Wolf Lullaby

by Hilary Bell, presented by Oily Rag Theatre

Reviews

''Sit back and watch as each actor faultlessly play their roles, most notably Shannon Gray as Lizzie Gael, the prime suspect of only nine years old. Her parents (brilliantly played by Heather Crawford and Lyndon Cullen-Reid) torn between protecting their child while also trying to ignore their instincts. Both fighting against the reality that their daughter may have done it. But did she? ''

- Weekend Notes

"Hilary Bell’s script requests that Lizzie be played by an adult actor, and in this production it’s Shannon Gray, whose energy, physicality and vocal work make her a worryingly convincing child."

- Glam Adelaide

"Oily Rag Theatre is to be congratulated for undertaking a play which stretches the audience and opens up so many lines of discussion. Good theatre should always achieve this."

- 5MBS

About Wolf Lullaby by Hilary Bell

A young boy is found dead in a popular children's play spot and suspicion quickly falls on nine-year-old Lizzie Gael. Local policeman Ray is already set against Lizzie following a recent shoplifting incident. Her father Warren is outraged at what he perceives as a witch hunt against his daughter. But her mother Angela is torn between her natural instinct to protect her child and a growing fear that Lizzie did the deed. Lizzie herself can only give increasingly strange and contradictory accounts of her movements on the day in question, and wakes up screaming from nightmares in which a menacing "wolf" looms out of the darkness to devour her.

Hilary Bell's 'Wolf Lullaby' is a dark psychological thriller that explores themes including parental responsibility and the "nature versus nurture" debate, and asks the audience to consider what they would do if they suspected a loved one of an unthinkable crime.

Cast & Creatives

CAST: Heather Crawford, Lyndon Cullen-Reid, Shannon Gray, Damien White

DIRECTOR: Kristin Telfer

DESIGNER: Shannon Norfolk

Oily Rag Theatre

Oily Rag Theatre is a new community theatre group in Adelaide, run by Kristin Telfer and Shannon Norfolk. Kristin and Shannon met many years ago and have done several shows together, mostly with the former Spotlight Theatre Company and Moore Books SA. In 2017 Moore Books SA generously assisted Kristin in mounting a production of Ariel Dorfman’s “Death and the Maiden”, which she directed and Shannon designed. The play received tiny audiences but fantastic reviews, and the experience encouraged Kristin and Shannon to form their own group and endeavour to continue producing thought-provoking and entertaining shows on, well, the smell of an oily rag! Kristin directs, Shannon designs, and they share production duties.

Adelaide Review Interview

“The big discussion here is about how a child can do something this evil,” says Telfer of Oily Rag Theatre’s debut production. “It asks, is evil something people are just born with, or something that’s happened to them in their life? Is it something in Lizzie’s parents’ genes that they’ve passed on to her, or something they’ve done wrong in bringing her up, or something that just happened and the families of Lizzie and the murdered boy are victims of circumstance?”