AustLit

'Three generations of Koori women live on the edge of a country town in a shack on the banks of a flood prone river. For Nan, even life on “The Flats” represents progress of a kind, but Gladys has ambitions for a real house in town and a proper job for daughter Dolly. Set against the Queen’s visit in 1954 with music that evokes the period, this tender, funny play celebrates the fierce optimism of the women as they struggle for community acceptance in Menzies’ era Australia. ' (Source: AusStage website)

"'Why is he like this?' Christine wails. 'Remember what he's been through,' says Martha in heavy loaded tones to excuse him. Every war is different, but all wars have casualties. This is a story about a family of damaged survivors, their ongoing inner turmoil, their battles with each other, and their strategies for escape. During the Second World War, Jack is a prisoner on the Changi railway before being shipwrecked on his way to the saltmines. After clinging to wreckage in the shark-infested ocean watching his companions die, he returns home to peace-time. However, although he has survived the war, he has been so shaped and changed by it that not only Martha, his long-suffering wife, but each of their six children are forced to develop survival strategies to cope with him. Jill discovers hers in being top of her class; Johnnie finds refuge in sleep; May designs elegant dresses and dreams of wearing them; the twins have each other; and Christine finds comfort in the wild stallion her imagination has awarded her and Jack's stories of war and heroism. As the world changes and his children start growing up, Jack is left increasingly bewildered and angry. Women's Rights organisations are bad enough, but when Jill joins the anti-Vietnam War movement it feels like the ultimate betrayal. Drastic measures must be taken and nothing will ever be the same again. Patricia Cornelius's evocative debut novel is set in Melbourne between WW2 and the Vietnam War." Source: Publisher.

'‘You sure the abyss is our only option? Isn’t there like … an option to go forward into a nice warm hug? World peace? You know … nice stuff.’—Drag’na Dhuul by Michele Gould

'Surrounded by snacks, players begin a game of Dungeons and Dragons in which identities will be explored and revealed. As Russia invades Ukraine, two siblings start to remember their grandmother and the heritage she felt forced to hide. X-Box controllers in hand, two cousins decide it might be time to kill Grandma—but what about her great samosas?
'Accused by her brother of being too scared to attend their dad’s stag-do, Hen discovers that no one wants to be a chicken. And when the guy in shorts from Year 10 shows he’s not nearly as cool as she thought, will a young woman find the courage to speak up?

'Each year, ATYP brings together 20 playwrights from around Australia to create sharp, surprising, relevant scripts for teenage performers. The Intersection Festival is the creative reimagining of our popular Voices Project and Intersection plays, giving young people the opportunity to perform brand-new short plays written by some of the country’s best new writers.' (Publication summary)

'Introducing Staging Asylum, Again, an anthology that exposes Australia's mistreatment of people seeking refuge. Building on the success of its predecessor, this collection presents a timely and powerful exploration archive of artistic resistance to one of Australia's most enduring and unjust policies.   The anthology showcases a diverse range of plays that delve into different facets of seeking asylum. Tribunal, devised and performed by Kaz Therese, Joe Tan, Aunty Rhonda Dixon Grovenor, Mahdi Mohammadi, Katie Green, Paul Dwyer, and Jawad Yaqoubi, immerses readers in a truth and reconciliation commission, where newly arrived refugees and a First Nations Elder share poignant testimonies. We All Know What's Happening, conceived by Samara Hersch and Lara Thoms, involves seven young Australians devising a show about the incarceration of refugee children their age. Finally, The Audition, written by Patricia Cornelius, Sahra Davoudi, Tes Lyssiotis, Wahibe Moussa, Milad Norouzi, Melissa Reeves, and Christos Tsiolkas, is a metatheatrical play that draws parallels between an actor's audition and an asylum seeker's application for protection. The volume also includes three one-act plays showcased at the 2015 Asylum festival. Noëlle Janaczewska's Going for Gold, Tania Cañas' Three Angry Australians, and Georgia Symon's A Puppet Show for All Ages.   Editors Tania Cañas and Caroline Wake provide an introduction to the volume, along with individual essays about each play. Staging Asylum, Again is a testament to the power of theatre to shed light on injustice and spark dialogue, making it an essential read for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of Australia's border policies and their impacts.' (Publication summary)

'Every night, same time, same pigeon crash lands in my room.
At first I think it’s dead, But then it starts talking.

'A homing pigeon with no sense of direction becomes the unlikely saviour of a young girl up against her first encounter with heartbreak.

'Rose’s life has been turned upside down. She seems to be getting through it ok, except at night when her dream life is taken over by a mouthy homing pigeon that claims to be her subconscious.

'The last thing Rose wants is to be put through a psychological boot camp by a bossy rat with wings, but the bird’s intentions are good. It is there to help Rose to prepare for a new world order. It knows her Dad is not coming home.

'Rosieville is a universal story about getting back up after a blow to the heart. It is a homage to the instinct, loyalty, stamina and grit of homing pigeons who, despite countless obstacles and long distances, always manage to find their way home.' (Production summary)

'A little flutter, a dizzy spell, an imperceptible narrowing of the arteries and then the rest of your life is a series of doctors advising you against things.
Một chút loạn nhịp, một sự choáng váng, các động mạch dần thu hẹp một cách không thể nhận thấy, và từ đấy là một chuỗi lời khuyên từ các bác sĩ về những điều ta không nên làm.

'On the outskirts of Hanoi, a late night motorcycle ride leads to an encounter in a cluttered kitchen where no-one quite belongs.

'Duyen is a young woman reluctantly returning to her roots. Murph is coming to see his old mate, Bob, whose shady past is slowly catching up with him. 

'Dan Lee’s wry new play draws us deep into the mess and chaos of old friendships, fragmented families and the inevitable blur of aging. Meanwhile, the ancient city of Hanoi howls and crashes around outside, through the walls of the tiny basement kitchen.' (Production summary)

It begins, as always, with a storm. Sit still and hear of my sea-sorrow.

'A chaotic storm erupts. A disastrous shipwreck ensues. Refugees Prospero, Miranda and Ariel are washed ashore on Christmas Island seeking asylum in Australia. But this side of the story is yet to be seen.  

'Award-winning playwright of ideas Helen Machalias returns to The Street with another work of social commentary, reimagining Shakespeare’s The Tempest for our time in This Rough Magic - an exhilarating epic of power reckoning, survival and the cost of pursuing the promise of a better life. 

'A powerful epic where ‘brave new world’ poetry collides with ‘stop the boats’ rhetoric and interpolations of Persian poetry, philosophy and storytelling to deliver a radically different representation of offshore detention.

'Acclaimed Director Beng Oh crafts an extraordinary fast-moving spectacle conjuring an island of strange sounds and wondrous sights, enigmatic characters, and surprising relationships. A terrific acting ensemble open up the spaces between myth and reality, life and death, freedom and control.

'Ambitious and thrilling This Rough Magic is a rich theatrical conversation with Shakespeare’s The Tempest, epic in scale and full of mysticism and longing. Not to be missed.' (Production summary)

'First Nations Monologues brings together over 30 bold texts, each an excerpt from a play written by esteemed playwrights such as Jada Alberts, Kodie Bedford, Wesley Enoch, Andrea James, Leah Purcell, and many more. These gritty and poignant monologues, from a range of genres including comedies, dramas, and biographies, are selected from plays that have captivated audiences in leading theatres, often breaking box office records.

'First Nations Monologues pays homage to the diverse perspectives that resonate throughout the country, embodying a timeless ritual of storytelling that remains crucial as First Nations people continue to endure, resist, and thrive. Through this anthology, the voices and lived experiences of First Nations individuals are honoured, contributing to a body of work that seeks to decolonise and prioritise vital narratives.

'Muruwari playwright Jane Harrison has curated a collection of monologues that speaks to the multivalent experiences and unyielding spirit of First Nations communities.'(Publication summary)

'It’s the end of school and Gwen is throwing a party. After an emotional year, her friends are keen to spend the night drinking, playing games, and arguing about literally everything. But when a party game spirals out of control, long-held tensions start to strain and snap. Are the friends messing with each other? Or is there a bigger threat pounding at the door?

'Lured ever deeper by the thrill of unfolding secrets, the lines between honesty and cruelty begin to blur. Confrontation gives way to chaos, breaking bonds of trust, and testing the rules we cling to in order to keep us safe.' (Publication summary)

'You are in severe heart failure. I’m sending you to the city.

'From farm to little town to big town and back again, HER comes face to face with her own mortality. Unable to access the specialist care she needs in the country, she travels the long journey in and out of the city confronting the ultimate journey to save herself, alone.

'As she prepares to go under, HER past returns. HER truth can no longer remain buried. On the operating table HER chest is cracked open, unleashing a scream from depths unknown, spilling out a poetic and lyrical avalanche of words unspoken and desires unfulfilled. When she wakes, she is no longer the same.

'Based on a true story, Kerryn Beatty‘s HER explores the conditioning and social expectations on girls and women in regional Australia, examining the depths we must travel inward, to reclaim ourselves.

'A beautiful, poetic and visual feast.' (Publication summary)

'A startling, unsettling and hugely theatrical adaptation of Mary Shelley’s timeless classic, produced by award-winning playwright Christine Davey, Skin of our Teeth Productions and La Mama Theatre.

'A funny, thoughtful, horrific and remarkable story of love, power, friendship, betrayal and every emotion in between.

'Frankenstein is a larger-than-life (and death) production celebrating and unleashing the monster in all of us. A visceral piece of theatre that grabs at your heart and soul and never lets go.

'The future is female and here she comes, ready or not.' (Publication summary)

'Are you alive? Yes.
Are you dead? No.
Are you real? Yes…
Are we considered a protein or a fatty acid?
I don’t know, it wasn’t on the wiki page.
'The World According to Dinosaurs by Belle Hansen and Amelia Newman is an interrogation of globalism through the lens of palaeontology, world events and what we had for dinner last night. A culmination of the stories we tell ourselves about existence.
This is a work of physical theatrical grandeur that journeys across genre and time.' (Publication summary)

'Two women, two plays, two powerful voices.
'This double volume pairs powerhouse playwright Patricia Cornelius, in collaboration with Susie Dee and Nicci Wilks, with rising star Benjamin Nichol in two searing monodramas about women who are dispossessed and dismissed.

'In RUNT, Cornelius, Dee and Wilks have created an expansive work about the runts of this world—the lesser, the weak, the insignificant, the 'unders'. Runt, a small woman who has endured nothing but misery, toughens up to face her oppressors and fight for equality and decency. But just as she starts to sense greatness rising in her, something shifts and she feels the dirt sucking her back in.
'[Cornelius's] art has a conscious rhythm, poetry and structure that make other writers seethe with envy. Her language doesn't sound naturalistic but when it's spoken by an actor, it sounds like it could never be anything but their voice.' —Time Out

'In kerosene, Nichol's unlikely protagonist Millie yearns for love and acceptance, finding instead rejection and humiliation at every turn … except from her sad, soft old grandfather, and her best friend Annie. Millie shapes her loyalty to Annie into a bond that burns hotter than any romantic furnace. Life sends them on different paths, but when Annie turns up bruised and bloodied on the doorstep, Millie sets out to honour her childhood friend in the only way she knows how: revenge.' (Publication summary)

'Dot and Pearl live in Wittenoom; the blue asbestos mining town in WA’s Pilbara. So begin glorious days, when the Pilbara’s stunning landscapes, magnificent wildlife and close-knit community shaped an idyllic lifestyle; wild-natured Dot making the most of every second, while teenaged Pearl tries to make sense of what her own life might be. 

'Wittenoom follows Dot and Pearl’s personal story, filled with humour, sorrow,  and the friends they make along the way. Butler expertly weaves their journey into the frame of the Wittenoom tragedy, asking questions about accountability in an era where the health and cultural impacts of mining ricochet as heavily in 2022 as they did in 1962.' (Production summary)