One Woman's Cautionary Tale Of A Silent But Deadly Disease

Stefanie Rossi makes her one-woman show debut at Holden Street Theatres this September with award-winning playwright Wendy Harmer's powerful, funny and inspiring show WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH MARY JANE?. Debuting at the Sydney Theatre Company in 1995, WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH MARY JANE is a both a devastating drama and a sardonic comedy that deals with one woman’s long struggle with eating disorders Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia and is as relevant to audiences today as it was when it was first performed.

Co-written by actor and creative Sancia Robinson, the play charts Sancia's harrowing downward spiral into a mental illness that nearly took her life and gives the audience a keen insight into her journey from a self-destructive pursuit for control and perfection to acceptance and recovery. It is a cautionary tale about a silent but deadly disease that consumes so many in our society and which is not as openly discussed or acknowledged as it should be for the psychological illness that it is. As the play unfolds, we join Sancia on her challenging path and mental illness is given a voice, an explanation and a cure as we are confronted with the question "what is it in this life that sends us quietly mad?" Equally informative as it is heart-wrenching, this is a compelling, moving and pertinent piece of theatre not to be missed!

ARTISTS' BIOS

STEFANIE ROSSI graduated from the Adelaide College of the Arts with an Advanced Diploma of Arts (Acting) in 2012 and has worked professionally in stage and film since. She also studied with 16th Street Actors Studio (Melbourne) as well as Rob Marchand and Tony Knight (Adelaide). Her theatre credits include Mr the Biting Flea McGee and (Patch Theatre), Macbeth (Foul Play), Patricia in William Mastrosimone’s Extremities (Tony Knight Productions), Velma Kelly in Chicago (Emma Knights Productions), Paula in Fefu And Her Friends (Joh Hartog Productions), and Izzy in Rabbit Hole (Joh Hartog Productions). Her theatre credits include Mr McGee and the Biting Flea (Patch Theatre), Velma Kelly in Chicago (Emma Knights Productions) and Izzy in Rabbit Hole (Joh Hartog Productions). In 2016 Stefanie took on lead roles in international award-winning webseries Freemales, Adelaide Film Festival feature Youth On The March and ABC iView series, Almost Midnight. In January 2018, Stefanie joined forces with Marc Clement and Tony Knight to form STARC Productions and over the last five years their credits include Gardener McKay's Toyer, Jim Cartwright's TWO, Suzie Miller’s Reasonable Doubt, Neil Simon's Last Of The Red Hot Lovers, David Ives’ All In The Timing, Terence McNally’s Frankie & Johnny in the Clair de Lune, David Ives' Venus In Fur and Nick Payne's Constellations. STARC was nominated for an award in Outstanding Achievement in Professional Theatre for their 2019 season by the Adelaide Critics Circle. During the 2018 Adelaide Fringe, Stefanie performed the role of Azra in UK production company Smokescreen Production’s staging of Mengele and went on to perform lead roles in Smokescreen Productions’ shows All Change and Mengele at the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe. During the 2019 Adelaide Fringe, Stefanie performed with UK companies Oyster Creative and Smokescreen Productions in their productions Oysters, All Change and JUDAS respectively and went onto perform in the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe in Mengele and JUDAS. At the end of 2018, Stefanie was awarded the Emerging Artist Of The Year Award for 2018 by the Adelaide Critic’s Circle. She currently works with Adelaide and Flinders Universities with their training doctors, teaches singing and acting privately and is in the throes of writing a one-woman cabaret show.

TONY KNIGHT was educated at Sydney Grammar School, trained at the Drama Centre London, and is a B.A. (Hons.) graduate from Sydney University. He was the Head of Acting at Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), training some of Australia’s most celebrated national and international actors, such as Cate Blanchett, Sam Worthington, and Anna Torv, as well as local Adelaide actors, including Elena Carapetis, Genevieve O’Reilly, Adam Tuominen, Sarah Snook, Ben Welford, and Kate Box. Tony has taught, directed and lectured in many parts of the world, including Australia, the USA, Japan, Romania, Singapore and Tonga. Currently living in Adelaide, South Australia, Tony is continuing to teach, direct and produce work of the highest standard, as well as regularly writing theatre reviews for the national Australian theatre magazine, Stage Whispers. He has worked for SA Casting, Angela Heesom Casting, and TAFE CPA, the NIDA Open Program, University of South Australia, and the University of Adelaide. Furthermore, Tony has held two highly successful photographic exhibitions for the SALA Festival in Adelaide. Tony has recently returned to Adelaide after directing a highly successful production of Shakespeare’s As You Like It for Lakespeare in Canberra. He is currently teaching from his own studio – The Actor’s Studio (Scarlett-Media). In 2018 co-founded a new professional theatre company, STARC PRODUCTIONS. Over the past number of years STARC has delivered a significant and successful body of work, specialising in two-person plays, and earning high praise – quality theatre at affordable prices, and ‘making the Ordinary “Extraordinary”! All these productions were staged at The Bakehouse Theatre. It was an honour and privilege to be a small part of the history of this important and influential theatre. It was a great journey.

STEPHEN DEAN believes that lighting has as much importance to a theatre piece as the performers. He also works as a venue technician and writes for CX magazine and Ramblings of a Techie. Stephen’s recent lighting designs include STARC’s “Venus In Fur”, SA Playrights “Bordertown” and “The Double Bass” presented by Cranking Hog Productions , just to name a few out of dozens. He has designed for several companies including Factory Space theatre in Sydney - including Macbeth, How I met my mother and Devil’s Caress -and the Hunter Valley Summer Theatre. He also designed the lighting and audio for “Seventeen” for the Theatre Guild in 2019. He has worked in Edinburgh, London, and Sydney. Stephen was also resident Lighting Designer/Technical Manager for all of the Bakehouse Theatre Fringe shows. He has his own production company, BallyHoo Productions, technical services for theatre. His design for “Brilliant Traces” by Joh Hartog productions received rave reviews.