Edge
EDGE is the dramatized true story of the wreck of the Dutch ship "Batavia" on the Abrohlos atolls off the coast of Western Australia in 1628. In this dramatic and entertaining play, hailed by one reviewer as his "play of the year", events unfold against a background of religious millenarianism, or "end of the world" fervor.
Three hundred men, women and children were marooned. In the absence of their commander, thirty men belonging to a Christian cult men took control and massacred a hundred and twenty five others. The remaining women were taken as concubines. These events are seen through the eyes of a young Dutch woman who was forced to "wed" the charismatic leader of the mutineers. Her experiences lead her to lose all belief in God and any human purpose other than survival. The play is of great relevance to audiences at the end of the twentieth century. It is also presented with considerable dark humour and is a testament to the stubborn persistence of the irrepressible human spirit.
"EDGE" was originally performed with a cast of three actors on the wreck of the "Batavia", now in the Fremantle Maritime Museum. However it is suitable for production in any venue and would be greatly enhanced by a cast of between four to six people.
Emma - Celebrazione!
“ A sure-fire box office hit, being revived continually around the country”
THE AUSTRALIAN April 17. 1998.
Emma - Celebrazione, is based on the story of Emma Ciccotosto, who migrates from an impoverished Italian rural village to Western Australia at the age of 13. The play opens with Emma, now older cooking for a wedding feast for her family as she regales the audience with tales of her feckless husband and venomous mother-in-law.
"My own life has been a list of battles. If you want to survive you must fight. If you want not to be poor you fight. And if you want a good marriage... then don't fight.I always gave into my husband.... for a little while. Maybe two or three days . You can always get what you want if you have love... and a brain. Always pick the right time. And never waste money. Bank notes are like teeth. They're painful to get, but more painful to part with."
Emma's dialogue is juxtaposed with beautiful singing from a community choir.
Emma: Proper eggplants need eggs, grated Roman cheese, parsley, capsicum tomatoes, breadcrumbs, soft inside the eggplants with green oil and a little bit of salt. This makes the best eggplants in the world.
Concetta: No.
Emma: No!
Concetta: No And no. It would taste like ( In Italian ) Donkey's poo. (In English ) Like Donkey's poo.
At interval the audience tastes her delicious pasta. Here's what the Australian wrote: “Pitt has turned her experiences into a celebration of life, love and survival, to the accompaniment of powerful singing and the aromas of garlic and sugo....When a return season of Emma opened at Brisbane’s La Boite Theatre last month, the season had sold out by 10am on the first day of the first performance” (Anne Lim, The Australian).
This play has sold out also in Perth, Sydney, Albury, Darwin, Melbourne and Adelaide.
Cast: 2 or 3 women, 1 man playing three roles, these can be done by three people. Also a community choir.
Royalties: 14%.
Set:
I Kitchen
II Wedding.
Remembrance Day
An old Australian soldier has been taken off an airplane returning to Australia. Now, on the eleventh of November, he is in a hospital with a second and possibly fatal attack of dengue fever. Cranky and acerbic, he remembers his experiences in East Timor. He fought there against the Japanese during the second World War. He also formed a close friendship with a young Timorese "criado" or helper and guide.
In the play, with a cast of two, we delve into the old soldier's conscience for he believes he betrayed his criado at the end when the Australian guerrillas were withdrawn. In his fevered imagination, his male nurse becomes his criado as well as other characters important in his memory.
The play, full of wry humour and political comment about Australia and East Timor, is a tribute to the East Timorese and to Australian war veterans.
" This is the best play on the subjects of war, international relations or male friendships I have ever seen" Jacqueline Bootes City Hub.
" This is quintessential story teller's theatre" Sun Herald.
" This is a play not to be missed" Green left Weekly.
Commission
Graham Pitts has written plays seen by hundreds of thousands of Australians, including the smash hit Emma Celebrazione. He's hungry for new commissions from Amateur or professional theatre.
"Once, in Newcastle, I wrote an hour-long dramatic script about local historical events which was broadcast on local radio. Twenty five thousand people were listening, gathered on the foreshores in a huge park above the sea off Newcastle. A team of pyro-technicians meanwhile let off spectacular fires and fireworks to accompany the story," he said,
"Another show I wrote and directed was "Another Country" in the hills above Perth. The core members of the cast were amateur actors from the region and 160 others. We produced the play in an extra-ordinarily beautiful amphi-theatre which had been built up in the mountains by a Welshman. It went for five nights with an audience of over to thousand per night," he said.
"Another show I co-wrote and co-directed in 1988, was with thirty East Timorese and five Australian "Death at Balibo" which was about the killing of five Australian journalists by Indonesian soldiers during the invasion of East Timor The play ended up going on at the Darwin Theatre Company for a planned three weeks but was extended - setting a new record for attendences. It was helped when The Indonesian government canceled an official visit to Australia in response. On opening night the audience stood and gave a standing ovation --- at the end of the second scene! " he said.
But nothing can compare to the success of Emma Celebrazione, based on the story of Emma Ciccotosto, who migrates from an impoverished Italian rural village to Western Australia at the age of 13. The play opens with Emma, now older cooking for a wedding feast for her family as she regales the audience with tales of her feckless husband and venomous mother-in-law. At interval the audience tastes her delicious pasta and a Choir of Italian women assist with song and celebration. The play has sold out across the nation. Here's what the Australian said."Pitts has turned her experiences into a celebration of life, love and survival, to the accompaniment of powerful singing and the aromas of garlic and sugo....When a return season of Emma opened at Brisbane's La Boite Theatre last month, the season had sold out by 10am on the first day of the first performance"
Graham Pitts' plays sell because genuinely good yarns from local communities make good drama. His larger pieces always sell well, because they involve many sectors of the community... for example the local historical society, the local football team, or even the local Scottish bagpipe band. So instead of having the narrow circle of people who are linked to an amateur theatre, the large community involvement ensures lots of bums on seats.
Graham is also a terrific researcher, going to any length to find a good story.
"During research for my play "Wondeep" on the West Coast of Tasmania, I was taken to a small cottage to a group of about twenty people with a minimum age of eighty. It was freezing cold outside with about a metre of snow on the ground and so there were two open fireplaces blazing as well as about five electric heaters. Now lots of people over eighty are incontinent. And the room was very hot. After a while a certain aroma began to penetrate my every pore and I realised the room was misty with a quite pungent, yellowish vapor. But what could I say? Especially as these good people pressed me to stay for lunch. I don't think I will ever forget that meal," he said.
One of Graham's newest play is Rememberance Day."It is about a War World Two veteran 'Owen' who lies in a repatriation hospital, musing aloud about whether he's dead and whether the male nurse who keeps pestering him is a figment of his imagination.The old soldier merges in and out of the realities of his memories of fighting the Japanese in East Timor during World War2 and recent return looking for the East Timorese man who fought by his side. The nurse becomes a series of characters in the old man's memory. The play is very funny, moving and, above all, a tribute to the men of the Australian Independent Companies," he said.
The soldiers Graham pays tribute to were remarkable, a few hundred Australians fought a guerilla war against twelve thousand Japanese for a year. They kept Japanese resources tied up, avoiding a calamatous defeat for Australia in PNG and Kokoda. These soldiers have remained staunch supporters of the East Timorese resistence movement.
"One of the interesting results of the research for the play was that in July I went to Indonesia and on my way to East Timor contracted dengue fever, a disease which killed many of the W.W.2 soldiers. I turned about and made it back home to hospital. I still get relapses," said Pitts.
Graham is eager to seek commissions for original community plays set in the year 2000. "I would love to spend time in community, listening and listening again to what the local people tell me, and then writing a play for a large scale cast preferably with at least the core group coming from amateur theatre. The play would be about the millennium but also very much about the community," he said.
"I would also like to write a comedy about gardening. And a black comedy about real estate agents." he said.