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Villanus

by Vlad Mijic & Rhys Auteri

If you are reading this now, it means that I have been murdered.
This is a story of how it happened.
This is an actual person.
This is the softest I can whisper.
This is a diagram of the scars and wounds I have on my body.
This is the loudest I can scream.
This is the longest I can hold my breath.
This is the ash of a moth burnt to a crisp.
This is villain written in Cyrillic characters.
And it goes for one hour, seven minutes and thirty-six seconds.

This is a lie

VILLANUS is Vlad Mijic alone on stage save for some high and low-tech gadgetry, items salvaged from garages across Melbourne and many hundreds of metres of brown packing tape holding it together. VILLANUS is some words Rhys and Vlad wrote together and alone. It's also a lot of words we couldn't and didn't want to write. VILLANUS is part reaction to the times, part autobiography, part lies. Part visual art, part film, mostly theatre. VILLANUS is sometimes dark, sometimes humorous, often both at the same time. Often in spite of itself. VILLANUS started with the question how does one conceive of him/herself if they're constantly being called a villain? It examines the paranoia, hypocrisy and self importance that caused such a question to be asked. But VILLANUS is guilty of all this too and more. VILLANUS is a character assassination.

"Hi. My name is Vlad. I'm an artist. I was born in Serbia. I was told I was a villain."

***

Welcome Stranger presents
VILLANUS
by Vlad Mijic & Rhys Auteri

Performed by Vlad Mijic

Original Music composed by Raphael Hammond

Production Manager Carlie Devine

Dramaturge Shelley Burton

Technical Assistance Ben Mitchell

First Stage Showing

Dates: 23 August - 2 September 2007
Venue: Old Council Chambers, Trades Hall (cnr Lygon and Victoria St)
Times: Tues - Sat @8pm, Sun @5pm
Tickets: $20 full $15 concession (2-4-1 tix Tues)

Stage Manager Caitlyn Burton

Brisbane Festival: BF08 under the radar

Dates: 19 July at 6:30pm, 20 & 21 July at 2pm & 6:30pm

Venue: Metro Arts, Studio

Tickets: $15

Set Design by Philippa Barr with Caroline Comino

Lighting Designer Natalie Vincent

Stage Manager & Assistant Production Manager Goldele Rayment

Melbourne Fringe Festival 2008

Dates: 30 September – 5 October 2008

Venue: Drama Theatre at J-Studios

Times: Tue – Sat 8pm, Sun 6:30pm

Tickets: $16 full, $12 concession, $10 Tuesday

Set Design by Philippa Barr with Caroline Comino

Lighting Designer Natalie Vincent

Stage Manager & Asst. Production Manager Goldele Rayment

This project has been produced with the support of the City of Melbourne.

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Some people were employed to write about Villanus. Here's some of what they said:

"After witnessing Mijic and Auteri's work I am thinking that big ideas are not dead in the theatre." - Margi Brown Ash, 4 Change (Brisbane)

"...a piece of theatre made with real courage and theatrical curiosity... [it] radiates a genuine and fertile unease." - Alison Croggon, Theatre Notes (2)

"...well worth a look for anyone interested in the livelier edges of Melbourne theatre." - Alison Croggon, Theatre Notes (1)

"...this one-man show doesn't so much explore evil as creep up on it from behind, dagger in hand." - Cameron Woodhead, The Age

"...a profoundly intriguing work" - John Bailey, Real Time

"Villanus consists of a series of verbal arias, shifting between passages of startling poetic beauty and sardonic comedy..." - Alison Croggon, The Australian

"...a monster of a piece..." - John Bailey, The Sunday Age

"...a thoroughly engrossing piece of theatre..." - Lucille Paterson, Buzzcuts

I was told I was a villain. I was told that everything I stood for was reprehensible. I was told I was a waste of oxygen. I was told I didn’t know anything. I was told I was a pretentious wanker. I was told I had too much time on my hands. I was told I was the weirdest person you knew.

I was told to go home. I was told I should lose some weight. I was told the secret to happiness is found in structure. I was told I wasn’t happy on my own. I was told it was time for me to settle down. I was told to get a real job - just in case. I was told I was wasting my time....