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'Corrigan is a town populated by barnacles: hard shells that clench themselves shut and choose not to know.'
'Charlie Bucktin is a geeky thirteen-year-old living in a country WA town in 1965. He's probably the only teenager who reads books in a town that's sport mad. His best mate Jeffrey Lu is Vietnamese, and isn't having such a good time of things either.
'Jasper Jones is an Indigenous 14 year-old that lives on the outside of town and the wrong side of the tracks. One summer night, Jasper takes Charlie to his secret glade in the bush. Charlie witnesses a terrible discovery and is suddenly embroiled in a plot with more twists and turns than any of the novels he so dearly loves.
'Barking Gecko is thrilled that talented playwright and actor Kate Mulvany will adapt Craig Silvey's multiple award-winning, best-selling novel, Jasper Jones for WA audiences.' (Production summary)
Part one of teaching resources, via Melbourne Theatre Company.
Part two of teaching resources, via Melbourne Theatre Company.
Performed at Studio Underground; State Theatre Centre of WA 18 July - 09 August 2014.
Director: John Sheedy.
Set & Costume: Designer Michael Scott Mitchell.
Lighting Designer: Trent Suidgeest.
Sound Designer: Ben Collins.
Performed at the Belvoir St Theatre, Upstairs Theatre, 2 January - 7 February 2016.
Director: Anne-Louise Sarks.
Set Designer: Michael Hankin.
Costume Designer: Mel Page.
Lighting Designer: Matt Scott.
Composer & Sound Designer: Steve Toulmin.
Cast: Tom Conroy, Kate Mulvany, Lasarus Ratuere, Matilda Ridgway, Steve Rodgers, and Charles Wu.
Produced by Melbourne Theatre Company at the Sumner, Southbank Theatre, 1 August to 10 September 2016.
Director: Sam Strong.
Set and Costume Designer: Anna Cordingley.
Lighting Designer: Matt Scott.
Composer and Sound designer: Darrin Verhagen.
Voice and Dialect Coach: Leith McPherson.
Assistant Director: Justine Campbell.
Cast: Ian Bliss (Mr Bucktin / Warwick), Nicholas Denton (Charlie Bucktin), Taylor Ferguson (Laura / Eliza Wishart), Rachel Gordon (Mrs Bucktin), Guy Simon (Jasper Jones), Hayden Spencer (Mad Jack), and Harry Tseng (Jeffrey Lu).
Performed at Belvoir Upstairs Theatre, Surry Hills, New South Wales : 25 January - 19 February 2017.
Director: Anne-Louise Sarks.
Set Designer: Michael Hankin.
Costume Designer: Mel Page.
Lighting Designer: Matt Scott.
Composer and Sound Designer: Steve Toulmin.
Fight Choreography: Scott Witt.
Choreographer: Sara Black.
Indigenous Advisor: Jada Alberts.
Cast including Tom Conroy, Matilda Ridgway, Guy Simon, and Hoa Xuande.
Produced by the State Theatre Company of South Australia and Flinders University at the Dunstan Playhouse, 16 August to 7 September 2019.
Director: Nescha Jelk.
Designer: Ailsa Paterson.
Lighting Designer: Nigel Levings.
Composer and Sound Designer: Andrew Howard.
Cast including James Smith and Elijah Valadian-Wilson.
'When asked by Melbourne Theatre Company about the changes made in her adaptation of Craig Silvey's novel Jasper Jones (2009), Mulvany noted that although it is 'his book on stage … it's also important ultimately for it to be a Kate Mulvany play'. This is important when analysing Jasper Jones and also Mulvany's adaptation of the picturebook Masquerade (1979) by Kit Williams. Mulvany, a significant figure in contemporary Australian theatre for her work as an actor and a playwright, has been lauded for possessing a 'remark- able' quality, which is 'deliciously unpredictable and courageous', and 'totally inhabited and transforming'. Mulvany has seen global recognition for her acting, and as a writer, with her adaptation of Medea - co-written with Anne-Louise Sarks - being staged in Auckland, Dublin and London. Her other plays have remained in Australia, typically having short seasons and occasional revivals. Although I credit Mulvany as an adaptor − as she has written five successful adapted works − Mulvany sees herself simply as a playwright. She notes, 'I don't adapt. I write. I'm a playwright … And if it's an adaptation of a play or a book or a film, it's usually an adaptation of an event … taking a real-life event and adapting that.' I argue it is crucial Mulvany be seen as an adaptor, as her style of adapting material including autobiographical material is unique and enhances the story that she's adapting. In both Masquerade (2015) and Jasper Jones (2016), previously written material and previously lived experiences are utilised in adaptation.' (Publication abstract)
'When 13-year-old Charlie Bucktin is woken in his bedroom sleep-out by a knock on the window, little does he knows this marks the end of his childhood. Called by his new friend Jasper Jones, an outcast Aboriginal boy, to help solve a mysterious death, Charlie begins to glimpse the bleak secrets of his home town of Corrigan.' (Introduction)
'When asked by Melbourne Theatre Company about the changes made in her adaptation of Craig Silvey's novel Jasper Jones (2009), Mulvany noted that although it is 'his book on stage … it's also important ultimately for it to be a Kate Mulvany play'. This is important when analysing Jasper Jones and also Mulvany's adaptation of the picturebook Masquerade (1979) by Kit Williams. Mulvany, a significant figure in contemporary Australian theatre for her work as an actor and a playwright, has been lauded for possessing a 'remark- able' quality, which is 'deliciously unpredictable and courageous', and 'totally inhabited and transforming'. Mulvany has seen global recognition for her acting, and as a writer, with her adaptation of Medea - co-written with Anne-Louise Sarks - being staged in Auckland, Dublin and London. Her other plays have remained in Australia, typically having short seasons and occasional revivals. Although I credit Mulvany as an adaptor − as she has written five successful adapted works − Mulvany sees herself simply as a playwright. She notes, 'I don't adapt. I write. I'm a playwright … And if it's an adaptation of a play or a book or a film, it's usually an adaptation of an event … taking a real-life event and adapting that.' I argue it is crucial Mulvany be seen as an adaptor, as her style of adapting material including autobiographical material is unique and enhances the story that she's adapting. In both Masquerade (2015) and Jasper Jones (2016), previously written material and previously lived experiences are utilised in adaptation.' (Publication abstract)
