Pauline Agius

Director

• Melbourne,
• 03020
• AU

Melbourne fringe festival - Outside eye

Tales to be told

Theatre buff ... Pauline Agius is calling on Sunshine residents to share stories about the colourful suburb

Mind Art

SUNSHINE resident Pauline Agius hopes to bring the arts back to Brimbank with her latest production Manonita.The young director and writer from the Moving Theatre said the show was based on issues surrounding mental illness and the misconceptions people had about sufferers.

Curtain to be raised on locals' life stories

SUNSHINE residents have the chance to see their life stories come alive on stage. Local theatre company Moving Theatre is embarking on its most ambitious project, weaving together local lives as part of celebrations to mark Sunshine's 150th anniversary. Ms Agius said theatre offered a special opportunity to explore issues in an entertaining way and give the community a sense of pride.

Actors to Tackle challenging issues

THE harrowing story of an abused girl's battle with mental illness is set to continue Moving Theatre's aim to showcase the talents of young artists in the western suburbs.

Manonita

Madness is too glamorous a term to convey what happens to most people who are losing their minds. That word is too exciting, too literary, too interesting in its connotations, to convey the boredom, the slowness, the dreariness of your mind taking over… Madness is pure dullness, tedium straight up. “

Calling all Actors!

Entrepreneur ... Uni student Pauline Agius from Sunshine has started up her own theatre group, Moving Productions for young people in the Western suburbs

The Stage is Set

A local director has answered the call and started up a new theatre company, Moving Productions, which caters for young actors of all abilities.

Manonita

Manonita tells the story of the title character (played by Sarah Burnham) whose world is slowly unravelling. It seems that she can no longer distinguish between the voices in her head, and the world around her. This is an idea that has been used numerous times on stage and in other mediums, but what saves Manonita from becoming another dull excursion into the mind of madness, is the vitality that these performers bring to their performance. All of the performers inhabit their characters and bring a real energy to their performance which isn’t forced or contrived. In addition they never once cast judgement on Manonita, or force the audience to a conclusion. This is a mature way of handling such subject matter and it comes as a surprise from such young performers.

Moving Theatre, the company behind the production, are an ensemble of young performers (all under 25) who write and perform their own work. Manonita is directed expertly by Pauline Agius from a script by Aguis, Sean Moran and Sarah Burnham and they (and the ensemble) have tried very hard to build a world for the audience to inhabit. For the most part they have succeeded in creating a layered world which appears fully formed, but occasionally the artifice slips and we are aware that this is “theatre” that we’re watching. But this is minor complaint - if there is one genuine complaint it is that the show relies too heavily on blackouts and set movement that appears unnecessary and doesn’t add to the performance. Even so Moving Theatre are clearly a young company that should be encouraged and followed.

Obsession

I must admit I was wary about to heading to Sunshine on a cold and dreary Friday night. Partly because a dear friend of mine has been watching far too much Underbelly and warned me against heading to the Western suburbs, and partly because all I’ve ever heard about is the dodgy goings-on that occur in Sunshine. Because of these (unfounded) prejudices, The Euro Masonic Hall was the last place I expected to find a clever and darkly funny cabaret.

Director Pauline Agius has achieved the impossible with Obsession, she has brought inner-city culture to the outer suburbs and helped to dispel a few rumours about Sunshine.

The circus themed cabaret is inspired by those seven deadly sins that continue to plague society in one way or another. Combining music, dance, physical theatre and acrobatics is no easy feat, but the talented cast (all Western suburbs residents,) kept to the dynamic and quick-witted pace the cabaret set from the beginning.

Set in purgatory, seven characters are found guilty of their sins (Vanity, Lust, Greed etc.) and are given the chance to be redeemed or condemned. Through clever writing and wonderful musicianship the sinners take the audience on a journey of pain pleasure and everything in between. Through the moments that shape us, and the decisions that define us, Obsession makes you think about the consequences of a wrong decision and it possible cataclysmic effects.

Agius and Moving Theatre co-founder Sean Moran continue to bring the arts to Sunshine. For this alone they should be commended, young performers need an outlet and they are so often hard to come by beyond the CBD and inner suburbs.

Obsession is obviously a wonderful prelude of many more great things to come.

Life as a caberet

WERRIBEE actress Christine Mercante will soon take to the stage in Sunshine, as a cabaret character representing one of the seven deadly sins. The young performer and her fellow cast members are set to wow crowds in the show ‘Obsession’, which will be on as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival. The production is being presented by the Moving Theatre group, which was founded by young adults Pauline Agius and Sean Moran, with the aim of bringing arts to youth in the West. In ‘Obsession’, Ms Mercante, who is also an assistant producer, plays a character based on the sin greed, while the other actors are lust, envy, vanity, anger, sloth and gluttony. The cabaret is billed as a “tale of seven lives, seven sins and one decision that changes it all”. Ms Mercante, who is also a talented singer, will perform Madonna’s ‘Material Girl’ during the show. “My character’s the most flamboyant, with a Dame Edna-type personality,” she said. “I’m not like her at all, everyone who knows me knows I’m a pushover and I never stand up for myself. “I guess when I play her, I get to be a person I’m not, which is fun.” Ms Mercante said Moving Theatre also hoped to also take ‘Obsession’ on the road to the Adelaide Fringe Festival later this year. “At times we have the biggest laugh in rehearsals, but when it’s time to perform, it’s time to perform,” she said. “In our group, everyone’s there to have fun and because they love it, they don’t take it too seriously. We’re all good friends.” In addition to working full time and rehearsing ‘Obsession’, Ms Mercante is also a singer with the punk-rock band Your Local Hero, which has just recorded an EP.