Essence Productions Brings Powerful and Funny Premiere Season to Melbourne Audiences

Published by: Sassy Red PR | 24-Jan-2021
A premiere season based on writer Alaine Beek's personal experience of traversing the mental challenges and funny moments of a cancer diagnosis, Jack and Millie is a witty, gritty and important new Australian work, complete with lashings of laughter. @EssenceProductionsMelbourne (FB) #essenceproductions #jackandmillie
Venue: Saltwater Community Centre Amphitheatre
Address: 153 Saltwater Prom, Point Cook, VIC
Date: 17 - 27 February, 2021
Time: Wed - Sat 8pm
Ticket: $35
Buy / Ticket: https://www.essenceproductions.com.au/jackandmillie
Web: https://www.essenceproductions.com.au
: https://www.facebook.com/EssenceProductionsMelbourne/
: https://www.instagram.com/essenceproductionsmelbourne/
EMail: info@essenceproductions.com.au
Call: 0439 690 091
Premiering this February, much lauded writer Alaine Beek shares a witty, gritty and important new Australian work based on her personal experience of traversing the mental challenges and funny moments of a cancer diagnosis.

Complete with lashings of laughter, 'Jack and Millie' brings together Beek, Phil Cameron-Smith, Green Room Award-winner Jennifer Vuletic and Director Nigel Sutton in the Saltwater Community Centre Amphitheatre to celebrate life, love, and the return of live theatre to Victorian stages and spaces.

Centring on Millie, a fifty-something professional at the peak of her career, 'Jack and Millie' explores how quickly a life can unravel with an unexpected cancer diagnosis. We all respond differently to life changing moments and Millie deals with her shocking news by creating an imaginary friend; Jack. Someone to help her make sense of a world that has been completely turned upside down.

A good friend asked me how I had remained so positive during my time with breast cancer and I told him I'd given my cancer a name; Jack. And that throughout that time it was like having a problematic, yet oddly comforting, friend sitting on my shoulder., explains Writer/Actor Alaine Beek.

My diagnosis was in 2011 so this year, 2021, it will be ten years since but Jack will never go away. There'll be that little seed of doubt that'll creep in when you least expect it and bang!, he's back. And then another friend of mine was explaining how she knows a boy who gave his cancer a name too and I thought, Wow! I'm not the only one. I heard other similar stories and I knew there was an opportunity here. An opportunity to share a wonderful and entertaining story.

Running since 2003, Essence Productions was founded by Alaine Beek with a focus on bringing Australian stories to life. They are the resident theatre company at Werribee Park where they have delighted audiences from across the globe every weekend for the past two decades. Other company productions include 'The Scrunch Test', 'What Was That?', 'Shepherd Kings', 'Down to Earth', 'Testing Nothing', 'A Good Coffee', and their season of 'Point of No Return', which toured nationally to rave reviews.

Running for eight shows only, this punchy premiere season offers theatre lovers the opportunity to return to live performance in a COVIDSafe, outdoor Summer setting. Perfect for an evening of drinks, art, and laughter at dusk.

Written by Alaine Beek
Directed by Nigel Sutton
Performed by Alaine Beek, Jennifer Vuletic and Phil Cameron-Smith
Sound Design by Mike Withers and Kevin Hopkins - Stage Manager Chris de Zeeuw
Marketing and Social Media by Luke Jamieson
Production photography by David Mullins

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