Image by Ofer Levy
The synagogue is described as a home for prayer, community, and learning so in collaboration with Emanuel Synagogue, The Sydney Art Quartet have prepared a concert exploring the underlying forces of empathy and compassion in the dangerous modern world. Merging music, voice, film, and dance, Crossroads brings together experiences of connection in the 20th and 21st centuries.
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 Bob Seary
The attitude of splitting people into winners and losers is a distinctly American phenomena that inspired Michael Arndt’s screenplay about the Hoover family, a band of misfits fighting against the belief that they are exemplary losers. Adapted into a musical by James Lapine and William Finn, Little Miss Sunshine follows this bland family in their bright yellow VW van from New Mexico to California for the competition of their lives.
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.
A young boy gets taught that good things come to good people and he believes it until the difficulty of disappointment hardens that optimism and lets it flake away. Good Dog watches a boy grow into a young man and learn to process power and pain to make the best of his lot.
Image by Dawn Pugh
It’s a well-known story of imagination and heart full of beloved characters and classic songs. In this adaptation, Cameron Farnham injects the community theatre spirit into The Wondrous Wizard of Oz with references to the Lane Cove area, some Australian cultural gags, and a few additional hit songs.
Image by Blake Condon
Perhaps this is an unremarkable Friday evening in the home of an upper-class family with its usual problems. Or, perhaps this is the evening that finally begins the process of throwing the many cracks of regret, deceptions, and desires into relief; when the rocky marriage, alcoholic sister-in-law, fake friendships, and co-dependent daughter all come home to roost.
Night Writes 