Archived

Gwen in
Purgatory

By Tommy Murphy
Director Neil Armfield

  • Venue Upstairs Theatre
  • Dates 31 July – 19 Sept 2010

    Gwen is 90. She woke up this morning to discover that purgatory is sitting alone in a new house in a new subdivision on the edge of town, trying to work out if the remote in her hand operates the TV, the air-con or the fan-forced oven. But the kids are coming round and Father Ezekiel is on his way to bless the house, so the beginning of the end is looking up …

    Written specially for Belvoir, Gwen in Purgatory is Tommy Murphy’s brilliant existential comedy about an African missionary in the wilderness of Australian suburbia. Gwen’s brood of ordinary souls is battling along in a changing world and wringing out the last drops of their matriarch’s faith. Between them they may just find their way to some sort of forgiveness.

    Tommy Murphy’s Holding the Man was seen at Belvoir St in 2007, and we’ve been hanging out for him to return. He’s one of the country’s most formidable playwrights: canny, dangerous and very funny. Gwen in Purgatory is his illumination of the fear and humour at the heart of Australia’s Irish-Catholic inheritance.

    Team

    By Tommy Murphy
    Director Neil Armfield
    Set Designer Stephen Curtis
    Costume Designer Bruce McKinven
    Lighting Designer David Walters
    Sound Designer Paul Charlier
    Dramaturg Eamon Flack
    Assistant Director Cristabel Sved
    Stage Manager Mark Lowrey
    Assistant Stage Manager Sophie Baker

    Cast

    Nathaniel Dean
    Grant Dodwell
    Sue Ingleton
    Melissa Jaffer
    Pacharo Mzembe

    Videos

    Production images by Heidrun Lohr

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