"... quite masterly suspensful theatre..." - dB Magazine "... a bop-along-in-your-seat pop masterpiece..." - Adelaide Advertiser "...this is a radio-phonic opera that Wagner may have written in 2007: complex, makes you work but the work is worth it..." Joy FM
"...Everything’s F***ed is one of the most positive and untraditional listening experiences I have had for very, very long, no categories barred. ..."Fredrik Fisher - Opera Magazine
"Sean Peter is dragging music theatre kicking and cursing into the 21st Century..." - JJJ radio
How do you find something worth believing in, in a world where everything’s fucked?
Jack, Red, Belle and Adam share a house under the flight path in an Australian city somewhere. Jack climbs the corporate beanstalk, while his partner Red is lost in work, faith and life. Belle, half awake, takes sex calls while watching TV, as Adam lives more in his computer than in the real world.
Set against the life changing events of September 11 2001, Everything’s Fucked shows how faith, love, and resilience get us through the day and on with our lives, as the world falls down around us. Using a contemporary beat- driven soundtrack, EF presents an instantly recognisable slice of modern life.
Everything’s Fucked was originally presented as part of the Adelaide Festival Centre’s inspace series. Though little more than a staged reading, the workshop showing sold out, creating a rapturous response amongst audiences and critics alike. The work was named in all major critics best of, and received numerous writing and performance awards. EF has garnered national and international interest even while in its formative stages.
The full production was mounted in 2007 by the Adelaide Festival Centre to critical acclaim.
We picked up a review in Opera Magazine - Sweden's leading opera / music theatre journal, by Fredrik Fisher, who was kind enough to send a translation.
"This musical about a group of Australian youths and their experiences in connection with the September 11 attacks on New York City has been called an Australian Rent and has garnered great acclaim in its home country. Comparing Everything’s F***ed with any other musical, however, is really pointless from most perspectives, which is demonstrated brilliantly by this recording.
This is a work where the music has been submitted to the premises of speech and where the drama is presented very straightforwardly. The songs defy the traditional classification as recitative or aria. Rather, they are in themselves small scenes where very appealing melodies, speech, sound effects and short passages of instrumental music are woven in and out of one another in a playful, surprising manner.
Sean Peter is a very competent, yet very earthbound, creator of music and lyrics. For instance, he is the first (to my knowledge) to write a number about the practical use of hand crème by those working in the phone sex industry. There are also a couple of fine comedy and character numbers and a peppy, pop-flavoured paean to “TV, Pizza and Beer”.
Of course, there are problems as well. This is by no means a CD to put on in the background. This is more of a musical radio play, complete with environmental sounds and all. The second act escalation of conflict takes away much of the musical adventurousness and some songs would have benefited from a little less pretention.
Thanks to a cast doing astonishing work and the creator’s will to break new ground in a genre and form often governed by far too many conventions, Everything’s F***ed is one of the most positive and untraditional listening experiences I have had for very, very long, no categories barred.
Fredrik Fischer"
EF Wins AWGIE for Music Theatre!
Writer / Composer Sean Peter has been awarded the 2008 Australian Writers Guild award for Best Music Theatre. The prestigious awards, now in their 41st year, reward excellence in Australian performance writing, and follows an exciting twelve months for EF since the Adelaide Season closed.
“I couldn’t really ask for more” says Peter. “This award really tops off a period of rebuilding since we finished the Adelaide Festival Centre season last year. It started off with the show being optioned by UK producer Tony Green and travelling to London and workshopping the show, for a new UK season.”
“We had an amazing cast of Chelsea Plumley, Rob Archibald, Twinnie-Lee Moore and Jon Boydon. It was directed by old friend John Maher, and it was amazing seeing and hearing the show in such a new way. I still try to imitate Rob’s gorgeous Scottish lilt to “Not Gonna Worry”, but all of them made me see the work in a brand new way, which is still feeding into the show as it continues to evolve.”
“There were some new songs for the show, and a new ending, all of which I think are steps in the right direction. I’ve never travelled much (apart from my honeymoon) and to go to the other side of the world and see one of my shows in action, and then follow it up with another of my shows “Dutch Courage” in New York was mind blowing. I may have accidentally seen about 12 other musicals on the trip as well, and got a new Mac… so I guess it was a great trip”
“We’re still in the process of making EF a good fit for UK audiences, and I’m really enjoying the opportunity to spend more time with Jack, Red, Adam and Belle and allowing their stories to continue to develop.”
The AWGIE nomination came as a very pleasant surprise. “I’m really nervous” Sean admitted before the awards ceremony. “There’s been hints around the place but I really have no idea what to expect. I’ve come down to Melbourne with my wife, and hope to have a great night, as well as catch up with some friends both at and after the ceremony.”
“Winning this award means a lot to me, as I think it goes some way to restoring faith others had in me when they put their arses on the line to get EF up. It also gives me a bit of confidence in myself, which I must admit was pretty shot after some of the press we got in Adelaide. Maybe vindication is too strong a word, but it’s definitely a good feeling, and something that I’m proud of.”
Post awards, it was relief to have survived giving an acceptance speech. “I was really nervous, but it was really important to me to thank Nick Skibinski and Karen Bryant at the AFCT, Lesley, and of course Geoff Crowhurst, who the show would not have existed without. I was also really happy to see Rob Carlton win best Narrative or Situation Comedy for his hilarious Chandon Pictures, and also the team of writers for Underbelly which was probably my favourite TV show last year (starring EF alumni Rodger Corser). A great night, and really honoured to be a part of such an amazing group of writers.”
