Curtain goes up for Love Child

By Dion Teasdale
ONE of Australia’s best loved, most versatile and colourful leading ladies will take to the stage in Warburton this week.
Amanda Muggleton is starring in a new production of award-winning writer, Joanna Murray-Smith’s, play Love Child.
The play is a compelling drama about reconciliation between a mother and the daughter she gave away at birth.
Anna (Muggleton) is a successful film editor in her 40s who lives alone in a cold, stylish apartment, until a young woman called Billie (Melinda Dransfield) arrives at her door.
Billie acts in soap operas and is searching for her birth mother.
Together these two fractured women confront the implications of distance; between then and now, between generations and between the one who gave away and the one who was let go.
The play takes the characters on an emotional journey – through anger and remorse to excitement and joy, dealing with issues that either have a direct impact on the audience or will intrigue them.
Ms Muggleton, who has won rave reviews for her portrayal of Anna, is no stranger to the theatre.
She has appeared with all the state and commercial theatre companies in Australia and earned high praise for her performance in the Melbourne Theatre Company production of Shirley Valentine.
This year Ms Muggleton has also appeared in her own solo cabaret show, which she premiered at the Star City Casino Showroom, and which will be touring nationally.
She has also appeared in many well-known television series, and is best remembered for roles such as Chrissie Latham in Prisoner, Connie Ryan in Richmond Hill, and for guest roles in A Country Practice, Cop Shop and Sarah Dane.
Her film credits include Mad Max I, Street Hero, Queen of the Road, Mr Reliable, Feeling Sexy and Idiot Box.
Love Child will be staged at the Upper Yarra Arts Centre on Saturday, 4 November, at 8pm. Tickets are $35 for adults, $33 concession or $30 for groups of 10 or more. Phone 5966 5160 for information and bookings.