Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Wednesday 23 October
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Sometimes, the best part of seeing a show is the conversation it sparks. Our series of ‘morning after’ breakfast events invites you to join a selection of writers, critics and arts lovers to dissect selected Melbourne Festival shows, sharing views on what worked, what didn’t – and why.
Each Morning After session will pair one or more of our creative writers with established critics to talk about what they’ve seen. Come and debrief in a relaxed, informal atmosphere – the perfect way to share ideas and inspiration about art.
This morning, we’ll be talking about The Shadow King, an explosive Indigenous reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy, King Lear.
A powerful melding of Shakespearian pathos with Aboriginal language, music and dance, The Shadow King recasts King Lear as a sprawling, blood-soaked tale of two Indigenous families in Australia’s north.
Download the podcast: (mp3 - 53m47s / 25.8mb).
Read our writers' reviews and join the discussion around The Shadow King on this website.
Featuring
Simon Abrahams
Simon Abrahams is a strategic arts and cultural leader, dynamic programmer and experienced producer whose work has been recognised nationally and internationally. He is Chair of Theatre Network Victoria, and a freelance arts consultant and performer.
Previously, Simon served as the Wheeler Centre’s Head of Programming, Executive Producer at Polyglot Theatre, Artistic Development Program Manager at Arts Centre Melbourne and Producer at Gasworks Arts Park. In 2010, Simon was named amongst Arts Hub’s Top Ten Australian Arts Leaders.
Shane Maloney
Born in Hamilton in western Victoria in 1953, Shane Maloney is one of Australia’s most popular novelists. His award-winning and much-loved Murray Whelan series – Stiff, The Brush-Off, Nice Try, The Big Ask, Something Fishy and Sucked In – has been published around the world.
In 1996, The Brush-Off won the Ned Kelly Prize for Crime Fiction. In 2004, Stiff and The Brush-Off were made into telemovies starring David Wenham as Murray Whelan. In 2009, Shane Maloney was presented with the Crime Writers’ Association of Australia Lifetime Achievement Award.
Alison Croggon
Alison Croggon is an award-winning novelist, poet, theatre writer, critic and editor who lives in Melbourne, Australia. She works in many genres and her books and poems have been published to acclaim nationally and internationally.
She is arts editor for The Saturday Paper and co-founder of the performance criticism website Witness. Her most recent book is the creative non-fiction Monsters, out in March 2021, from Scribe Publications.
Melissa Lucashenko
Melissa Lucashenko is a Goorie (Aboriginal) author of Bundjalung and European heritage. Her first novel was published in 1997 and since then her work has received acclaim in many literary awards. Killing Darcy won the Royal Blind Society Award and was shortlisted for an Aurealis award. Her sixth novel, Too Much Lip, won the 2019 Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Queensland Premier’s Award for a work of State Significance. It was also shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Fiction, the Stella Prize, two Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, two Queensland Literary Awards and two NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. Melissa is a Walkley Award winner for her non-fiction, and a founding member of human rights organisation Sisters Inside. She writes about ordinary Australians and the extraordinary lives they lead. Her latest book is Edenglassie.
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