produced the following plays by David Hare: The Judas Kiss (1999); My Zinc Bed (2002); Stuff Happens (2005) and Gethsemane (2009).

‘Hare has the prime instinct of a first-rate journalist: an unending curiosity... (His) portrayal of capitalism's collapse is engrossing.’

The Guardian

Previews 17 & 18 April. All preview tickets $35

Opening night 21 April

Backstage Q&A 26 May, 6pm

Times Tuesday 6.30pm, Wednesday to Friday 8pm, Saturday 2pm & 8pm, Sunday 5pm.

Tickets Full $57. Seniors (excluding Fri/Sat evenings) and Groups 10+ $47. Concession $35

Student Rush $25 for Tuesday 6.30pm and Saturday 2pm, available from 10am on the day (subject to availability)

Venue Belvoir St Theatre, 25 Belvoir St, Surry Hills

TICKETS BOOKINGS 9699 3444 or www.belvoir.com.au

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