Anaconda

“Hard-hitting drama… Intense writing and blisteringly powerful performances… a riveting experience.” – LA Weekly “GO!”

“No other Fringe show carries as much relevance as Sarah Doyle’s Anaconda.” – LA Theatre Review

“Weaving a compelling story from scandal is nothing new, but it is Sarah’s treatment of the story that sets her apart. It was a moving piece and one of my highlights of this year’s Fringe.” – The Examiner

“Writer/Director Sarah Doyle ventures into far darker territory with Anaconda… Beautifully structured writing… The entire cast give astoundingly powerful performances… Anaconda is definitely not for the faint-hearted.” – Arts Beat LA

“Doyle dives into dark and murky waters in her tale of guilt, shame, and the search for redemption… Doyle is a gifted writer.” – Back Stage

After a sold-out season in Hollywood, writer / director Sarah Doyle’s ANACONDA won Best of Hollywood Fringe 2012 Selection and was nom...

Writer/director Sarah Doyle has some things for you to think about.

Her new play, Anaconda—inspired by a 2001 sexually charged bullying scandal at a posh Australian school—premiered tonight at the Hollywood Fringe. And in the tradition of art imitating life, Doyle sees a connection between what happened 10 years ago in Australia and our stateside Sandusky scandal currently at trial in Pennsylvania.

“I hope [the play] can prompt a conversation about all bullying and abuse,” Doyle says. “And how you make a decision when you decide to be a bystander….we are indicting everyone to help by speaking out if you see something.”

Doyle’s fictional tale was inspired by events at Sydney’s Trinity Grammar School, events labeled by Australian media as “one of Australia’s worst private school scandals.” The trial for the Trinity scandal resulted in four students plea-bargaining to lessor charges and two victims (who Doyle calls “survivors”) receiving out-of-court settlements.</...

by Ellen Connolly
Sun. May 27, 2012 — Sydney Morning Herald

AMERICAN audiences will be confronted with a controversial side of Australian life when a theatre production based on the bullying and sexual abuse scandal at a top Sydney private boarding school opens in Hollywood next month.

Starring former Underbelly and Home and Away actor, Martin Dingle-Wall, the play, Anaconda, was inspired by the scandal that engulfed Trinity Grammar School in 2001 when four Year 10 boarders were charged with several counts of sexual assault.

Shocking details emerged in court, including allegations that one boy was assaulted more than 50 times with a large wooden dildo dubbed the ’’anaconda’’ that one of them made in a woodwork class.

The offenders pleaded guilty to lesser charges of assault in the children’s court and walked free on bonds, while two of the victims received out-of-court settlements.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA ALERT FOR THEATRE EDITORS, REVIEWERS, AND CALENDAR LISTINGS
MAY 21, 2012

A compelling tale of complicity: Sarah Doyle’s Anaconda

Anaconda is a play that takes an honest look at the aftermath of bullying and the search for redemption. Two people have the chance to mend the wounds of the past at the expense of their futures. If you had everything you ever wanted, would you risk it all to be forgiven?

During research for another project, Doyle was examining incidences of trauma experienced by youths and recalled an abuse scandal that occurred at Sydney’s Trinity Grammar School in 2000, during wh...