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Image credit: Garth Orlander.

POSTED: 27 JUNE 2009

Malthouse brings One Night the Moon to stage*

Melbourne's Malthouse Theatre will present the world premiere of the stage adaptation of One Night the Moon, one of Australia’s most celebrated recent films.

Director Wesley Enoch, playwright John Romeril and performers Mark Seymour (Hunters and Collectors), Kirk Page and Ursula Yovich (Australia) meet in a musical journey into the territory of the Australian Gothic, exploring the timeless pull of the Australian bush with a tale of fractured black-and-white relationships.

In 1932 a young girl goes missing in the Australian Outback. When her parents go to check on their sleeping child, she is nowhere to be found ... she has stepped out of her bedroom window, entranced by the beautiful, beaming moon.

The parents — recent settlers in the rugged landscape — spend the night looking for her to no avail. When in the morning, the local police suggest the assistance of their best man, their Aboriginal tracker, the father rejects “blackfella” help and pursues his own white-man search across the desolate plains, stamping out every trace of his daughter’s tracks in the dust.

As time passes, the mother makes a decision to take responsibility into her own hands, and she follows the tracker out into the bush ...

The film was based on the true-life experiences of Aboriginal tracker Sergeant Alexander Riley. It first soared on to the big screen in 2001 to win AFI Awards for Best Original Score and Best Cinematography.  The film, directed by Rachel Perkins and featuring Paul Kelly, who co-wrote the songs with Kev Carmody, became a cult classic.

In this Malthouse Theatre commission, original screen co-writer, John Romeril, and director, Wesley Enoch (Black Medea, Yibiyung) create a bold and evocative stage adaptation of this landmark work.

Mark Seymour, Kirk Page and Ursula Yovich will be joined by a live band to create the aural landscape of the Australian bush as we follow the journeys of Jim and Rose, the white farmers, and Albert and Ruby, the tracker and his wife and this story of loss and redemption.

One Night the Moon will play at the CUB Malthouse Theatre, Southbank, Melbourne, from 11 September to 3 October.

*Based on media release issued by Malthouse Theatre.