Coping with Winter by David Williamson

WORLD PREMIERE

DIRECTED by RORY WILLIAMSON

STARRING:
ERIK THOMSON – RENAI CARUSO – JANNEKE WILLIAMSON

Be the first to see COPING with WINTER by DAVID WILLIAMSON.

4 Performances only

COPING with Winter is a major fund-raising event, proudly presented by NOOSA alive!

COPING WITH WINTER:  Synopsis

Gabriel Winter is the richest and most powerful person in Australia, but his ruthless climb to the top has left a lot of wreckage in his wake. Two failed marriages, children who won’t speak to him and brutally discarded friends and executives who hate him. Now at the age of sixty it all catches up with him. He can barely drag himself out of bed every morning.

He recruits Ellie Emerson, a young Associate Professor of Positive Psychology to tell him what he should do to get his life back on track.

She agrees to help him, but he decides the thing that will make him happy is her. The thought of marrying a man she regards as the Prince of Darkness horrifies her, but not her old friend Amy who, sick of the professional grind, contrives to make herself noticed. Ellie isn’t amused.

A blackly funny play of sexual intrigue and deceit, that also manages to hold up a mirror to the kind of country that has allowed Gabriel and his mates to ensure that the land of the Fair Go is nothing more than a rapidly disappearing speck in our national rear vision mirror.

PRESENTING PATRON: HELEN ROSSI (in honour of AL ROSSI).

PRESENTING SPONSOR: WILLIAMSON & CO REAL ESTATE

CAST:

ERIK THOMSON

Erik Thomson has had an extensive career across film, television and theatre including the sold-out season of THE SPEECHMAKER for Melbourne Theatre Company; GWB’s hit Melbourne production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL; THE SPLINTER for Sydney Theatre Company; and JULIUS CAESAR, TWELVE ANGRY MEN, ALL MY SONS, and ANGELS IN AMERICA for Auckland Theatre Company. Other credits include SCHOOL FOR A SCANDAL, HAMLET, and GYPSY at the Court Theatre, and THE PUZZLE for the State Theatre Company of South Australia.
On television, Erik’s roles credits include 800 WORDS and ALL SAINTS which earned him the Silver Logie for Best Actor. Erik has also received five subsequent Silver Logie nominations for his widely recognised role Dave Rafter in PACKED TO THE RAFTERS, and the Amazon reboot BACK TO THE RAFTERS.

Erik also starred in and produced the acclaimed ABC series AFTERTASTE.

RENAI CARUSO

Renai Caruso is an Australian actor based on the Sunshine Coast, bringing over two decades of experience across television, film and theatre.

A graduate of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Acting program, Renai is recognised for her leading roles in the acclaimed series Satisfaction (Showtime / BSLM Films) and Out of the Blue (Network Ten / Southern Star).

Some of her extensive television credits also include Sea Patrol, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Neighbours and Superwog. Renai’s film work includes roles in Daybreakers and the award-winning independent film Unfinished Sky.

JANNEKE WILLIAMSON

Janneke Williamson is an actor and filmmaker with over 30 years of experience in theatre, film, and TV. She trained in Improv at The Groundlings (LA) and The Atlantic Theater Company (NY), studied theatre at the University of Newcastle, and honed her

craft at various acting studios in Sydney after catching the acting bug at age 14 at the Anne Feneley Drama School in Newcastle.

Stage credits include Fool for Love (Sam Shepard), The Nothing Men (Mark Fitzpatrick) in Sydney, and at Noosa Arts: Jack of Hearts (David Williamson) and Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace (Rory Williamson).

On screen, Janneke has appeared in Paper Giants, CNNN (The Chaser), Comedy Inc, The Alice, Home & Away, and numerous short and feature films here in Australia and in the US including Frost/Nixon directed by Ron Howard. Most recently, she co-created the comedy series The Carers with Charlotte Carr, winning ShowdownMAX, with the pilot filmed here in Noosa.

Janneke has just played Truvy in Steel Magnolias (Robert Harling) directed by Ali Venning at Noosa Arts Theatre and is very excited to be joining this production of Coping With Winter by David Williamson.

COPING with Winter is Produced by NOOSA alive!
PRESENTING PATRON: HELEN ROSSI (in honour of AL ROSSI).

and supported by –
David and Kristin Williamson
RACV Noosa Resort