Image by Yaya Stempler
Based on the 1979 essay, Joan Didion’s The White Album covers five years in California from 1968-1972 where Didion weaves politics, crime, Hollywood celebrities, and her autobiography into a volatile portrait of paranoia and isolation. Lars Jan and Early Morning Opera introduce bodies, light, sound, and space into the words to deepen the impact and resonance of this already seminal piece.
Image by Seiya Taguchi
In a shared courtyard in the side streets of Verona, an unending rivalry between the Capulets and the Montagues rages. Their long histories and short skirmishes have blinded them to their ineffectual attitudes and it takes the tragic deaths of their beloved Romeo and Juliet to stir the tides of change in Shakespeare’s well-loved tale of star-crossed lovers.
Image by Clare Hawley
For the inaugural production of IGNITE Collective, New Ghosts Theatre brings two new Australian works about disfunctional and unusual Christmas celebrations to the stage. In Good People, the hours spent waiting in an airport stretch into unfathomable eternity while the women of Shandy’s Corner learn to lean on each other in times of grief and joy.
Image by Craig O’Regan
Judas, the original betrayer, the man who sold Jesus out to the Romans for 30 silver pieces, has now reached Purgatory and is awaiting the outcome of his Earthly actions. Stephen Adly Guirgis’s play imagines a courtroom drama where the likes of Mother Theresa and Sigmund Freud are called as witnesses in Judas’s trial. Was the betrayal justified? Can God forgive him?
Image by Clare Hawley
A boy wants to become a composer but his controlling father forbids it and so he runs away, changing the course of not only his own life but that of his lover and their undetected unborn son. Adapted from the middle grade novel by Jamila Gavin, Coram Boy dives into 17th century England to explore class divides, the Baroque music scene, and the underbelly of the human trafficking industry.
Image by Phyllis Wong
For the second instalment of DEADHOUSE: Tales of Sydney Morgue’s second season, Actors Anonymous and Blancmange Productions bring to light a classic story of the Australian bloke. Kevin Simmonds and Leslie Newcombe were underdogs whose petty crimes and dangerous mistakes set them on the run.
Image by Brett Boardman
The Packer family have been a prominent name in the Australian media industry since the 1930s. They founded some of Australia’s leading media institutions across print and television and are well-known for building a national empire and amassing phenomenal wealth. Packer & Sons works to see past the privilege of the Packer name to look at the abuse, cruelty, and toxic masculinity that shaped the relationships between fathers and sons.
Image by Chris Lundie
Nell Gwynn is a somewhat infamous name in British theatre history for her risqué lifestyle and connections with King Charles II. Representing the rags-to-riches spirit of Restoration England, Nell had a revolutionising impact on the arts as recognised in this biographical production full of humour and joy for the art of acting.
One of the main side effects of the digital age and social media that is most often talked about is the ease with which people slip into heated and frequently hostile arguments with strangers. Simple Souls uses this phenomena as the starting point to explore ideas of meaning, happiness, satisfaction, and understanding in the modern world.
Image by Olivia Mead
When was the last time you saw an ugly woman performer? Or one where her ugliness was not an indication of her depravity, villainy, or destitution? The Ugly Show encourages audiences to acknowledge that all bodies are ugly sometimes and an ideal that asks anyone, especially women, for anything less is simply unrealistic.
Night Writes 