SYNOPSIS

At the urging of Henry Lawson’s mother Louisa (a famed early feminist), Henry becomes a guide to the young Mary Gilmore, who arrives in Sydney from the country. What follows is a story of a friendship destined for true love and preparation for a likely marriage. Sadly the partnership is thwarted by a deception.

Henry: And if it wasn’t for the letters...Mary: Ah yes, the letters.Henry: You’d have waited for me till I came back?Mary: I wrote to you that I would.Henry: And I replied that my lover’s heart leapt so I thought it’d never settle back.Mary: Do you think your mother kept that letter or threw it away?Henry: Do you wish you’d seen it?

The theft of their love letters by Henry’s mother is not revealed for years to come, by which time their lives have moved in separate directions. But the love remained and is the essence of their story. Their letters to each other form the heart of the play. These letters are on record and have not been altered (other than shortened) although much of the dialogue contained in the script between the characters is surmise.

A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR

The play is memory. Being a memory play, it is dimly lighted, it is sentimental, it is not realistic. In memory everything seems to happen to music… The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams I love the combination of intense emotion – albeit often suppressed – with the verbal frisson of two articulate people, ahead of their time in their thinking and writing. The poetry of the protagonists – and of course extracts from their letters – make for a highly evocative work that is very theatrical in the best sense. It has been a real pleasure to develop this work with two long-time collaborators, the writer Anne Brooksbank and composer Jack Ellis.

MUSIC CREDITS

All My Love Theme by Jack EllisBy Arrangement with the Licensor, Jack Ellis, c/- Curtis Brown (Aust) Pty Ltd

Friendly Day & Barroom Ballet by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Pleasant Moments by Scott JoplinSeminary Music Co. New York, NY 1909

THIS PERFORMANCE CONTAINS A 20 MINUTE INTERVAL

A production by Christine Harris & HIT ProductionsAustralia’s Premier Theatre Touring Company

All My Love is supported by theVictorian Government through Creative Victoria

Christine Harris & HIT Productions would like to sincerely acknowledge and thank The Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre, Penrith for their support in presenting the

World Premiere of All My Love.

CAST AND CREATIVES BIOGRAPHIES

DION MILLS – Henry Lawson A member of the Red Stitch ensemble since 2002 his credits include Wet House, Eurydice, The Flick, Herding Cats, Penelope, Stop. Rewind, Good People, Day One. A Hotel, Evening, Princess Dramas, The City, Creditors, That Face, Fatboy, Yellow Moon, Pool (No Water), Motortown, Harvest, Fewer Emergencies, Hellbent, The Country, Pugilist Specialist, Outlying Islands, The Day Room, The Night Heron, Raised in Captivity, Jesus Hopped the A Train and Where’s My Money?. Other stage credits include The Trouble with Harry (MKA), Black Box 149 (La Mama), Acts of Deceit (La Mama), Weary and Under Milk Wood (both McPherson Touring). TV includes It’s a Date, Woodley, Conspiracy 365, City Homicide and Stingers. Film is Killer Elite.

KIM DENMAN – Mary Gilmore With an Associate Diploma in Performing Arts, Kim continued her training with Stella Pulo of the Actors Studio, Leonid Verzub of the Moscow Arts Theatre, and most recently with Ivana Chubbuck. Kim has worked in theatre, film and TV for over 20 years. Theatre includes The Rivers of China for Don’t Look Away, Truth & Brutality for La Mama, Debrief for Theatreworks, The Fire Raisers for Wax Studio, Macbeth for Arthouse Theatre Company, and The Good Woman of Setzuan for Fabricated Theatre Ensemble. In QLD, Kim performed with The Edge Theatre Company in Medea and Dusa, Fish, Stas & Vi. She also played Anita in West Side Story for Twelfth Night Theatre. Film includes Spring Rhapsody and Living Color and many award winning short films. TV includes Blue Heelers, Eugenie Sandler P.I., most recently Rhonda Brooks in Neighbours.

CHRISTINE HARRIS & HIT PRODUCTIONS – ProducerChristine Harris is the Managing Director of Melbourne based company HIT Productions Pty Ltd. In 2015 Christine celebrated her 22nd anniversary as a significant Australian producer. Since Christine’s first touring production of Hotel Sorrento in 1999, she has delivered some of the most extensive tours ever staged in Australia such as Menopause The Musical®, David Williamson’s The Club, Travelling North, Let The Sunshine, When Dad Married Fury and Managing Carmen, Louis Nowra’s Cosi and Joanna Murray-Smith’s Love Child. Recognised as Australia’s Premier Theatre Touring Company, HIT is committed to touring outstanding mainstream productions, with a major focus on Australian playwrights, to metropolitan, regional and remote venues Australia wide.

ANNE BROOKSBANK – PlaywrightAnne’s first play, Down Under, co-authored with her husband Bob Ellis, was produced at the Stables Theatre in Sydney and published by Currency Press. All My Love represents her second full-length play. Her extensive portfolio of television and film writing credits has seen her receive six AWGIES, and includes another collaboration with Denny Lawrence on a television film, Army Wives, evolved from a series of newspaper articles. She is the author of eight books including Marriage Acts which was adapted from a screenplay, and the novel of All My Love, first published by William Heinemann. She has an MA in English Literature and has taught writing for performance including at the Sydney University, UTS, Macquarie University, TAFE and AFTRS.

DENNY LAWRENCE – DirectorDenny has worked in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, U.K. and USA as an actor, writer, producer and director in film, theatre and television. His many screen credits include four feature films, numerous telemovies and miniseries and literally hundreds of hours of series television. Many of his productions have won nominations and awards, including at the Australian Film Institute and BAFTA Awards. He was producer and director on the ABC series MDA, which gained an International Emmy Award nomination and won an AFI Award for Best Series and Best Actor and Actress. He has also won a number of awards for screenwriting. He continues to work regularly in theatre where his credits include the award-winning. Sky (Ensemble Theatre) The Old Boy (Ensemble) A Woman Knows (Tisch New Theatre, NY) A Soldier Dreams (Theatre East, NY). For Red Stitch in Melbourne he directed Loyal Women, Belleville and the recent acclaimed production of Love Love Love. His next production for HIT will be Educating Rita.

JACOB BATTISTA – DesignerJacob Battista completed a Bachelor of Production at the VCA. Design credits include, The Lonely Wolf (Set) – Dirty Pretty Theatre/MTC Neon; Therese Raquin (Set) - Dirty Pretty Theatre; Avenue Q – The Musical (Set and Costumes – Trifle Theatre; Carrie The Musical (Set & Costumes) – Ghost Light; Love, Love, Love (Set), Jumpers for Goalposts (Set and Costumes), Belleville (Set &Costumes) and Out Of The Water (Set) – Red Stitch; and for HIT Productions - Love Letters (Set & Costumes), The 39 Steps (Set) and They’re Playing Our Song (Associate Designer) and Just The Ticket (Set).He has also had positions with the MTC, The Australian Ballet, Opera Australia and The Production Company .

CHRIS HUBBARD – Sound DesignerChris Hubbard has enjoyed an extensive career as a sound designer and operator, having worked on more than 60 plays and musicals over two decades in Australia and London, including The Producers, Les Miserables, West Side Story, Into The Woods, Guys and Dolls, Sweeney Todd, Chicago, Jesus Christ Superstar, The King and I, The Boy From Oz, The Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, Jersey Boys, Chicago, Mary Poppins and Rock Of Ages. For HIT Productions: Motherhood The Musical, Menopause The Musical®, The Sum of Us, Menopause The Musical® IN CONCERT, Let the Sunshine, When Dad Married Fury, Diving for Pearls, It’s My Party (And I’ll Die If I Want To), They’re Playing Our Song, Managing Carmen, Love Letters, Just The Ticket, The One Day of the Year and Australia Day.

SOPHIE WOODWARD – Wardrobe CoordinatorSince graduating from Victorian College of the Arts, Sophie Woodward has made a distinct contribution to a diverse range of productions, recent work Includes: set and costume design for Letters from the Border (Director: Travis Dowling) at Hot House Theatre; set and costume design for Wet House (Director: Brett Cousins) and costume design for Love, Love, Love. (Director: Denny Lawrence) at Red Stitch Theatre; set and costume design for Patient 12 (Director: Don Mackay) at La Mama Courthouse; and, wardrobe stylist for Life is Better Blonde’s video clip Mine.