The Time is not yet Ripe

My policy does not propose in any way to vaccinate the community against the complaint called joy.”

Winner 'Best Ensemble' GREEN ROOM AWARDS - 2006

Set on the eve of a federal election in Federation era Melbourne, The Time is not yet Ripe tells the story of Doris Quiverton, daughter of the Prime Minister, and her fiancée, Sydney Barrett, socialist candidate for the seat of Wombat.

When Doris and Sydney end up running for the same seat for opposing parties, they are forced to choose between love and political ideals, personal happiness or the greater good of Australian society.

Written in 1912 by ‘The Father of Australian Theatre’, The Time is not yet Ripe sparkles with verve and wit. Featuring an outstanding cast and performed in the new Studio One at the Northcote Town Hall, this crisp version of Esson’s rarely produced classic will surprise contemporary audiences with its relevance, its deflation of the pompous, and its references to ‘practical politics’ and sedition laws.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see Louis Esson’s delightful and acerbic political satire brought to life. Practical politics, sedition laws, the vague ideology of the left and the stultification of the right all get a hammering by one of our most famous early playwrights. Featuring Glynis Angell, Georgina Capper, Grant Cartwright, Jonathan Dyer, Kurt Geyer, Ming-Zhu Hii, Carly Schrever, Tim Stitz and Jeremiah Tickell.

Directed by Jane Woollard (Wakefield Mystery Plays, The Hammer of Devotion, Wilful Blue, Pirate Eyes, Aelfgyva, The Vanishing Box, True Adventures of a Soul Lost at Sea) and designed by Amanda Johnson (The Hammer of Devotion, Moon for the Misbegotten, Nana, Aelfgyva, True Adventures of a Soul Lost at Sea), with lighting by Bronwyn Pringle (Alias Grace, Lens, I Start Again.)


Here Theatre presents
The Time is not yet Ripe
by Louis Esson

Directed by Jane Woollard
Designed by Amanda Johnson
Lighting Design by Bronwyn Pringle

Production shots