A lone performer. An unseen script. A show without borders.
NORPA, Media Release, 8 February 2024
Join Australian comedian, and Helpmann award-winning actor, Darren Gilshenan as he boldly steps onto the stage, opens an envelope, and reads a script for the very first time, in front of a full house.
White Rabbit, Red Rabbit is a groundbreaking play from Iranian writer Nassim Soleimanpour. Forbidden to leave his homeland at 29, Soleimanpour wrote a wild, and original work, that could travel the world in his place.
An audacious theatrical experiment, White Rabbit, Red Rabbit is one of the most widely toured plays in contemporary theatre. The multi award-winning play has been translated into more than 30 languages and performed over 3,000 times by some of the most respected performers in the business including John Hurt, Whoopi Goldberg and Alan Cumming.
The writer asks that no one talks about the White Rabbit, Red Rabbit script afterwards except secretly between those audiences who have seen it and the performers who have taken part – a sort of theatrical ‘fight club’.
“We’re really excited to bring this global sensation to Byron Theatre,” said NORPA Artistic Director Julian Louis “Having an actor read the script for the first time and discovering it with the audience makes it a unique and powerful experience. We’re incredibly lucky to have actor Darren Gilshenan take us on that journey.”
White Rabbit, Red Rabbit is a potent reminder of the transgressive and transformative power of theatre. Don’t miss this thrilling one-night-only performance.
Event details:
NORPA, in association with Aurora Nova, presents
- White Rabbit, Red Rabbit
By Nassim Soleimanpour
Performed by Darren Gilshenan
One show only! - Wednesday 13 March, 7:30pm
- Byron Theatre, 69 Jonson St, Byron Bay
- Tickets: $39 – $59
- Bookings: www.norpa.org.au
Patron Advice: Recommended for ages 15+
Contains course language and references to suicide.
About Darren Gilshenan
After graduating from NIDA in 1988, Darren began his career in musical theatre before spending 10 years with The Bell Shakespeare Company. Sketch comedy followed with three years on Full Frontal, followed by roles in numerous high-profile Australian TV series including Top of the Lake, Rake, Stateless, Harrow, and Colin from Accounts.
Darren’s most recent TV credits include Stan’s Thou Shalt Not Steal and the recent Stan/Lionsgate series Population 11 and Nautilus which is an iconic, epic action-adventure story based on the works of Jules Verne.
Select theatre credits include Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Ensemble Theatre); Strictly Ballroom directed by Baz Luhrmann; Mother and Son national tour (Mother and Son Live P/L); Tartuffe (Black Swan Theatre Company); Elling, Don Parties On (MTC); Machu Picchu, Fool’s Island, Loot and Our Town (STC).
In 2020 Darren won the AACTA Award recipient of Best Supporting Actor in a Television Drama Series for Stateless. He has won a Best Actor Helpmann Award for The Servant of Two Masters, received Equity Ensemble Awards for The Moodys and A Moody Christmas, been nominated for a Golden Nymph Award at the Monte Carlo Television Festival for Best Actor for Here Come The Habibs, and also received multiple Green Room, Sydney Critic and Glug Award nominations.
Acknowledgements
White Rabbit, Red Rabbit was originally produced by Volcano Theatre in association with Necessary Angel and Wolfgang Hoffmann. Dramaturgy by Daniel Brooks and Ross Manson.
