Lake Disappointment
Kane and I were both rising stars. I was rising to the top of the hand-modelling world and Kane was doing his plays. Kane got his first action film and I became his double. We clicked. Everyone said so.' Kane is one of the world's biggest movie stars. His body double has been there from the start, sharing more than just looks with his famous counterpart. The body double and Kane are to work on Lake Disappointment'an independent arts film that might see them win prestigious awards and fame. This one-person play of mirrors and mannerisms explores the strange world of the body double. It makes unique contributions to timeless theatrical concepts of images and representation. Lake Disappointment is an unusual new work about ego, self-fashioning, and illusions.
Michael Swordfish
'You read about those kids who know they don't belong. They are in some kind of prison until they turn 18, stuck in the backseat of the car between two kids who do belong.' What would happen if someone you knew disappeared? How would you react? How would your school react? An assembly called, a footy game postponed, a class interrupted. But who is Michael Swordfish? And who knows where he's gone? For two years award-winning playwright Lachlan Philpott collaborated with students from Newington College, Sydney, to bring their voices and worlds to life. Michael Swordfish is the exciting product of this collaboration: a play that traverses the tumultuous landscape of the teenage experience with a sober truth and darkly comic voice.
Cosi
Set in 1971, Cosi is Louis Nowra's second semi-autobiographical play. Lewis has recently left university and takes up a job in a mental institution directing Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte. Lewis, the non-participant, becomes emotionally involved with his actors' lives as his operatic production lurches forward and anti-Vietnam protests take place in the streets outside.
At the Still Point
"The only way of catching a train that I have discovered is to miss the train before."―G. K. Chesterton In this two-act play by playwright and author Stephen Evans, two former college sweethearts meet again for the first time forty-some years later at a nearly deserted train station. During this encounter, the couple explore the events that broke them apart, the attraction that endures, and the possibilities of life at the Still Point.Cast of CharactersGwen A Grace Kelly look-alike (more the actress than the princess despite her 60 years)Art Gwen's age, a writer, more William Powell than Robert Redford.Merle The station vendor, who looks a little bit like the Princeton version of Einstein (sweatshirt and sneakers included).Setting: A train station.Time: Late.Setting: A small train station, the kind that you don't see much anymore. A few old benches are crowded together in the center. On the upstage wall is a round clock, the numbers, roman numerals, barely visible through the round crystal face, have delicate green vines climbing up them, twining around them. The time says 11:55 through most of the play. Upstage under the clock is a door to the train platform, with two old wooden chairs beneath. To the side is a cart for a vendor that offers newspapers, coffee, and various treats.At Rise: Merle sits doing a crossword puzzle behind the vendor cart, which is overflowing with various paraphernalia such as newspapers, souvenir hats, a carafe of coffee, various treats, and dust.
Annele Balthasar
First performed in 1924, Annele Balthasar is a poetic drama set in the time of the witch hunts which raged in Europe for two centuries. Nathan Katz (1892-1981), the author, is considered to be "the most original Alsatian poet since the Middle-Ages." This book contains translations in English and in German of the play, as well as the original text in Alemannic. There were never more "witches" burned than in the time of Descartes.Jacob Rogozinski ANNELESeven judges sit at court... years pass by... years are gone... Seven skulls rot underground... PRESIDENTYou must answer what you are asked!... ANNELEBut I am but a poor maiden from Willer... And now you want to hurt me... with you rough hands! PRESIDENTWhen did the Evil Spirit come to you? Now, answer! ANNELEHe came to the little window... Don't be so wild, you bad boy... what if you break a windowpane... what then!But don't be so wild, I say!... - You've stolen a little carnation from the windowsill!... Oh, you're so sly, you!... You only wanted to make me come outside, to scold after you!... I knew it! PRESIDENTYou went sometimes to the witches' dance? ANNELEI had no more peace, day or night!... He screamed for me! He whinnied above the barn roofs! He has torn apart trees! I was lying so warm under the bedcover!... I was awake... when he sometimes whispered sweet things from outside, as if a breeze were going through a thicket of peonie stalks!... I heard him the whole night! I cried in my pillows!... PRESIDENTYou have gone with them onto the Fuchsberg! ANNELEJuchu! Juchu!! We rode through the night... out through the chimney... on the broomstick! Like the wind! Juchu!... Riding over the churchyards... over the woods, over the villages! - - At Old Ferrette, we have danced around the gallows! As fast as the wind! Just like the wind! - - Isn't that a merrymaking, my sweetheart, my betrothed... Haha! Over the woods, over the dells, over the dark villages, all over!... Naked we danced under the pines! The little owls were shrieking for us... The dogs whined... After that, someone died in the village.
The Curve
Loneliness, fear, bad dreams, repressed attraction or repugnance, lockdown and sudden escapes, jigsaw puzzles, food deliveries, bad tempers and penguins. These were the things that stole our sleep for a year, or that rescued, haunted and comforted us. In the early days of Covid lockdown in 2020, playwrights Vanessa Bates, Mary Rachel Brown, Suzie Miller, Lachlan Philpott and Katie Pollock came together in a virtual writing group to support each other and spur each other on. There were only two rules: deliver a piece every Monday inspired by events of the previous week; and show up online to read them out. Write down, show up, read out. A selection of these pieces have been gathered together in The Curve, a live performance, filmed and streamed by Critical Stages Touring. Like a modern-day journal of the plague year, this collection of monologues and scenes is a time capsule reflecting the lived experience of these five playwrights during the Covid-19 pandemic. With humour, drama, surprise and searing honesty, this collection is a deep interrogation of what it means to be alive during 'extraordinary times'.
Motor-Mouth Loves Suck-Face
Shut up and listen. In exactly one minute and fifty-three seconds a solar flare will strike the earth setting off a chain reaction incinerating every living creature on the face of the earth. But that's not important right now. What's important is this.Welcome to the party to end all parties-where Blasko Tupper, teenage master of the dark arts has just kidnapped her entire school - including Motor-mouth and Suck-face, two geeks in lust and love who have until midnight to lose their virginity, escape through a cosmic wormhole and save the planet-in the other dimension. Everything goes according to plan, that is, until Blasko's parents escape their cage and start transforming hysterical teenagers into mindless zombies.With a rock-pop score of songs like My Polar Bear, Heart Be A Radio and I'd Rather Be A Zombie, Motor-mouth Loves Suck-face is a musical comedy about hope, for the young and the young at heart. Did we mention the Bollywood diversion? Prepare to die.'Having two teenage geek girls sing to their geek hero boy... is actually completely radical and powerful... none of the male characters were undermined or emasculated by their positions... I don't think I've ever seen that before in anything. Ever. Wow.' Christian Leavesley, Artistic Director, Arena Theatre Company
Crunch Time
Steve, a typical Aussie bloke, has retired from his company and passed the family business over to his confident son Jimmy, leaving his more sensitive son Luke out in the cold. This is just the latest in a lifetime of insults and rejection for Luke and he stops speaking to his father - for eight years. Steve falls gravely ill and, wanting a measure of peace before the end, tries to make things right with Luke. Once Luke can finally see the love behind the bluster, he and Jimmy commit to doing whatever it takes to fulfil their father's dying wish. Crunch Time, displays Williamson's much-loved combination of wit and drama in a tale of family and duty set against current social issues.
Intersection
Offbeat. Upbeat. Move to your own beat. These are stories that explore the pulsating experience of young lives. Intersection: Beat is a taste-test of Australia's brightest new playwrights illuminating fragments of lives dancing on the edge of adulthood. This collection of short plays will surprise, intrigue, provoke and move. The characters range in age from 15-22 and the production showcases some of the finest young performers.
The Jungle and the Sea
War makes things of people. The Jungle and the Sea is about a family who refuse to become things while they are still alive. When violence escalates between the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a Tamil mother vows to remain blindfolded until her family is together once again. Gowrie, Abi and Madhu search the jungles of northern Sri Lanka for estranged son Ahilan, while Siva and Lakshmi migrate to Australia for safety, awaiting their family's reunion. Separated by the ravages of civil war but buoyed by humour, playfulness and love for each other, so goes the story of many a migrant family that has wound up in Australia.Co-writers S. Shakthidharan and Eamon Flack continue their collaboration that began with Counting and Cracking, threading personal testimony from the Sri Lankan civil war with two ancient epics - the Mahabharatha and Sophocles' Antigone. The war may have ended in 2009, but Tamil memory endures in The Jungle and the Sea, calling together lives that eternally revolve, intertwine and bear witness to each other.
Jasper Jones
It's summer 1965 in a small, hot town in Western Australia. Overseas, war is raging in Vietnam, civil rights marchers are on the streets, and women's liberation is stirring, but at home in Corrigan Charlie Bucktin dreams of writing the great Australian novel. Charlie's fourteen and smart. But when sixteen-year-old, constantly in-trouble Jasper Jones appears at his window one night, Charlie's out of his depth. Jasper has stumbled upon a terrible crime in the scrub nearby, and he knows he's the first suspect. That goes with the colour of his skin. He needs every ounce of Charlie's bookish brain to help solve this awful mystery before the town turns on Jasper. Kate Mulvany's adaptation of Craig Silvey's award-winning novel is wise and beautiful. It features a cast of finely drawn teenagers and grown-ups, all searching for their own kind of truth. A coming-of-age story, Jasper Jones interweaves the lives of complex individuals all struggling to find happiness among the buried secrets of a small rural community.
The Cake Man
No, mustn't give him that. It would only cause him pain. They are not accustomed to cake, they are not ready for cake.' On newly-declared terra nullius, a Priest, a Civilian and a Soldier watch an Aboriginal family. 'Too ignorant for light, too old for change, ' remarks the Priest as he blesses the Soldier's gun. On a New South Wales Aboriginal mission, decades later, another Aboriginal family live under the watchful eye of Social Welfare. Along with the policeman's gun, the lives of Ruby, Sweet William and their child Pumpkinhead are dictated by the cruel pen of bureaucracy. But Pumpkinhead dreams of the Cake Man, half-Jesus, half-Aboriginal spirit, who wanders the land blind, waiting for Aboriginal children to come and save him and, in turn, save them. This is a story told by those whom settler history has long spoken for; stretching from the violence of first encounter, to 'civil' captivity within the Aboriginal mission, to liberation on stage as the first professionally produced play written by an Aboriginal playwright. Robert Merritt's The Cake Man is braided into a rich seam of storytelling that has long preceded colonial settlement and will long resist it. This edition includes the author's preface from the second edition, plus a foreword from that edition by Mervyn Rutherford and notes on the Wiradjuri tribe of NSW; as well as new introductions from Julian Meyrick (Australia in 50 Plays) and Wesley Enoch.
Prayer Machine
'No-one looks at strangers. No-one pays attention. 'Cos attention is a weapon, now. Short and sharp. People keep it locked up in rifle cases for special occasions.' A pair of high-school lovers reunite in the twilight of middle age. They make dreams, and plans, and re-enactments. They try to remember, and they try to forget. Who can face a wasted life? Eric Gardiner's Prayer Machine, a world premiere developed through Red Stitch's INK new writing program, marries hypnotic black comedy with a tender exploration of ageing and missed connection. In a place where the twin addictions of nostalgia and technology collide, how can you love someone who isn't really there?
Watchlist
Basil Pepper is not 'the man', he's not a doer, or a fighter ... or even much of a thinker. World events pass him by, ideology makes him sleepy, and the Prime Minister's name eludes him. Delia Dengel is determined to take a stand, to succeed where generations have failed, and be the change she wants to see, even if she'll always be hunted. Basil is smitten. It isn't long before he begins to see the world through Delia's eyes ... And that's when the storm begins. How far would you go to save the world?
Travelling North
Travelling North is David Williamson's moving homage to age and the old radicals who changed the course of Australian history. Soon after Frank and Frances desert their former lives for a northerly bohemian retreat, to the consternation of their conventional children, Frank's mortality asserts itself.
Alice in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll's whirling, fantastical masterpiece is faithfully and beautifully recreated as a non-stop, madcap theatrical adventure for the whole family. This classic kids' tale is now an all-new Australian adaptation by multi award-winning playwright Mary Anne Butler.
Single Ladies
'Ya used to get mugged around here. In the 70s, and the 80s. Even into the 90s. All types. The Aboriginals. The Serbians. Punks. Skips. You'd just punch on. People were tough around here. People were surviving.' Set in the sanitised grunge of Collingwood, Single Ladies is a buddy story of lone women in the city told over the course of a day, from the award-winning writer of Going Down and Rice. Anne, Lilike and Rachel are from different generations and backgrounds and hold different allegiances to their neighbourhood, but a chance happening outside Coles sets them on the path to an improbable friendship. Single Ladies was developed through Red Stitch's INK program.
Milk
'You've got one hand that's gushing blood and in the other hand you're holding the knife. You actually are the full story. Both sides.' A great-great grandmother sold as a 'wife' to a white sealer. Her granddaughter, who buried her identity to survive the settler-colony. A young fair-skinned Palawa man, their descendant, seeking truths about their shared past. Bound by blood and borne by the winds of the Bass Strait Islands, they meet at the Island of the Dead. White history has swallowed their stories but they're here to wrest them back. How do you reconcile your identity when your ancestors' blood is muddied with the blood of their oppressors? Can you still hear their songs when the blare of violence has been so unforgivingly loud? Can you dance it all back? Winner of the 2021 Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting, the 2022 Kate Challis RAKA Award and the 2022 Victorian Premier's Literary Award.
Family Values
For 50 years, David Williamson has shown us the best and worst of ourselves. In this blackly comic drama situated squarely on the fault lines that divide Australia, David is at his angry best: furious that his generation has retired from defending the socially compassionate values on which they claim to have built this country. The play asks us to choose freedom over reputation, empathy over franking credits; to abandon a deeply flawed system for the sake of humanity.
Wicked Sisters
When George Hobbes "scientific genius" dies, his widow, Meridee, hosts a lunch for three friends. The four women have known each other since their youth but their lives have gone in divergent directions. As secrets unravel through their reminiscences, George's influential theories of evolution based on 'deadly' competition begin to have an uncanny resonance and Meridee's genteel Blue Mountains idyll dissolves into a battleground. Alma de Groen's classic play takes a sharp-fanged, humorous look at the shape of women's lives.
Wittenoom
Dot and Pearl live in Wittenoom, the blue asbestos mining town in WA's Pilbara. So begin glorious days, when the Pilbara's stunning landscapes, magnificent wildlife and close-knit community shaped an idyllic lifestyle; wild-natured Dot making the most of every second, while teenaged Pearl tries to make sense of what her own life might be. Wittenoom follows Dot and Pearl's personal story, filled with humour, sorrow and the friends they make along the way. Mary Anne Butler expertly weaves their journey into the frame of the Wittenoom tragedy, asking questions about accountability in an era where the health and cultural impacts of mining ricochet as heavily in 2023 as they did in 1963. Wittenoom was developed through Red Stitch's INK program.
Nosferatu
Welcome to Bluewater, Tasmania'a mining town with no mine, where the population is ageing or leaving, and the future is a tenuous daydream. If something doesn't change soon, there'll be no town left to stay for. So when a rich and charming count appears wanting to turn Bluewater's fortunes around, it makes sense to invite him in, doesn't it? And when strange accidents happen, vines grow healthy in barren soil and people start disappearing, that's all fine too. Isn't it? Keziah Warner's darkly funny and chilling take on Nosferatu will have you twisting and turning in your sleep. Or your grave.
little girls alone in the woods
In an ordinary street, in an ordinary suburb, in an ordinary town, something is amiss. It's not the maths exam the teens are about to fail, or the overdue essay. It's not global warming or fast-fashion sweatshops. It's a low buzz of anxiety, a quiet terror in the middle of the night. Because girls have been going missing. They've either walked off into the bush to live out some wild fantasy - or - or - The adults aren't taking any chances. All young women are required to be registered with authorities. And now a high fence is being erected. And now all females under the age of 18 have to wear a tracking device. And now they have to beware what they say or do in case it puts them in mortal danger. They will be controlled, and they will be safe. But like a sliver of glass lodged under a manicured nail, this thought will not leave the girls alone: I am my own person; take me seriously. Morgan Rose's little girls alone in the woods is a whip-smart adaptation of The Bacchae that puts a contemporary feminist lens on the Greek legend of Dionysus, the god of wine, fertility, festivity, theatre and ritual madness. It dares us to go into the woods and seek out what knowledge lies beyond the border of respectability and rules. What worlds await us? Maybe if I was older. Maybe if I was larger. Or smaller, or prettier, or uglier, or gruffer. Maybe if I was something else I would feel like I existed. Like I could say something and people would turn their heads because they heard it and believed it.
Grace
Three women. Three generations. One long weekend in Copenhagen. Emma has finally 'made it'. She is about to receive the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the 'Little Nobel Prize' of children's fiction. With her mother, Beth, by her side to share in the moment, Emma is ready to celebrate the pinnacle of her career in a luxury Copenhagen hotel. But an unexpected visitor disrupts Emma's plans and threatens to upend her future. In a land of fairytales, three women discover and rediscover the power of stories: those we tell ourselves and those who make us who we are. Developed through the Red Stitch INK new writing program, Grace is a stunning new play by Katy Warner that shimmers with deeply felt observations about family, womanhood and the universal power of fiction.
Laurinda
Adapting Alice Pung's award-winning book, writer and comedian Diana Nguyen and director Petra Kalive bring Laurinda's schoolyard setting to the stage for a fresh and feisty new work. Like Heathers or Mean Girls with a uniquely Australian flavour, this delightful take on the beloved novel is an incisive, funny study of a woman caught between cultures and class. When 15-year-old Lucy Lam wins the inaugural Equal Access Scholarship to a prestigious private school, the smart and well-liked student is not prepared for the new world she's suddenly propelled into. It's a world of wealth and opportunity, overseen by The Cabinet'a trio of girls who wield power over their classmates, and even their teachers. But when The Cabinet turn their attention to Lucy she has to make a choice: fit in and succeed, or stay true to herself. Either way, there's a cost. Whether high school is (thankfully) a distant memory or a current reality, this MTC NEXT STAGE commission offers a witty and moving insight into an all-too common experience as well as the inner strength it takes to speak truth to power.
Ọl籀̣b羅n
'ỌL?̣B?N: Matriarch Of Ondo, Mother Of Legacy' is a captivating play set against the backdrop of the 15th century. The story immerses the audience in the dramatic events surrounding the birth of twins to Alaafin Oluaso and his Olori. In an era where twins were perceived as abominations and subjected to immediate execution, Alaafin Oluaso faces a heart-wrenching dilemma. Unable to order the demise of his own flesh and blood, Alaafin seeks an alternative through consultation with Ifa, the oracle. Ifa proposes a solution: exile the twins and their mother from Oyo. But the deity poses a profound question - will they be allowed to survive? The narrative unfolds into a journey filled with death, adventure, hope, politics, supernatural influences, and the birth of an unshakable legacy that is the great Ondo Kingdom we recognise today. Olobun is proof of the indomitable nature of legacy born from destiny.
Mary Stuart
Two powerful women, beloved by their people'one sits on the throne; the other is locked in a cell. Kate Mulvany's smart and witty adaptation of Friedrich Schiller's Mary Stuart is a tale of two queens at war. In the legendary rivalry between Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart, great forces are at play, with nations at stake and citizens ready to fight for the just cause. On the one hand there is principle and ideology; on the other, jealousy and pride. But there is also love. For who else could understand what torments a queen better than another queen? Mulvany turns her feminist lens on this brutal and moving story of cousins pitted against each other by politics and circumstance, trapped on different sides of history's coin.
Rough Trade
Part stand-up, part takedown of capitalism, part wannabe dancing dildo musical, this one-woman play is a celebration of resilience, humour - and sex toys! Through an intricate web of objects and a drive for community and connection, the members of inner-city Facebook barter group 'Rough Trade' are giving the giant middle finger to capitalism, with trades that are funny, sexy, strange and touching. Inspired by these true stories, playwright Katie Pollock peels back the layers to reveal a character for whom life has taken a series of wrong turns, leaving her in a place where she is dependent on this internet community for her very survival. A thrilling, and sometimes terrifying, examination of the ways capitalism and the patriarchy fail us, and the precarious position all women risk finding themselves in, Rough Trade is ultimately a story of hope in challenging times. A perfect little loop of a play about the morals of wanting in a decaying world. Funny, insightful and kind, Rough Trade sings in its exploration of communities and connection.
Slap Bang Kiss
SLAP. A video of 16-year-old Immi hitting a security officer goes viral. BANG. Sofia's impassioned speech for the victims of a school shooting makes international news. KISS. In the car park of a small-town Woolies, people rally around Darby and Daniel as the boys lock lips in an attempt to set the world record for the longest kiss. Shortlisted for the 2021 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards and included on the VCE Drama Playlist for 2022, this new play is from multi-award-winning playwright Dan Giovannoni (Merciless Gods). SLAP. BANG. KISS. tracks three young people whose stories kickstart a series of events none of them could have anticipated, transforming them into global symbols of revolution. But when their stories go viral and the whole world is watching, what will they do next? Exploring themes of activism, community and hope, SLAP.BANG.KISS. is an MTC Next Stage commission for the company's acclaimed families and education program.
The Initiation
There's a place in the bush balanced between stone, sky, water. Past stars sending ancient light. You'll find what you need for the initiation and you will come out changed. A double-dare draws six seemingly normal teenagers into the twilight bush of Black Mountain. As night falls and time shifts around, they realise they are lost. When a knife keeps turning up, despite their efforts to get rid of it, they fear they'll never come out alive. The Initiation by Cathy Petocz is about the horrors of the early teen experience; that uncanny period between childhood and fully becoming an adult, and the scary things you feel you have to do to get through. Exploring teen horror movie tropes, real teen experiences, and the deeply spiritual site of Black Mountain, The Initiation asks us to find our way to the core of our fears in order to discover where the real threat lies. The Initiation is a new play written and developed with young artists from Canberra Youth Theatre.
Cursed!
If happy families are all alike and unhappy families are unhappy in their own way, where does that leave the mad ones? In Kodie Bedford's loving and hilarious ode to growing up in a family affected by mental illness, everyone is up for getting offended. Name a group and she skewers it - because the family members here fit into most of them. Set on the windswept edge of Western Australia, Cursed! is an outrageously witty deathbed reunion scene of epic proportions. With her nan on her way out of this world, her brother Sebastian on his way out of the closet, her sister Marie losing track of the lies she has told, and her mother Dawn losing her grip on reality, Bernadette wonders if she will be the only one left with the capacity to hold this disparate family together. Or the madness to try. Winner of Best Stage Play and the Major AWGIE at the 2021 Australian Writers' Guild Awards.
The Drover's Wife
Tarantino meets Deadwood in this full-throttle drama of our colonial past, written by the indomitable Leah Purcell. Henry Lawson's story of the Drover's Wife pits the stoic silhouette of a woman against the unforgiving Australian landscape, staring down a serpent'it's our frontier myth captured in a few pages. In Leah's new play the old story gets a very fresh rewrite. Once again the Drover's Wife is confronted by a threat in her yard in Australia's high country, but now it's a man. He's bleeding, he's got secrets, and he's black. She knows there's a fugitive wanted for killing whites, and the district is thick with troopers, but something's holding the Drover's Wife back from turning this fella in. A taut thriller of our pioneering past, The Drover's Wife is full of fury, power and has a black sting to the tail, reaching from our nation's infancy into our complicated present.
Apollo Darwin
Fresh out of prison, Apollo Darwin is determined to turn his life around. Struggling to hold down a job and keep a new relationship afloat as he faces the devastating reality of his mother's terminal illness. As Apollo battles his past mistakes and the weight of his mother's impending death, he must navigate the harsh realities of starting life over. Will Apollo find the strength to overcome these overwhelming challenges and build a new future?
How To Beat Those Who Hunt Humans
The number of missing persons in America equals over six hundred thousand. Think about it for a second. In Canada, since such data collection began, over two hundred thousand people have gone missing. These disappearances cannot be explained by human trafficking, gangs, drug cartels, black market organ sales or even serial killers. Something much more sinister is at work. The Things are among us, serpent-like in their cunning and deception. They've infiltrated the highest levels of society. Humanity has been their livestock for thousands of years. Rashida Jane Fayose, a young queer woman who is more than human, has been chosen to fight them. She is the last of the Bultungin, the mythical Hyena People...
Up Your HOA Hole
In the seemingly idyllic community of Sterling Winds, Gwendolyn Thornton, the unwavering Homeowners Association (HOA) President, maintains a facade of order and serenity. Beneath the manicured lawns and elegant facades, however, lies a brewing storm of tension and discord. As the gatekeepers of the neighborhood's pristine image, Gwendolyn and the HOA navigate the delicate balance of maintaining the community's outward charm while grappling with the clash of personalities among its residents. The arrival of Preston and Carter Higgins, Sterling Winds' first openly gay couple, disrupts the established norms, exposing the underlying prejudices and biases that simmer just below the surface. In a community where appearances are everything, not everyone welcomes the Higgins with open arms. From high-strung personalities to ruthless neighbors, the once-tranquil Sterling Winds becomes a battleground of egos, secrets, and suburban drama. Gwendolyn finds herself torn between upholding the neighborhood's image and fostering a more inclusive environment. Amid the perfectly trimmed hedges and picturesque streets, Up Your HOA Hole explores the struggle for acceptance, the price of conformity, and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of societal expectations. Will Sterling Winds weather the storm of transformation, or will the facade of perfection shatter under the weight of its residents' conflicting desires?
Zeal Theatre Volume 2
Zeal Theatre is an internationally renowned touring theatre company dedicated to creating plays for schools, theatres and festivals. The company has created over 45 original plays, which have been staged in over 30 countries worldwide.Following on the success of Zeal's 2011 collection featuring The Stones, Burnt and Taboo, this collection features two new plays: King Hit and Lucky Country.King Hit opens at Tula's birthday party. Heaps of people arrive, the music is pumping and everyone is having a great time. When Tula's dad leaves, things change. Two boys start to argue and what begins as a bit of fun quickly escalates into an alcohol-fuelled fight, reaching a shocking climax. Blending elements of naturalism, docu-drama and expressionism, King Hit questions the dynamic of violence as it touches the lives of young people. In Lucky Country, a new student arrives at Cook Vale High. He's from Syria, he is a refugee, and he's spent time on Nauru. Two boys in his class concoct a 'special welcome', triggering events that engulf the whole community. Lucky Country looks at contemporary racism, global politics and the role of the media.
My English Persian Kitchen
Shortlisted for the Popcorn Writing Award 2024 Every time I've tried to make this dish there's been something missing. It hasn't been quite right. But now I think I know what it is. The missing piece. I'm almost sure. Today is the day. I'll get this recipe right. I have to. For them. What would you take if you were forced to leave home with no hope of returning? How would you make a fresh start somewhere completely new? This is the true story of one woman who loses everything. Remembering the tastes and aromas of her mother's kitchen with live cooking on stage, she recreates the dishes of her childhood and homeland, building a new life and community around food. Written by award-winning Hannah Khalil from the story by Atoosa Sepehr, the life-affirming My English Persian Kitchen chronicles the journey of one woman's quest to start again. This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere Soho Theatre and Traverse Theatre co-production in 2024.
So Young
Winner of a Fringe First Award 2024Shortlisted for the Popcorn Writing Award 2024 Look, there are two ways to go. Do you freeze in place, looking backwards all the time... or do you move on? Summer 2021. Lockdown is over. Just. Three months ago Milo lost his wife to Covid. She was only forty five. So young. Tonight he has invited his two oldest pals, Davie and Liane, to come round and drink some wine, listen to some tunes and reminisce about the olden days. And there's something else... He wants them to meet the new love of his life. Her name is Greta. They met online. And she's twenty years old. From the celebrated writer of Decky Does a Bronco and I Can Go Anywhere, Douglas Maxwell's So Young sees an innocuous evening slide towards ruin as old friends face the challenges of middle age... the pull of the past... and the promise of the future. This edition was published to coincide with the TravFest24 run at Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre in August 2024.
Learn Thru Play 2
Carol Lucha-Burns, a retired University of New Hampshire Professor who lived with ADHD her entire life, captures the reader's interest in a new method of teaching and learning book. In this text, she explains and gives the "how-to learner" the methods she utilized during more than twenty years of teaching Story Theatre and Involvement As a college professor, she not only created courses in different teaching techniques but also guided her students, both graduates and undergraduates, to develop confidence in writing their own plays and musicals, many in the Story Theatre and Involvement styles.This book is an expansion of her first teaching book, Learn Thru Play: Creative Activities That Build Attention, Curiosity, and Collaboration. That handbook of ideas, games, puppet-making, and educational, humorous plays, which include directions for implementation, help promote classrooms where students actively participate in their learning process. It helps them become more focused as they unleash their creativity and become involved and attentive members of the collaborative classroom.This second book continues to promote a classroom where students actively engage in their learning process. Participants become more focused as they unleash their creativity, becoming involved and attentive members of the class.Lucha-Burns developed this material from her expertise in creating university classes in Education Through Dramatization, Storytelling, Story Theatre, Involvement Dramatics, and Methods of Education Through Dramatization. All were well-attended, popular classes that evolved into a variety of in-house and state-wide performances.Learn Thru Play 2: The Plays was written as a guide to show teachers how to write and utilize the art of Story Theatre and Involvement as a unique teaching tool. The students are encouraged to write and produce their own small cast plays as learning projects for their classmates and younger students. It is a way to make education exciting. Some teachers want to encourage students to actively participate in their learning and this book shows you how to be more than a "teach to the test" facilitator. History, Literature, and Social Studies can all be brought to life by the students themselves.
these heavy lungs we breathe with
The new girl in a small town of California poses a threat to Ara's sanity and sexuality. Already balancing a life filled with grief and anger, an alcoholic father and dead mother, Ara's obsession with the new girl grows to be quite consuming. After befriending one another, the two become inseparable and spend the summer reveling in their youth. But once feelings surface and bloom, there is no denying the apocalyptic consequences of their desire. With a runaway plot in the making, wicked dreams tantalizing Ara, and coming to terms with identity; These heavy lungs we breathe with is a queer novel that explores the darkest regions of young love and death. What will happen when two girls will stop at nothing to be together?
The Apollo Presents... a New Harlem Renaissance: Short Plays from the New Black Fest
How did the artists of the Harlem Renaissance respond to the historic events that shaped their time? And how are contemporary creatives dealing with the issues of the present moment in their own work? These questions lie at the heart of the Apollo commission of the New Black Fest, which has engaged playwrights to explore these themes in 10-minute plays. The collection includes: Cliff & Clara & Her Baby by Lauren Whitehead Color Theory by Eric Micha Holmes Goddess Help Us by Christina Anderson Holding by Zora Howard It's Complicated by Michael Bradford Rampjaar by James Ijames The Moon, The Sun and the Stories We Play by Dane Figueroa Edidi Thy Will Be Done by Dennis A. Allen II
Barbara and the Camp Dogs
'I want to be extreme Unreasonably rude I like to spit and scream Inappropriately crude I drink St Agnes Brandy In a paper cup with ice And when I'm feeling randy Don't expect me to be nice High maintenance me Real piece of work you see A troublesome stunt Instincts of a ...'Wild, unpredictable, and deeply vulnerable, Barbara and her sister Rene are singing for their lives. Barbara's been trying to make it in Sydney, but when their mother's health deteriorates, the sisters embark on a pilgrimage back home to country. Full of painful, unfinished business for Barbara, their return sends her into a downward spiral. Can Barbara find a way to resolve the past in time to preserve love in the only family she has known?Through music that ranges from punk-inspired explosions of rage, to tender rock and soul ballads full of yearning, Barbara and the Camp Dogs is a gob-spit of fun, frenzy and family that finds beauty in honesty and hope in confronting the past.
Flake
A little flutter, a dizzy spell, an imperceptible narrowing of the arteries and then the rest of your life is a series of doctors advising you against things. On the outskirts of Hanoi, a late night motorcycle ride leads to an encounter in a cluttered kitchen where no-one quite belongs. Duyan is a young woman reluctantly returning to her roots. Murph is coming to see his old mate, Bob, whose shady past is slowly catching up with him. Dan Lee's wry new play draws us deep into the mess and chaos of old friendships, fragmented families and the inevitable blur of aging. Meanwhile, the ancient city of Hanoi howls and crashes around outside, through the walls of the tiny basement kitchen.
Intersection 2018
'I loved the idea of being grown up, you know? And I'm not. To anybody. Not to parents, not to kids. All the burden and none of the respect. That middle ground is really hurting me... I think I killed Benny.'In a small town, a young woman applies make-up like layers of defence, preparing to go into battle. On top of the town tip, two friends stand guard as some home truths emerge. At the local arcade, a grotesque ritual sacrifice is taking place. And a young woman obsessed with Stevie Nicks thinks she's solved the mystery about the blood on the silo just out of town...Intersection 2018: Chrysalis is a collection of short plays written by some of the most exciting emerging playwrights in the country. At the meeting point of young lives travelling very different routes, Intersection offers a unique snapshot of modern Australia.Each year ATYP brings together 20 young writers from across the country and challenges them to create stories that speak to the experience of being seventeen years old in Australia, here and now, creating a compelling, complex mosaic of modern life. Critically acclaimed in its first incarnation, it returns to explore the excitement, terror and electricity of being seventeen.The plays featured in this volume are for one and two actors.
The Feather in the Web
Nick Coyle's acerbic dark comedy follows the life of Kimberly, a character like no other. She is a young, uncompromising, fearless nihilist ' powerful, wicked and in control. She moves through the world, tossing artifice aside like matchsticks as she sets fire to the banal and predictable. But when she meets Miles, Kimberly finds herself up against the most powerful opponent of all-love. What ensues is a brilliant examination of desire, sexism, authenticity, and the lengths we will go to make ourselves feel whole. In The Feather in the Web, Nick Coyle has created a reverse Alice in Wonderland: where a fantastical person is forced on a quest through the real world, not the other way around. Full of astonishing twists and an escalating sense of unease, you will laugh out loud ... right before you consider putting a plastic bag over your head. 'Coyle takes the characters and action to the very edge of credulity, at times almost abandoning naturalism, which he balances with truly heartfelt and touching moments. All this combines to elevate his writing to a plane that is both emotionally confusing and deeply rewarding, executed in a style that is truly his own.' - Stage Whispers
Cactus
Everyone knows that friendships made in bathrooms are ones that last for life.' Cactus is a brutally funny, heartbreakingly honest new play for anyone who is or ever has been a teenager. This timely play by Madelaine Nunn follows Abbie and her best friend PB as they navigate their last year of high school. It's going well. I mean, they're still virgins, but it's going well. Milestones are being met. Exams are drawing near. Freedom is on the horizon. Then Abbie gets some news that suddenly and unceremoniously plunges her into a world she wasn't ready for. Winner of the ATYP Rebel Wilson Theatre Maker Scholarship Shortlisted for the Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award Nominated for an Australian Writer's Guild Award
The Servant of Two Masters
'There are so many servants looking for a master and I have found two! Yay. What the hell do I do now? I can't serve both, can I?' Hungry servant Truffaldino bites off more than he can chew when he agrees to serve two masters at the same time! Now he must hold everything together without exposing his scam and woo his love interest, spicy Smeraldina, all at the same time. Meanwhile, Beatrice and Florindo pine for each other, desperately seeking one another in Venice. On the flipside, young lovers Silvio and Clarice seesaw from swearing undying love to pledging eternal hatred. A calamitous comedy unfolds as Truffaldino skids and schemes his way through multiple beatings, mistaken identity and love gone awry on the streets of decadent 18th-century Venice. This new translation and adaptation of Carlo Goldoni's classic by Rosa Campagnaro and Make A Scene maintains the traditional improvised spirit and grotesque masks of Commedia dell'Arte in a contemporary reimagining.
Colleen McCullough's Tim
Tim is a young labourer with a disability. Mary is a successful mid-50s business executive. What begins as a chance meeting between them soon develops into a life-changing relationship for both. Exploring notions of love, loss and acceptance, and set in the modern day, Colleen McCullough's seminal Australian story has been sensitively adapted by playwright Tim McGarry for the stage.
