THE MERRY GO ROUND IN THE SEA

by arrangement with The Agency (London) Ltd, 24 Pottery Lane, London W11 4LZ ‘A wonderfully accurate, unsentimental and moving adaptation of Stow’s classic novel’ It is 1941, Australian soldiers are fighting overseas and in Geraldton locals dig air raid trenches in their backyards, just in case. Six-year-old Rob Coram idolises his enigmatic older cousin Rick, and his idyllic existence on the west coast of Australia is disrupted when Rick volunteers for active service. Interned by the Japanese, Rick struggles to survive, just as Rob will struggle to overcome the void created by Rick's absence and to understand the disillusioned man who returns. Adapted by Dickon Oxenburgh and Andrew Ross from Randolph Stow's classic novel, The Merry-Go-Round in the Sea captures the restless spirit of post-war Australia. The director, Amanda Crewes graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, with a Bachelor of Arts (Performing Arts) and a Certificate in Musical Theatre in 1998. She has since gone on to perform with Perth Theatre Company (‘Baby Boomer Blues’), Kompany M (‘Luv Struk, Fair Dinkum’), Handzon Theatre (‘Lip Stick Dreams’, ‘Wedding Games’), Barking Gecko (‘Alice @ Wonderland’, Rodeo Kid’), Melbourne’s Playbox Theatre (‘Dead Silence’) and several professional independent theatre groups in shows such as Italian American Reconciliation, Wolfe Lullaby and Conundrum - for which she received a Guild Nomination for best supporting actress. Her most recent performance was as Mercy in GRADS’ ‘The Man from Mukinupin’.