Yours Truly - A tale of Jack the Ripper
The Rebel Alliance presents
Yours Truly By Albert Belz
A tale of Jack the Ripper
The Basement www.basementtheatre.co.nz
Yours Truly by Albert Belz
September 29 to October 22
All performances @ 7.30pm, no performance Saturday October 15 and on Sundays & Mondays
Tickets: $35/$25
Book at iTICKET on (09) 361 1000 or www.iticket.co.nz
The Rebel Alliance, the company that brought you Standstill (‘An instant contemporary classic’ – Theatrescenes), Grace ('Artistic excellence' - Theatreview), The Orderly ('Solo theatre as it should be' - Capital Times) and A Night of French Mayhem '(Bold and innovative'- NZ Herald) is back!
In 2006 Albert Belz gothic horror Yours Truly became a sensation at Wellington’s BATS Theatre. It sold out in no time, had the critics raving and subsequently did a clean sweep at the Chapman Tripp theatre awards winning ‘Most Original Production’, ‘Production of the Year’ and ‘Best new New Zealand work’. But then, like Jack the Ripper himself, Yours Truly disappeared out of the spotlight and seemed to fade into theatrical oblivion... Until now. In 2009 a fortuitous encounter between The Rebel Alliance’s producer and director Anders Falstie and actor and producer Sam Snedden set wheels in motion.
Set in 1888 during Jack the Ripper’s ‘Autumn of Terror’ Yours Truly is a dark piece of forbidden love, betrayal and mans yearning for immortality. A young gentleman falls in love with the wrong girl and suddenly finds himself and his best friend, the artist Sickert, sucked into a maelstrom of violence and betrayal. Unwittingly they have unleashed Jack the Ripper. Obsessed with creating a masterpiece, the killer uses London as his canvas and paints in blood.
Freemasons, lesbian lovers, oija boards, Victorian surgeries, Yours Truly could easily have ended up as a sordid piece of pulp fiction but thanks to Albert Belz’s soaring writing the play becomes much more than that. Yours Truly is a heartbreaking and sinisterly poetic exploration of some of the darkest and most basic human instincts.
“Belz wields his pen with surgical skill and precision” – Capital Times
David Aston stars in Yours Truly as the Queen’s personal physician Dr. Gull. You may have seen him as Neo’s boss in the first Matrix film or in numerous productions by The Silo or ATC (most recently in Mary Stuart). Aston is without a doubt one of New Zealand’s finest stage actors.
Sam Snedden (who also co-produces) portrays the artist Sickert and he performs alongside his real life partner Andi Crown as Harvey, the best friend/occasional lover of Marie Kelly, the last victim of Jack the Ripper. Kelly will be portrayed by Dena Kennedy. Todd Emerson is the young gentleman, carrying a big secret, who finds himself in way over his head and Sophie Henderson is the girl who is so unfortunate to fall in love with the wrong man.
Anders Falstie directs and he is joined by lighting designer Bonnie Burrill, costume designer Estelle MacDonald, sound designer Sean Lynch and set designer Jessica Verryt. Sean Lynch was responsible for the incredible soundscape in Kirk Torrance’s Flintlock Musket and most recently Silo Theatre’s I Love You Bro. Jessika Verryt has quickly proven herself to be one of the most exciting up and coming designers in Auckland. Her most recent work was the set design for Young and Hungry.
Yours Truly also marks a very special point in the history of The Rebel Alliance. For the first time they have received a grant from Creative New Zealand towards a production. It was The Rebel Alliance’s 10th application over 5 years that finally convinced/persuaded/overpowered Creative New Zealand to show them the money.
Says director and producer Anders Falstie “It has taken 5 productions, 3 tours to Wellington and 12 seasons in total to get to this point. I have been applying to CNZ twice a year for 5 years and was actually getting quite used to my twice yearly rejection and ensuing self-questioning of what I was doing with my life. So when the letter arrived and it read differently the previous 9 I must admit I was a little bit shocked. It’s thrilling but also daunting to have received the CNZ grant. With great money comes great responsibility… so we better f#^¤ing deliver!”
Anders Falstie has directed four of the five previous Rebel Alliance productions. This is his first time he is handling the reigns of a full length, 2 hour, production so to help him navigate the technically complicated productions, Colin McColl, ATC’s artistic director and one of NZs most respected directors will act as his directing mentor. With McColl having his back and a fantastic cast of some of Auckland’s most talented young actors spearheaded by a stage veteran, Yours Truly
Has the potential to the knock the theatrical ball out of the park when it opens at The Basement on September 29.
Yours Truly has received funding from Creative New Zealand and is part of the inaugural Basement Fest.
“A company to watch” – NZ Herald
For more info contact:
Publicist: Anders Falstie-Jensen
Mobile: 021 101 8857