Plays for Young People
Red Red Shoes' is a modern adaptation of the fairytale set in Bosnia, and England, involving dance and drama. The heroine struggles to find her identity following the trauma of war. WINNER OF THE ARTS COUNCIL'S AWARD FOR BEST CHILDREN'S PLAY. 'Eye of the Storm' is a modern retelling of The Tempest exploring the father/daughter relationship and attitudes to gender. 'Playing from the Heart' portrays the trials of the young Evelyn Glennie to become a percussionist, despite her profound deafness. This is an opportunity for movement, music and text to be combined in performance. This book is intended for age 8 and over.
The Trials of Shylock
The Trials of Shylock is an exploration and reinterpretation of The Merchant of Venice from an acting point of view, designed to create a path for performers and directors to humanely interpret the play and its signature character, Shylock, in a manner freed from the antisemitic imagery long-associated with the part.It is an actor's journey seeking an emotional foundation for a character in performance, rather than the pursuits of a literary historian or critic. Thus, the tortuous inner paths of that search, and the creative license of the actor, are combined with historical analysis and personal memoir to portray Shylock's behaviour convincingly in modern psychological terms. By confronting the emotional impact of Shylock's degradation and personal travails upon his conduct, exposing the cruelty and hypocrisy of his tormentors, and imagining a modern setting effectively illuminating these choices for a contemporary audience, long-held assumptions regarding the values and behaviour of the parties to this drama are reconsidered, altering perception of the play and its meaning. This is accomplished through exploration of a range of historical, emotional, and personal elements essential to the actor's art, with the view to achieving a highly personal and original interpretation of the play and its signature character, Shylock, that will speak to modern audiences. Thus, the acting process, itself, and the research and introspection required to prepare for a role in a fully idiosyncratic way will be considered. It can be argued that MV says more about the attitudes of Elizabethan London toward Jews than those of Venice, an assumption useful in a modern context. Thus, a setting and "given circumstances" are proposed to address these relationships starkly in British-Jewish polarities: namely, British Mandatory Palestine in the years 1945-48, a period fraught with existential conflict pitting Imperial Britain against the Jews. The magnitude of Shylock's rage and mania can then be understood in a larger context of national trauma in the wake of genocide, adding a moving dimension of injured humanity and realism to the character, and eschewing the bigoted view of Shylock - traditionally held - as the embodiment of inveterate evil. In this way, Shylock's violence can be considered in terms of modern psychology, social dynamics, and political struggle, rather than medieval stereotypes and blood-libels. In place of a derisive "comedy" at the expense of "the Jew", the play will become a psychological study of a broken man at the end of his tether. The victim of forces propelling by corrosive increments the most unassuming of men to ferocity beyond their imaginings, exposing the bigotry, class prejudice, and anti-Semitism, which have inflicted these injustices on their victims. Thus, MV can be seen as an indictment of antisemitism, rather than a vehicle for it.
The Classic Fairytales
Three sparkling adaptations of classic fairytales. Sleeping Beauty 'Hovering deliciously between the scary and fairytale, this is a show with fire in its belly and bewitchching theatre for anyone over six.' Time Out Cinderella 'This adaptation of the world's best loved fairytale is not to be missed. A Christmas treat for all the family, whether one is 5 or 95.' Morning Star Beauty and the Beast 'All the ingredients of the classic fairytale with the added dimension of rounded characters who are flawed human beings.' Manchester Evening News
A Play, a Pie and a Pint: Volume Two - Rose; Fleeto; One Day in Spring; T穩r Na N籀g; Storytelling; The Great Replacement; Write-Off; Rachel's Cousins
A collection of short plays first staged at Glasgow's Lunchtime theatre phenomenon.
The Shoe-Horn Sonata
1n 1945 Sheila and Bridie were freed from a Japanese POW camp deep in the jungles of Sumatra where thousands of women and children had lived and died virtually forgotten by their own governments. Now, after being separated for half a century, the filming of a television documentary forces them to relive the past, contact the present and question the future. Woven into their fifty years of separation are a shoe-horn and the threads of loyalty and love which form their 'uncommon bond'.Winner of the 1995 Australia Remembers National Play Competition and the 1996 Play Award, NSW Premier's Literary Awards.
The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead
An adulterous husband, a meddlesome neighbour and a dropped ice-cream cone are among the circumstances that combine to shatter the life of suburban housewife Rhonda Russell. Everyone has their own story to tell about the day that Rhonda went beserk in the shopping mall. And who's to know where the truth lies? With the best friend who might have egged her on? With the husband who denies responsibility? Or with the victim's family whose lives were changed forever? And then there's the story of the vengeful redhead herself, but she's probably the least likely to know what really happened.
Still Angela
An unpredictable portrait of a contemporary Australian woman at three ages. On the cusp of her birthday, Angela goes on a real and imagined journey through time: up the garden path of her childhood; into the kitchen with her lover; and onto a train that travels into the Simpson Desert. Here the possibility and inevitability of change is recognised, and Angela realises and celebrates her life. This evocative and innovative play may be read as a modern fairytale, exploring the linear and cyclical nature of a woman's life.
The Spook
It's 1965 and the South Bendigo branch of the Communist Party is in a rut. The Tribune isn't selling, membership is down and the Maoists are gaining ground. So young Martin Porter is a welcome new recruit. His mother doesn't understand why he has thrown his values out the window and grown his hair. But all is not what it seems. Martin is an ASIO mole about to discover that spying on communists isn't all dark glasses, sexy Cossack dancing and vodka shots. When his newfound friends draw him into their family he finds that doing his bit for his country is more complicated than he'd imagined.Inspired by a true story from country Victoria, Melissa Reeves exposes the Australian political obsessions of the 1960s with much humour and an astuteness that gives the play contemporary bite.Includes an introduction by Stuart Macintyre, Ernest Scott Professor of History at the University of Melbourne
State Of Shock
A powerful and disturbing study of race relations in Australia, State of Shock is based on the true story of Alwyn Peter, who was released on parole in an historic decision by the Queensland Supreme Court because of the oppressive environment on Queensland reserves. Peter's defence lawyers presented evidence of the impact on the young boy of his family's forced removal from their traditional lands and argued that Peter had been destroyed by the cancerous conditions on the reserve-racism, violence, drugs, sexual abuse, poor housing, high unemployment, and low cultural and self-esteem.
Love Suicides
Love Suicides is John Romeril's homage to the eighteenth century Japanese master playwright, Chikamatsu Monzaemon. In a daring blend of cultures the play plots the destiny of two lovers-one from Osaka, the other from Perth. The result is an epic story: audacious in its conception, breathtaking in its vision, passionate in its realisation. It is an important play from a highly original and provocative playwright.
48 Shades of Brown
Dan is on a steep learning curve. It's not just that he's in his final year of school. When his parents go to Europe he moves in with his 22-year-old, bass-playing aunt Jacq and her friend Naomi. He should be concentrating on calculus and the fish-tank scene in Romeo + Juliet, but in a desperate bid to impress Naomi, Dan secretly starts memorising some more obscure information.Adapted from Nick Earls' award-winning novel, this. is a gently comic tale of intimacy, ornithology and fresh pesto. Includes teachers' notes.
Close To The Bone
Written with students from the EORA Centre in Redfern in 1990, some of whom were members of the Stolen Generations, Close to the Bone is a story about a family's survival in the face of adversity. Moving from the mission to Redfern and back again, it celebrates Redfern's role in providing a focal point for dislocated Indigenous Australians. The play also honours the role EORA played in bringing people together and linking them with family. It was first performed by EORA students in the heart of Redfern. It was directed by Lydia Miller, David Kennedy and Rhoda Roberts with music by Scott Saunders and Karen Vaughan. Close to the Bone is a large cast play that is suitable for students of all ages and youth groups. 'This play presents the issue of the Stolen Generations with an authentic Aboriginal voice and gives a powerful impression of the continuing human impact of bureaucratic decisions on Aboriginal families, both in the past and now. The New South Wales Aboriginal Education Consultative Group fully supports and endorses the publication of this play.' - Linda Burney, President, NSW AECG
Summer of the Aliens
The year is 1962 and the world is worrying about the Cuban missile crisis, except for Lewis, a youth growing up in a Melbourne housing commission suburb. He is preoccupied with flying saucers, much to the disgust of his friend Brian who can think only of losing his virginity. Summer of the Aliens is a vivid and amusing evocation of a family and a neighbourhood whose increasingly strange behaviour Lewis is forced to interpret in the only way he can... the aliens must be among us!
Belonging
This new history explores the relationship between twentieth century Australian drama and a developing concept of nation. The book focuses on the creative tension sparked by the duelling impulses of nationalism and cosmopolitanism. Also competing are artistic seriousness and larrikin populism. This book examines the influence of European high culture and popular theatrical forms on Australian drama, the ambivalence (between affection and aggression) of much Australian humour, and the interaction between the personal and the political in drama.
In the Beginning
It is a family saga set in the long-gone past, with an expanded cast of Man. It ranges from birth to death of many protagonists who are under the guidance of Rad and Ola. Being a progressive group, they gradually moved from hunter-gathers to town dwellers and have control of many tribes under their leadership
This Was Urgent Yesterday
This Was Urgent Yesterday is a collection of single-actor scripts written by and for young people from regional Australia. It's Not A Bad Word by Emma Richardson This Is Yours by Lily Hensby Abyss by Isidora Pandilovska Crossroads and Dusty Boots by Jordan Clayden-LewisLike Butter by Wallea Eaglehawk I Wore Heels, So She Wore Heels by Lisa Semmler Australian Strays by Rebecca Duke All But You Who Looked At Me And Smiled by Charlotte Smith On Burning Day by Michal I. Hughes I Need Gourmet by Danielle Aquilina The Appointment by Rosemary Cann I Found You by Cate Robbins Swallows by Betty Sweetlove Where Does It Hurt? by Alex Travers
The Blind Giant Is Dancing
Brutality in the workplace, rage in the streets, seething in the home. The vulnerability of political parties when they've forgotten why they're there. The intellectual torpor of modern Australia. How power corrupts. The Blind Giant is Dancing is an angry and tender depiction of an idealist, Allen Fitzgerald, who becomes so embroiled in a party power struggle that he loses sight of what's at stake.When it premiered in 1983, The Blind Giant is Dancing felt like a sharp slap in the face. Now, in an age of ICAC, union credit cards, speculative housing bubbles, a pulverised working class and vapid leadership in the 21st century, this Australian classic has lost none of its brute force. Winner of the 1985 New South Wales Premier's Literary Award.
Running with Emus
Running with Emus is a new, non-naturalistic Australian play written by the AWGIE award-winning regional Victorian playwright, Merrilee Moss (Night Breakfast 2010). The story, set in two different time zones, is about the conflicts and dynamics that arise in a small town near the Murray River as it considers becoming a Refugee Friendly Town. Seventy-six year old Patricia has dropped out of life. She is living on her verandah, watching birds, waiting for her time to come, when her granddaughter arrives to stir up the town. Throw into the mix a ghost from the past, a bigoted Mayor and a chorus of laconic locals. This is a tragi-comic play about what it is to be Australian in a multicultural world; a small town story reflecting a global phenomenon about identity, belonging and coping with change.
boy girl wall
This is the story of Thom and Alethea two neighbours desperately trying to keep their lives from falling apart. This is also the story of the interconnecting Wall that has decided they belong together. Being an inanimate object, matchmaking proves difficult. boy girl wall is the story of corporate wastelands and creative deserts, of everyday life and the infinite cosmos. Of the whimsical search for the profound in an everyday world determined to be anything but.
The Bull, the Moon and the Coronet of Stars
Alone in the museum, in the dark, Marion unravels a ball of string so Michael can venture into a mystery. In recent weeks, strange stirrings have haunted the ancient relics and rumours of a monster abound. Michael finds his way back to her and to an impossible situation. Marion flees and finds herself the prim centre of an over-sexed septuagenarian art group at a seaside resort. Here, Marion is infuriated by Mark, a wayward sommelier with an eye for the ladies, determined to disrupt her lessons and her life.
Twenty Minutes With The Devil
'You think he's some cowboy from the wild west? You think he's from the past? Wake up man. He's from the future ... the future of the whole stinking world.' Half an hour alone with your worst fears and wildest dreams. No help, no witnesses, and not a minute to lose. When the crisis comes-what would you do? On a lonely desert road in the dead of night, highway police Angela and Romulo are a team-sort of. Romulo is a shambles. Angela's all business. But then they stop a speeding car and discover a man stripped to his undershirt and covered in filth. Part thriller, part black comedy, part magic realism, this play is inspired by events leading to the capture of Mexico's most notorious drug lord in 2016. But Twenty Minutes With The Devil transcends its original context, opening instead onto a world that is everywhere and nowhere, in an idiom at once strange and familiar. It asks vital questions about law, politics and justice in the modern world. About the lives and decisions out of our control that seem to hold us all hostage. And the patterns that entrap us in other ways-our parents and children, myths and beliefs, childhood memories and fantasies of escape.
The Web
Is a person still isolated if their friends are make-believe? Fred is a 16-year-old living on a farm without stock or crops in an Australian country town. When Travis, the charismatic head boy at their school, begins to take an interest in him, Fred gets lured into the intricate world of the web, where nothing, and nobody, is what they seem. A whodunit for the modern age, The Web is a fascinating exploration of isolation, friendship, and what happens when social experiments go frighteningly wrong.
Her
You are in severe heart failure. I'm sending you to the city.From farm to little town to big town and back again, HER comes face to face with her own mortality. Unable to access the specialist care she needs in the country she travels the long journey in and out of the city confronting the ultimate journey to save herself, alone. As she prepares to go under, HER past returns. HER truth can no longer remain buried. On the operating table HER chest is cracked open, unleashing a scream from depths unknown, spilling out a poetic and lyrical avalanche of words unspoken and desires unfulfilled. When she wakes, she is no longer the same. Based on a true story, Kerryn Beatty's HER explores the conditioning and social expectations on girls and women in regional Australia, examining the depths we must travel inward, to reclaim ourselves. A beautiful, poetic and visual feast.
A Rabbit for Kim Jong-il
'Rabbits don't talk Mr Wertheim. They keep their stupid mouths shut or they get whacked on the head with a shovel... learn to be a rabbit.' Johann's super-sized rabbits are his pride and joy. Much to his surprise, the Supreme Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has taken a special interest, and will stop at nothing to get his hands on them. When a bungled undercover rescue mission transports Johann to North Korea, he finds himself, and the bunnies he betrayed, in a bit of a stew. Preposterously based on a true story, A Rabbit for Kim Jong-il is a cunning comic thriller spanning two continents. Crammed with secret-agents, espionage, double-crossings and a giant rabbit named Felix, the play is also a pointed parable about betrayal and forgiveness, greed and regret.
Realism
In the summer of 1939 in a small Moscow theatre, a company of actors begins rehearsals of a new play to commemorate Stalin's 60th birthday. It's a tough gig, because for Soviet artists working towards the Radiant Future, the old showbiz maxim 'the show must go on' is an order you can't refuse. Another opening, another show trial! Realism is a comedy of nerves, a backstage farce set in a pressure cooker. It's about the spirit that makes art live and the forces that want to crush it.
Boy Out of the Country
Written in Australian poetic vernacular, Boy Out of the Country tells a story of land, family and belonging. A family property, worthless for generations, is suddenly zoned as part of a regional housing estate to accommodate an ever-increasing urban sprawl. At this moment of shifting economies and loyalties, Hunter returns from a seven-year absence. Finding his boyhood house boarded up and his mother in a retirement home, Hunter goes in search of answers. And he starts with his brother Gordon.
This Year's Ashes
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. So she's doing fine. Except savage grief has Ellen in its grip and it's getting tighter. And the anonymous guy she's going home with may not be so anonymous. A hilarious, touching urban fable of connection and redemption, of moving and moving on.
The Boyce Trilogy
After an extensive period of writing for film, Louis Nowra returns to the stage with The Boyce Trilogy, an epic saga about the Boyce family, a family made wealthy through property development. The Woman with Dog's Eyes introduces us to the Boyce family as they gather to celebrate the parents' 40th wedding anniversary. Inspired by events that traumatised Sydney's Moran family, the play explores the universal themes of family, love and disappointment. In The Marvellous Boy Malcolm Boyce is dying at a time when his biggest building project-and so his whole empire-is threatened by protesters. He hires a criminal, the charismatic Ray Pollard, to threaten his enemies. As his son Luke falls under Ray's spell, as well as that of his father's mistress, we witness Luke's transition from detachment into an emotional involvement that will be liberating, until the consequences of his and his father's moral duplicity emerge. In The Emperor of Sydney, the three sons fight for control of the company as their father lays dying. The company is near bankruptcy because of a huge stalled project (their father's personal vision) and they face a criminal investigation into the father's role in the suspicious death of the project's outspoken critic.
Superheroes
In Thirroul, Emily sits on the beach with her sort-of-ex-sort-of-not boyfriend, trying to figure out how to deal with her unwanted pregnancy. In Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Jana goes out to get groceries and slams into the day-to-day reality of the European refugee crisis. Superheroes is a play about two women on opposite sides of the world living small lives in a time of big politics. It's a play that parallels two very different lives to ask questions about what it means to take responsibility for your actions, and what it means to change your mind. This play won the 2019 Griffin Award and the 2019 Patrick White Award. A chamber piece for three actors, it's a lyrical, inventive and deeply humane story from an exciting new voice. It's a play full of small surprises, not the least of which is finding a young Australian playwright who deeply believes in community, compassion and the essential good within humanity-despite what the daily news would have us think.
What is the Matter with Mary Jane?
Based on the personal experience of the actor Sancia Robinson, What is the Matter with Mary Jane? bravely examines the nightmare of anorexia nervosa and bulimia, from the perspective of one who has made it through to the sanity of self-acceptance. Brimming with courage, humour and poignancy, this edition features a revised play text and teacher's notes for deeper learning and discussion.
Patient 12
It can be argued that nothing good, not one damned thing, came out of World War I. This play is a pillar of that contention. Based on a true story of a young soldier who was returned home so badly damaged he was unrecognisable, apart from a single tattoo, Patient 12 tells the story through the eyes of the doctor who becomes embroiled in the mystery of this soldier's identity and starts a forensic journey to identify this man.
Green Park
You've walked past it. Maybe through it. Down the end of Victoria Street, opposite St Vincent's Hospital-Green Park. It's picturesque by day, a little eerie by night. And it's where Warren and Edden are meeting, as a prelude to their Grindr hook up. One of them doesn't look like his photo. There's an age gap between them (but what's a decade or three?). And one is harbouring a dangerous secret. In an hour's time, both will leave the park profoundly transformed. Google Maps lists Green Park as 'Good for Kids'. But just a few decades ago, that definitely wasn't the case. For decades, the Wall opposite the park was where rent boys plied their trade for curb-crawling Johns. The public toilet was a spot for secret all-hours hook ups. When the cops dismantled it, in 1988, a cabal of drag queen nuns-the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence-built a shrine to a chunk of its urinal. These details are becoming lost to time. But in Elias Jamieson Brown's Green Park, Warren and Edden will be pushed together-and apart-by forces of Sydney's history that neither of them can comprehend.
Kelly
Ned Kelly is about to hang for his crimes. But his final night in prison is interrupted by the arrival of his brother Dan, disguised as a priest. Supposedly killed at the Siege of Glenrowan, Dan is intent on moving north to Queensland and forgetting his past. To do so, he needs Ned's blessing and forgiveness. But the last time they saw each other, Dan tried to shoot Ned dead. So begins a brutal confrontation by two titans of Australian history. Facing the sins of their past, each blames the other for their downfall. And neither will escape unharmed. Dramatically entwining fact, theory and myth, Kelly is a smartly written, complex and gripping tale of masculinity, brotherhood and the dangerous dynamic of mateship.
The Great Fire
Many years ago, in the 1970s, in pursuit of a good life and a sustainable future, Judith and Patrick built a house in the Adelaide Hills. They raised the kids there. As time wore on, bit by bit, the family drifted both from the house and the dream it was born from. Now it's Christmas, the first great-grandchild is on the way and all three generations have gathered again. In the tinderbox heat of summer, Judith is at a crossroads: can the life they pursued in the first place come good again? Warm, funny, deeply felt, The Great Fire is the work of a brilliant new writing talent, Kit Brookman. It's a play about family, politics and life, about large hopes, uncertainty and the fading triumph of Australian social democracy. In short, The Great Fire is a play about us. The Great Fire was originally commissioned by Belvoir in association with Arts NSW through the Phillip Parsons Fellowship for Emerging Playwrights.
Golden Age
This haunting play was inspired by the true story of a group of people, 'ghosts from the netherworld of an Australian childhood', who were discovered in the wilds of Tasmania in 1939. Lost in time and steeped in its own history and traditions, this curious community is a complete mystery and a disturbing challenge to its modern counterpart.The Golden Age is a play of eloquence and epic scale and has been hailed as one of Louis Nowra's greatest theatrical achievements.
The Anxiety Trilogy and My Wife Peggy
The Anxiety Trilogy Spanning eight years of performing and a lifetime of material, The Anxiety Trilogy consists of a body of work laid bare - a raw and honest tour de force. Using their own experiences and stories, Gavin Roach, explores the depths of bullying, mental illness, homophobia, isolation, self-harm, body image, alcoholism, Queer identity, and much much more.My Wife Peggy George seems to have it all. A simple life for a simple man. He has his wife, his Peggy. And his girls. He's got two little girls. And nothing will change that. But tonight, on his birthday, he will come face to face with the brutal hand of fate and confront an unknown that we all fear ... death.
Beautiful Words
An epic chronicle of the refugee experience, Beautiful Words weaves together three very different stories of survival, told through the eyes of three children in different times and places. The outcome is heart-rending, humorous, and surprising by turns. From the horrors of Auschwitz Concentration Camp in the final days of World War II, to Taliban-ruled Kabul, to present day Australia, this enthralling play presents a rich tapestry of human experience, overlapping lives, and the bonds that unite generations. Over three hours, with some 20 characters, Beautiful Words tells an engaging story with poignant comedy and unashamed feeling.
Breaking the Castle
I tried dying and it didn't work ... I might as well try living. Struggling actor David can't get enough-of anything. Alcohol, drugs, women, gambling-whatever it takes to escape the bark of the black dog. Bouncing from audition to audition as he battles his debilitating mental health issues and descends into a world of addiction, David is consumed by an overwhelming feeling of never belonging anywhere. Days and nights are lived through a thick haze of drugs and alcohol. This bender could be his last, but he doesn't care-there are worse things than death. When David is thrown an unlikely lifeline and a final shot at redemption, he must find the strength to confront his inner demons and buried trauma. Breaking the Castle is based on true events in the life of playwright Peter Cook. It shines a spotlight on mental health and addiction in an exquisitely rendered and sometimes hilarious story of hope, belonging, and finding a way to be in this world.
Danny Fisher
'The air is thick and wet and the sun burns your skin like it hates your guts ... It's 1942 and I'm fourteen, which means I face two obstacles on a daily basis. One: Entire countries that want to kill me. And two: The Cricket Boys on Mulvany Street.'Danny Fisher is coming of age at a time when Australia faces the threat of invasion. When his beloved brother Frank is killed in the bombing of Darwin, Danny's family is ripped apart. Ignored by grieving parents, the awkward Danny is left to fend for himself, and to try to fill the shoes left behind. Thrust headlong into the threat of war and the hope of love, Danny, like his city, is growing up fast. Aided by his potty-mouthed best-friend Patty, Danny meets an American serviceman identical to Danny's lost brother. But when the American begins teaching him how to fly, Danny comes up with a dangerous plan to prove his own worth. Ripe with emotional resonance and heart-breaking comedy, Danny Fisher is a celebration of a childhood and a city-and a requiem for all that was lost.
Black Box 149
Black Box 149 is a captivating thriller that is based on the true story of the grounding of British Airways Flight 149 at Kuwait International Airport during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Why was British Airways the only Western airline in the world that didn't realise something was amiss? Were the British responsible for putting nearly 400 passengers in harm's way? Experience the devastating effects of war and confinement on an innocent man caught in a living nightmare.
Mr Takahashi and other falling secrets
Darwin, 1942. A town collapses under the threat of invasion. Mothers and daughters, sisters, friends, and entire cultures are torn apart by the secrets that start to fall. Is Mr Takahashi to blame? Japan unleashes a wave of attacks on Northern Australia, and Darwin is hit with more bombs than Pearl Harbour. Mr Takahashi turns the lens upon ordinary people caught in the storm that was World War II. It tells the stories of Darwin's multicultural and Indigenous women whose lives were forever changed by the bombings of February 19. 'Something's wrong - the air is shifting. It's waiting... Waiting for the tardy storms. You could cut the humidity with the sword of a Samurai. Where is the Imperial Army? Closer...'
Stray and The Parricide
Stray is a Homeric odyssey told from the perspective of a stray dog as he journeys through Melbourne's urban landscape. Raw performance, a designed soundscape and an epic and poetic text combine to create an extraordinary adventure.The Parricide is set in St Petersburg, Russia, 1866. Nihilist revolutionaries have taken to the streets and the rule of the Tsar is under threat. In a small flat, Fyodor Dostoyevsky grafts out a novel for an unscrupulous publisher; it isn't the novel he wants to write, but he is under contract, so he works. All the time, though, he is haunted by a story from his past - that of a parricide, a young man who kills his father. As the characters in his imagination take shape around him, he finds himself forced to choose between rebellion and repression, authority and chaos, passion and love.
Almost With You
It's 2007. At 45, Lisa is fighting growing feelings for Tom that threaten to rob her of Dan, the person she's always loved most in the world. She wants Tom badly, but she can't (or won't) tell him about Dan, and Tom finds himself in a competition that he can't possibly understand. As for Dan, he's a cheeky, exasperating mystery: a twenty-year-old who lives in Lisa's house and heart and is steeped in the style and the vibrant music of the British post-punk era.Dan brings Lisa a joy she can't bear to explain, but with her chance for a life with Tom slipping away, she must finally find the courage to let Dan go. It's the most terrifying-and liberating-decision she's made since a fateful night 25 years ago.Taking its title from the Church song, Almost With You is written with Elizabeth Coleman's customary wit, warmth and elegance. With flashbacks to the '70s and '80s lovingly captured, Almost With You is a funny and deeply affecting look at love, loss and letting go.
The Boys
A powerful picture of a family without moral, material, aesthetic or imaginative resources, each of them victims of a cycle of deprivation from which they can see relief only through money and physical power. The vicious murder of a woman is the culmination of the frustrated expression of anger by three men, who are, nonetheless, loved and cared for by their own women. This is a disturbing piece of writing which suggests that society is failing both the victims and perpetrators of crime.
Kenny's Coming Home
Kenny's Coming Home is a play with music that celebrates life in Sydney's Western suburbs. The Green family escape inner-city Sydney in the early 1990s for a better life out west. Dad grows zucchinis and involves himself in local politics. Aunt Dorothy and Mum find the community they have been missing in the big smoke. Son Kenny leads the Panthers to rugby league glory and is ordained a local legend as a result. Daughter Kim is caught between a rock and a hard place as she tries to make sense of her teenage years. All hell breaks loose when the local MP drops dead playing squash. Dad decides to seek pre-selection for the Labor Party and tries to co-opt Kenny for support. The family are opposed to his plans. Then they start actively campaigning against him...
Antigone
The sun rises on Thebes the morning after a war. The new king takes the first decisive step of his government, and a young woman slips out of the city to find her brother's body on the battlefield. By the next sunrise, her act of devotion will have destroyed the ruling family and brought the state to its knees. Eamon Flack's vigorous adaptation of Sophocles' magnificent tragedy, Antigone, was written for ThinIce and produced at the Perth International Arts Festival in 2009. With an introduction and production notes by Matthew Lutton, and translation notes by Eamon Flack.
The Torrents
The gold rush is beginning to wane in Koolgalla and the editors of the Koolgalla Argus must decide between protecting old interests and investing in the future. But when the new editorial assistant, JG Milford, arrives and it turns out the 'J' stands for Jenny, she creates havoc. A forgotten classic, The Torrents won the 1955 Best Play award alongside Summer of the Seventeenth Doll but the play never had the same impact. Perhaps it was ahead of its time. Currency is proud to republish a work whose themes of media chauvinism, environmental destruction and corruption are chillingly relevant today.
Thyestes
Ancient Greece, the Kingdom of Pisa. King Pelops has declared his bastard child Chrysippus heir to the throne. His queen Hippodamia convinces Pelops' rightful heirs, her sons Atreus and Thyestes, to kill their half-brother. So begins the infamous story of a deposed king who eats his own children, after being served them in a feast by his brother. Thyestes explores the constant that has underpinned human nature for centuries: that man is brutal, capable of anything. And in the spaces between the banal and the ordinary, terrifying acts occur.
