The Melbourne Town Players

ATTRACT/REPEL



Thanks to everyone who helped make *Attract/Repel* an overwhelming success. Sign up to our mailing list for updates about our upcoming projects in 2010. ATTRACT/REPEL - What 'they' are saying - Peter Green from 3MBS reckons A/R is *"genius!"; Jana Perkovic of Sparkonline - "Attract/Repel is really just awesome"; Carl Nilsson-Polias, in response to Jana's review says, "Hear hear"; Chris Boyd twittered, "Attract/Repel is a beautiful, illuminating & engaging 'non-play' about race, ethnicity & otherness. Great theatre."; Julia McGrath (Buzzcuts) says, "emotionally intense performance", and "humorous... awkward, and... thoroughly disconcerting"; Nikki Thomas (AusStageOnline) believes it is to be "...treasured", because it is "theatre at its most insightful and interesting"; Kim Zoe Evans(ArtsHub) says, "Engaging and open, you feel privileged to have the opportunity to hear such honesty."; and Neandellus, "using a new critical methodology to interested readers: napkin graph and goggily remembered high school math", suggests that "As you can see from the blue line, the play is, ultimately, very good."* - The Store Room presents Attract/Repel by The Melbourne Town Players, a performance-interrogation into self and the other, by Ming-Zhu Hii. Attract/Repel is a raw, beautiful and idiosyncratic investigation into racial identification, discrimination, and the darkness and light inherent in Australia's many-cultured society. It takes an unflinching look beneath the surface at who we are, how we behave, and why we are still being racist. In collaboration with four of the country’s most exciting actor/theatre makers, Ming-Zhu Hii goes beyond the pale, averts the politically-correct, and asks the questions we’ve all been too scared of for far too long. Attract/Repel is a remarkably rich and unmissable new work from The Melbourne Town Players, creators of the critically acclaimed Sandwiches. “We are living in a period of extreme racial unrest, cultural intolerance, and racially motivated violence, while the population of our country has never been more diverse.” - Ming-Zhu Hii Previews 17 & 18 September 2009 Open 19 September - 10 October 2009 IMAGES FROM THE FIRST PREVIEW Photography by Naomi Wong		Attract/Repel is presented as part of the 2009 Melbourne Fringe Festival With a cast including Jing-Xuan Chan, Fanny Hanusin, Georgina Naidu, and Terry Yeboah. Music by composer/guitarist Yusuke Akai. Sound design by Russell Goldsmith. Lighting design (inspired by Dan Flavin) by Damien McLean with lighting concept support by Rachel Burke. Concept and direction by Ming-Zhu Hii. Producers Nicholas Coghlan and Shalini Nair. Development Supported by Full Tilt Creative Development


"Harry Connick Jr unimpressed by blackface Jackson 5"



Sickening...		Via Lost in Showbiz

Review for ATTRACT/REPEL - THE AGE - 4.5 STARS



THE AGE Cameron Woodhead Monday, October 05, 2009 Conceived and Directed by Ming-Zhu Hii, Attract/Repel is a deeply felt and fiercely intelligent response to the lack of cultural diversity in Australian theatre. Four actors - Fanny Hanusin, Jing-Xuan Chin [sic], Georgina Naidu and Terry Yeboah - perform as themselves, with a casually improvised naturalism reminiscent of Raimondo Cortese's recent work at Ranters Theatre. From a stage ringed with coloured fluorescent light, they examine their experiences of racism - blatant and insidious - and their internal repsonses. Anti-naturalistic physical theatre is deployed at intervals, to complicate seeming dualities: the juxtaposition of Hanusin and Chin [sic] crouched, one crying, the other laughing; the uncomfortable sight of Yeboah, Ghanaian by birth, being made up in whiteface. Attract/Repel doesn't provide easy answers for cultural and racial prejudices. But it's a compelling invitation to question your own. Four and a half stars.		Photography by Naomi Wong

Review for ATTRACT/REPEL - THEATRE NOTES



Read Alison Croggin's review of Attrack/Repel over at the Theatre Notes website.		Image courtesy of Theatre Notes

Review for ATTRACT/REPEL - HERALD SUN



Kate Herbert, Wednesday 30th September, 2009 Attract/Repel by The Melbourne Town Players The four actors in *Attract/Repel* have all experienced racism. We hear their personal stories in this performance devised with director Ming-Zhu Hii. They reveal painful and hilarious moments and their interaction is warm, honest and natural. The outcome is a charming and challenging show. Their backgrounds are diverse. Jing-Xuan Chan came to Australia from Hong Kong as a baby and identifies as an ABC (Australian Born Chinese). Terry Yeboah is a tall, elegant African-Australian who migrated from Ghana as a child. Fanny Hanusin is a Chinese-Indonesian who came to Melbourne to study economics and stayed. Hanusin quips that sometimes she feels FOB (Fresh Off the Boat). Georgina Naidu – who has one Indian-Malay parent and one Celtic parent – was born at Frankston Hospital. All have tales about surprising, shocking or watershed moments when they confronted racism.Ming-Zhu Hii keeps the staging simple and intimate. The actors become our friends in such a small space. During the hour, using chalk, they fill an entire wall with lists of racist comments. Each is like a new poisoned barb.		Photography by Naomi Wong

Press for ATTRACT/REPEL - TRIPLE J/JOHN SAFRAN



Head over to the Triple J website and listen to Attract/Repel's director/mastermind Ming-Zhu Hii's interview with John Safran and Father Bob on Sunday Night Safran.		Image courtesy of Triple J

Review for ATTRACT/REPEL - ARTS HUB



Another review in for Attract/Repel, this one from Arts Hub by Kim Zoe Evans. "The beauty of this piece directed by Ming-Zhu Hii is that it takes a light heartened approach to racism, and makes the audience laugh. A person from an ethnic or diverse background is able to truly relate to the characters on stage, as their conversations are very honest personal experiences... " read more here.

Review for ATTRACT/REPEL - AUSTRALIAN STAGE



Read another review about Attract/Repel from AUSTRALIAN STAGE by Nikki Thomas. "This is theatre at its most insightful and interesting, with my highest praise of the piece coming from the performers giving their own regretful yet truthful admissions of racism... " read more here.

Review for ATTRACT/REPEL - NEANDELLUS



Read our hilarious and mathematical review from NEANDELLUS:THEATRE:MELBOURNE about Attract/Repel. "As you can see from the blue line, the play is, ultimately, very good... " read more here.		Drawing courtesy of Neandellus

Review for ATTRACT/REPEL - BUZZCUTS



Another great review for Attract/Repel, from BUZZCUTS. Check it out here. "Attract/ Repel, is an emotionally intense performance that is at once a deeply personal and yet resonant portrayal of the complex migrant identity of contemporary Australia... " read more here.


Review for ATTRACT/REPEL - SPARK ONLINE



Read the first review about Attract/Repel from SPARK ONLINE by Jana Perkovic. "A/R has been shaped with a clear eye and a strong dramaturgical hand into an exquisitely crafted work, building a rich spectrum of thought and feeling out of associative nuances. It takes courage and maturity to recognise the theatre in four people on chairs talking about their personal experience, and it was, indeed, beautifully crafted theatre." Read the review here via SPARK ONLINE or over here GUERRILLA SEMIOTICS, Jana's own site.

Press for ATTRACT/REPEL - 'South Yarra Set Designer Explores Darkness and Light'



Read about Attract/Repel set designer Naomi Wong in this online article, 'South Yarra Set Designer Explores Darkness and Light', by Ainsleigh Sheridan.		Photography courtesy of the Stonnington Leader.

Press for ATTRACT/REPEL - 'The Power of Light Breaks Down Racial Barricades'



Read about Attract/Repel lighting designer Damien McLean in this online article, 'The power of light breaks down racial barricades', by Saeed Saeed.		Photography by Andy Drewitt, courtesy of the Diamond Valley Leader.

Press for ATTRACT/REPEL - 'Thomastown Actor Tackles Racism'



Read about Attract/Repel actor Terry Yeboah in this online article, 'Thomastown Actor Tackles Racism', by Mark Smith.

Rehearsals for ATTRACT/REPEL

		Rehearsals for Attract/Repel are in full swing. Follow how the show is developing on Twitter and our Blog. Left are performers Jing-Xuan Chan and Terry Yeboah, featuring lighting by Damien McLean.

Read Articles by MING-ZHU HII for THE AGE & REAL TIME



Read Ming-Zhu Hii’s opinion piece on diversity in casting and performing arts practice for The Age Read Ming-Zhu Hii’s article on diversity for Real Time, in response to Lee Lewis’ paper, Cross-Racial Casting.		Clipping taken from Ming-Zhu Hii's article for The Age.

Praise for SANDWICHES



SANDWICHES “SANDWICHES is a thoughtful and well-crafted show that brings a small audience into intimate contact with performers telling stories of half- remembered childhood.” - “This is sophisticated writing by Nicholas Coghlan and Elise Hearst, brought to life with nuanced acting.” - “Director Ming-Zhu Hii shows a deft touch at bringing out emotion and scene from the text, and the design detail adds layers and depth to the ideas.” Martin Ball - The Age "There is much to recommend the ﬁrst production by The Melbourne Town Players. SANDWICHES is compellingly performed... the script by Elise Hearst and Nicholas Coghlan is evocative and lyrical... Terry Yeboah and Lauren Urquhart are engaging and playful... Ming-Zhu Hii directs them imaginatively." Kate Herbert - Herald Sun “Every aspect of this work is well referenced and considered… Hii’s set and installation design is both inventive and witty.” - “This work… has lingering qualities which impress on the viewer after [it unfolds].” - “TMTP has certainly raised the bar high with its inaugural production, which possesses an abundance of creative ﬂair and all round vision of its collaborators.” Anna Lozynski - Australian Stage Online "Delicate and precise theatremaking from start to ﬁnish." Carl Nilsson-Polias - Spark Online		Photography - Kitty Green