Arena Theatre Company’s latest production Moth premieres at the C.U. B Malthouse from 13 to 30 May 2010 in a sold-out season.

Ecstatic visions, a serious Saint Sebastian fixation, a talking moth, mental illness and religious zeal collide in the world premiere of young Melbourne writer Declan Greene’s first collaboration with Arena.

In co-commission with Malthouse Theatre this moving, highly charged and funny play is directed by Arena’s Chris Kohn and brings together a team of award-winning creative team including designer Jonathon Oxlade (Goodbye Vaudeville Charlie Mudd and Mr Freezy) and composer Jethro Woodward (Goodbye Vaudeville Charlie Mudd and Girl Who Cried Wolf).

“This is a desperate world, full of vice and sin. But their souls can be saved, Sebastian. In these darkest of times, you alone are pure enough for this solemn task.”

Sebastian is a terminally unpopular sixteen-year-old suburban kid, with an overactive imagination and an obsession with death and anime. His only friend Claryssa is an Emo Wiccan Goth art-freak barely one rung higher than Sebastian on the school popularity ladder.

What starts as just another night drinking down at the cricket nets soon gives way to an ecstatic vision that leaves Sebastian unconscious and Claryssa missing without explanation. The next morning, he wakes up with a mysterious moth in a jar by his bed, a yearning to save the souls of all humankind and a desperate need to reach Claryssa. And so begins the Passion of Sebastian…

Together, Claryssa – played by Sarah Ogden (Daniel Sclusser’s Life is a Dream and Winterfall Theatre’s As You Like It) – and Sebastian - played by Dylan Young (The Hayloft Project’s B.C., Channel 10’s The Pacific) - are stuck in an eternal night, trying to piece together a shared history and reconcile their memories. Sebastian and Claryssa ‘remember’ with visitations from a cast of characters including Sebastian’s mother, teachers, the school bully, and the moon itself…

Tickets are selling fast for this high-charged, rapid-fire, funny and moving new work for audiences aged 15 years and over.

Where: Tower Theatre at The CUB Malthouse: 113 Sturt St Southbank
Bookings and information: Malthouse Theatre or 9685 5111


Moth Rehearsal Blog

For teachers, students, and those interested in the back-stage work of theatre-making, Production Secondment and Victoria University student, Rachel Torrance offers a fly-on-the-wall account of the making of Moth in the rehearsal blog: www.arenamoth.blogspot.com