A very successful reading for Crossed by Chris Summers, was held Monday the 29th of June at 7pm at the Northcote Town Hall. 53 passionate theatre thinkers debated their perception of the work with each other, the Dramaturge Angela Betzien, Director Lucy Freeman and readers: Elena Onisfiforou, Neil Triffit, Sean Scanlon, Harley Herford, Sophia Constantine and Myf Clark. This work in progress will now have the opportunity to ‘breath’ and a second reading will follow a second round of dramaturgy in late September.

Review for June 29 Reading.
“Chris Summers’ ‘Crossed’ demonstrates a clear vision in content and an elegance in writing, and ultimately asks an important question about race politics for young people in Australia. For me, ‘Crossed’ makes an un-didactic statement that there is a pervasive atmosphere of alienation that is beyond the control of the individual and which creates a situation for violence and racial divisions. To me, I felt that the strength of the work was that Chris approached an ‘issue’ by developing really strong characters and stories, rather than trying to create symbolic moments. I really enjoyed how intelligently Chris portrayed the young people – I felt there was depth in each person and I could see that these would be mature and gusty roles for young performers to delve into. The feedback in the reading focused on the style Chris had chosen to write in and whether there could be more clarity in the handling of themes and of voice, and whether the ‘politics’ within and surrounding real events had been dealt with appropriately – so there are some questions that Chris has been left with as a writer but I am sure he will deftly be able to respond to these with his next sessions of dramaturgy. I’m looking forward to seeing ‘Crossed’ further developed and presented, I think it’s already a promising work with a lot of potency.”

Michele Lee, 29, playwright/former Platform worker/Victoria Legal Aid information project manager