Bison
by Lachlan Philpott
2000 (Builders Arms Hotel, Melbourne)
2001 (Arts Centre, Melbourne)
2009 (Brian Friel Theatre, Belfast)
2010 (Oval House Theatre, London)
Bison was first performed in Melbourne in 2000 at The Builders Arms Hotel. It has been reimagined multiple times over its more-than-20-year-history.
Bison was Alyson Campbell and Lachlan Philpott’s first production as wreckedAllprods, a queer performance collective that ran from 2000-2022.
Bison takes an uncompromising look at the dark underbelly of the real lives of today's gay men, vanquishing familiar stereotypes.
From amidst a chorus of voices emerge the complex stories of four gay men at different stages in their lives. Each man very different from the other, but united in a search for intimacy. Examining aspects of contemporary queer relationships such as virtual identity, monogamy, bareback sex, and ageism, this visceral play is an unflinching and at times shocking look at unbridled male sexuality.
Full of sex, love, emotional longing and the desire for pleasure, BISON is variously poignant, painful and funny.
Belfast and London Productions
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TheatreofplucK and wreckedAllprods
Brian Friel Studio
Outburst Festival 2009 -
TheatreofplucK and wreckedAllprods
Oval House Theatre
2011
DIRECTOR
Alyson Campbell
PERFORMERS
Matthew Cavan, Miche Doherty, Jonny Mc Millen-Patterson and Chris Sutton
DESIGNER
Niall Rea
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They might be familiar subjects but Bison portrays them with intelligence, wit and power.
Attitude
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Bison is a cleverly conceived, well written and well acted play. It breaks away from all of the old clichés, and presents these well-worn topics in a truly original way [...] Director Alyson Campbell has pulled it all together, which for such a complex, intricately written play can’t have been easy. So much of the power here depends on perfect timing, but everyone gets it just right.
GaydarNation
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Last night I saw a play which offered further proof that gay theatre isn’t dead. [...] It has an almost musical quality. Scenes shift, characters change and conversations dissolve into each other. And the acting is excellent.
Paul Burston
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All of the performances are excellent and perfectly pitched.
Dissident Musings
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It is to Alyson Campbell's skill as a director that she has totally mastered this piece and draws out of the [...] actors performances that are simply lovely to watch.
QX Magazine
Melbourne Productions
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wreckedAllprods
Builders Arms Hotel, Melbourne
2000 -
wreckedAllprods
Arts Centre, Melbourne
2001
DIRECTOR
Alyson Campbell
DESIGNER
Danielle Hastie
PERFORMERS
Gary Abrahams, Dion Mills,
Chris Stipic, David Kambouris
PHOTOGRAPHY
Paul Knight
Research
Alyson Campbell, 2011, ‘Translating ‘gaytown’: the collision of global and local in bringing Australian queer play Bison to Belfast’,
Alyson Campbell, 2011, ‘From Bogeyman to Bison: a herd-like Amnesia of HIV?’
Alyson Campbell, 2010, “Introduction.” In Bison & Colder, by Lachlan Philpott.