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.
Image by Brett Boardman
Mental illness has been a fringe conversation for many years now whether in discussion of the government reducing or stagnating essential services for mental health care, or as a sticky glob hurled at politicians who don’t perform appropriately, or as the mysterious explanation for violent tragedy. The truth is that mental illnesses like depression and consequences like suicide are painful, complicated, and very common.
Image by Robert Catto
Life doesn’t stop for anyone. For this Lebanese-Australian family, they want to focus on their son and nephew’s christening but uncomfortable truths, family secrets, and the tension between love and belief threaten to unravel the carefully orchestrated day. It wasn’t what Danny planned for, but he may have found the limit of his family’s unconditional love.
Night Writes 