The Curtain
Ada Munroe rents her two spare rooms to Leon and Francis, two single, aging men who seem to have come to the end of their road. The small country town where they live is slowly dying; local businesses are closing, familiar faces disappearing. Their narrowing futures seem inescapable. But one night something unexpected happens that shifts how Ada sees her life. And now everything must change.
A new work by award-winning Australian playwright Daniel Keene The Curtain was commissioned by the Melbourne Theatre Company but never staged, being aired only as a reading in 2012. It finally premiered at Fortyfivedownstairs in 2020, completing its run just before Victoria went into its first COVID-19 lockdown.
A touching, funny and compassionate look at ageing and loneliness The Curtain, ”takes the absurd and commonplace in life to illuminate the human condition in all its pathos, courage, and bleak humour.”
Fortyfivedownstairs
26 February to 15 March 2020
Producer
Fortyfivedownstairs
“It leaves a bittersweet, lingering sadness that haunts the memory of the actors in the space. All three of the performers give genuine and emotional performances, pitch-perfect characterisations of the three lost old people who find each other, but never allow themselves to be found.” – Witness Performance
“a play of surprising gentleness, deep sadness and a lonely kind of empathy. Beng Oh has directed a sensitive and nuanced production”.
Witness Performance
“Beng Oh directs The Curtain with a sense of pathos and a pace necessary in a play with many words and little action. In doing so he’s ably assisted by a trio of actors who give performances of great emotional insight.”
Australian Book Review
“The direction by Beng Oh is most simpatico with the text. Another exemplary production to catch at fortyfivedownstairs.”
Stage Whispers
“Overall, The Curtain is a poetic and triumphant experience that leaves the audience with much to think about.”
The Music
WRITER
Daniel Keene
DIRECTOR
Beng Oh
SET AND COSTUME DESIGN
Andrew Bailey
LIGHTING DESIGN
Lisa Mibus
SOUND DESIGN
Ben Keene
STAGE MANAGER
Teri Steer
PHOTOGRAPHY
Theresa Harrison
PUBLICITY IMAGES
Jodie Hutchinson
CAST
Milijana Čančar
Gil Tucker
Paul Weingott