AustLit

'Would you risk breaking bail for a packet of Mi Goreng? Or snitch on a mate to save your own skin? Around here, ordinary days can turn on you so fast you’ve still got a smile on your face as your hopes die in your hands.

'Yani wants to go to the Easter Show, Kai wants a sense of home, Shanika wants her Mum back, and Lachlan…well, he just wants his bowl of noodles. But when the justice system is all that stands between these young people and what they want, it raises an important question—how do young people grow when the system keeps cutting them down?

'Yuwaalaraay playwright Hannah Belanszky and Kalkadoon director Abbie-lee Lewis bring their exceptional talent to the stage for Saplings, a collection of hilarious and heartbreaking stories born from workshops with young people in conflict the youth justice system, from Marrickville to Moree.

'Set to a rap and hip-hop soundtrack made by young people in the youth justice system, Saplings gives an honest, raw look into the adult consequences faced by some of our most vulnerable.'

Source: Sydney Festival.

'Join four mainland-born Torres Strait Islander women as they battle against the rising tide threatening their home, culture and identity. GURR ERA OP (“the face of the sea” in Meriam Mir) is a celebratory sharing of culture and a call to action in the face of climate devastation, interweaving hybrid Torres Strait Islander contemporary storytelling, movement and spoken word.

'What would you do if you could never go home? Is your culture bound by place or by self? What happens to your identity when the physical place that holds your ancestral foundations disappears?

'These are some of the questions the storytellers grapple with daily as they watch their motherland, family and communities suffer the onslaught of climate change. The Torres Strait Islands are currently on the front lines – but ultimately, your home is next.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A rock’n’roll theatre performance celebrating the phenomenal journey and impact of Australian music icons, Warumpi Band, told from the perspective of the Butcher Brothers.

'Named after Warumpi Band’s second album, BIG NAME, NO BLANKETS this rock 'n' roll theatre performance features Warumpi hits, showcasing Luritja, Warlpiri and Gumatj / Yolngu Martha languages and culture.

'Making history as the first rock ’n ’ roll band to sing in Aboriginal languages, Warumpi Band is acclaimed for creating our Black Anthems: Jailanguru Pakurnu, My Island Home and Blackfella/Whitefella.

'Warumpi Band brought hope and strength to First Peoples and united all Australians, singing truths that echoed the realities of black and white relationships in colonised lands. They amplified black voices, stories and politics while uniting all cultures with their infectious music.

'Packed with humour, iconic songs and rock star performances, BIG NAME, NO BLANKETS is a joyful show about how music can influence massive change.'

Source: Production blurb.

'In one of his first works as Artistic Director of Australian Dance Theatre, Wiradjuri director-choreographer Daniel Riley evokes an immensely powerful and personal story of his Great-Great Uncle, Alec “Tracker” Riley. 

'Alec, a Wiradjuri Elder and tracker, served the New South Wales Police Force for forty years, leading numerous high-profile cases. As an Elder of his community he forged a path between the enforced colonial system in which he worked and his Wiradjuri lore. Tracker takes inspiration from his legacy and examines the battles First Nations people have shared for generations.

'Weaving together dance, music and text, Tracker is brought to life in association with ILBIJERRI Theatre Company and by a team of celebrated First Nations creatives, including award-winning playwright Ursula Yovich (Man With the Iron Neck, SF2019), co-director Rachael Maza AM (Black Ties, SF2020), composers James Henry and Gary Watling, visual artist Jonathan Jones, lighting designer Chloe Ogilvie and an all-First Nations cast. 

'Culturally rich and ambitiously original, this multidisciplinary work rethinks how we engage with and experience First Nations storytelling.' (Production summary)

'Of all the stories Jane Hutcheon has encountered as an ABC journalist, China correspondent, war zone reporter and author, one has intrigued her more than any other: that of her mother Beatrice’s turbulent childhood in pre-Communist Shanghai.

'Visiting Shanghai in 2018, Jane began to search for the truth of her mother’s difficult beginnings. Lost in Shanghai is the result, a story of an ordinary Eurasian family in extraordinary times, set against a backdrop of fading colonial opulence, civil war and revolution.

'Using projected images from the family archive curated by photographer-storyteller William Yang, and music composed and performed by Dr Terumi Narushima, Jane narrates this moving true story in her own words.'

Source: Sydney Festival.

'Every year more and more people experience the impacts of bushfire devastation.

'This is the story of one such family who lost their home during the 2003 Canberra bushfires. Nineteen years on they still remember, they can’t forget, but they can carry on. With wry wit, compelling storytelling and song, Deborah Pollard conjures into being a theatrical portrait of the very human face of climate change catastrophe.

'This new work tracks the silent legacy of extreme weather events long after the news crews have moved on. Part stand-up, part home movie night, part gritty realism, this dynamic one-woman show presents an hour of intimate, raw and bitingly honest performance.'

Source: Sydney Festival.

'Two parts theatrical extravaganza, one part dance floor, Qween Lear explores the demise of Sydney’s party era through the tale of an ageing drag matriarch abdicating their nocturnal throne. Forget what you know about cabaret and music theatre – this is an electrifying theatre experience and a party in one hit.'

Source: Sydney Festival.

'Thwayya faces the loss of her family farm after five generations of tending the land. Violet’s ancestors were custodians of that land for over 75,000 years, but she left home long ago. Meanwhile, Tsuet-Cheng is returning from Sydney to Singapore for “Tomb Sweeping Day”, a ritual in which families visit cemeteries to talk with their ancestors. These three women don’t know each other – but when two skeletons are discovered in the dried-up creek bed of a remote Queensland farm, their fates become deeply intertwined.

'A hauntingly beautiful blend of music, dance, film, design and dialogue, 宿 (stay) is built on the real-life experiences of the artists. From a densely packed Singapore housing block to the vast Tagalaka country of outback Australia, 宿 (stay) delicately unearths buried trauma and fragile connections that lie at the heart of contemporary life.'

Source: Sydney Festival.

'With a script crafted from steamy 1950s pulp fiction, snatches of real-life dinner party conversations and improv, Set Piece is a powerfully intimate theatre-film experiment in which lesbian fantasy meets the queer ordinary. Nuanced camera work crushes the distance between observer and observed, theatre and film, and fantasy and reality.

'Absorbing, intimate and quick-witted, Set Piece is a unique study of erotic and emotional dynamics between women, a synesthetic experience for theatre and film buffs alike.'

Source: Sydney Festival.

'Jali: noun: a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, or musician.   

'Refusing to be defined by a turbulent past, comedian and performer Oliver Twist reflects on his time as a refugee while carefully unpacking his present-day experiences. Delicately-told and impossible to forget, his one-person show proves that exceptional storytelling and belly-aching laughter are powerful antidotes to trauma.'

Source: Sydney Festival.

'Adapted from the Stella Prize-winning novel by Heather Rose, The Museum of Modern Love follows New York-based film composer, Arky Levin, a man struggling to live and work in the face of incredible loss.

'By chance, Arky finds his way to MoMA and sees Marina Abramović in The Artist is Present—a marathon and now-legendary feat of performance art that saw Abramović sitting silent and completely still opposite thousands of museum visitors in the spring of 2010.

'Arky returns to MoMA again and again, and encounters other viewers also drawn to the exhibit, each with their own reasons for spending hours in the presence of Abramović. As the performance unfolds, so does Arky, and with his life coming back into focus, he finally understands what he must do to move forward.

'Set against the backdrop of one of the greatest art events in modern history, and blurring the lines between spectator and artist, this transfixing new work explores dying and living, courage and commitment—and meditates on the power of art to unite and connect us, even in an increasingly disconnected world.'

Source: Seymour Centre.

'Based on true events, The Last Shot by Troy Russell is an intimate musical tale of romance, heartbreak and tragedy in colonial times. Star-crossed lovers Jimmy and Florrie take flight through Gomeroi Country, seeking refuge with strangers.

'One night, after singing and dancing at the local camp, a foreboding event catapults them into turmoil. Forced to make an escape, Jimmy and Florrie set off into the night followed by a landowner in pursuit of revenge. Drawing on a range of musical genres, and accompanied by archival imagery, The Last Shot is a story of romance and chaos, pulling on your heartstrings and lifting your spirits.'

Source: Sydney Festival.

'Besties Niarra and Te Umuroa are out playing in the bush. Just another day in paradise – until they glimpse what can only be the world’s last Tasmanian Tiger.

'Dodging hunters, Niarra and Te Umuroa set sail for Aotearoa to hide their new friend. But hunters aren’t the only ones on this Tiger’s tail. They’ll have to outwit Māori gods and palawa spirits to save their furry friend.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Framed by velvet drapes and bedecked with Jatz cracker crumbs and cigarette ash, Maureen invites you into her bohemian living room. She’s here to take you on an intimate journey brimming with witty repartee, well-worn life advice, an exotic array of friends now gone and the dauntless potency of limitless imagination.

'With exquisite storytelling, writer and performer Jonny Hawkins transforms into Maureen: a razor-tongued doyenne of Kings Cross in its heyday. Co-created by Nell Ranney, this poignantly funny solo show takes inspiration from Hawkins’ friend, a self-described “working class glamour queen” and one of life’s true eccentrics.

'Magnificently flouting many of the rules of drama and narrative, Maureen: Harbinger of Death redefines our concepts of older women. Caustic and moving, it is an uplifting demonstration of the wisdom, vitality, kindness and humour of women too often overlooked or dismissed by society.

'A night of wit, imagination and storytelling with a character you won’t forget.'

Source: Adelaide Festival.

'A stirring deliberation on the choices we make and how they shape our lives, Black Brass is a theatrical feast; playful yet mysterious. Written and performed by Mararo Wangai, joined live onstage by musician Mahamudo Selimane, this intimate and soulful experience celebrates stories of resilience – private victories rather than public actions.

'Arriving to clean a music studio late at night, Sleeper encounters a stranger who speaks only in music. The man is fascinating and oddly familiar. Slowly the pair are drawn into each other’s orbit, as each man tries to reconcile a past that refuses to let go and a present that is unwilling to accept. Through flashback narrative and music, moments of darkness are tempered by soulful songs as the pair hurtles towards a pivotal decision that must be made come sunrise.

'Black Brass draws inspiration from interviews conducted with Perth’s Zimbabwean, Sudanese, South African, Central Congo, Mauritius, Nigerian, Congolese and Kenyan communities on the theme of resilience. Through its story it gives voice to the marginalised, offering a window into the lives and voices not often heard in the theatre.'

Source: Perth Festival.

'In the ocean, the mermaid is free. But on land, she cannot swim or breathe, and is vulnerable to the toxins human industry creates. It’s not the mermaid that’s disabled, but the environment that makes her so.

'A physical theatre artist for 15 years before she developed a cluster of rare genetic disorders, Hanna Cormick cannot breathe normal air or safely be among people.

'In ​her intimate show The Mermaid​, Cormick risks everything to get her message across. The possibility that she may suffer severe allergic reactions, seizures and other medical events during the performances is very real and part of the work.

'Her medical devices (wheelchair, braces, respirator mask and oxygen tank) are recontextualised in the image of a mermaid, and Cormick’s body becomes a stage and canvas. Her fragility is a reminder of our own; her body personifies the damage we do to our planet.

'Weaving together real-life personal narrative, essay-style analysis and poetic imagery, The Mermaid is an act of radical visibility: a meditation on rare disease and a rebellion against the limitations it sets.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.