And so, lastly, the play is also about trust: what we choose to tell in a relationship and what not to tell; about the risks we take in confessing truth to those we love—and the trust we must have in them to continue loving us for who we truly are.
Timothy Jones
April 2013
Timothy Jones is Artistic Director and General Manager of the Seymour Centre, Sydney.
Transparency was first produced by the Ransom Theatre Company at the Old Museum Arts Centre (OMAC) Theatre, Belfast, Northern Ireland on 26 September 2009, with the following cast:
| SIMON | Richard Dormer |
| JESSICA | Dorothea Myer-Bennett |
| CAMILLE | Abigal McGibbon |
| LACHLAN | Richard Clements |
| ANDY | Alexandra Ford |
All other roles were played by the company.
Director, Rachel O’Riordan
Assistant Director, Patsy Hughes
Designer, Stuart Marshall
Lighting Designer, James Whiteside
Sound Designer, Ashley Martin-Smyth
Stage Manager / Production Manager, Lisa-Marie Cooke
Transparency was first produced in Australia by The Seymour Centre at the York Thetre, Seymour Centre, Sydney, on 1 September 2011, with the following cast:
| SIMON | Glenn Hazeldine |
| JESSICA | Amy Matthews |
| CAMILLE | Anna Lise Phillips |
| LACHLAN | Ed Wightman |
| ANDY | Celia Ireland |
Director, Tim Jones
Designer, Stephen Curtis
Lighting Designer, Verity Hampson
Sound Designer, Jeremy Silver
Stage Manager, Katrina McKenzie
PLAYWRIGHT’S NOTES
While writing any play requires a grappling with humanity, the research for Transparency shook me to the core. Talking to perpetrators, victims and the families of victims meant I was up close and personal to crimes that were for me deeply disturbing. During this confronting process it became impossible not to be outraged by hideous deeds as well as deeply confused with how a child could commit them. Were they born with some evil trait or did something go terribly wrong? While the narrative of Transparency explores these issues through the personal lives of characters, I found it interesting to meditate on the nature of rehabilitation and punishment. Should child criminals be considered forever dangerous or is there hope? What can we trust and what is too great a risk?
Indeed issues of trust and love are interwoven with elements of crime and punishment, and I found myself also questioning: are secrets sometimes better left alone amidst love or is the need for disclosure somehow an act of true intimacy? Do you have to know everything about your lover to maintain your love, and can you ever really know another person entirely anyway?