Virgie - Fringe World at the Blue Room

6-10 February 2012

"The future of entertainment was the first appearance in Perth of Miss Virgie Vivienne” The West Australian, 1897

So it was reported over 100 years ago, and now it begins again...

Direct from the New York International Fringe Festival, Renee Newman-Storen’s Virgie will have it’s Australian premiere at The Blue Room Theatre’s Summer Nights season as part of FRINGE WORLD from 6 February 2012.

“Facts are stubborn things” and so was Virgie Vivienne, the 19th Century trailblazer who brought Shakespeare to the harsh Australian Outback. Spanning 70 years, Virgie tracks her story through Australia and Europe, her loves and tragedies, using verbatim material, original writing, and a soundtrack ranging from Tchaikovsky to Nick Cave to capture snapshots of an extraordinary life.

Written and performed by Renee Newman-Storen and co-directed by Mark Storen and Emily McLean, this will be the first chance for Australian audiences to become acquainted with this pioneering risk-taker.

“Virgie played Hamlet in Kalgoorlie in 1898, sued a man for breach of promise in marriage a year later, traveled throughout Europe and ran a theatre school in Adelaide - she was beyond brave, I found her to be extraordinary,” Newman-Storen said.

“But there was also so much missing. I decided to tell the story of what we do know, what we don’t know, and who I want Virgie to be.”

Co-directed by Mark Storen (Horsehead, Refractions/Forget Me Not) and Emily McLean (Dealers Choice, Loveplay, Slut) Virgie is the fourth production of theMOXYcollective’s original works (Mark Storen’s A Drunken Cabaret, Killing Nellie and Mark Storen’s Cut to the Quick), and was selected as part of FringeNYC’s 15th anniversary season.

“Renee Newman-Storen's feisty solo performance in Virgie suits her real-life subject… She feelingly celebrates the life of this obscure but intriguing female actor” – Curtain Up, New York

Tickets and info:

www.blueroom.org.au // 08 9227 7005 // or www.fringeworld.com.au