


When an ageing usher is recruited on stage to assist with a short- staffed European children’s theatre production, she discovers that to get the job done, she needs to travel back in time to unlock her own childhood.
Aided and abetted by her ushering colleagues, a Polish stage manager and a band of musicians, this journey goes someway to prove the platitude, “It takes a village to raise an old woman.”
Using the conceit of a children’s show and the structure of a fairy tale, It’s a Secret! is an adult work exploring transformation and the unconscious.
Deeply collaborative in its making, this multi-disciplinary work combines a dreamy children’s book about a midnight cat party with 4 aging actors, projection, choreography and an anarchic band singing gypsy/folk/punk songs from Odessa to create a joyously liberating theatrical adventure.
THE CAST:

REBECCA MASSEY
as NORMAN KOWALSKI

CATHERINE MCCLEMENTS
as MARIE-ELAINE

JACEK KOMAN
as MALCOLM THE CAT

JULIE FORSYTH
as QUEEN OF THE CATS
CREATIVE TEAM:

BRUCE GLADWIN
DIRECTOR

LUCY GUERIN AO
CHOREOGRAPHER

MELISSA REEVES
SCRIPT EDITOR/WRITER
Conceived by Rebecca Massey and Catherine Mcclements
Developed by Rebecca Massey, Catherine Mcclements, Jacek Koman, Julie Forsyth,
Melissa Reeves and Bruce Gladwin
Costume Designer: Harriet Oxley
Lighting Designer: Paul Jackson
Sound Designer: Harry Covile
Projections/Animation: Rhian Hinkley

THE BAND : VULGARGRAD



DEVELOPMENT SOUNDTRACK

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It's A Secret is generously supported by the Nelson Meers Foundation.

This project is being assisted by the Australian Government's Major Festivals Initiative, managed by the Australia Council for the Arts.