the last train to madeline
"One day I’ll look out my window and you’ll be standing in my driveway. You’ll be standing in my driveway and you’ll be home.”
It’s a sweltering small-town summer in Wangaratta when eight year olds Maddy and Luke first meet. Maddy is convinced of two things: her dad is a famous rockstar and if she travels the world for long enough she’ll eventually find him.
At 17, bored with the monotony of small town life and heady with first love, Maddy plans the pair’s escape to Melbourne.
At 23, Luke– who hasn’t seen Maddy in six years– has built a comfortable life for himself in Wangaratta. But when she appears unannounced in his driveway one evening, the pair are swept back together in a storm of adolescent nostalgia and their former selves, wondering where they have been without each other and where they are going next.
Writer // Callum Mackay
Director // Hayden Tonazzi
Producer & Production Manager // Harry Dowling
Set & Costume Designer // Savanna Wegman
Composer & Sound Designer // Oliver Beard
Stage Manager // Finn McLeish
Composer & Sound Designer // Michael Weir
Associate Producer // Seamus Allan
Cast // Ruby Maishman & Eddie Orton
Production Manager // Harry Dowling
Stage Manager // Milly Grindrod
WHAT DID SHE THINK (★★★★1/2)
“It is visually stunning, has sophisticated performances and design elements which are fully realised… the audience is the winner”
“about as perfect as you are going to get”
”It is rare in independent theatre to see sumptuous productions presented with all the quality of a major state theatre company”
THE BLURB
“the last train to madeline is, indeed, a very special production, one of the year’s best, in no short measure because of the tight direction of Hayden Tonazzi”
“I was hanging on every word in this brilliant play…”
“I am in awe of Maishman and Orton. Oh my, they are not just good; they are great. They exude the traits of eight, 17 and 23-year-olds with aplomb. They are so natural … so credible.”
ARTS HUB (★★★★)
”The Last Train to Madeline is an impressive new Australian play. Mackay has written an engaging and memorable story that is beautifully performed by Maishman and Orton.”
WHAT’S THE SHOW (★★★★)
“the dreamlike quality of the staging and the ruthlessly accurate adolescent dialogue made for exhilarating viewing”
AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW
“With a gentle hand, (Tonazzi) crafts intimate moments where his actors can shine. Maishman and Orton’s chemistry is electric, it’s easy to fall in love with these characters.”
