Image by Jasmin Simmons
The Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey conducted by the Australian Government in 2017 was a controversial decision that sparked a turbulent and retraumatising time for LGBTQIA+ people, particularly those who remembered the recent civil rights debates in Tasmania. From 1988-1997 gay rights activists campaigned to decriminalise homosexuality in Tasmania, the last state to do so; a campaign honoured in Campion Decent’s verbatim play the Campaign.
Image by Graeme Dobbs
He’s the biggest name in theatre and one of the biggest in literature. Nearly everyone who went to an English-speaking school studied him and many more who didn’t. To celebrate the opening of the 25th anniversary season for Lane Cove Theatre Company, William Shakespeare’s work takes pride of place with his 37 attributed plays and a sonnet or two.
Image by Chris Lundie
Since Hilary Clinton’s loss to Donald Trump in the 2016 US Presidential Election, the distinction between left and right politics and the reporting of each have become increasingly inflammatory and divisive. The Democratic Party have encountered harsh criticism for their inability to play dirty, to not compromise. But what would it look like for the left to try something new? Perhaps something extreme?
Image by Chris Lundie
Robert Louis Stevenson’s gothic story captured the late 19th-century’s fascination with all things scientific. Suddenly it seemed like man could be more powerful than God. In this adaptation by Noah Smith, the duality of man is freed from the restraints of nature with murderous consequences.
Anne Brontë is often most remembered as the youngest of the Brontë sisters with the publication of her controversial novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall struggling to shift focus away from her older sisters Emily and Charlotte. In honour of the Anne Brontë Bicentenary celebrations this year, writer Cate Whittaker hopes to awaken a new love for Anne’s work with this biographical play.
Image by Craig O’Regan
Is there anything less suspicious than a doddery old lady? It’s an assumption Marcus is literally banking on as he chooses the new headquarters for his next high stakes robbery in the spare room of an unsuspecting accomplice. Irish comedy writer Graham Linehan’s script the Ladykillers plays with misunderstanding and misdirection in an adaptation of the original black comedy crime mashup.
Image by Clare Hawley
Alistair McDowall’s alternate version of Manchester is part game, part gritty crime drama, and part sci-fi thriller as the characters navigate their shifting and unreliable narratives. Pomona and The Girl are only myths until they become reality for those that choose to get involved.
Image by Jamie James
Inspired by the jury room drama Twelve Angry Men, Jane Harrison’s new play imagines those fateful days in January 1788 when the First Fleet entered Sydney Harbour. The seven surrounding clan leaders gather to hold a tense discussion about whether to welcome these visitors or turn them away before it’s too late.
Image by Yaya Stempler
In a treat for Sydney-siders, the rarely played Sydney Town Hall organ came alive for a night with composer and performer Robert Curgenven. For a meditative hour, Curgenven guided listeners through an overwhelming multi-sensory experience.
Image by Dahlia Katz
The guests have gathered and are awaiting her arrival but before she can appear, there is a story to be told about how the past snags on the present and the silly business of love tangles itself through time. Forget Me Not is a layered, interactive magic world almost too elaborate to fully picture or put into words.
Night Writes 