HER PRODUCTIONS makes their Sydney Debut with Clare McIntyre's LOW LEVEL PANIC
With great excitement, HER Productions is realising big dreams as this local Newcastle company heads to Sydney for the first time. Low Level Panic is the second production produced by HER, and already their work is being recognised by reputable production houses such as bAKEHOUSE at KXT.
Beyond harbouring an innate passion to craft compelling and profound art, producers Marigold Pazar and Charlotte De Wit, have from the inception of the company, nurtured aspirations to produce work in Newcastle that meets the high standards acknowledged in major city theatre communities. Where expectations for working artists are to be paid, and where the vibrant diversity in the cultural landscape is celebrated, acknowledged, and actively nurtured.
By producing opportunities to tread the boards in both Newcastle and Sydney, HER hopes to serve as a beacon for professional working artists in Newcastle and to contribute to a cultural shift, offering a network of support to artists within their home town where immense talent and readiness for artistic collaboration is thriving.
Low Level Panic could not be a more appropriate and wonderfully empowering play for this small, female-founded company's debut in Sydney. With this production, HER is ready to offer a profoundly intimate yet extraordinary exploration of the female narrative to a significantly larger audience than ever possible in Newcastle. Notably, it marks the first occasion where both producers, taking on leading roles, also share the the stage together, adding an extra layer of significance to this meaningful debut on the Sydney stage.
Low Level Panic directed by Maike Strichow offers a close-up and personal look into the private lives of three female housemates set in the mid 1990's, the events of which all unfold within the confines of a their shared bathroom. The audience is invited to be a fly on the wall, becoming a silent witness to their shared moments. The artistic exploration the production takes on allows for a profound examination of the complexities faced by each woman as they navigate daily existence in a world saturated with hyper-sexualised media and dominated by the male gaze.
Though the play was written in 1988, Maike Strichow has shifted the setting to sit somewhere in the mid 90's, bringing it slightly closer to our audience of today, while still telling a story of a time we can reflect back on.
"It is clear we have come so far when you read the play and react to the language and choices that the characters make. Some of the things they say to one another seem so uncomfortable now, and dated, and that's important to note. But then there are other over-aching themes that are still just as prevalent today, that still affect women on a daily bases that still need to be heard and still need to change."
Low Level Panic by Clare McIntyre premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in 1988, winning the Samuel Beckett Award.
Photos by Georgia Griffiths
