Portfolio

Theatre…

Written/produced by Doug Mann and Black Ibis Productions

 

Original Works

12 x plays (see * and # Environment Theatre, below) – for the National Trust Victoria, 1997-2013

 

Wreck of the Admella - for Portland Arts Council, 2009
Cinderella Bent - for Gayle Burrill Performing Arts, 2003
Bad Breath - for Black Ibis Productions, 1990
Taxidermy (music, Tony Elias) - for Portland Arts Council, 1989
4 x musicals for schools:
Star Trek Story - 1982
The Tribe - 1983
Outer Mongolia - 1984
Riddle of Chance - 1986

 

Adaptations

 

Wind in the Willows by the Banks of the Barwon (Grahame) - 1997, 1998
Under Milkwood (Thomas) - 1998
And the Big Men Fly (Hopgood) – for Doorstep Productions, 1999
Wind in the Willows at Rollicking Rippon Lea (Grahame) - 2001
Fire in the Mariner’s Eye (Coleridge) - 2005
Tale of Two Cities (Dickens) - 2006
One Sweet Dream (Shakespeare) - 2012
The Little Prince (Saint-Exupery) - 2021

Art Theatre

where at least one other art form is fused with the
theatrical (not music theatre)

Twelfth Night (Shakespeare)– 2000, with Visual Art, Music
Fire in the Mariner’s Eye (Coleridge, et al) – 2005, with Dance
One Sweet Dream (Shakespeare) – 2012, with Music

 

Environment Theatre

where the performance site is of direct relevance, often with an historical link, to its subject

 

# Wind in the Willows by the Banks of the Barwon
BARWON GRANGE - 1997 and 1998
Family theatre in four outdoor settings. Record-breaking seasons.

 

# Peta and the Wolves
BARWON GRANGE - 2000
Fantasy family music theatre.

 

# Wind in the Willows at Rollicking Rippon Lea
RIPPON LEA ESTATE - 2001

Continuing the record-breaking journey of the much-loved classic at Melbourne’s grandest venue.

 

* A New Beginning
BARWON GRANGE - 2005
The tragic story of the first occupiers of romantic Barwon Grange.

 

* The Game We Call Our Own
IRISH MURPHY’S HOTEL (form. ARGYLE HOTEL) - 2009
Meet the Geelong Football Club committee, after their first match with Melbourne FC, 1860.

 

* Returned from the Dead
STEEL’S ROCK, PORTARLINGTON - 2009
William Buckley, convict runaway, given life again by an aboriginal clan, is faced with a hard choice.

 

* Old Adam and the Infant Child
CHRIST CHURCH, GEELONG - 2009
It is 1847 and the first baptism service in the new Christ Church. Earnest hilarity and serious fun ensues.

 

* Views from the Hill
ROYD GRANGE, BELMONT - 2010
At a 1910 garden party, prominent citizens urge an end to separatist bickering.

 

* Ghost Talk at Mill
VALLEY WORSTED MILLS – 2010

Four ghosts play at whist, each in their turn compelled to tell their story of work at the mill.

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* The Boatman

BARWON RIVER – 2011

The story of the Barwon River, told by a cavalcade of riverfolk incl. the Wind in the Willows mob.

 

* Harrisonia Histrionicus
BARWON BANK building, Newtown – 2012
The story of pioneer James Harrison, newspaperman, politician, inventor of refrigeration.

 

* Waiting for Swire

BARWON GRANGE, Newtown – 2013

The 1854 visit of shipbuilder John Samuel Swire to his cousin J. P. O’Brien at Barwon Grange.

Commissions

Taxidermy (music-Tony Elias) for Portland Arts Council, 1989
Wreck of the Admella for Portland Arts Council, 2009
9 x National Trust commissioned works - see above *
3 x National Trust production partnerships – see above #

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