Atrocity: SomniuM

An already established Melbourne icon, ATROCITY is seeking a dedicated, mature and courageous performer to join the troupe and explore the darker side of theatre. This role requires physicality, subtlety and a 'think outside the square' approach. Performers will be challenged beyond conventional theatrics and will bring their own unique perspective to the role. ATROCITY: Somnium (Melbourne Fringe Festival - September/October 2011) Set in the world of a child’s deepest dreams, Atrocity: SomniuM is a mixture of madness, mayhem and warped memory – where fragments of lifetimes past and chilling echoes of a life yet to be play out on the painted stage of one little girl’s nightmare. Like a grotesque fairy-tale, a suffocating plunge down the rabbit hole or a deep exploration of the shadows behind the looking glass, it’s haunting and haunted characters weave a tangled web of beauty, truth and horror designed to ensnare…entice…and forever steal away the last vestiges of an already fractured innocence. Hushabye...don't you cry... NOTE- Atrocity shows are rated R18+ and may contain strong violence, simulated sex, partial nudity, coarse language, sexual violence, gore, horror and scenes/themes/concepts/images that may offend. Mature applicants only. Location: Victoria, Australia Payment details: Paid per performance. ROLE: Guignol Gender: Male Age: 18-35 years Appearance: 16-25 years Singing? Yes – any range. Accents: French, US Cockney & English Musical Skills: Some piano playing skills required. Other instruments an advantage. Circus Skills: Advantage. Physicality: High physicality required. A nimble, trickster of a hellequin, Guignol is a reflection of ‘the Fool that is Man.’ Conjured from the ether by Anton De Lorde, he exists only in the now – with hardly a memory of who and what he was before. Surefooted, theatrical…an entertainer of grandiose proportions, he dazzles his audiences with every vestige of show…a myriad of circus arts, theatrics, singing and dancing designed to blind all and any to his true nature. On the surface he is boyishly charming, entertaining, playful and carefree…only his eyes betray a deeper and darker intent and the anger, pain and dangerous perversions that lurk beneath the surface. At his core, Guignol is a murderer, a child-rapist, a liar and a misogynist, with little to no feeling for those unfortunate enough to step into the whirlwind of his destructive path He sees, he wants, he takes, he destroys…like a child playing with toys that are picked up, broken and discarded for something newer and more colourful minutes later. Every now and again, for a fleeting moment, something of the past will echo behind his gaze – a confused and scant second of déjÁ  vu that floors him and halts his gleeful thirst for destruction. He may hear a whisper of a song…he may stare too long at something or someone he once knew…or thinks he may have known. These moments are few and far between, and once they pass it is as if they were never there, and only the monster remains.