2011
DECEMBER
HOW TO LOSE SIGHT
SHH & Blacktown Arts Centre
Created by Michal Imielski with cast: Barton Williams, Cloe Fournier, Julia Landrey, Odile Leclezio, Gideon Payten-Griffiths, Peter Maple, Pollyanna Nowicki and Shauntelle Benjamin
30 November – 10 December
$20/$15
In an ordinary house in the heart of Parramatta, the world is not as you see it. Inspired by true stories of Australians who are vision impaired, SHH invites you to be a fly on the wall to ponder blind reality – life and living, love and lovemaking – in a world driven by visual cultures and ever developing technology.
How to Lose Sight is an exciting new site specific work created by some of Sydney’s most innovative artists as they ask the question ‘What would the world be like if we were all blind?’
ISLAND
Shopfront Contemporary Art and Performance
Shopfront Junior Ensemble, directed by Howard Matthew & Luke Kerridge
1 Dec – 4 December
$5/$12/$18/$55 (family)
What happens in the imaginary places we escape to? What do we take with us as we grow up? What’s left behind?Over 16 weeks 25 young people have worked with a team of professional artists to create, devise and perform their own work. Island incorporates puppeteering, music, video, and model-making with live performance. Join us for a fantastic season of performances for all ages. Island has been created through Shopfront’s workshop program. This annual program offers 4 terms of workshops that give young people aged 8-25 the opportunity to create new work through a range of art forms including video, sound, performance and puppetry.
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NOVEMBER
BEGUILED
PACT centre for emerging artists
PACT Ensemble Cast, directed by Cat Jones and Julie Vulcan
24 Nov -10 December
$28/$18
We share a universal drive to believe in the potential of magic, a desire to explain the inexplicable, to overcome the impossible, to achieve our destiny. This desire is our companion. It has traveled through time with us and continually shapes our lives. A performance installation and experience created by the PACT Ensemble 2011.
Created and performed by Taryn Brine, Kate Brown, Madison Chippendale, Cameron Ellis, Sam Koh, Annabelle McMillan, Lucille Jana Lehr, Tanya Thaweeskulcha, Emma White and Amber Wilcox.
BONDI DREAMING
Tamarama Rock Surfers, Bondi Pavillion
Written and directed by Sam Atwell
9 Nov – 3 December
$33/ $15
Best mates since childhood, loveable rogues Charlie and Frankie always dreamt of getting out Blacktown and moving to Bondi. But with the pressure of a failing solarium business, they, along with best mate Macca, make a snap decision that finds them in an Asian prison cell instead. Now facing their impending sentences, the men escape their reality through a role playing game that allows them to relive their past and act out their future – always dreaming of a Bondi they will never see.
GROSS UND KLEIN
Sydney Theatre
Written by by Botho Strauss, English text by Martin Crimp, directed by Benedict Andrews
16 Nov -23 December
$130/$40
Whisking us down a rabbit hole and into a wonderland-like world, Gross und Klein (Big and Small) transports us to a hotel dining room in Morocco where Lotte sits alone. She is all dressed up with nowhere to go. There is no one to chat to. Her siesta tour group is ‘at odds’ so she declines to join their excursions. She hasn’t the money to pay for them anyway. For now she will sit alone, listening to the men arguing outside the window, stoically cheerful in the hope that someone, somewhere will need her help or affection. Here begins an exquisite sequence of scenes in which the courageously optimistic and perpetually disappointed Lotte searches for human connection. She is rejected by her husband, unrecognised by old friends and unfamiliar with her family. Even Lotte’s acquaintances won’t admit to being acquainted with her. Whether she is outside a window peeping in or buzzing on an unanswered intercom this iconic protagonist never quite fits. Like Carroll’s Alice, sometimes Lotte is too big for her surroundings, sometimes too small to be noticed within them.
AL PACINO: ONE NIGHT ONLY
Lyric theatre, The Star
Al Pacino Interviewed by Ray Martin
From $109
In a one-of-a-kind event, Al Pacino entertains audiences as he recounts his storied career and most memorable roles on the stage and on screen. In an intimate on stage interview followed by an audience Q&A, Pacino will show his gift for making each listener feel like an audience of one and will bring the night to an end with an unforgettable acting finale.
17 -18 November
$130/$109
Whisking us down a rabbit hole and into a wonderland-like world, Gross und Klein (Big and Small) transports us to a hotel dining room in Morocco where Lotte sits alone. She is all dressed up with nowhere to go. There is no one to chat to. Her siesta tour group is ‘at odds’ so she declines to join their excursions. She hasn’t the money to pay for them anyway. For now she will sit alone, listening to the men arguing outside the window, stoically cheerful in the hope that someone, somewhere will need her help or affection. Here begins an exquisite sequence of scenes in which the courageously optimistic and perpetually disappointed Lotte searches for human connection. She is rejected by her husband, unrecognised by old friends and unfamiliar with her family. Even Lotte’s acquaintances won’t admit to being acquainted with her. Whether she is outside a window peeping in or buzzing on an unanswered intercom this iconic protagonist never quite fits. Like Carroll’s Alice, sometimes Lotte is too big for her surroundings, sometimes too small to be noticed within them.
ONE FOR THE UGLY GIRLS
Old 505 Theatre
Written and directed by Tahli Corin
16 Nov -23 December
$30/$25
A comedy about grief, love, memory, and inspiration. In this comedy follow Alistair as he comes to reconcile the memory of his wife, and Claire as she wrestles with the ideas of beauty, art and mortality.
NOVEMBERISM
The Old 505 Theatre
PANEL DISCUSSION: Writer & Director: When it works and when it’s war! With Suzie Miller, Leland Kean, Tommy Murphy and Eamon Flack.
5 November, 4pm
FREE
SPROUT
Tamarama Rock Surfers, The Old Fitzroy Hotel
Written by Jessica Bellamy, directed by Gin Savage
26 October – 19 November
$33/$21
Sprout is a vision of an environmentally ravaged Australia of the future, where everything has dried up, run out, or fled. Amongst this desolation, four people start new beginnings. They grow new roots. They crack through dirt. They bud and sprout.
I CONTAIN MULTITUDES
Old 505 theatre
Written by 7-On Playwrights, directed by Augusta Supple
11 – 12 November
By Donation
I Contain Multitudes is drawn from 7-ON’s upcoming book of monologues, published by Federation Press expected for release in 2012. The plays traverse the ancient to the everyday, the familiar to the wildly unexpected. This collection of monologues is an exciting cross-section of styles and stories from some of Australia’s most celebrated playwrights and reveals the truly unique, diverse and dynamic voices of contemporary playwriting.
SLOW REVEAL
Shopfront Contemporary Art and Performance
Artslab residents: Erica J Brennan, Grant Moxom, Lucy Watson, Bernice Ong, Rachel Weiner and Rachel Roberts
9- 13 November
$20/$15/$5
ArtsLab is an intensive arts laboratory and six month residency from the end of April to early November at Shopfront Contemporary Arts & Performance. It gives emerging artists (aged 18-25) from across Australia the space, resources, training, guidance and connections they need to experiment, create new work and prepare for a lifetime as an artist.
WOMEN, POWER, CULTURE – THEN AND NOW
New Theatre
Writers: Van Badham, Vanessa Bates, Zoe Hogan, Verity Laughton, Danielle Maas, Maxine Mellor, Suzie Miller, Katie Pollock, Gina Schien, Alana Valentine and Kathryn Yuen
Directors: Sama Ky Balson, Alice Livingstone, Carla Moore, Ngaire O’Leary, Annette Rowlison, Augusta Supple, Susannah Thompson
Season Director: Louise Fischer
16 Nov -23 December
$130/$40
Women, Power & Culture – Then and Now is a jam-packed two weeks of thought-provoking theatre. Join us for a quirky, outrageous, sneakily serious and deadly funny look at the ever-changing Australian Woman.
PANEL DISCUSSION: SEXING THE ACT
New Theatre
A free public forum questioning how far we have (or have not) come since the passing of the historic Sex Discrimination Act 1984.
Join moderator Adele Horin (Sydney Morning Herald) and panellists including advertising guru Jane Caro (The Gruen Transfer), feminist icon Eva Cox, former State Labour MP Verity Firth, journalist and activist Katrina Fox, Gabe Kavanagh (University of Sydney student leader), Muslim women’s advocate Maha Krahem Abdo, Hetti Perkins (former Senior Curator, Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales), plus special guest, former Federal Labour Senator and current Age Discrimination Commissioner Susan Ryan, for what is bound to be a highly entertaining event!
5 November, 2pm
FREE
THE UGLY ONE
Griffin Independent
Written by Marius von Mayenburg, directed by Sarah Giles
23 November – 17 December
$30/$15
Lette thinks he’s normal. But he’s wrong. His personal marketability is dire and his wife thinks he’s unspeakably ugly. Banned from presenting his newly invented plug at a Swiss convention, the mild-mannered Lette takes matters into his own hands with some transformative aesthetic surgery.
The operation is a raging success – after the bandages come off women want him, men want to be him and the surgeon’s even thinking of cloning him. It’s not long, though, before Lette learns there might be such a thing as too beautiful.
DO GOOD AND YOU WILL BE HAPPY
New Musicals Australia, Sidetrack Theatre
Written by Hilary Bell and Phillip Johnston, directed by John Bell
26 November
Remember Cole’s Funny Picture Book, that Victorian cornucopia of picture puzzles, rhymes and catches, moral tracts, pathetic poetical gems, covering the map from Pussyland to Temper Land to Funny Australian Natives? Do Good And You Wil Be Happy is a fantastic imagining of E.W. Cole, assisted ably by Mrs Cole, creating this concoction as a way of saving the world. Overnight.
2011 PHILIP PARSON’S LECTURE
Currency House, Belvoir
Presented by Katharine Brisbane
27 November
$10
Philip Parsons Memorial Lecture, ‘In Praise of Nepotism’, by former critic, publisher and long-time cultural activist, Katharine Brisbane AM.In her lecture, Brisbane argues that while theatre is accused of being insular, this can be a good thing and art thrives when developed in ensembles of like-minded and similarly trained artists. ‘History shows us,’ she says, ‘it is circumstance that brings people together, the great art movements all began with community and circumstance. I believe many areas of our arts today have lost their vibrancy by the imposition of a worn-out model. We have surrendered too much freedom and self-reliance in building the structure that sustains our arts today. Great art is produced in studios, not tertiary institutions.’
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OCTOBER
CURRENCY HOUSE – ARTS AND PUBLIC LIFE BREAKFAST: NONI HAZELHURST
Victoria Tea Rooms
26 October
$ 50
Noni’s message to Simon Crean – The National Cultural Policy draft recently released by the Federal Arts Minister states that
“it is time for a new phase of policy development designed to bring the arts and creative industries into the mainstream of Australian life…. based on an understanding that a creative nation produces a more inclusive society, and a more expressive and confident citizenry, by encouraging our ability to express, describe and share our diverse experiences with each other and the world.”
But the mainstream of Australian life has a limited view of artists and the expressive and confident citizenry is dominated by aggressive voices that engender exclusion and encourage mediocrity. The role of the actor is to remind us that we are, at heart, all the same, and the art lies in touching our hearts and reminding us of our essential humanity. But with little understanding of, or respect for, what actors can do, the mainstream will continue to be fed only reasonable theatre, reasonable films and barely reasonable television. It’s time to recognise and challenge these prevailing prejudices—about actors and about each other. You have no idea what I can do. You might think you know me, but you don’t.
RU4ME?
True West, Riverside Theatre
Written by Annie Byron, directed by Wayne Harrison
21-29 October
$25/$22
Adapted from Andee Jones bestselling memoir Kissing Frogs by actor Annie Byron, RU4Me reveals the heart-hazards of social network dating as experienced by a fifty something single woman. Annie Byron’s one woman show brings a humorous twist to those hard and pressing questions about love such as: Why is it so hard to find and even trickier to keep? How and why do we end up harming our relationships despite our best intentions? Is romantic love truly the ‘impossible encounter’? This delightfully told true tale sheds a witty and amusing light on what we do on our search for love and how old gender politics are being born again through the advent of new media technology.
FRESHLY SQUEEZED
Stage Juice, PACT Centre for emerging artists
Curated by Katy Green
20-22 October
$10
freshly squeezed is a playground for collaboration, crossing art forms and creative dialogue with peer artists. More than twenty of Sydney’s most exciting emerging artists from a variety of disciplines including theatre, dance, sound art, music, visual arts, media, film and installation come together at workshops to jam, experiment, cross-fertilise and form new collaborations. Working with a common theme, the artists develop new works, conduct showings, offer each other feedback as well as take advantage of the mentoring of experienced practitioners. This culminates in an evening of short experimental works, a presentation of raw and promising ideas and never seen before collaborations.
THIS YEARS ASHES
Griffin Theatre Company
Written by Jane Bodie, directed by Shannon Murphy
7 October – 19 November
$47/$15
Ellen lives a shiny life in the heart of a shiny city. She hates her office job, the alcohol isn’t making her as drunk as it used to, and she seems to be allergic to the water. But there is always the company of strangers in this city – the stranger, the better. She thinks she’s doing fine, except that lingering grief has taken hold and the anonymous guy she’s going home with may not be so anonymous.
LUCKY
IPAN & Spare Room
Written by Ferenc Alexander Zavaros, directed by Sama Ky Balson
6 – 22 October 2011
$30/25
Lucky is a story of hope, determination and illusion. A young man puts his faith in a human trafficker to guide him across a treacherous sea in search of the brother who set sail before him. He dreams of a better life for himself and his family, but what will he wake up to? This evocative and poetic text is realised in a work of exquisite physical theatre, taking the audience on a journey that ebbs and flows between life and death, fears of the unknown and visions of a new land.
SUMMER OF THE SEVENTEENTH DOLL
Belvoir
Written by Ray Lawler, directed by Neil Armfield
24 September – 13 November 2011
$59/$27
Every summer, Barney and Roo have come back from the Queensland canefields to the Carlton house they share with Nancy and Olive for their annual season of leisure. This year though, Nancy’s gone and got married, and Pearl’s taking her place. Summer of the Seventeenth Doll is one of the pillars of our national theatre. With its premiere in 1955 Australian playwriting came of age. But The Doll is also about regeneration: about sloughing off the shell of habit and delusion and finding life anew.
THE FESTIVAL OF DANGEROUS IDEAS
Sydney Opera House
What We Are and What We Eat – a talk by Jonathan Safran Froer
I October
$45/$35
Our lust for cheap animal protein and the intensification of factory farming make the torture and degradation of living creatures an integral part of our diet. To keep on enjoying those hamburgers and chicken wings, we lie to ourselves about what is happening in our names. Even as we claim the superiority of the human to the animal, we enjoy the prerogatives of the supreme predator and remain willfully blind to their consequences. What does being human mean under these circumstances? Jonathan Safran Foer is an author best known for his novels Everything Is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and his nonfiction work Eating Animals.
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SEPTEMBER
CURRENCY’S 40TH BIRTHDAY PARTY
3 Sept
Currency Press, Redfern
Currency Press was founded in 1971 by Katharine Brisbane, then national theatre critic for the Australian, and her husband Philip Parsons, a lecturer in Drama at UNSW who worked passionately to bridge the gap between the university and the profession. After Philip’s death in 1993, Katharine remained at the helm of the company until she retired as Publisher in December 2001 in order to devote her energies to Currency House, a non-profit association dedicated to stimulating, enriching and advancing the quality and enjoyment of the Australian performing arts.
TRANSPARENCY
Seymour Centre
Written by Suzie Miller, directed by Tim Jones
1-17 September
$47/$38
In the countdown to Christmas the disappearance of a young boy rocks a small town and sets off a chain of events that will alter the lives of everyone involved. For Simon, the world he had built here was a second chance; in the eyes of the law he had paid for his mistake. Given a new identity, new history and a single confidante, he successfully buried his past; even from Jessica, the woman he loves. But will events force Simon to step outside the prison which he is living and does the community have the right to know who he really is?
PACT FRINGE FESTIVAL PROGRAM A
PACT
$26/$10
OPENING 8 Sep 2011
re:LEASE by FishWife
A farcical black comedy. Meet Helen Gayle Waters: nymphomaniac and split personality realtor.
CLOWN LIGHTS STAGE by Alice Cooper
A quirky and whimsical physical comedy. Amelie meets Greek tragedy meets classic BBC comedy, in a tale told by Clown. “Jawbreakingly hilarious.” Stagewhispers
DUST by Emiline Forster
A twitchy housewife fiercely defends her home as an open cut coalmine encroaches. “imaginative…and brilliantly danced.” Chris Boyd, Critic. Winner, Best Dance, Melbourne Fringe 2010.
LAS DOS FRIDAS by Meiwah Williams
Kahlo’s artwork brought to life with aerial feats, score by Ben Walsh (The Bird) and live vocalist Audrey Gbaguidi. “A shimmeringly brilliant piece of physical theatre.” Adelaide Advertiser.
SMASHED
SBW Stables Theatre
Written by Lally Katz, directed by Clare Watson
7 September – 1 October
$30/$26/$15
Smashed is a tale of ‘besties’ Hazel and Ruby. On the verge of adulthood, the future is bright & the past is a disco blur. With impossible high heels stalking through black holes, diva hair and a map to anywhere, these girls know how to play dress-up and how to make believe. But in this doll’s house universe of memory and fantasy, of unrestrained joy and discordant elegy, the game becomes increasingly desperate when an impending tragedy threatens to blow everything apart.
BITE SIZE
Newtown Theatre
9-18 September
$27/$19
Join Bite Size for a 60 minute voyage through surprising worlds as six short plays explore the theme ‘things aren’t always as they seem.’ From the shadowy realm of an artist and his muse, down the halls of death row, the audience traverses a corporate underworld and 1930’s Germany to finally resurface in a fish tank. Real, surreal and absurd, the plays showcase the premiere work of four emerging Australian playwrights.
OLD WORLDS, NEW HORIZONS
NIDA
Free
The changing landscape of new Australian writing for theatre as new forms and new technologies beckon, new writing for the stage is blossoming and booming, but where are the ‘spaces’ for new work to emerge? And are we heading in the right direction? The panel discusses great plays, grand changes, possible futures and the many voices of Australia.
Join Jane Bodie, playwright, Screen writer, theatre director and Head of Playwriting at NIDA (This Years Ashes, Music, A Single Act, Still, Fourplay) in discussion with Katherine Thompson (A Change in the Weather, A Sporting Chance, Darlinghurst Nights, Kingtide) Lachlan Philpott (Silent Disco, Bustown, Bison, Colder ) and Chris Mead (Artistic Director Playwriting Australia and theatre director) on the how and why of new work in Australia.
AUSTRALIAN THEATRE FORUM
Brisbane Powerhouse
14-16 Sept
CONVICTIONS & CONNECTIONS Urgent conversations. Compelling ideas. Inspiring vision. Professional theatre makers and artsworkers from around Australia—working as independents, in large and small companies, in festivals and venues—will congregate in Brisbane for the second Australian Theatre Forum. Coinciding with Brisbane Festival 2011, this forum will see cultural leaders and contemporary thinkers teasing out some of the big issues around practice, infrastructure and sustainability. Over three packed days, delegates will exchange experiences and ideas and build a vision for a future.
BOXING DAY
The Old Fitzroy Hotel
Written by Phil Spencer, Written by Scarlet McGlynn
14 Sept – 1 Oct
$33/$21
It’s the day after Christmas in the seaside town of Rainwood. Nana can smell burnt chicken, Dad is glued to the TV and Freya, as always, has a mystery to solve. Like any normal 10-year-old girl, Freya Stanley loves Pictionary, Pig Latin and 80’s slasher movies. BOXING DAY is her story: a darkly comic tale where imagination reigns, and a little girl will do whatever it takes to keep her family together.
10,000 BEERS
Darlinghurst Theatre
Written by Alex Broun, Directed by Lee Lewis
22 Sept- 9 Oct
$37/$32
The Panorama Pirates, a football team from Adelaide travel to Sydney to celebrate the end of the rugby season. They let loose on Sydney with the aim of drinking 10,000 beers in one very wild weekend. From the Friday night pub crawl to the casino on Saturday and serious drinking on Stupid Sunday, the camaraderie is fierce but the final beer packs a punch. 10,000 Beers is an exciting and confronting new Australian work exploring masculinity, sport and mateship.
I’M NOT A PSYCHIC, JUST A PERFORMER
Tin Sheds Gallery
9th Sept – 1st Oct
Performed and devised by TK POK
A series of readings, performances and works in process.
PACT FRINGE FESTIVAL PROGRAM B
PACT
$26/$10
OPENING 22 Sep 2011
THE ART AND CRAFT OF APPROACHING YOUR HEAD OF DEPARTMENT TO SUBMIT A REQUEST FOR A RAISE by Nathan Harrison (Applespiel)
Based on Perec’s 1968 literary experiment novella, in turn inspired by scientist Jacques Perriuad’s flowchart on how to get that elusive raise from the boss. Produced by Applespiel.
GOBBLEDYGOOK by bodysnatchers
Examines our lives filtered through apparatus; the mess of signal, frequency and wire; a lone woman slowly being disconnected.
DEBRIS by bodysnatchers,
Urban dystopia, imagined by two tormented, uniquely violent minds. Debris explores love, loss, and the familial ties that hold us together by static electricity.
SPINNING A YARN by Dr. Susan Williamson & Simone O’Brien
Enter the knitted cubby house of the Plastic Bag Ladies of the Sea – Mrs. Polly Mer and Mrs. Polly Ester.
MONGREL
Newtown Theatre
13-23 Sept
$32.50/$27
“I thought that it’d take a little while for the, the… Whadda’ ya call it…? Stockholm Syndrome? I thought it would take a while for the Stockholm Syndrome to kick in, but you’ve been really calm right from the get go. I like that. I don’t like hyperactive women. They should really give you girls better safety training.”
CONFESSIONS OF A GRINDR ADDICT
New Theatre
Devised and performed by Gavin Roach
24-26 Sept
$16
Confessions of a Grindr Addict is a comical, witty and at times awkward one man show that delves into the perils of social network dating in the Sydney Gay scene. Take a journey with Felix as he shares his intimate secrets of lust, sex, the odd fetish or two and watch as he takes his first shaky steps into the uncharted territory of “actually meet in person” dating.
MY PARIS
Old 505 Theatre
Written and performed by Helen O’Leary
22 -25 Sept
$20/$10
Crucified under the Southern Cross, a small girl longs for the stars beneath a Parisian sky. My Paris is the story of anyone who ever wished to be somewhere else when growing up. In and out in an hour via an old wrought iron front gate, this one woman show is a fast, funny, brutally honest account of a Brisbane girl’s gateway to life. Pure imaginings of a six year old transport us to haunting hospital memories or Parisian Boulevards. Surrounded by the sights, smells and sounds of the inner city, My Paris captivates audiences in a flash & sets them loose again with a head full of thoughts, hungry for food and companionship.
ALL BUT ONE
Greek Theatre
$25/$20
Written by Julian Lanarch, Directed by Jenna Martin
‘All But Won’ is the story of Bible Tops, who left his small NSW country town for the army after September 11, praised as a hero. Returning for the funeral of the girl he left behind, he is greeted with courtesy and embraces. But searing under the surface lies the tension of a community turned sour. Accompanied by his army buddy Jack, he must navigate a fragile town in a state of loss and mourning.
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AUGUST
AND NO MORE SHALL WE PART
Griffin Theatre Company
Written by Tom Holloway, directed by Sam Strong
29 July – 3 September 2011
$47/$38
And No More Shall We Part follows Pam and Don’s halting, humorous and devastating attempt at the impossible – to say goodbye after a lifetime together. The winner of the 2010 AWGIE for best play, And No More Shall We Part reunites the crack team of critically acclaimed writer Tom Holloway (Love Me Tender) and Griffin Artistic Director Sam Strong (Speaking in Tongues). Two of the country’s most exciting theatre makers combine to bring you a painfully intimate and profoundly moving glimpse into a lifelong love, and its poignant conclusion.
UNSEX ME
Directed/Composed/Co-devised by Michal Imeilski, Performed/Co-Devised by Nick Atkins
Riverside Theatres, Parramatta
11-20 August
$25/$22
In a night club in Penrith the solo hunt for a mate takes place against a sound track of original music and remix. Drawing on dance, physical theatre and burlesque, Unsex Me is a cheeky and voyeuristic observation of the human mating ritual. Observe the human in the corner. Watch as he puts down his drink, adjusts the fashion garment adorning his chest and moves to the centre of the floor with the objective of finding a mate. Is it hot, not, sexy or just so so? Slip through the rabbit hole and discover the weird rituals, the shy dance and awkward conversation of the urban mate on the prowl.
A QUIET NIGHT IN RANGOON
Written by Katie Pollock, directed by Paul Gilchrist
New Theatre
18 August – 10 September 2011
$30/$25
RANGOON, Burma, 2007. The Saffron Revolution is about to jolt the military dictatorship out of decades of complacency and Piper, an Australian journalist, senses a career-making scoop. Confronted by opposing beliefs and threats of detainment and death, she is ultimately forced to choose between the victims and the spoils of this covert war. Australian playwright Katie Pollock explores with poetic imagination the moral chaos of political engagement in this latest production by critically-acclaimed company subtlenuance.
HAMLET
written by William Shakespeare, directed by Ian Zammit
Emu Heights Productions
Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre, Penrith
24-27 August
$39/$25
Hamlet’s father lies murdered, his mother remarried to a treacherous uncle, his family name and empire in tatters. The young man’s inner turmoil is laid bare – deciding just how to find his place in the world and what to do to set it right.
CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS?
DV8
Sydney Opera House
MACHINE ATLAS
Shopfront Contemporary Arts and Performance
2011 Major project
26-28 August 2011
Kogarah Town Square
Free
In the open piazza of Kogarah Town Square is a makeshift night market of booths, boxes, people, and light. At this market you can sample an array of bespoke machines for living …MACHINE ATLAS is Shopfront’s 2011 site performance about change, consequence and invention. Initially inspired by the chain reaction in Back to the Future and artist collectives from around the world who design, invent, perform, build and record all their own work, this event will revisit moments that have changed our lives through choice, accident, or necessity. Artistic Director Caitlin Newton-Broad leads a team of young and emerging artists aged 16-25 in a devised process of making and performing, supported by an incredible cross disciplinary team of artists from Australia and the UK Using soft-machines, the Laws of Motion, action sculpture, apparatus, live video, faux technical and scientific dialogue, original music, pop & sci-fi films, and dance, MACHINE ATLAS promises to be an unforgettable event for all
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JULY
BULLY BEEF STEW
PACT
Created by Sonny Dallas Law, Colin Kinchela and Bjorn Stewart, directed by Andrea James
29th June – 9 July 2011 (NAIDOC Week)
Wednesday – Saturday 7.30pm, Saturday matinees 3.30pm
$22/$18
A fearless theatrical exploration of Aboriginal manhood. Bully Beef Stew is a fearless theatrical exploration of Aboriginal manhood. Three young Aboriginal men, Sonny Dallas Law, Colin Kinchela and Bjorn Stewart have been working together with Director Andrea James to transcend usual notions of what it is to be an Aboriginal man today. Drawing on their own personal experiences and taking inspiration from their fathers and other Aboriginal men in their lives, past and present, they have cooked up a performance that promises to feed your heart and soul. At times achingly beautiful – at others, raw and exposed – these men bring to the stage a resounding spirit, a dreaming – an initiation of sorts.
www.pact.net.au
ALEKSANDER AND THE ROBOT MAID
REGINALD, SEYMOUR CENTRE
written by Caleb Lewis, Directed by Ali Gordon
1 – 9 July
Fri 1 July 7pm |Sat 10am & 2pm |Tue-Thu 10am & 2pm | Fri 8 July 10am & 7pm
$17
When Aleksander journeys to the hallowed city of Robotika he is captivated by the technological marvels of the Steam Age. Lured by the promise of a life of leisure, the people have been liberated from work by the box-headed Industrials. But all is not as it seems. This school holidays join Drop Bear Theatre for an original steam-punk adventure where childhood curiosity and friendship prevail in a troubling world. Children will be invited to help build a giant robot from recycled and repurposed materials in a free post-show workshop. Suitable for children 8 years and older.
WHO’S THE BEST?
WHARF 2, SYDNEY THEATRE COMPANY
Created by POST
17 June – 2 July
$35/$25
A brand new show by acclaimed contemporary performance collective post | If you haven’t seen them yet, where have you been? Their recent shows include Gifted and Talented (the one with the mars bar and cigarette binge), Shamelessly Glitzy Work (who could forget the endurance required for the ‘come on ladies!’ work-out sequence) and A Distressing Scenario (their champagne soaked, fuzzy logic view of the GFC) | Visual art + dramatic theatre + post dramatic theatre + stand-up comedy + contemporary performance + physical theatre = post | In Who’s The Best? post will ask the audience to decide: who’s the best? | The season is a competition… and there will be a winner (follow our blog if you want to know who is victor) | Perhaps a nightmare-like experience. Perhaps a presentation. We’ve all had that dream, right? | Let’s think about the nature of competition and the business of best-ness | With post regulars Mish Grigor, Natalie Rose, Zoe Coombs Marr and guest Eden Falk | Who’s The Best? was developed through our Rough Draft program. The audience at the post-development showing seemed to like it. Maybe you will too. Go on. It’s only $25 (or thereabouts).
http://www.nextstage2011.com.au/tag/whosthebest
ARTSLAB INDUSTRY SHOWING
SHOPFRONT THEATRE
Invitation only
The ArtsLab program gives emerging artists the opportunity to immerse themselves in the life of an innovative arts community and to develop and challenge their own artistic practices. Working closely with a resident mentor/director and guest mentors, artists-in-residence work individually and as a collective in producing a season of work.
http://artslab.shopfront.org.au/
A MAD AFFAIR
PARADE THEATRE, NIDA
(Playreading)
EMILY EYEFINGER
SEYMOUR CENTRE
Created by Monkey BAA
11-16 July
$21
Adapted from the popular series by Duncan Ball, Emily Eyefinger is the story of adventurous Emily, who was born with an extraordinary gift, an eye on the end of her finger. But Emily has a dilemma. ‘Am I Emily because of my eyefinger or am I Emily because of me?’ This is a lighthearted joyous work with resonating themes of identity, respect, self worth and friendship. Suitable for children aged 5 – 10 years.
http://sydney.edu.au/seymour/boxoffice/program_emilyeyefinger.shtml
K.I.J.E.
Written by Joanna Erskine, directed by Sarah Giles
Old Fitzroy Hotel Theatre
8-30 July
$33/$21
Loosely based on Yury Tynyanov’s 1927 novella ‘Lieutenant Kije’, Joanna Erskine’s highly anticipated first full-length play is both brutal and poetic, innovative and compelling. Director Sarah Giles brings this fantastical, funny and frightening world to life in a powerful production not to be missed.
THE LAST FIVE YEARS
THE REGINALD, SEYMOUR CENTRE
Written and composed by Jason Robert Brown, directed by Luke Rogers
Wed 13 – Sat 30 July
Wed – Fri 8pm; Sat 2pm & 8pm; Tue 6:30pm
$27/$23
A fresh and contemporary musical from Tony Award-winning composer Jason Robert Brown, The Last Five Years is the story of the rise and fall of a young couple’s relationship told from both sides. Her story starts at the end of their relationship while his begins on the day they met. Raw, enchanting and bittersweet, this show captures some of the most heartbreaking and uplifting moments of modern romance. With Marika Aubrey and Rob Mills.
http://www.thereginald.com/2011/05/the-last-five-years/
BOATS
Written by Finegan Kruckemeyer, directed by Frank Newman
Darlinghurst Theatre, Potts Point
4 – 16 July
$20
Join mariners Jof and Nic on a captivating journey as they flee their past and embrace adventure. School holiday fun for children aged 5 to 12. Shipwrecked and alone on his travels, Jof meets Nicholas on a deserted island. Together they begin a magical journey home, cutting a boat from bread, tying a bird from rope, hiding a circus in a jacket and brewing a storm with a teacup. Using acrobatics, object manipulation, a microphone that goes in water and enchanting fantasy, Boats is a moving story that leaves a lump in your throat and a smile on your face.
AT ANY COST
ENSEMBLE THEATRE
Written by David Williamson and Mohamad Khadra, Directed by Sandra Bates
7th July 21st Sept (sporadic dates)
Des loves his wife Faith dearly, but she is gravely ill. The family must decide whether her intensive care treatment should be prolonged. Des can’t bear to have any part in ending her life, but her three children vary sharply in their attitudes. The power of modern medicine can prolong life but is there any point if the life prolonged is poor? The family conflict becomes intense, generating both dark humour and shock as devastating family secrets are inevitably revealed.
A tantalising double bill by writer, Andy Hyman; two sharp comedies exploring love, lust and transformation.
UNDERBELLY ARTS FESTIVAL
COCKATOO ISLAND
LAB: 3-12 July
FESTIVAL: 16 July
$20/$15
Underbelly Arts 2011 brings you some of the best new works by Australia’s freshest creative talent, all in the incredible surrounds of Cockatoo Island, Sydney Harbour. Watch art unfold as over 150 artists collaborate on exciting, innovative and experimental projects during the 10-day residency, The Lab. Or come to The Festival, our big finale showing off and celebrating fruits of the artists’ hard work.
http://www.underbellyarts.com.au
KRAKOUER
YORK THEATRE, THE SEYMOUR CENTRE
by Reg Cribb, In collaboration with Sean Gorman, Author of Brother Boys, Directed by
21 – 30 July
$38/$34
Jim and Phil Krakouer took the Australian football world by storm in the early 1980s. Their unique and anarchic brand of football, dubbed ‘black magic’, captured the imagination of the nation. Debuting with the ‘blue blooded’ Claremont FC in Perth, the boys propelled the Tigers to their first Grand Final in decades. In Melbourne they reached new heights with the mighty Kangaroos until injury and personal drama undid their careers. Regarded as two of the greatest AFL players in history, the Krakouer brothers played in a not-so-distant time when racism was rife and professional Aboriginal footballers were rare. Krakouer! is the story of the challenges they faced in the rise to the top of their game, their skill, daring and resilience, both on and off the sporting field and the controversy and adversity they met throughout their lives. Written by award-winning playwright Reg Cribb (The Return, Last Cab to Darwin, Bran Nue Dae), this is more than a tale of football prowess; it is a spirited story that celebrates pride, passion and the strength of family bonds.
DRAKE THE AMAZING & LA DISPUTE
DARLINGHURST THEATRE
Written by Andy Hyman, Directed by John Kachoyan
$37/ $27
20 Jul-14 Aug
Open Tue-Sat 8pm | Sun 5pm | Matinee Sat 13 Aug 3pm
No shows Mon-Tue 25-26 Jul
Drake The Amazing is a shamelessly comic, fast-paced look at a forgotten age – a love letter to vaudeville theatre. Legend persists that one Autumn night in 1911 Alden Drake, an otherwise unremarkable actor, became the best in the business. How did he get there? And who helped him? A laugh-out-loud tale of love in the wings and one man’s transformation from plain-old Alden into Drake The Amazing. La Dispute traces a chaotic journey through the joys and devastations of romantic love. Marivaux’s original tale is brilliantly re-told for the 21st century. On the eve of a grand party, a wealthy man invites guests to witness a long-awaited experiment to determine which sex is less faithful, man or woman? Two boys and two girls raised in isolation for twenty years are about to meet for the first time. From the giddiness of first romance to the pangs of betrayal, witness a tantalising experiment in love and desire.
THE FARNSWORTH INVENTION
NEW THEATRE
Written by Alan Sorkin, Directed by Louise Fischer
13 July – 13 August 2011
$28/$22
Before the social network there was television. In 1929, David Sarnoff, a Russian-born New York broadcasting tycoon, and Philo T. Farnsworth, a self-taught electronics genius from rural Idaho, battle through industrial espionage, family tragedy, financial disaster and the thrill of discovery for the rights to one of the greatest inventions of all time. As the ambitions and egos of two visionaries clash over the ownership of a patent potentially worth millions, just one lapse, one error of judgement and the other will gain the edge. From the acclaimed writer of The Social Network and The West Wing comes this gripping true story about the birth of television and how one man dared to take on the might of corporate America.
WINDMILL BABY
BELVOIR
Written by David Milroy, Directed by Kylie Farmer
28 July – 21 August
Windmill Baby is the story of Black Australians in the service of White Australia. It’s also an ancient tale of unexpected love and sudden ruination. Milroy’s wily humour and Maymay’s magnificent forebearance make Windmill Baby an act of grace. It finds meaning in a useless act of violence, and carries the meaning on in spite of the blunting powers of time and the wilful failures of the national memory. And most wonderfully of all, Windmill Baby is that rare thing: a real love story.
NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
BELVOIR
Written by Lally Katz, Directed by Simon Stone
And God said: Thou shalt love thy neighbour. He obviously hadn’t reckoned on Ana. Robyn Nevin is Ana: a battle hardened Hungarian-Australian veteran of the twentieth century. Catherine is her neighbour: twenty-something and waiting for a better world. The question is, will their unlikely friendship outlive the colossal forces of history, the inevitability of death, and a trip to the mall to see Mamma Mia? Neighbourhood Watch is a glorious new comedy about hope, death and pets. Lally Katz wrote it for the great Robyn Nevin. It’s a classic odd-couple story: opposites attract, and from each other they gain a new understanding. But as the domestic crises accumulate, Neighbourhood Watch takes on a sense of enormity in the midst of the ordinary that would make Patrick White proud. Katz is a true original and in Neighbourhood Watch her spirit of curiosity turns optimism into an artform. Nevin needs no introduction. She’ll be donning Eva’s gold blouse and formidable hairdo for her long-overdue return to Belvoir. Simon Stone directs this epic which questions whether we really know what is out there in the ‘burbs’.
CUT & PASTE #8
BONDI PAVILLION
6.30pm 30th July
$5
Cut & Paste is a bi-monthly performance evening. The night focuses on new plays, scraps of ideas and script-in-hands and brings together Sydney’s most exciting theatre makers. Theatre, music & short films will be supplied by… Nick Coyle, Allsop & Henderson, Pip Smith, Alex Lee, Phil Spencer, Vanessa Hughes, Cait Harris, Jerome Dernoncourt, Ben Jenkins, Dave Drayton, Fiona Pearson & Kellie Higgins, Mr Brett Pritchard… Oh and wrap up warm, we’ll have lovely booze and snags too!
MY PARIS
Created and performed by Helen O’Leary
Old 505 Theatre
29-31 July
$20/$10
Crucified under the Southern Cross, a small girl longs for the stars beneath a Parisian sky. My Paris is the story of anyone who ever wished to be somewhere else when growing up In and out in an hour via an old wrought iron front gate, this one woman show is a fast, funny, brutally honest account of a Brisbane girl’s gateway to life. Pure imaginings of a six year old transport us to haunting hospital memories or Parisian Boulevards. Surrounded by the sights, smells and sounds of the inner city, My Paris captivates audiences in a flash & sets them loose again with a head full of thoughts, hungry for food and companionship. My Paris is a story best served in the cozy environment that only vital independent theatre offers. Theatre de Huchette, Antoine and du Splendid, in Paris, are but a few short steps from pavement to stage. At Old 505 My Paris beckons passers by to an alternate world via a doorway between an Indian take away & a Korean Grocery joint. Enter My Paris and be in ‘The City of Light.’
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JUNE
TOOTH OF CRIME
By Sam Shepard, directed by Dave Harmon
Arts Radar & Under the Wharf ATYP
ATYP Pier 4/5 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay 2000
www.artsradar.com.au/tooth-of-crime
2-25 June
Tues-Sat 7.30pm/ Sun 5.00pm
$28/ $20
Something is stirring in the subterranean bowels of the Sydney Wharf complex. Amid the harsh feedback spikes of ancient amplifiers and the grinding of electric guitars, a fortress of sorts is being erected. It is the stronghold of the murderous rock-star Hoss, Star Marker of the Gold Circuit, and frontrunner in the deadly ‘Game’ – a brutal contest to the death where contestants go head to head in a battle for what’s left of a futuristic American wasteland.
SIDEWAYZ ART EXHIBITION OPENING
The National Grid Gallery
24 Chard Road in Brookvale, Sydney
4-10 June
FREE
After a two year hiatus, the Sidewayz Art Exhibition returns to Sydney. In keeping with the original format, there will be a display of artworks used on skateboards and snowboards auctioned off to raise funds for charity. Sidewayz contains the artwork of over 50 artists from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. A mix of emerging and established Australian work will be available for silent auction, representing a fantastic opportunity to get your hands on some snow/skate culture items. The funds raised from Sidewayz will be split between The Christchurch Earthquake Appeal and the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund.
THE ADVENTURES OF ALVIN SPUTNIK
Darlinghurst Theatre
30 May – 11 June
$37/$30
Following a sold out run at the 2011 Sydney Festival, this touching story of enduring love and the end of the world returns to the intimate surrounds of Darlinghurst Theatre. The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer is an award-winning show that blends a unique mix of mime, puppetry, live and recorded music and animation. A last ditch effort to save the human race requires journeying down through the mysterious depths of the deep blue sea to find a new place for us to live. Alvin Sputnik, who has just lost his wife, accepts this perilous mission so that he may follow her soul down to the underworld and be together once more. Dive with creator and performer, Tim Watts into this visual feast that will enchant audiences of all ages while exploring the next and oldest frontier: the deep blue sea.
PLAYWRIGHT’S MUSTER
Griffin Theatre Company
SBW Stables Theatre, 10 Nimrod Street Kings Cross
6 June
FREE
The week kicks off on Monday with a Playwrights’ Muster at the Stables, featuring more playwrights than you can poke a stick at and a keynote speech The Seven Deadly Sins of Playwriting in 2010 by playwriting collective 7-On. Last year playwrights came together from near and far in response to the NSW Premier’s Literary Award. At the time a protest, the gathering also showed communal power and verve. In this spirit of community, and in celebration of all playwrights and those who love them, you are invited into the Stables to celebrate (and interrogate) the year that was in writing.
THE GRIFFIN AWARD
Griffin Theatre Company
SBW Stables Theatre 10 Nimrod Street Kings Cross
7 June 2011
$10
With a prize package of $10,000 from our generous sponsors at PKF Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors, this year we’ll be staging readings of extracts from all the short-listed plays, keeping a writer or five in great suspense before the announcement of the winner. Griffin Award 2011 shortlist is:
Melissa Bubnic – Beached
Duncan Graham – Wolf Hunger
Noelle Janaczewska – Third Person
David Mence – The Gully
Catherine Ryan – Copybook No.6
Rick Viede – A Hoax
THE SEAGULL
By Anton Chekhov, in a version by Benedict Andrews, directed by Benedict Andrews
Belvoir
25 Belvoir Street, Surry Hills
4 June – 17 July
(SOLD OUT)
Chekhov described his play in a letter to a friend: “A comedy, three women’s parts, six men’s, four acts, a landscape (view of a lake); a great deal of conversation about literature, little acti It’s also one of the masterpieces of theatre about theatre, an exploration of how telling stories and coining symbols interacts with life. By turns elevated and scrappy, gorgeous and mundane, The Seagull is a vision of humanity enduring in the presence of eternity.
Benedict Andrews has been delivering a series of brilliant investigations of the essential human questions in a career spanning Europe and Australia. All the while he’s been yearning to may his way back to this cornerstone writer. Now he’s gathering a brilliant ensemble of actors including the great actress Judy Davis as the great actress Arkadina, for Chekhov’s splendid telling of LIFE.
ROPE
by Patrick Hamilton, directed by Iain Sinclair
Tamarama Rock Surfers, Bondi Pavillion
$33/$20
1-25 June
The devil is a charming young man…
Gird your loins for Iain Sinclair’s fierce new production of Patrick Hamilton’s classic noir thriller ROPE. Get your vintage dark out for a delicious and disturbing night of parlour room horror. Think classic noir, think murderous sociopaths with great style and a bulge in their trousers.ROPE, written in 1929 and later adapted for the screen by Alfred Hitchcock, is a psychological thriller in which two privileged young men commit the “perfect” murder. Quoting Nietzsche, they cold-bloodedly murder a fellow undergraduate and, then, in a macabre twist, invite the boy’s father, aunt and three friends to dine off the chest that contains his corpse.
THE COMING WORLD
by Christopher Shinn, directed by Caroline Craig
Darlinghurst Theatre Company
18 June – 3 July
$37/$32
The Coming World is an intimate piece of theatre – a funny, moving and thought provoking thrill ride about love, loss, guilt and forgiveness. A New England Beach, 2001. Ed waits for his ex-girlfriend Dora. She doesn’t know it yet but Ed owes $10,000 to the wrong people and, despite everything, Dora finds herself dragged into his desperate plan to escape them and begin a new life With the character complexity of a Jonathan Franzen novel, the cinematic structure of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and the political microcosmic entanglement of Eugene O’Neil, this enchanting play resonates long after it ends. Pulitzer award winning playwright, Christopher Shinn’s dialogue is electric. It catapults us from an analogue world into a digital age, following a desperate quest for love and connection.
SHOPFRONT THEATRE’S END OF TERM CONCERT
88 Carlton Parade, Carlton
26 June
5pm
FREE
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MAY
THAI DAI
By Greg Fleet
Sydney Comedy Festival, Factory Theatre
www.sydneycomedyfest.com.au
3-7 May
$30/$25
In 1988, a young Greg Fleet took a trip to Thailand for a relaxing holiday. 2 weeks later he’d been kidnapped, defrauded of $4000, threatened with murder and shelled by Nurmese military, and joined up with student rebels in the hills around Rangoon.
AMA AND CHAN
by Effie Nkrumah and Alan Lao, directed by Drew Fairly
Urban Theatre Projects, Bankstown Arts Centre
4-14th of May 2011
$18
Ama is a Ghanaian woman who likes Chinese food… a little bit. Chan is her Chinese husband who isn’t afraid of wigs, curves or FuFu… much. They’re social networking celebrity chefs. Their recipes for Asian-African fusion cuisine have gone viral. The traffic on their Facebook pages often causes a worldwide meltdown. After a mighty wedding and slew of In-Law bickering they’ve finally rented a place of their own. But where is their furniture? Where is the Pork Neck and who is the guy in the spare room? In this less-than-fabulous situation, they conjure up a plan to buy their dream house. But first they have to get rich. And even more famous. They get a camera, fusion recipes to die for and let YouTube do the rest. Ama and Chan invite you to the filming of their soon-to-be-popular Reality Cooking Show.
RAINBOW’S END
by Jane Harrison, directed by Craig Illot
Riverside Theatre, Parramatta
6th May (Regional Tour thereafter)
$30/$15
Three generations of Koori women, Nan Dear, her feisty daughter Gladys and clever teenage Dolly live on the outskirts of a country town in a shack on the river banks. For Nan, even life on ‘the Flats’ represents progress of a kind, but Gladys has bigger ambitions for a real house and a real job for Dolly in the town. When Gladys takes on buying the Encyclopaedia Britannica to improve Dolly’s chances, their lives take an unexpected turn.
THE SHOEHORN SONATA
by John Misto, Directed by Ian Zammit
Emu Heights Productions, Joan Sutherland Theatre
4-7 May 2011
The award winning Australian play of two young women’s trials as Prisoners of War, brought to light fifty years later as they reunite for a television documentary; and the devastating secret that kept them apart for so many years.
TRAPTURE
devised by Sarah Enright & Simon Corfield, directed by Shannon Murphy
The Old Fitzroy Hotel Theatre
26 April- 14 May
$33/$25
In the sterile-turned-soiled space, a Man (Simon Corfield) and Woman (Sarah Enright) go at one another. Their love, or lust, is unfolded through a series of macabre, often disturbing vignettes that strongly evoke that seminal erotic nightmare, Rocky Horror.
CUT AND PASTE #7
The Old Fitzroy Hotel Theatre
8 May
$10
Housed at the legendary Old Fitzroy Theatre, Cut & Paste is an evening of short plays, theatrical scraps and script-in-hands brought to you by some of Sydney’s most exciting theatre makers.
May’s line up is damn near improbable. We have… Sarah Hodgetts & David Adlam, Jessica Bellamy, Fiona Pearson & Kellie Higgins, Lydia Nicholson, Murray Robertson Fox and the Milk Crate Theatre mob., Jessica Tuckwell
THE PATRICK WHITE AWARD
Wharf 2, Sydney Theatre Company
20 May 2011
$5
Launched in 2010 in memory of Patrick White, the Patrick White Fellowship celebrates the importance of the playwright to Australian theatre culture and fosters the development of uniquely Australian theatrical voices. The Patrick White Fellowship is awarded in addition to the Patrick White Playwrights’ Award, increasing the total prize pool to $32,500. The Patrick White Playwrights’ Award offers a cash prize of $7,500 for a full-length unproduced play of any genre written by an Australian playwright. The readers and judges assessing the scripts seek a work that is original and ambitious with great potential for staging. The Patrick White Fellowship is a new position for an established Australian playwright whose work has been produced professionally in Australia within the last four years. The winning playwright receives $25,000 for a year long Fellowship in recognition of their contribution to the theatre and their art form. The Fellowship is judged by a panel of peers and an STC representative.
ZINE FAIR
Sydney Writer’s Festival and Museum of Contemporary Art
22 May 2011
www.mca.com.au
Come to one of the most anticipated events of the year; the annual Zine Fair. Buy, browse and barter for zines and other goodies.
25 BELVOIR STREET BOOK LAUNCH
Edited by Robert Cousins. Foreword by David Marr
30 May 2011
$77 (for the book)
To mark and celebrate 25 years of theatre at Belvoir, we commissioned a stunning new book full of essays, memories and vivid photographs. This is 25 Belvoir Street. Including a collection of essays by Robert Cousins, Ralph Myers, Robert McFarlane, Rhoda Roberts, James Waites, Alan John, Rita Kalnejais, Benedict Andrews and Neil Armfield, 25 Belvoir Street traces the social and political background from which Belvoir emerged and it looks at the way the building itself has found a way into our imaginations. From its first mercurial decade when it teetered on the edge of oblivion on more than one occasion, through to the appointment of Neil Armfield as Artistic Director, and beyond to a new generation of theatre makers headed by Ralph Myers, this book provides an extraordinary and intimate record of a company that has been described simply as the “heart and soul of Australian theatre.”
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APRIL
THE TUNNEL
Distracted Media and A night of Horror Film Festival
www.thetunnelmovie.net
Dendy Cinemas, Newtown
31 March
In 2007 the New South Wales government suddenly scrapped a plan to utilise the water in the disused underground train tunnels beneath Sydney’s St James Train Station. In 2008, chasing rumours of a government coverup and urban legends surrounding the sudden backflip, investigative journalist Natasha Warner led a crew of four into the underground labyrinth. They went down into the tunnels looking for a story – until the story found them. This is the film of their harrowing ordeal. With unprecedented access to the recently declassified tapes they shot in the claustrophobic subway tunnels, as well as a series of candid interviews with the survivors, we come face to face with the terrifying truth.This never before seen footage takes us deep inside the tunnels bringing the darkness to life and capturing the raw fear that threatens to tear the crew apart, leaving each one of them fighting for their lives.
GIRL IN TAN BOOTS
by Tahli Corin, directed by Susanna Dowling
Sydney Theatre Company – Rough Draft #9
It’s about loneliness, desire and fantasy. Desperate Sydney women. Feeling invisible. Tan Boots. MX (don’t pretend you’ve never read it). A prank. A disappearance. The pledge, the turn, the prestige.
JULIUS CAESAR
by William Shakespeare, directed by Anthony Skuse
New Theatre
www.newtheatre.org.au
16 March- 9 April
Shakespeare’s great tragedy of misunderstandings and miscalculations, of political expediency and manipulation, of betrayal and murder, is given a fresh and illuminating interpretation for a 21st century audience. A revolutionary leader grown complacent and greedy; his once loyal followers now frustrated and rebellious; a chain of events unleashed with horrific consequences. Bloody deeds and supernatural interventions, conspiracies, corrupted dreams, unscrupulous grabs for power and monstrous acts of cunning. Though formed in ancient Rome, Julius Caesar is a morality tale for our times.
CUT
By Duncan Graham, Director Sarah John
www.belvoir.com.au
7 April – 1 May
A woman sits on a bus and talks to the strangers around her. Or is she at home talking to herself? Or is she in a theatre talking to us? Has she been through an ordeal, or is it a fantasy? Is she traumatised, or is she just messing with us? Duncan Graham’s Cut is a theatrical riddle which travels the precarious line between fantasy and reality, thought and action. Graham and director Sarah John are long time collaborators who have developed a series of bold new works. Cut is their next theatrical investigation, created over a number of years and finally brought to life by the fearless Anita Hegh. Possible confession, possible fantasy. Is she being stalked by a strange man? Or is she playing a cruel game with us? You decide.
THE BROTHER’S SIZE
by Tarrell Alvin McCraney, Directed by Imara Savage
Griffin Independent
www.griffintheatre.com.au
23 March- 16 April
The recently paroled Oshoosi Size finds an uneasy home with his older brother Ogun in the atmospheric bayou country of Louisiana. Ogun – straight living and hard working – feels both the enduring charge and lingering resentment of a lifelong duty to protect his permanently innocent younger brother. With the arrival of the charming and sinister Elegba, an ex-con with his own claims of brotherhood, a delicate stability is threatened and fraternal ties will be tested. Accompanied by live traditional West African music and a vibrant contemporary score fusing Soul, Hip-Hop, R&B and Dancehall, this production promises to be an uplifting, joyous celebration of life.
JACK CHARLES VS THE CROWN
By Jack Charles & John Romeril, Director Rachael Maza Long
www.belvoir.com.au
30 March – 17 April
Uncle Jack Charles is an Australian legend: veteran actor, Koori elder, activist and, until recently, heroin addict and cat-burglar. This is a show about his life – told by him. Rachael Maza Long – Artistic Director of Melbourne’s Ilbijerri Theatre Company – has reunited Charles with his longtime collaborator playwright John Romeril. Together they are crafting a telling of Charles’s extraordinary story. From Stolen Generation to Koori theatre in the 70s, from film sets to Her Majesty’s prisons, Jack Charles v the Crown runs the gamut of a life lived to its utmost. Charles’s unswerving optimism transforms this tale of addiction, crime and doing time into a kind of vagabond’s progress – a map of the traps of dispossession and a guide to reaching the age of grey-haired wisdom. This fleet-footed, light-fingered one-man show is a theatrical delight and a celebration of Black Australia’s dogged refusal to give up on getting on.
DIRTYLAND
by Elise Hearse, directed by Paige Rattray
Spare Room, New Theatre
14 April – 7 May 2011
What won’t Anya do to get away from her dirty, dirty land? There is a burnt patch of grass in the middle of town that won’t grow back. Half the town is hiding a secret. The other half is missing. A dark, adult fairytale. A haunting and subversive examination of the will to survive. Welcome to Dirtyland. Sharp, atmospheric and rebelliously comic, Dirtyland is a world with heart, plenty of guts and a fair bit of rock and roll.
AS YOU LIKE IT
by William Shakespeare, Directed by Kate Gaul
Bay 20, Carriageworks
22 April- 7 May
http://www.sirentheatreco.com/as-you-like-it/
Disguise, disappearance, wrestling, clowns, a whole lot of goats and a smokin’ jazz trio will transport audiences of all ages through a glitter dusted, cross-dressed comedy of wit, recklessness and romance in Siren Theatre Co.’s upcoming production of As You Like It.
SILENT DISCO
by Lachlan Philpott, directed by Lee Lewis
Griffin Theatre Company
28 April – 4 June
Tamara and Jasyn are in love. Tamara is too young, too old, but just enough trouble. Jasyn lives with Aunty and his brother Dane is in prison for dealing. Jasyn wants to take Tamara to the formal, but he hasn’t got the cash. In a world of absent mothers and missing fathers, Mrs Petchell battles to keep another year of students out of the ranks of the vanished. The Outsiders is on the syllabus again, but instead of Socs and Greasers, this is the world of Speds and Bitches – fuelled by Red Bull and powered by iPods.
THE BUSINESS
By Jonathan Gavin, Based on Vassa Zheleznova by Maxim Gorky, (from a literal translation by Karen Vickery),
Directed by Cristabel Sved
Belvoir
23 April – 29 May
Our central character is a woman who grew up poor, clawed her way out, and built an empire in the outer suburbs. But her salad days in middle Australia are under threat. The world is accelerating into the future, her husband is on his last legs, and the kids smell blood. Now is the time for a spectacular generational showdown over who gets the prize.
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MARCH
THE WEDDING PARTY
OPENING NIGHT FILM- AUSTRALIAN FILM FESTIVAL
2 – 13 March
Randwick Ritz Cinema
www.australianfilmfestival.com.au
First time feature director Amanda Jane takes her camera into the heart of Melbourne and creates a fun-filled farce about family, love and the choices we make. From the sacred turf of the MCG to the city’s kinky underground, The Wedding Party explores everything that can go wrong (and right) in the search for love.
New secrets trip over old lies, as the misadventures of an average suburban family prove you can choose your illegal immigrant bride but you can’t choose your own kin. This vodka-sodden comedy of errors features an impressive ensemble of Australian talent, including Josh Lawson, Isabel Lucas, Steve Bisley, Heather Mitchell, Essie Davis, Geoff Paine, Nadine Garner, Adam Zwar, Kestie Morassi, Rhonda Burchmore, Nikita Leigh-Pritchard and Bill Hunter. The soundtrack includes the work of Melbourne-based musicians J. Walker (Machine Translations) and Clare Bowditch.
50 | HENRY ROLLINS
The Gaelic Club, Sydney
8- 9 March
www.henryrollins.com
Having reached the half-century mark the everyman-of-all-trades, HENRY ROLLINS, gears up for a new talking tour this March hitting intimate venues in Australia and around the world to share stories from, and reflections on, his first 50 years and the chaos that has surrounded him.
ZEBRA
by Ross Mueller, directed by Lee Lewis
Sydney Theatre Company
www.sydneytheatre.com.au
10 March- 30 April
New York City. Winter. 2009. The global housing bubble has well and truly burst, leaving the inhabitants of the previously buoyant city deflated and contemplating the impending age of austerity. While CNN reports that ruined New Yorkers have begun to exchange goods for services, trading iPods for cab rides, the deal of the century is going down in a Manhattan bar called ‘The Big House’. At his daughter’s request, businessman Larry has agreed to a blind date with her fiancée. He’s expecting a ‘kid’ to show up. What he is not expecting is Jimmy, a former elite Beach Volleyball player, who has made his name in real estate on the West Coast. These two self-made men are going to have to do business. With the subprime mortgage crisis hitting hard, Jimmy has only one thing left to sell: Himself. Apart from the soon-to-be in-laws, the bar is empty. Its owner, Robinson, is in the depths of an emotional and fiscal crisis of her own but when this chance meeting blows the unpredictable Larry in her direction, the course of her future might be set to change.
NATIONAL PLAY FESTIVAL
Parramatta Riverside Theatres
www.nationalplayfestival.org.au
15-19 March
National Play Festival showcases the best in new Australian playwriting to inspire playwrights, producers and audiences about new writing as a critical, living part of our story-telling culture. The National Play Festival has been held in the past in Tasmania and in Brisbane. In 2011, the Play Festival will be presented in Parramatta, Western Sydney where a new focus will be introduced celebrating our achievements in community cultural development and our partnerships with community artists across the region. The Festival also plays host to our Industry Symposia, a key initiative supporting our engagement with the professional theatre industry and the issues that shape the future of playwriting.
THE SHAPE OF THINGS
by Neil LaBute, directed by Sam Haft
ATYP Under the Wharf
www.atyp.com.au
16 March- 2 April
Set in a Midwestern college town, Neil Labute’s comic masterpiece chronicles the chance meeting of Adam, an awkward English Lit Major and Evelyn, an ambitious art student. The relationship they embark on appears “meant to be”- so much so, that Adam will go to extraordinary lengths to prove it. Appearances however, are deceptive. As love interests become entangled, the nature of their romance reveals itself to be anything but conventional. Since its London premiere in 2001, Neil Labute’s modern classic, a cruel and brilliant satire on love, life and art, has left audiences all over the world dazzled by its daring and power.
THE INTERMINABLE SUICIDE OF GREGORY CHURCH
Written and performed by Daniel Kitson
Downstairs theatre, Seymour Centre
www.sydney.edu.au
15-27 March
Gregory had fifty-seven letters to write. He’d never written that many letters, not in one go. In fact, he’d never written a single letter and it was taking significantly longer than he’d anticipated. He’d started, full of optimism, curiously enough, at 9am and now here he was 8 hours later half way through letter twenty four. He glanced at his watch and then at the noose hanging over his head. Gregory sighed. Had he known how long suicide letters take, he thought, he wouldn’t have cancelled the milk for the morning. The story of a death postponed by life.
ONE MAN LORD OF THE RINGS
by Charles Ross, Directed by TJ Dawe
Playhouse, Sydney Opera House
www.onemanlotr.com
23 March- 2 April
Like many Lord of the Rings fans, Canadian actor, playwright and self-proclaimed ‘professional geek’, Charles Ross fell in love with Tolkein’s trilogy at an early age. When it was announced that Peter Jackson would adapt the stories for film, he was again among many who felt excitement and worry about the film (would he screw it up? would someone stupid play Gandalf?) Thankfully no, and no. After the success of his One Man Star Wars Trilogy, people asked him what he would tackle next. He didn’t even blink.
TIM MINCHIN VS SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
www.timminchin.com
24-27 March
Comedy rock superstar, Tim Minchin, is back on the road with his biggest live show ever.
This show includes brand new songs as well as those much loved Minchin classics, but this time, as you’ve never heard them before – with a 55 piece orchestra, the Sydney Symphony!
WHAT MAKES US VULNERABLE/WHAT MAKES US STRONG
End of term performances
Shopfront Theatre, Carlton
www.shopfront.org.au
27 March
Featuring the work created by 8-18s in Puppetry, Italian Slapstick, Movement, Acting & Short Filmmaking
Exploring the artistic inquiry – What makes us Strong? What makes us Fragile?
Join us for an evening that will be sure to entertain, provoke, move and leave you with wanting more.
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FEBRUARY
PLAYWRITING AUSTRALIA LAUNCH
2 Feb
Free
Bangarra, Wharf 2/3 Hickson Road, Sydney
PlayWriting Australia has hit the ground running in 2011! We’re only days away from launching the program for the 2011 National Play Festival, with the big announcement of which new Australian plays will be presented.
TELL IT LIKE IT ISN’T
atyp Wharf 1, Hickson Bay
3-19 February 2011
$20/$10
The production is a short, sharp, evocative collection of monologues written by some of Australia’s leading young and established playwrights especially for HSC drama students. atyp is proud to present the future of Australian playwriting through this Work. Directors Luke Kerridge and Lachlan Philpott have worked alongside 11 writers, 7 of which are female, from atyp’s Fresh Ink Program to develop this work and have cast 11 young actors.
SPEAKING IN TONGUES
written by Andrew Bovell, directed by Sam Strong
Griffin Theatre Company, Stables Theatre, 10 Nimrod St, Kings Cross
10 Feb -19 March
$47/$28
www.griffintheatre.com.au
Two couples set out to betray their partners… A lover returns from the past and a husband doesn’t answer the phone… A woman disappears and a neighbour is the prime suspect… Contracts are broken between intimates and powerful bonds are formed between strangers.
THE BARBER OF SEVILLE
Opera Australia, Sydney Opera House
by Gioachino Rossini, directed Eilijah Moshinsky
Opera Theatre, Sydney Opera House
10-25 Feb
‘Figaro, Figaro, Figaro’. This production transports Seville’s master matchmaker, barber and all-round Mr Fixit to the ’20s. With blazers, boaters and Buster Keaton stunts, while Rossini’s score features some of the world’s best-loved arias and ensembles. “Figaro’s here, he’s there, he’s everywhere! Everyone asks for him, he’s the “Fixer” of Seville!”
Elijah Moshinsky’s much-loved production transports Figaro and his cronies to the natty 1920s, all blazers boaters and Buster Keaton stunts. Meanwhile Rossini’s irresistible, pacy music criss-crosses the colourfulclownscape with some of the world’s best-loved arias and ensembles, conducted by Antony Walker who returns to Opera Australia after great success in London at the English National Opera. Whether it ishe vocal fireworks of Rosina’s ‘Una voce poco fa’ or the show stopping ‘Largo al factotum’, this is the kind of music which has you singing in the shower for days.
IN THE NEXT ROOM, OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY
written by Sarah Ruhl, Directed by Pamela Rabe
Sydney Theatre Company, Drama Theatre Sydney Opera House
7 Feb- 27 March
$85/$75/$35
For the wife of the eminent scientist and inventor Dr Givings, the vagaries of the medical field have never held much allure. Until now.Now, as the age of electricity dawns, her husband’s profession has finally piqued her interest. But Dr Givings fails to understand his wife’s sudden fascination with his practice. The remedial treatment that he administers to females suffering from hysterical disorders is an important medical invention and nothing more. The Chattanooga Vibrator is absolutely nothing for his apparently healthy, happy wife to get her bloomers in a twist about. Unable to breastfeed her baby and desperately lonely, Mrs Givings craves attention and affection. When she seeks companionship in two of the Doctor’s patients, this curious young woman begins to discover the truth of what goes on behind the closed door…
STICKS AND STONES
Written by Jay Duncan, directed by Gabriel Dean Fancourt
Tap Gallery
1/278 Palmer Street, Darlinghurst
9 Feb – 4 March
$28/$22
The Pedestrian; a 27 year old aspiring writer, whose life was dictated by his work a male prostitute, does not know or remember anything. The driver; a young family man, holds the answers, and goes about avoiding this revelation by any means possible.
DOCTOR ZHIVAGO
based on the novel by Boris Pasternak
Book: Michael Weller, Lyrics: Michael Korie and Amy Powers, Music:Lucy Simon, directed by Des McAnuff
Lyric Theatre, Star City Casino
From 11 February
Doctor Yurii Zhivago is a man divided against himself – on the one hand a dedicated husband, father and healer; on the other a poet, dreamer and sensualist. The action sweeps breathlessly from the final glory days of Czarist Russia through the chaos and upheaval of the Russian Revolution into an unprecedented tyranny under a heartless new political regime.Through all these volcanic upheavals, three passionate men – the ardent young Doctor Zhivago, the fiery political radical Pasha Antipov, and the cunning bourgeois magistrate Viktor Komarovsky – compete for the love of one woman, the alluring and enigmatic Lara… as if they are fighting for the soul of Russia itself.
THE WILD DUCK
by Henrik Ibsen, directed by Simon Stone
Belvoir, 25 Belvoir Street, Surry Hills
12 February – 27 March
Hjalmar Ekdal’s father was rich until scandal cast the family into poverty. Now he lives in a tiny flat with his father, his wife Gina and his daughter Hedvig. And a duck. And there’s about to be a new member of the household. Gregers Werle has just returned to town with some unfinished business that could shatter the little world Hjalmar has built around himself.
CANNIBAL
Created by Matthew Day
PACT, 107 Railway Parade, Erskineville
16-26 Feb
A new work by Matthew Day and the second in Day’s solo trilogy, following his stunning debut, Thousands, at Next Wave and PACT in 2010. High-energy and unrelenting, Cannibal explores the animalistic potential of the human body in continual transformation. With thumping, pulsating, live sound composed by James Brown, Cannibal is a sweaty dance of excess not to be missed! Presented by PACT in association with the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
TURNS
Devised and written by Reg Livermore
Everest Theatre, Seymour Centre
www.sydney.edu.au/seymour
22 Feb- 12 Mar
$70/$57
Turns – a reflection on identity, family, show business… and completely losing your marbles! Pantomime star Marjory Joy is on her last legs (or is she?) As she reflects on a life spent in show business (or was it?) her son Alistair tries to understand this woman, all women – and to come to terms with one woman in particular… Turns was especially created for these two stars, from the pen – and vivid imagination – of Reg Livermore himself. Let these two legends take you on a theatrical journey which will surprise and delight you, as Nancye & Reg do what they do best: sing, dance, make you laugh, and much, much more…
PARKIE
by Daniel Hayward, Directed by David Koumans
22 Feb – 4 March
ATYP, Under the Wharf, Studio 1
www.atyp.com.au
Life in the sleepy little park is fairly uncomplicated for Adam, that is until the arrival of Jake, an enigmatic stranger who is determined to shake things up. Hot on his heels is Matt, a local boy fresh out of prison who struggles to see a future in his family’s failing farm or understanding in his father’s heart. Adam is seduced by Jake’s masculine whiles, only to find that Jake has been working a similar tune with Brenda, a 16 year old persistent dreamer who is desirous of a glamorous city lifestyle beyond the walls of her parents’ caravan park. In Adam’s bid to finally take control, the tensions inherent in the dramatic situation are suddenly exposed, leading to a surprising and explosive conclusion.
CANARY
written by Jonathan Harvey, directed by Nick Curnow
2 February – 5 March
$28/$22
www.newtheatre.org.au
In 1960s Liverpool, two boys fall in love but are forced apart.In Thatcher’s London, while the country battles pit closures and Mary Whitehouse guards the nation’s morals, two runaways find a place in ‘Heaven’.In 2010, the tabloids threaten to expose a secret that could shatter a family and destroy a careerSet against a backdrop of changing social attitudes, cultural shifts and political upheavals, Canary is a life-affirming, darkly funny and unflinchingly honest exploration of what it means to be gay, out and proud, and a heartfelt tribute to those whose lives were wrecked by homophobia and the activists who fought to change the world.
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JANUARY
A LIFE IN THREE ACTS
by Bette Bourne & Mark Ravenhill, Directed by Mark Ravenhill
Sydney Theatre Company and Sydney Festival
www.sydneytheatre.com.au
4 – 16 January 2011
$50 | $40
With honesty, humour and occasional anger, performer Bette Bourne tells Mitchell Butel about his life. Bourne’s story moves from a post – war childhood, to the Gay Liberation Front, life in a drag commune and on to the creation of the ground-breaking Bloolips company and beyond. This piece paints a portrait of an amazing individual and celebrates the momentous struggles and achievements of gay liberation. A Life in Three Acts is based on edited transcripts of a series of long, private conversations.
FOR A BETTER WORLD
BY Roland Schimmelpfennig, Director Daisy Noyes
A Company No. 3 and Griffin Independent Production
www.griffintheatre.com.au
5 – 29 JANUARY 2011
$30 | $26
In an isolated jungle, in a not too distant future, soldiers wage an endless war against an unknown enemy. Supply lines are cut, water is running out, the troops have gone tribal and sex is the only method to identify the aliens who have infiltrated the ranks.
MIKE BIRBIGILA: MY GIRLFRIEND’S BOYFRIEND
Everest Theatre, Seymour Centre, Chippendale
Sydney Festival
www.sydneyfestival.org.au
13 – 16 January 2011
$30
Groundbreaking comedian Mike Birbiglia tells artfully crafted stories about his wonderful, awkward life. A feature on acclaimed radio show and podcast This American Life and the prestigious storytelling collective, The Moth, Birbiglia has also appeared in three Comedy Central specials. Direct from Montreal’s Just For Laughs, Birbiglia’s new show, directed by Seth Barrish, features his signature comedic storytelling style. It’s an uplifting look at the pain in finding out you’re not her first choice, and that you might not even be her second.
SOAP
Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House
Sydney Festival
www.sydneyoperahouse.com
14 January
$55/$45
After two years at the Chamäleon Theater in Berlin and London’s Riverside Studios, Soap played to packed houses at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival earlier this year. With a pumping soundtrack of pop, blues and rock, the delicious cast of characters take turns to perform a stunning series of water-soaked acts to an eclectic soundtrack that includes the music of Mika, Sia, Tool, Gnarls Barkley and Goldfrapp. There’s also Soap’s very own live diva, Lithuanian opera singer Lina Navakaite. From contortion and straps to trapeze and aerial silk, the show includes moments of divine beauty – a captivating gymnastic performance on a bath ledge – to a humorous love story between two feet.
THE WAU WAU SISTERS: LAST SUPPER
The Studio, The Sydney Opera House
12 – 15 & 19 – 22 January
$39/ $30
www.sydneyoperahouse.com
Stars of La Clique, The Wau Wau Sisters, return to Sydney to conjure a funny, raucous, ridiculous reinvention of The Last Supper – complete with 12 disciples, umpteen cocktails, endless fun and fearless abandon!! Direct from a highly successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, New York City’s bravest and bawdiest duo invite one and all into their garden of unearthly delights and debauchery, and deliver an hour of profanity and divinity. Straddling (literally) the hilarious gap between religious and related, performance art and party, busking and burlesque, this show is sure to make audiences want to convert to their cunning cult! With a defiant mix of hell-raising humour and mesmerizing mayhem, watch catholic school girls turned born-again Country Western stars gather dandies, derelicts and disciples along the way, and build to a bacchanalian finale full of saviours, savants and showgirls!!
JOHN MALKOVICH IN CONVERSATION WITH JIM SHARMAN
Sydney Festival
Sydney Town Hall
January 17 2011, 7pm
$50/$30
A leading actor of his generation and an important figure in world cinema, John Malkovich is also an accomplished director, producer and successful fashion designer.
In a wide ranging conversation with Jim Sharman, a respected and enduring artist in his own right, Malkovich will speak about recent collaborations for the stage with Michael Sturminger, The Infernal Comedy and The Giacomo Variations, along with his rich and varied film and theatre work and his passion for design.
THE ADVENTURES OF ALVIN SPUTNIK: DEEP SEA EXPLORER
Created and Performed by Tim Watts
Seymour Centre
Sydney Festival
!8-23rd January (Various times)
$30
The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer is a highly imaginative fusion of animation, mime, puppetry and music. Creator and performer Tim Watts raises the deep blue sea to the surface where audiences are introduced to the lovable Alvin, an ambitious multi-tasker who is trying to reunite with the soul of his dearly departed wife while saving the world from an untimely end. Alvin Sputnik’s inspirational journey of love, loss, and the magic of re-discovering love, enchants audiences of all ages with its enormous heart and creative ingenuity.
MINTO: LIVE
The Streets of Minto
20-22nd Jan 6pm
Sydney Festival
Free
The suburban streets of Minto become the stage for new and original performances created by critically acclaimed Australian and international artists in collaboration with Minto residents. MINTO: LIVE begins at Minto Mall car park and takes audiences through the streets of Minto to experience contemporary theatre, dance, film, music and song, before culminating in a pyrotechnic-based performance. Artists: Lone Twin (UK), Gwendoline Robin (BEL), Hetain Patel (IND/UK), Nicole Barakat (AUS), Caitlin Newton Broad & Howard Matthews (UK/AUS), Blood & Thunder Press (AUS), Sweet Tonic Choir (AUS), Freddie Hill (AUS)