Heroin(e) For Breakfast by Phillip Stokes
Holden Street Theatres & Horizon Arts Ltd in Assoc. with Richard Jordan Productions Ltd & Ralph Dartford Associates...
FUNNY AND IRREVERENT. Sex, drugs and Marilyn. A flat, three people live there... credit crunch... global warming... war on terror... cold play... reasons to be cheerful? ... 1: Heroin.... Values and national pride have been replaced by text messages and shit TV, but Heroin puts the great back into Britain. WATCH HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
2010 ADELAIDE FRINGE REVIEWS
***** 5 STARSTHE ADVERTISER - Louise Nunn.
IT'S 2009 and things are bad in Britain. There's the war on terror and the GFC. But who cares when you've got sex, drugs and daytime TV?
Three young people sharing a flat trade foul-mouthed insults until Heroin(e) appears.
A sparkling blonde dressed like Marilyn Monroe, she lights up the room. From the characters' perspective it's all downhill from there in this brilliantly conceived and performed work from Britain's Horizon Arts. With the fourth wall collapsing before our eyes the audience has little alternative but to strap in for the ride. Theatre's power and all its possibilities are here.
Scathing, bleak, funny and real, and a little too close to home. Don't miss it.
Heroin(e) for Breakfast, holden Street Theatres, until March 14 *****Public comment from "Have your say"
• chris eyre of wakefield uk Posted at 9:43 AM February 18, 2010 I have seen this play twice in the UK. I thought the acting was amazing and the script quick funny and dark very thought provoking the actors are all believable in there roles but I am bias because Tommy is my nephew. When I saw it in craigs (Tommy) home town Wakefield you could have heard a pin drop all the way through the act. We laughed at the antics and cried at the sadness. I hope to see it again when back in UK at the end of the year. I hope they blow you all away with this fantastic production 5***** all the way
****1/2 4.5 STARSRIP IT UP - Adrian Miller.
Final Word: Challenging.RIP IT UP - Adrian Miller.
The publicity for this show focuses on it being funny and irreverent, but don’t go along expecting light entertainment. There are some brilliantly funny lines but it’s also unpleasant and tragic. What begins as a saucy romp with Tommy sharing a flat with two women, Chloe and Edie, starts to turn sour when they are visited by Heroin(e). The depiction of Heroin(e) as a Marilyn Monroe figure is a masterstroke, as Tommy’s obvious weakness for women is mirrored in the sensuous attraction of the drug. There are strong performances from the cast as characters begin as caricatures but develop into deeply troubled individuals. Depending on your viewpoint this is either cutting edge theatre or just too bleak and harrowing. The person next to me gave it a standing ovation.
Reviews From The UK
***** “terrific theatre... a comedy that’s black “but not in a racist way”....” – The Stage ***** “The writing is sparking and the invention second to none” – British Theatre Guide ***** “one of the finest pieces at this year's Edinburgh Fringe” – Fringe Review
A$25, C $20, Prv $15, FB $20, Bank SA $21
Cast Biogs
Craig McArdle – Tommy
Training- BA (hons) Theatre at Calderdale College
- HND Theatre Studies at Wakefield College
- Removal Man in Fat Friends (Rollem Productions) July 04
- PA in Cutting It (BBC) Jan 03
- Patient in Emmerdale (YTV) June 02
- James The Cruel Game Chris Taylor Productions April 07
- Frank Confi dentially Phase 4 Films Jan 05
- Nico in Ruby Quicksilver (Jaba inc) May 05
- Mr Muddle in The Crystals & The Muddles (CragRats) Aug - Oct 02
- Anthony Sacrifice in Who Abducted Mickey Rourke? (Wakefield College) May 02
Kirsty Green – Chloe
Training- HND Theatre - Wakefield College
- Bar Customer in A Night At Rob McAlister's (Dean & Ben Jagger)
- The Other Being in We Fade To Black (Wakefield College)
- Madame De Tourvel in Dangerous Liaisons (Wakefield College)
- Nazi Nurse in Gone Blonde (Wakefield College)
- Car Crash Victim in Fixed Penalty (Tour) (Wakefield College)
- Felicity in Glitterati (Wakefield College)
- Renne Bixby in Chicagesque (Wakefield College)
- Alexandra in Choir of Secrets (Wakefield College)
- Frenchy in Grease (Knottingley Drama Group)
Kate Daly – Edie
Training- Wakefield College BTEC national Diploma In performing arts
- Victoria School of Dance (1994 - 2004)
- 1st Piccolo in The Musicians (The Royal National Theatre London)
- Tatiana in Shut up (Steven Joseph Theatre Scarborough)
- Jealousy in The Pure Demise (Wakefield Arts Centre)
- No. Fifty The Newbie in The Policy of Truth (Horizon Arts)
- Zoe in The Last Christmas (Horizon Arts)
- Katherine Denial in Murder in the Park (Thornes Park, Wakefield)
- Bridget The Troll in The Madness, The Darkness and The Dancer (Horizon Arts)
- Molly/ Helen in Road (Wakefield Arts Centre)
- E-Head in Who Wants to be The Disco King (Wakefield Theatre Royal)
Hayley Shillito – Heroine
Training- Master class with Patrick Stewart (2005)
- Horizon Arts Theatre Company (2003 on)
- Impact Theatre Company (2005)
- BA (hons) Drama at Huddersfield University (2004 - 2005)
- HND Theatre Studies at Wakefield College (2002 - 2004)
- Risky Things T.I.E Theatre Company (2003)
- Erin in Unforgiven
- Air Hostess in Emmerdale (YTV)
- Bar Maid in The Royal Today (YTV)
- Professional Theatre Work
- Sarah Morgan in Elvis Hates Me! (Horizon Arts, Zoo Venues)
- Honey Winters in Coffin on the Catwalk (Murder One UK Tour)
- Lyndsay in The Last Christmas (Horizon Arts, Wakefield Arts Centre)
- Man Hater in My Filthy Hunt (Horizon Arts, Zoo Venues & UK Tour)
- Girl X in Everyone Should Have a Gun (Horizon Arts, Zoo Venues)
MEDIA RELEASE
Part comedy, part tragedy, part farce and part morality tale, Heroin(e) for Breakfast is a riotous and irreverent look at how heroin can put the Great back into Britain, premiering at the Holden Street Theatres from the 16th of February
It’s 2009. It’s not pleasant. The zeitgeist is fucked. A flat. 3 people live there. 1 visits. It’s not pleasant. Changing Rooms would be fucked. Credit Crunch, Global warming, The War on Terror. Coldplay … Reasons to be cheerful? 1: HEROIN.
Tommy is British. Tommy loves his country. He has T-Shirts that say so. He loves football. He has T-shirts that say so. He loves Oasis. He has T-shirts that say so. Tommy loves Heroin. Heroine loving T-Shirts on are difficult to find. Heroin is the last great British institution. Unaffected by ‘Suit wearing, self righteous, right wing bastards’, he is the Winston Churchill of Smack Heads. Afghanistan? Bomb ‘em. Just bring the smack back safely. Tommy is a pioneer. Tommy is a revolutionary. Tommy is a modern day Che Guevara. He has a T-shirt that proves this. He got it from Debenhams (Australian equivalent - Myer).
Edie is British. She considers herself a “European”. She’s only ever been to France... Edie thinks Tommy is amazing. She might be in “love”. But she doesn’t like to label things. She’s been his “girlfriend” for 4 months. But she doesn’t like to label things. Edie thinks the sixties were amazing. She buys retro clothes. From TopShop (Australian equivalent – Sportsgirl). Edie likes to smoke weed. It frees her mind, man. She’s never taken Heroin. She agrees with Tommy that the middle classes attach too much stigma to it. Her disapproving mother disapproves. She reads Jack Kerouac and Heat magazine (Australian equivalent New Weekly).
Chloe is British. Tommy introduced Chloe to Heroin. She quit 4 days ago. Now she concentrates on not taking it ever EVER again. Chloe was Tommy’s girlfriend for over 5 years. Chloe used to be an English Student. She didn’t graduate. Didn’t want to. Tommy convinced her education was inferior to chemical stimulation. As Tommy sleeps she plots to kill him. She despises Edie. Edie has choices. Chloe doesn’t. Chloe is the original angry young man. Just angrier. And not a man. She’ll have her revenge. If she can be arsed.
Heroine is a film star. A sex symbol. Dead. The presence of Heroin(e) within the house uncovers a whole web of deceit, denial and devastation that Tommy, Edie and Chloe may live (or not live) to regret as this black comedy takes a turn for the worse.
Horizon Arts was established in the summer of 2003 to create original, provocative and engaging theatre. Based at Wakefield Arts Centre, they began by creating full-scale productions using young actors from the West Yorkshire area. Heroin(e) for Breakfast is the company’s 11th production. Their fifth show, Everyone Should have a Gun, was the first to be premiered at the Edinburgh Festival and was critically recognized for its distinctive house style and unique take on ‘Theatre for a New Generation’. My Filthy Hunt (5* - The Scotsman) and Elvis Hates Me! (5* - Rolling Stone) premiered at Edinburgh in 2007 and 2008 respectively and solidified the company’s reputation with audiences and critics alike.
