CHRONICLES OF A SLEEPLESS MOON (2006)
Written, created and performed by Miles O’Neil, Joseph O’Farrell and Glen Walton.
The Butcher and the Doctor are up to something, and the Newsman sniffs a story that will take him deep into the dead heart of Australia. Deliciously dark and exquisitely crafted, Chronicles of a Sleepless Moon is a funny, sad and surreal fairy tale for grown-ups. Inspired by 1920’s radio, backyard invention, and the unique dark setting of the middle of Australia; Chronicles of a Sleepless Moon brings to the stage a surreal, fortuitous, adventure that crosses art forms and genres to tell the epic tale of a Butcher, a Newsman and a Mad doctor.
Seasons:
2006 March, Melbourne Next Wave Festival
2006 June, Melbourne Kent Street Theatre
2006 August, Sydney Lan Franchies Theatre
2007 March, Adelaide Fringe Festival
2007 April, Melbourne International Comedy Festival
2007 August, Edinburgh Fringe Festival
2007 November, Andy Warhol Memorial Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
2008 February, Adelaide, Australian Performing Arts Market Showcase
2008 May, Assitej Festival, Adelaide
2008 June, Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen, Germany
2008 September, Soho Theatre, West End, London
2008 September, Dublin Fringe Festival
2018 Regional Arts Victoria supported tour of regional Victoria (various venues)
Review Quote:
“Every once in a while, a Fringe show has the power to beguile its audience with the sheer breadth of its originality. Housed in the already inspired venue of the Bosco Theatre in the Spiegel Garden, Chronicles of a Sleepless Moon does just that. Not for nothing has this darkly whimsical tale been described as ‘Wallace and Gromit meets David Lynch’, as ridiculously daft as it is darkly macabre. The brainchild of Melbourne collective, Suitcase Royal, the show begins in what looks like an old junkyard but quickly emerges as one of the most innovative set pieces on this year’s Fringe. Inspired by an Edwardian-style melodrama, sepia tinted boxes and barely there light bulbs transform themselves into key players in a narrative, which sees an upended wardrobe become a submarine and a knackered bicycle wheel become a spinning knife-grinder. Set in the Aussie outback during its pioneer days, the devilishly daft plot revolves around a sinister doctor who engages the help of the local sociopath butcher to fuel his underground tunnelling device, which runs on cow’s blood, and will allow him to map the world beneath the earth’s surface. Seeing red, a double-dealing newsman comes along for the ride in the hope of getting a scoop for the local rag. Not so much a plot as an excuse to combine cutting-edge live performance with mime, song, puppetry and film, the actors present the piece with the skill of old school vaudeville players and circus clowns of years gone by, while borrowing too from the Farrelly and Coen brothers.”
- Lynn Gardner, The Scotsman, 18 August 2007