NONE SO BLIND Comes to Sydney Fringe

A confronting drama about paedophilia empathising with both victim and abuser will be a provocative highlight of the Sydney Fringe 2019 this month. None So Blind is a story not often told.

Sydney writer Garreth Cruikshank explores the loneliness, repression and moral ambiguity lurking behind sexual abuse, and the anger, emotional ambivalence and violence it sparks. Following its production in New York, Dark Pony and the Sydney Fringe co-present the Australian premiere of None So Blind from 24 September at Erskineville Town Hall.

Martin Portus stars as Mr Shepherd, a former Catholic school teacher, gay and blind, who manipulates his way into the pants of cash-hungry teenage boys. Jude (Russell Cronin) stops to help the impoverished old man but his act of kindness sets in motion events beyond his imagination. His well-educated moral principles are shattered and his boyfriend, Scott (Tomas Burt), a working class apprentice chef, faces his own dark fears.

'I wanted to show that moralities can't be absolute, that things aren't always as straight forward as they seem," says Cruikshank. 'It's more than about two young gay guys and an old man; the moral principles explored in the play are wide-ranging. We might not endorse all these characters but we are drawn to understand their motivation.'

Cruikshank has written significant plays about edgy social issues, including God's Wil, directed by the Susan Jordan, who here directs None So Blind. His next is set around the Weimar Republic.

NIDA-trained Martin Portus was a stage and television actor before his career as an arts journalist,

critic and ABC Radio National and TV presenter. He returned to the stage to play the Sydney bohemian writer in the solo show The Les Robinson Story, staged in three theatres. He's since featured in many short films and TV series (Orange is the New Brown, Home and Away, Brock) and notable independent productions in Sydney.

An AFTT graduate, Russell Cronin is an actor familiar from his productions at the Depot and The Factory Theatres and recently won the Best Actor and Best Production at Short & Sweet 2019 for his role in A Soldier's Testimony.

Tomas Burt is a graduate of the International Screen Academy, an actor and creative recently shooting a host of short films, a thriller and the web-series Made For This.

Tickets from www.sydneyfringe.com