About The Production
In 1991, 22-year old upstart, Robert Connolly, launched a stage play by Gordon Graham titled "The Boys," which was inspired by (but not specifically based upon) the real-life rape and murder of a young Sydney nurse by three brothers. The play avoided clinical distance, and went straight to the gut of men for whom violence is the ultimate show of human significance, and to the heart of the women who love and fear them. It also went straight to the passions of critics and audiences, who either unequivocally lauded the stark realism of the work or condemned the artists for making it.
From an initial run-through in 1990 at the Australian National Playwrights Conference, and through its debut run at the Griffin Theatre Company in Sydney, "The Boys" conjured rave reviews, broke box office records and ultimately won the prestigious AWGIE (Australian Writers Guild Award) for Best New Australian Play, and an Australian Critic's Circle Award for Best Direction. With this impressive collection of accolades and honors - and the unflagging support of David Wenham (the revered actor who first originated the lead role of "Brett" on stage) - Connolly would spend the next several years transferring "The Boys" to the screen.
DAVID WENHAM (Brett)
Wenham's arresting reprisal of the character of Brett, which he originated in the underlying stage play production, has secured his position among Australia's most promising performing exports. Praised by critics, audiences and his peers, the versatile Wenham has garnered kudos on-stage ("Tartuffe," "Hamlet," "That Eye The Sky," "Cosi" and "The Boys"); on television as star of the popular series Sea Change and in Sons and Daughters, Rafferty's Rules, A Country Practice, Heartland,  Return to Jupiter and Simone de Beauvoir's Babies (for which he earned the prestigious Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Television Drama); and on-screen (Cosi, Dark City, A Little Bit of Soul and the leading role in Peter Cox's upcoming Damien).
TONI COLLETTE (Michelle)
Recipient of a highly-selective Scholarship to the Australian Theatre for Young People, and former student at Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Arts, Collette garnered international acclaim for her captivating lead performance in P.J. Hogan's Muriel's Wedding (Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy, AFI Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Asia-Pacific Film Festival Award for Best Actress and Film Critics' Circle of Australia Award for Best Actress). In addition to her breakthrough performance in that film, she has appeared in Spotswood (AFI nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role), Mark Joffe's Cosi, Lillian's Story (AFI Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role), the romantic comedy The Pallbearer, Doug McGrath's box-office hit adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma, the stand-out indie black comedy Clockwatchers, and Todd Haynes' couture-delic portrait of the glitter-rock '70's, Velvet Goldmine, and co-stars in The Sixth Sense with Bruce Willis. She received the AFI Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Michelle in THE BOYS.
LYNETTE CURRAN (Sandra)
A respected veteran of film and stage, Curran also translates for the screen the role she originated in the stage production of "The Boys." Her nearly fifty stage roles include "The Seagull," "The Real Thing," "The Killing of Sister George," and "The Country Wife."
Curran has also frequently traveled from the small to the big screen, with film credits that include The Road to Nhill, Just Desserts, Dead to the World, Delinquents, The Year My Voice Broke, Oscar and Lucinda, Bliss and Phillip Noyce's Heatwave.
JOHN POLSON (Glenn)
A Shakespearean-trained actor ("The Merchant of Venice," "Hamlet," "Much Ado About Nothing"), Polson has garnered rave notices and national awards for television (AFI nomination for Best Actor in a Mini-Series for A Long Way Home; Kangaroo Palace; John Duigan's Vietnam; Scott Hicks's Call Me Mister Brown), and film (an AFI nomination for Best Supporting Actor in Prisoner of the Sun, and an AFI nomination for Best Supporting Actor and Australian Film Critics' Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Sum of Us (opposite Russell Crowe); and Sirens); as well as for his own directorial work (Sydney Film Festival Best Short Film Award for Audacious) and winner of the 1997 Byron Kennedy Award. He received the AFI Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in THE BOYS.
ROWAN WOODS (Director)
Following his graduation from the Australian Film Television and Radio School in 1993, Woods directed numerous television dramas before teaming up with former colleague Robert Connolly to make his feature directorial debut with THE BOYS. For his feature film launch, Woods also enlisted the talents of several of his short film collaborators, including Wenham, editor Nick Meyers and cinematographer Tristan Milani.
Woods is currently preparing his next feature, "a fable for all ages" adapted from best-selling author Tim Winton's novel, Blueback.
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