One Night Only by Jackson Castiglione & Rawcus

A man with thin light hair wears a dark suit. He s surrounded by two other people on either side of him and face towards him. The person on the right holds out their right arm.

Presented by Darebin Arts Speakeasy

Multidisciplinary artist Jackson Castiglione (Field Theory, ICON, Anything & Everything) makes innovative live experiences that champion the voices of ordinary people. In this new theatrical adventure, he's teaming up with members of the award-winning Rawcus ensemble (Interior, Glass) to tell a tale like no other: yours.

Each night an ordinary citizen takes on the role of the Protagonist, playing out the story of their life before our eyes. With the Rawcus team as their supporting cast, the Protagonist jumps backwards and forwards through time, reenacting the pivotal moments large and small that have shaped who they are.

Revisiting love, grief, heartbreak, joy, conflict, catharsis and serendipity with us as their witness, this bold production journeys into what make us unique, and what we all have in common. With a new Protagonist stepping onto the stage each night, One Night Only is an unrepeatable experiment that asks, what constitutes our shared humanity?

Running Time

Approximately 80mins, no interval

Content Warnings

This production contains references to death and grieving, mentions of hospitals and car accidents and uses flashing lights.

Access Services Information

Auslan-Interpreted Performance

The performance on Friday 28 November was Auslan-interpreted by interpreters from Auslan Stage Left including Cindi Boychuck and Marc Ethan.

This performance was followed by a post-show artist talk, which will also be Auslan-interpreted.

Tactile Tours

A tactile tour is a guided pre-show experience for audience members, particularly those who are blind or have low vision, to physically explore the stage, costumes, and props of a performance. This tour provided a hands-on and immersive way to understand the set and characters, complementing audio description services.

For this production, Tactile Tours were available on request to any audience members attending the show. The tour took place 45 minutes prior to the performance time, and took around 15 minutes.

Audio Description

Audio description is the auditory narration of visual aspects of a production using headsets. Audio description is offered as a service that enhances accessibility to people who are blind or have low vision, and can benefit people with Autism, multisensory or learning disabilities.

The performance on Sunday 30 November was audio-described by describers from Vitae Veritas

A tactile tour was also available at pre-show.

Soft Space

There was no dedicated relaxed space at the venue for this event. However, we did have a ‘soft space’ set up in the foyer during the show for audience members to enjoy.

Audience members were welcome to step out of the performance at any time, with fidgets and other relaxing activities set up for you to use.

If audience members wanted to re-enter the theatre, a member of our Front of House team was available to escort them back in at an appropriate moment.

Wheelchair Access

Northcote Town Hall Arts Centre is a fully wheelchair accessible venue.

Companion Card Holders

Northcote Town Hall Arts Centre offers complimentary tickets to companion card holders. These can be purchased via the Darebin Arts website.

For further information on any of these services, contact our friendly Box Office team by email at ticketing@darebin.vic.gov.au or phone on 03 8470 8284.

Creative Team

Concept, Writer and Director: Jackson Castiglione
Writer: Morgan Rose (Co- Artistic Director of Rawcus)
Performers/Devisors: Rachel Edward, Paul Matley and Joshua Lynzaat (Rawcus Ensemble Members)
Sound Design: Samuel Kreusler & Kate Neal
Sound Engineer: Connor Brown
Lighting Design: Richard Vabre
Executive Producer: Alison Halit
Production and Stage Manager: Kaite Head
Assistant Stage Manager: Kate Washington

Artist Bios

Jackson Castiglione is an artist, director and teacher working to make contemporary theatrical performances. He loves working with interesting people who may or may not consider themselves performers or artists but offer something to stimulate and challenge our cultural, social and political ideas and assumptions.

Jackson has had work commissioned by the Hong Kong Arts Festival, RISING Festival Melbourne, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, International Online Theatre Festival USA, KUKI International Film Festival Berlin, Back to Back Theatre, OzAsia and the International Music Festival, Canberra.

Jackson works both as an independent artist and as the Artistic Director of Infinity, a company making performances and experiences with and for young people. He was also a co-founding member of Field Theory (2009 to 2019) and has also been a core member of pvi collective (1999 to 2010).

Jackson was born on Whadjuk Noongar Country Boorloo/Perth and lives and works on the sovereign lands of the Kulin Nation in Narrm/Melbourne.

Rawcus is an award-winning and critically acclaimed long-term ensemble of artists with diverse minds, bodies, and imaginations. Rawcus devises new work that expresses the imaginative world of the Ensemble. Drawing on dance, theatre and visual art disciplines, the work is crafted with a precision that supports the performers, but allows space for their inherent sense of anarchy. Rawcus’ performance aesthetic is characterised by a marriage of intense physicality, arresting visual imagery and devised text.

For 25 years, Rawcus’ work has featured as part of the Melbourne International Arts Festival, Dance Massive, Next Wave, Melbourne Fringe and others. Rawcus is known for adventurous, unexpected and highly successful collaborations. The company has worked with artists and companies including the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, The Invenio Singers, Fast Fashun, and Restless Dance.

In addition to our work in the theatre, Rawcus has created photo exhibitions, community gatherings, short films, visual artworks, interactive public performance, and projection art. Rawcus has been nominated for and won numerous awards including a 2019 Helpmann Award Nomination for Best Production for Song for a Weary Throat. Most recently the company was awarded a Greenroom Award for Outstanding Production/Independent Theatre for the new work Interior (2024).

Morgan Rose was born in New Orleans, grew up in New Mexico, and currently lives in Melbourne. She is an internationally produced playwright, performance maker, and dramaturg. In addition to her text-based work she has a background in physical theatre and devising. Works include: Peacemongers (writer, The People/Darebin Arts Speakeasy), Interior (writer, Rawcus/The Substation), Lord Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise (writer, MKA/MTC NEON), The BachelorS17E05 (co-creator, The People/La Mama), and desert, 6:29pm (writer, Red Stitch). She is co-founder of the company The People (thepeoplemaketheatre.com) and the current co-artistic director of Melbourne-based company Rawcus (rawcus.org.au). More info on her work at roseisnotarose.com.

Reviews

"One Night Only is the sort of form-melting theatre that scoops us up in its generosity and lilting rhythms like memories aflutter." — Stephen Russell, ArtsHub Four golden stars lined up next to each other.

"The centre of One Night Only is the simple fact - we can all do this only once. This is a gorgeous piece of theatre - gentle and fully illuminating." — Keith Gow, Theatre First

"One Night Only plays with time, remembrance, subjectivity and the artifice in ways that shore up the best work of an ingeniously creative Rawcus, reminding us all that we are but one star in an incalculable array of constellations."
— Stephen Russell, ArtsHub

This production was supported by Creative Australia, Creative Victoria, Arts House, and the City of Darebin and sponsored by DH Buchanan Consulting.

Creative Victoria logo Arts House Logo in black text Rawcus logo in black text