Phantasmagoria

10/03/2022

Team Phantasmagoria are so grateful for the wonderful reviews and kind words from audience members that keep pouring in! 💫
With only 4 shows left, including our Auslan interpreted show Friday, March 11th and our matinee and post-show Q&A Saturday, March 12th, don't miss this magical show!
Limited tickets available at https://bit.ly/phant2022

Milkbarmag http://www.milkbarmag.com/2022/03/09/phantasmagoria/?fbclid=IwAR2zz5Hj92g07VpdHtrEE_6ABSRLeMIFx0nqRLpragBSUwMfXi9tOlwv1oY

WeekendNotes Melbourne
https://www.weekendnotes.com/phantasmagoria-theatre-works/?fbclid=IwAR3MBFCYd3dtk-ES-HaVK_-YqlInp7BHZHG6OpNSNFRnDte_jjMx1drw0Uw

Stage Whispers
https://www.stagewhispers.com.au/reviews/phantasmagoria?fbclid=IwAR07aj6DztbsZ5xkGy9JGMQ0U4HsjCmQ7oCmKO9RpB206VXfpqB3LXlwpDE

Be Melbourne
https://www.bemelbourne.com/post/phantasmagoria-theatre-review?fbclid=IwAR1zKjeeiSexoDpQWcjqTczIzDtJjAncYxKsyI6wkhmaqY3q3IrYbdDt5RY

theblurb.com.au
https://theblurb.com.au/wp/phantasmagoria-theatre-works-theatre-review/?fbclid=IwAR03qvO7p5imoV-8NauOcInGODM9oudcZg-xKt-3cT7AFEzNtGixVSxaMu0

09/03/2022

"Phantasmagoria is a beautiful production.

The cast was tremendous, and full credit goes to Trench-Thiedeman and Meg Dunn for playing the older and younger versions of Briony, often in tandem. The pair bounced off each other flawlessly, only heightened by Sheshgelani’s comedic timing and Wang’s masterful portrayal of Briony’s father and love interest. On stage till Sunday 12 March, Phantasmagoria is remarkable and will take you for a mesmerising ride from start to finish."

Thanks to Milkbarmag for this appreciative review of our show!!
http://www.milkbarmag.com/2022/03/09/phantasmagoria/
At Theatre Works. Don't miss it, tix at: https://bit.ly/phant2022

Magic, spirits from the other side and puppetry, Phantasmagoria is a haunting, fantastical and chilling play exploring intergenerational trauma and one woman's

08/03/2022

From the writer:

CW: FV, DA and DV

I worked in a women's shelter in a remote Aboriginal community back in 2014. That same year I had to hide a friend at my house whose male partner was threatening her life. His previous partner had to flee the town as he'd threatened her and her child's life. How on earth nobody warned his current partner is beyond me. That year Rosie Batty wrote about her husband murdering their child, about coercive control. Another friend cowered in my loungeroom while her ex ripped the boards off the house. All of them smart, strong, brilliant women. I learnt a lot that year, especially that the majority of women murdered by their partners experience little to no physical violence up until the point they try to leave. Their partners attempt to control their lives, money, contact with friends, family and surveil their online communications.
I only understood recently that a threat on a mother's life is also a threat on the child's life, no matter what. It seems obvious now, but when you are inside of it, it's pretty goddamn murky. The words 'family violence' seem abstract and clinical.

So I wrote a play. It's fictional and fun, surreal and absurd. And there are puppets.
On Saturday 12th we have a Q&A panel after our midday show featuring the executive director of Safe and Equal, Victoria's peak policy body for family violence.

Tickets: https://www.theatreworks.org.au/program/phantasmagoria

It's s**t that women are having to tell these stories, but how else will anyone know?

There are acts of terrorism going on all around us in houses next door, down the street. All very everyday. Normal. Boring.

Happy International Women's Day.

Photo: Rick Evertsz


safeandequal





Theatre Works
Phantasmagoria

08/03/2022

Happy International Women's Day from Team Phantasmagoria! 💛

We are proud to have a team of creatives and performers largely comprised of talented women - creator Bernadette Agatha Trench-Thiedeman, director Cathy Hunt, dramaturg Emilie Collyer, lighting designer Giovanna Yate Gonzalez, stage manager Tamsin Otway, and performers Meg Dunn and Elnaz Sheshgelani. Celebrate today with the power of women's stories at Phantasmagoria! Tickets at: https://bit.ly/phant2022

📸 Parenthesy
L to R: Cathy Hunt, Emilie Collyer, Marlon Grunden, Bernadette Trench-Thiedeman, Yuchen Wang, Tamsin Otway, Di Toulson

07/03/2022

After a wonderful opening weekend, the reviews are rolling in...
✨ "Creative", "challenging", "refreshingly novel", and "innovative" are just a few of the ways reviewers have described this moving, magical, visual feast of a work.
Don't miss it, tickets at: https://bit.ly/phant2022

06/03/2022

"The story is brought to life in many ways as it jumps back and forth in time, and in and out of different worlds, real and imagined... It saunters into and explores the gaps that comes from missing pieces and imagining into those gaps to fill in what's missing... there is always humour to be found and the production... naturally teases out the laughter from the audience. It also begs the question if what is ingrained really leaves us at all?

If you're after a piece of theatre that will stretch your understanding to the very edge of its boundaries, trying to figure things out, you need to start booking now, as there are not many performance dates left."

WeekendNotes Melbourne

PHANTASMAGORIA explores the complex relationship between a woman and her violent father long after he has passed away.

04/03/2022

The portal has opened.

Phantasmagoria opened last night to an exuberant reception from a glorious audience of humans

Come experience - tonight Fri 4th March & Sat 5th March this week and Tues 8 to Sat 12 March

https://www.theatreworks.org.au/program/phantasmagoria

Photo by Rick Evertsz

01/03/2022

We are so very close to opening this show, so long in the coming! You can be amongst our first audiences tonight. Preview at 7:30pm, all tickets $20! https://bit.ly/phant2022 🚪🪴🦇♥️📻

28/02/2022

An insightful interview with Phantasmagoria creator Bernadette Agatha Trench-Thiedeman about why she called her show this

"Phantasmagoria is a word that connects into a theatrical tradition that originated in the seances of 18th century Europe.

These rituals and staged illusions were popular due to the fascination for making contact with the dead, and a diverse array of theatre makers, spirit mediums, charlatans and 'physicists' toured phantasmagoric shows around the world.

They used smoke, mirrors, pre-cinematic projection devices such as the camera obscura and special lighting techniques to bring the dead back to life. For me this was an obvious choice for the show, it's about bringing spirits onto the stage and playing with that idea in a sometimes serious but often absurd way."

At Theatre Works, opens this week!
Plays 2 - 12 March - tix available here: https://bit.ly/phant2022

"I began collecting stories about my father from my family 20 years ago, many years after he passed away. For me that process was a way of connecting to and understanding someone who I missed, but who I didn't truly understand." This week we catch up with Bernadette Trench-Thiedeman, creator behind the highly anticipated season of PHANTASMAGORIA (2-12 March).
Read the full interview: https://www.theatreworks.org.au/post/in-conversation-with-bernadette-trench-thiedeman
Book tickets: https://www.theatreworks.org.au/program/phantasmagoria