Final Round

Final Round

by Ross Barrett

Directed by Martin Christmas

A moving play, an experienced Director and a dynamic cast: intimate theatre at its powerful best. Dave's facing death. Sol’s truck runs into a tree. Two very different males next to each other in the same ward. Nurse Sarah battles to keep the two from having a punch up on her shift. Then there’s the mysterious Algie? Male bonding or the Great Australian novel? Let the audience be the judge.

Ross Barrett, the writer. Final round is the seventh of Ross’s plays to be produced. Earlier work includes Footsteps at the Bakehouse Theatre, and the one person plays, Billy Hughes (Bakehouse Festival of One) and How We Beat the Favourite, based on the life of Adam Lindsay Gordon. His play Sherlock Holmes and “The Coming of the Fairies” was adjudged the best new play of 1994 by the Adelaide Advertiser.

Martin Christmas, the director, was the first graduate director from the Victorian College of the Arts. He directs, writes and teaches performing arts as a professional freelance. He was inaugural Artistic Director of Riverland Youth Theatre, has directed for Splash Theatre and the National Railway Museum, Adelaide, St Martin’s and La Mama, Melbourne, and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. With more than 100 large scale productions under his belt, Martin looks forward to the intimacy of working on Final Round.

Patrick Frost is one of Adelaide’s most respected actors, beginning his performance career in the 1960s with Theatre 62 and State Theatre Company. He has worked with the Melbourne Theatre Company, the Sydney Theatre Company and locally at the Bakehouse Theatre. His live theatre work includes Lion Pig Lion, Brilliant Lies, Twelfth Night and Blithe Spirit. His film credits include The Marriage Of Figaro, McLeod’s Daughters and Blue Heelers. He was narrator for 7 Network’s Australia’s Most Wanted. Patrick plays the role of Dave, the hack novelist who yearns to write the Great Australian Novel.

Cassandra Kane studied drama and directing at the University of South Australia and holds an Honours Bachelor of Psychology degree. Her live theatre work includes The Chester Mystery Plays and Adam Lindsay Gordon. Her film credits include Family Demons which won her Best Actress in the Fright Night Film Festival, Louisville, USA, and a lead role in Chuck Finn over 42 episodes. Cassandra plays Nurse Sarah, the catalyst who brings the older Dave and the younger Sol together.

Nathan Porteus is an acting graduate from Adelaide Centre for the Arts and while at the Centre played leading roles in Under Milk Wood, King Lear, and The Life of Galileo. His acting roles have been wide ranging, the latest in the puppet play Pigs In Wigs. Nathan has recently performed with Splash Theatre Company and Waxing Lyrical. His film credits include McLeod’s Daughters, The Hunter and Voodoo and Lou. Nathan is a passionate young performer who will play Sol, an emotionally disturbed truck driver whose about to go on the journey of his life.

Performance times vary. Please see the Adelaide Fringe Festival Guide for times during the season February 16th - March 6th