The Bloomshed bring 'The Nose' to Geelong
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The Bloomshed bring 'The Nose' to Geelong

This weekend The Bloomshed bring their award winning theatre production, “The Nose” to Geelong’s Courthouse Youth Arts.
The Bloomshed, the award winning group of independent theatre makers are bringing their radical production, The Nose, to Geelong’s Courthouse Youth Arts after a series of seasons in Melbourne and Sydney. Based upon the short story by 19th century Russian author Nikolai Gogal, The Nose is a comedic and satirical travesty about individuals whose lives fall to pieces amidst total economic chaos.
The Nose, which has taken prize of the Festival Director’s Award at the Sydney Fringe Festival in 2017 and has delighted and amused audiences in its second interstate tour, speaks a story of a CEO and his nose, of which decides to claim its independence and run off causing trouble through the streets of the city.
Featuring Geelong-based actor, Tom Molyneux, who alongside performer, Elizabeth Brennan and writer, James Jackson, the famous tale has been adapted into a darkly humorous charade, reflecting upon the dystopian post-paradise of 2018.
Molyneux, who began acting back in primary school, is incredibly keen to bring The Nose to his hometown, Geelong, claiming, “This is one of the most enjoyable shows I’ve had the pleasure of working on.
“We have a lot of fun at The Bloomshed finding older texts that have interesting messages which we can transpose into a modern context,” Molyneux explains. “Our work is always political, and we try to use our theatre to give insight or expression to modern events and the world around us. For example with The Nose, it’s been a really interesting process to see the similarities between how Nikolai Gogol was responding to political events in 19th Century Russia, and how we feel about what we see around us today. It feels like a great privilege to be involved in updating these works for a modern audience, but also using them as a springboard to say something new.”
Admittedly an actor for pleasure, Molyneux began The Bloomshed with a group of friends that were simply making theatre in a literal backyard shed in suburban Melbourne, trying to do radical and interesting things that would make each other laugh.
“From there we worked to develop a style and aesthetic for our work, and started inviting small audiences to come and see it (the shed could only fit about 20 people max, on tiny little stools),” he smiles. “We’ve grown a bit since then, so now we hire proper theatres and tour our work interstate – it’s been a really interesting thing to be a part of as the company has grown. Our essential working style hasn’t changed too much – we still try and make each other laugh as much as possible.”
Pulling material from classical repertoire, The Nose is the company’s latest attempt to create something new and exciting by devouring the old. For an evening of an energetic, hilarious and slightly uncomfortable stage show, showcased in the beautifully modern, Courthouse Youth Arts.
The Nose is one not to be missed.
It’s playing at Courthouse Youth Arts on 10 & 11 August.
Written by Aine Keogh