Mockingbird Theatre Presents The Temperamentals As Part Of Midsumma

Mockingbird Theatre Company Members Tim Constantine and Angelo De Cata feature in the politically charged love story The Temperamentals by American playwright Jon Marans. Winning the Drama Desk Award in 2009 for Best Ensemble Cast, it is directed by Mockingbird Theatre Artistic Director Chris Baldock and opens at Brunswick Mechanics Institute Performing Arts Centre, on Friday January 17, 2014 at 8pm.

In the closeted USA of the early 1950's, 'temperamental' was slang for 'homosexual, part of a created language of secret words gay men used to communicate with one another. The Temperamentals chronicles the genesis of The Mattachine Society (one of the first homosexual societies in the US) as well as the love affair between two of its founding members, activist Harry Hay and well known fashion designer Rudi Gernreich. Set to the backdrop of 1950's Los Angeles, the struggle, bravery, risk, sacrifice and passion of Gay history is brought to life in a fascinating and utterly human way.

"The Temperamentals is a fascinating study about what is was like to live, struggle and yearn for political change as a gay man over half a century ago," says Director and Company Artistic Director Chris Baldock. "Today that passionate yearning for political change is based on the battle, and oft semantics, of same-sex marriage. It was, however, those early pioneers who made a difference and opened the doors for modern homosexuals to have a voice. The 1969 New York Stonewell Riots lead directly to the Gay Liberation Movement but before that the important and dedicated work the 'temperamentals' achieved in the form of the Mattachine Society reminds us that there have always been brave men who are determined to right wrongs. The Temperamentals is about these men."

Chris Baldock is a highly respected director and actor in the Melbourne theatre scene. He directed the acclaimed production of The Laramie Project at Chapel off Chapel which won the 2005 Victorian Green Room Award for Best Independent Production. He revived the production in 2012 to critical acclaim as the inaugural production for his own company, Mockingbird Theatre. He also received critical praise for his productions of Love! Valour! Compassion! for Midsumma and the Australian premiere of Shining City for Hoy Polloy. Chris has also directed Mockingbird Theatre's critically acclaimed productions - Blue/Orange, How I Learned To Drive, Equus and Kiss of the Spiderwoman.

Jon Marans is the author of Old Wicked Songs, a 1996 Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Drama, winner of the L.A. Drama Logue Award and was the second most performed new play in the United States in the 1997-98 season. Other produced shows include A Strange and Separate People - a 2012 Lambda Literary Award Finalist, Jumping for Joy, the musicals Legacy of the Dragonslayers and Irrationals, The Cost of the Erection, A Raw Space, and the one-act play A Girl Scout World. Jon Marans also writes for film and TV. The Temperamentals is currently in film development with Daryl Roth Productions.

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