Petra Kalive

Written & Directed by Petra Kalive in consultation with parents and researchers from Melbourne University.

Performed at Coopers Malthouse 2013

Researchers at Melbourne University identified a need for stakeholders in the disability sector (including disability and health services, government, schools, and philanthropic organisations) to better understand the experiences of parents of children with disabilities.  

Petra led a process with Melbourne Playback who partnered with the Jack Brockhoff Child Health and Wellbeing program and the Association for Children with a Disability to develop a small-scale theatre production to share the experiences of parents of children with a disability.

The new process of knowledge translation would enable parents to voice their experiences, and provide them with a genuine opportunity to participate in a process highlighting how policies and services can affect their mental health and wellbeing.

Research had found:

49% of parents reporting mental health problems.

Caring for a child with a disability can impact on all areas of a parents’ life, including their physical health, emotional wellbeing, employment and social relationships.

Although there are several studies demonstrating that parents of children with a disability have poorer mental health than other parents, there are few programs/strategies designed to promote their wellbeing.

Services and policies needed to be changed and solutions identified to support parents’ mental health and wellbeing.

It is essential that any solution is shaped by an understanding of parents’ experiences and that parents have a voice in shaping such solutions.

One of the greatest difficulties facing researchers when communicating their findings is to harness the empathy and engagement required for maximum impact. An intellectual understanding is often made but an emotional connection can be lacking, and therefore the impetus for action is not as high.

Ida is a musical about the first female students at the University of Melbourne. It is a celebration of the achievements of women who bravely challenged an institution - and triumphed.

The original pop-musical, The Princess Ida Parlour, was presented in the Guild Theatre in 1994, directed by then Artistic Director Rose Meyers.

Union House Theatre under the the Artistic Direction of Petra Kalive, revisits Ida for a whole new generation. She has commissioned a new score by composer, Ashlee Clapp. Petra wanted the current cast to have a voice in the work, so Ashlee worked with the cast on the new lyrics for the musical.

Ida Presented by Union House Theatre performed in the Guild Theatre 10-20 October 2018.

After Anita Punton’s Princess Ida Parlour, first performed by UHT in 1994.

Directed by PETRA KALIVE

Composition / Musical Direction ASHLEE CLAPP

Movement Direction XANTHE BEESLEY

Set Design GABBY LEWIS

Costume Design NATALIE GILLIES

Lighting Design Mentor LISA MIBUS

Lighting Designer LUCY DAVIDSON

Cast ZOE CANTWELL, YUFAN JO CHEN, MERRYN HUGHES, ALINA JIN, MAVIN KARUNANIDHY, NICHOLAS KIRKBY, ANDRE MARTINOVICI, MARIANA RICCI, MATTHEW SCHAFFNER, LUCY SEALE, OLIVIA WANG, EMILY WHITE

Production Manager KHAT KERR

Stage Manager ASHLEIGH MORRIS

Head Technician CLYNTON JONES

Stage Carpenter ALLEN LAVERTY

Marketing & Publicity ERIN ADAMS

Assistant Director ELLIE HAMILL

Assistant Musical Director ABBY PEMMELAAR

Assistant Choreographer BRONYA DOYLE

Documentation RACHEL SCHRIVES

Mirror's Edge
A new play by Kim Ho
Directed & Designed by Petra Kalive

"..the staging is tender and funny and steeped in eloquent symbols. The set sparkles as starlight projected on a shimmering backdrop is mirrored on the wet surface, characters sometimes seen behind the screen , as if they’re beyond the sky. " Vera Poh, MELBOURNE ARTS REVIEW

"The creative use of space gave the intimacy of a black box theatre with the benefit of a spacious background scene for tableaux, which worked well in some beautiful ensemble sequences with the inventive and clear direction of Petra Kalive. " Jai Leeworthy, THEATREPEOPLE

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Sea Lake is dying — a tiny drought-stricken town in the heart of the Mallee. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a busload of Chinese tourists turn up to take photos on the nearby salt lake. When the sun goes down, when the light’s just right, the lake turns to mirrorwater and it’s like you’re walking on sky. Not far behind these unlikely visitors comes Kai, fleeing Melbourne, broken and adrift. As Kai begins to understand this strange new place, its cultures and stories start refracting through one another. With tenderness and humour, Mirror’s Edge explores the complexities of cross-cultural encounters.

Thursday 27th July - Saturday 5th Aug 2017

Union Theatre, Ground Level, Union House
University of Melbourne

CAST:
Aoife: Eleanor Young
Castor: Eden Gonfond
Jasmin: Lucy Holz
Kai: Rebecca Poynton
Leanne: Rachel Shrives
Lao Ghit: Antonia Yip Siew Pin
William Stanbridge: Martin Hoggart
Xiaoyu: Jo Chen

CREATIVES & CREW:
Writer: Kim Ho
Director & Set Design : Petra Kalive
Assistant Director & Dramaturg: Jean Tong
Lighting Design: Jacob Trethowan
Lighting Design Mentor: David Kelly
AV Design: Zoe Scoglio
Composer/Sound Designer: Liam Bellman-Sharpe
Costume Designer: Juliet Bennie
Production Manager: Kellie-Jayne Chambers
Head Technician: Clynton Jones
Stage Carpenter: Jim Stenson & Allen Laverty
Stage Manager: Christa Jonathan
Assistant Stage Managers: Laura Barnes & Christie Hidajat
Photographer: Bede McKenna
Publicity & Marketing: Christa Jonathan & Isabella Vadiveloo

Written & Directed by Petra Kalive

Produced by Tim Stitz for the National Trust of Western Australia, 2011

A biographical installation piece of theatre, supported by the National Trust of Western Australia. The performance season was part of a pilot program for on-going heritage and conservation activities at 24 Jarrad Street, the home of Prime Minister John Curtin and his wife Elsie.

John and Elsie Curtin interrupt a dinner for 8-12 guests held in-situ at the Curtin Residence, in Cottesloe, Perth. The interruption takes the form of a 20-30 minute performance where John and Elsie reminisce about their life and times at Jarrad Street.

John Curtin was Australiaʼs Prime Minister from 1941 until his death in 1945. Across the political spectrum, Curtin is regarded as one of Australiaʼs finest prime ministers. He is the only Prime Minister to hold office entirely in wartime. His honesty, charm, strength of character, power of oratory and political acumen all marked him out as a great leader. Born in Creswick, Victoria in 1885, he moved to Perth in 1917 and in the same year married Elsie Needham. They settled in Cottesloe and had two children. John Curtin died in office on 5 July 1945, only weeks before the end of the war.

Cast: Geoff Kelso, Caroline McKenzie

Lighting Design: Trent Suudgiest 

Petra co-led a Creative Development with Melbourne Playback in 2013. Here she explored improvisation, physical theatre, video artistry and personal story.

+ macdeath: a coda
Directed by Petra Kalive
By William Shakespeare and Jean Tong

"The combination of [staging, lighting and sound] turned a minimalist black set into something eerie and atmospheric...Jean Tong’s macdeath: a coda was intriguing... [and] poignant...Macbeth + macdeath: a coda is a thought-provoking and intense combination of the traditional and the reinvented Macbeth." THEATRE PRESS

A dark prophecy triggers the rise and fall of an ambitious couple whose wayward moral compass takes them in a deadly direction.

What happens when we subvert the natural order of things? “Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill.” So pr’ythee, come with us.

Guild Theatre, Melbourne University Sept 15-24, 2016

CAST:
Macbeth: Martin Hoggart
Lady Macbeth: Sen Wagaarachchi
Banquo: Mithunnan Saseetharan
Macduff: Georgie Daniels
Lady Macduff: Siân Lewis
The Witches: Bec Riggs, Liam Bellman-Sharpe, Amy Spurgeon
Ross/Apparition: Kate Weston
Seyton/Apparition: Sherry Xu
Lennox/Apparition: Eunice Chuang
Duncan: Alexander Scott
Malcolm: Lachlan Watts
Fleance: Claire Miller
Bloody Captain/Old Man: Max Draper
Murderer: Amir Aizenstros

CREATIVES & CREW:
Director: Petra Kalive
Assistant Director: Rachel Shrives
Dramaturg: Jean Tong. 
Lighting Design Mentor: Lisa Mibus
Lighting Design: Jacob Trethowan & Brendan McDougall
Assistant Designer: Kira Shi
Composer/percussionist: Nat Grant
Composer/Sound Designer & Operator: Connor Ross

Fight Choreograpy: Lyndall Jones
Production Manager: Gus Macdonald
Head Technician: Clynton Jones
Stage Carpenter: Jim Stenson
Stage Manager: Christa Jonathan
Assistant Stage Manager: Bonnie Belford
Assistant Stage Manager: Emily Green
Coda Playwright: Jean Tong
Coda Assistant Director: Jalen Lyle-Holmes
Documenter: Holi Walsh
Photographer: Bede McKenna
Publicist: Erin Adams
Front of House: Maddi Cullen & Adelaide Greig
Captioner: Rohan Byrne & Meghan Ghan

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FUnionHouseTheatre%2Fvideos%2F10153980821732992%2F&show_text=0&width=560

Presented by Union House Theatre
Directed by Petra Kalive
May 2015

" Petra Kalive has guided Echo’s strong cast to create a devised work that is both entertaining and thought-provoking. The performance opens with a brief retelling of the Greek myth of Echo and Narcissus before moving on to a series of self-contained scenes examining narcissism in contemporary culture. From the first scene the actors establish that high energy and mutual commitment to the concept runs through the entire play....Echo is kooky and fun, with a big handful of social commentary thrown in. It certainly leaves its audience with something to ponder."

Chloe Dallas - The Dialog

'Echo' is an adaptation of the Echo and Narcissus myth. Investigating the modern narcissist, it is a multidisciplinary work exploding contemporary culture into the intensely physical and poetic. Social media has magnified our obsession with the self. Are we more obsessed with ourselves than we have been in the past? What consequence do rising levels of Narcissism have on our culture? Are we all, underneath it all, all about image?

CAST:
Camilla Best
Sara Bolch
Tatiana Kotsimbos
Jordan Lowe
Manon Neyrat
Sara Pascoe
Hadyus Santoso
Amy Spurgeon
Dudu Yang
Max Yates

CREATIVES & CREW:
Director – Petra Kalive
Set & Costume Designer – Casey-Scott Corless
Lighting Designer – Lisa Mibus
Composers – Liam Bellman-Sharpe & Jai Leeworthy
Assistant Director – Joanna Pidcock
Designer Mentee – Gabby Lewis
Production Manager – Gus Macdonald
Head Technician – Clynton Jones
Set Realisation – Jim Stenson
Stage Manager – Jo Leishman
Deputy Stage Manager – Alice Bouleau
Assistant Stage Manager – Shannon Kim
Lighting Operator – Kamile Klapatauskaite
Marketing and Publicity – Erin Adams
Marketing Assistant – Hui Bai
Front of House Manager – Ben White
Photographer – Sarah Walker

Monash University October 2014

3rd Year Performing Arts Students - Drama Theatre, Monash University

The thing about Shakespeare is that although his work is very specifically located, the issues and themes he addresses really are timeless.

This is a play about power. The hunger for it. The resentment for those that have it. The need to band together in tribes. The anger that festers and flares up under repression.

These are issues that we are dealing with in many different ways in the world today. Petra had the opportunity to work with an exceptional group of performing arts students at Monash University in the performing arts program on this project. The students were actors, designers, composers and production crew. They worked incredibly hard to realise this work.

Adaptation by Mary Zimmerman

Directed by Petra Kalive with second and third year Performing Arts Students, Latrobe University, 2014

Argonautika is the tale of Jason and the Argonauts and their quest for the Golden Fleece by Mary Zimmerman. This adaptation had its first incarnation at the Lookinglass Theatre, Chicago 2006 directed by Zimmerman herself. She based her adaptation on the epic poem by Apollonius Rhodius. This is a timeless story – a myth that belongs to all of us; for those who sail in troubled waters to find their own ‘golden fleece’ – for those who leave loved ones behind – for the hearts we break, for the deaths we endure – for the wars we wage with “necessary and appropriate force”* - for the failures, friends and foes we meet along the way – the story of Jason travels with us whether we like it or not.

Petra directed 30 second and third year La Trobe University Performing Arts students, rehearsing for two days a week over ten weeks. There were separate casts for Act 1 and Act 2. The students went on an incredibly steep learning curve as they not only wrestled with this epic and weighty text, but also took on the production roles of lighting, sound, costume and set design. 

Photos courtesy of Matthew Howat

First Performed at Theatreworks 2011

Concert performance New York 2014

Writers: Belinda Jenkins & William Hannigan

Musical Director: Simon Brukhard

Choreographer: David Harrison

Cast: Rachael Rai, Ellie Richardson, Belinda Jenkins, David Benge, Drew Collett and David Barklay

Moving day. Six 20 something’s. One St Kilda share house. Some are escaping pushy parents, others have pushed theirs over the edge. Some have been roaming free for a while and others just need a place to call home. In one night, tempers are tested, relationships blossom, and they all share a drink as things heat up.