CUSP
About
How do you move into the future, when your past keeps dragging you backwards?
Elvis wants Rosie. Rosie wants to escape. Maddie doesn’t know what the hell she wants, but it sure isn’t this.
While Rosie weighs up the needs of community with her own life dreams, Elvis juggles a life of crime with a tougher path on the straight-and-narrow, and Maddie faces life as a single parent.
CUSP juxtaposes the Northern Territory’s vast Top End landscape with the turbulent lives of three emerging adults as they swim against the tide of irrevocable change; balancing choice versus fate in a world where, as Elvis observes “Some people just get better choices than others.”
‘CUSP’ is a love letter to the people and landscape of Australia’s Top End, in particular our youth, who hold the future so delicately and respectfully in their more-than-capable hands. We hope you enjoy this ride.
Mary Anne Butler, writer
Winner in the 53rd Annual AWGIE Awards for the category ‘Theatre for Young Audiences’.
Winner in the Northern Territory Literary Awards for the category ‘Brown’s Mart Theatre Award’.
‘CUSP’ was produced and created in partnership by the Australian Theatre for Young People and Brown’s Mart Theatre.
Cast & crew
CAST Josh McElroy, Nyasha Ogden and Stevie Jean
CREATIVES Page 1 Page 2 Page 3
Writer Mary Anne Butler
Director Fraser Corfield
Set Designer Cj Fraser-Bell
Lighting Designer Jessie Davis
Sound Designer Brad Fawcett
Sound Engineer Matt Cunliffe
Stage Manager Sorie Bangura
Stage Manager (Darwin Premiere Season) Scott Gooding
Dramaturg Jane FitzGerald
Cultural Consultant Rosealee Pearson
Resources
Reviews
I really enjoyed it. I grew up in rural Western Australia, it’s really, really refreshing for me to hear language and words and characters that I am familiar with.
Griffin Theatre, Sydney, Opening Night Reviews
The target audience might be decades younger than you, but this ATYP production grips regardless of age.
Jason Blake, AUDREY Review, 16 March 2020
Mary Anne Butler’s new play for ATYP amplifies youthful voices and depicts difficult choices faced by Top End teenagers on the threshold of adulthood.
Elissa Blake, AUDREY Review, 19 February 2020
This is a good, fast moving night at the theatre.
David Kary, Sydney Arts Guide, 15 March 2020
Butler’s scintillating dialogue keeps us engrossed in the personalities she introduces. Director Fraser Corfield brings sincerity and honesty to the play, creating a show with genuine resonances.
Suzy Wrong, Suzy Goes See, 13 March 2020