christiane nowak

Herman Melville’s 1853 short story “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street” tells of a subdued law copyist, or scrivener, who, after several days of hard work in a law office, withholds all cooperation, responding with little more than “I would prefer not to”.

Director: Julian Hobba, after Herman Melville Cast: Max Cullen, Benjamin Crowley and Dene Kermond

The set, which deteriorates as the play progresses, offers both realism and immediacy. There is a dream sequence, taking place aboard ship, that almost has us rocking back and forth with the storm, and its lighting makes this scene in particular stand out visually. [StageWhispers]

Hobba leads a strong creative team of scenic designer, Christiane Nowak (From a Black Sky, Noplace, Kapture), lighting designer, Gillian Schwab (In Loco Parentis, To Silence, WordPlay, Pea!), and sound designer Kimmo Vennonen (2010 MEAA Green Room Award Winner) [ArtsReview]

Christiane Nowak’s spare set accommodates both the surreal and the prosaic, with imaginative use being made of an upstage passage where only heads can be seen through blurred glass at the top of a room divider. [TheSydneyMorningHerold]

The play is a critical observation of the career and business world with all its unseen monsters and obsessions leaving it vulnerable to human impulses. [CityNews]