.png)
''...highly entertaining with engaging and committed performances.''
Theatre Thoughts
"The Cardinal Rules was truly entertaining. It was comedic and smart and clearly crafted with intention... an opportunity to see their work should not be passed up."​
Wanderer Magazine
''...splashes of humour &
lashings of laughter...''
Sydney Arts Guide
''Just a great balance of raw emotion, humour and just great storytelling.''
Audience,
Merrigong X 2024
​
the cardinal rules
​​
Thoroughly relatable humour, staggering humanity...and pushy Aunties from the ancestral plane!​​
​
Engulfed by nostalgia, a woman stands at the funeral of a primary school friend that she hasn’t seen in years. As she remembers her 90’s childhood in a close-knit suburban Catholic community, she questions how their lives diverged.
When two peculiar beings disrupt her sense of reality, she is forced to re-evaluate her understanding of everything she thought she knew.
An unlikely coming of (middle) age story about facing the uncomfortable realities of the past and living in the present.
​​​
​
Concept /Co-writer/Performer Rose Maher​​
Director Ali Gordon​
Producer Alex Travers​
Co-writer/Performer Alison Bennett​
Performer/Devisor Jane Phegan​
Production Designer Andrea Espinoza​
Lighting Designer Chloe Weeks​
Sound Designer Gail Priest​​​
Movement Director Cloé Fournier
​
Content Warnings: this show infers suicide and child sexual abuse. 16+.
''Hands down you have to go because it’s so beautiful and so personal and amazing.''
Audience,
Merrigong X 2024
​
Photo credit: Kate Williams
The Cardinal Rules was first developed on Dharawal Country at Merrigong Theatre Company in Wollongong NSW through the MERRIGONGX and Performing Lines Digital Arts Residency in 2020, with mentoring from Kate Champion. Since then, MERRIGONGX has supported a further two development residencies in 2021 and 2022-2023 and the Merrigong X Performance season in 2024.
The Cardinal Rules was supported through a residency at Theatre and Performance Studies, the University of Sydney, Erth Visual & Physical Inc and Shopfront's Open Shop Program 2024.
