Just a Boy, Standing in Front of a Girl

Just a Boy, Standing in Front of a Girl is a darkly funny, tragicomic take on Medea and the legendary relationship between J and M, from teenage romance to domestic nightmare. A savage and subversive re-imagining of events surrounding a classic text, Just a Boy is a contemporary parable of the patriarchy that shows what happens when you’re smart, strong and female.

In approaching Medea, writer Jane Miller and director Beng Oh were fascinated by the treatment of the main character in previous adaptations by mostly male writers. Miller and Oh found the patriarchal framework in which the classical story is based particularly resonant today and were keen to explore how contemporary society remains complicit in and continues to be shaped by its paternal foundations. In reimagining Medea as a young girl’s journey Just a Boy is a picaresque comedy that illuminates the tragedy at its heart.

Fortyfivedownstairs
4 to 15 August 2021

La Mama Courthouse
3 to 14 October 2018

Producer
15 Minutes from Anywhere

Developed with the support of Hothouse Theatre’s A Month in the Country residency.

REVIEWS

“Such an unassuming sounding play is a smokescreen for a show which packs a wallop, sizzles with energy and takes you places you have no idea you are heading for.”

What Did She Think?

“Even with a restricted space and having the actors perform in a narrow traverse, Oh uses the aesthetic minimalism to allow the actors to vividly create this world through their words, facial expressions and actions. .”

My Melbourne Arts
CREDITS
Photo by Lachlan Woods

WRITER
Jane Miller

DIRECTOR
Beng Oh

SET AND COSTUME DESIGN
Emily Collett

LIGHTING DESIGN
John Collopy (2021)
Dans Maree Sheehan (2018)

SOUND DESIGN
Ben Keene (2021)
Zac Kazepis (2018)

STAGE MANAGER
Teri Steer (2021)
Dan Barca (2018)

PHOTOGRAPHY
Cameron Grant (2021)
Lachlan Woods (2018)

CAST
Keith Brockett (2018)
John Marc Desengano
Annie Lumsden
Andrea McCannon
Glenn van Oosterom
Gabriel Partington (2021)