'Our Monster's Name is Jerry' at Theatre Works

Sometimes family chooses you.

Dirty Pennies Theatre Project, the acclaimed team behind Lemon Tree on Dreg Street, return this Summer to
Theatre Works with a premiere season like no other. A gothic suburban horror presented in partnership with the
Geelong Arts Centre and Theatre Works, this new Australian work promises to be a wild ride full of spooks, heart,
and slime that takes a closer look at the challenges of having the family your heart desires.

Written by Amy May Nunn (Winner of the 2023 ATYP Prize and the runner up for the 2023 Martin-Lysicrates
Prize), this surprising season features an exceptional team of cast and creatives including actors Emma Jevons,
Tomas Parrish, Laura Jane Turner and Amanda LaBonté, with Sound Design by Green Room Award Nominee
Robbie Divine, Set Design by Green Room Award Nominee Savanna Wegman, and Lighting Design by Spencer
Herd (The Crocodile).

Running for a limited season, Our Monster's Name is Jerry is the tale of young couple Lou and Maud, who are
broke after yet another unsuccessful round of IVF. Life takes a surprising upturn, though, when they inherit a
house from an estranged relative, but as they strive to assimilate into their pristine new neighbourhood things go
horribly awry because of the monster they have living inside their home. A monster named Jerry.

"I'm at an age where making choices about whether or not to have kids is just kind of in the air", explains Writer
Amy May Nunn.

"Suddenly there's a big ticking clock and if you're queer, disabled, not partnered, or simply not in a partnership
that allows you to have a baby on your own, there are big questions around how you will practically set about cre-

What's beautiful about this work, and the horror genre, is that it explores the fears we face everyday through
these strange and terrifying metaphors. It takes our fears and amplifies them into something larger than life, but
underneath those layers it's painfully human. Being someone who loves heightened worlds and escapism, horror
and fantasy were really formative genres for me when I was growing up. I think references like Edward Scissor
Hands and 80's horrors like Poltergeist, IT and The Shining are really baked into the landscape of the play. We
don't often see horror on stage. This work explores it in a really theatrical and poetic way."

A fantastical genre-warping work that delves into the terror of planning for the future in an increasingly frighten-
ing world, Our Monster's Name is Jerry marries physical theatre, puppetry, and a vibrant text to spotlight the
monsters we wrestle with and the lengths we'll go to keep them at bay.

Premiering this coming February, Our Monster's Name is Jerry is an exciting addition to the 2025 'With Theatre
Works' season, not to be missed.

Launched in 2017, Dirty Pennies Theatre Project is a Naarm/Melbourne-based company dedicated to the foster-
ing and development of new work with a particular focus on women, non-binary and queer voices, accessibility,
and daring. Previous works include Legends or (The God Killers) (2023), Lemon Tree on Dreg Street (2023),
Pramkicker (2019, 2021), They Will Know Us By Trails of Light (2021), and Rise Again (2020 - 2021).

Praise for Amy May Nunn and Dirty Pennies Theatre Project:
★★★★ ½ "The script is just so good." - ArtsHub (Lemon Tree on Dreg Street)
"One of the most joyful and well-crafted performances I might have ever seen" - Lilithia Reviews (Lemon Tree on
Dreg Street)

★★★★ "Emotionally finessed and brilliantly paced." - Theatre People (Pramkicker)
"A rip roaring-good time" - Milk Bar Mag (Pramkicker)
"Amy May Nunn is impeccably eloquent." - Stage Whispers (Pramkicker)

This production is proudly supported by Geelong Arts Centre and the City of Melbourne

Written by Amy May Nunn
Directed by Alanah Guiry
Assistant directed by Kimberly Summer
Performed by Emma Jevons, Tomas Parrish, Laura Jane Turner and Amanda LaBonté
Produced by Danielle Goder
Sound design by Robbie Divine

14 to 22 February 2025
Tues - Sat 7:30 pm, Sat Matinee 2:00pm
Previews: 14 and 15 February
Opening Night: Tuesday 18 February
Tickets: $45 Full, $35 Concession, $28 Preview, $20 Mob tix and 20 for $20 (+ booking fee)
Bookings: www.theatreworks.org.au/2025/our-monsters-name-is-jerry
Enquiries: (03) 9534 3388
Venue: Theatre Works - 14 Acland Street, St Kilda
www.dirtypenniestheatreproject.com

Duration: 70 mins, no interval
Suitable for ages 15+
Warnings: implied domestic violence, homophobia, horror themes, vomit, replica dead animal, transphobia