AustLit

'Both homage to and dark departure from the traditional Agatha Christie murder mystery, this antipodean re-imagining of the classic tale of death at a country house turns the crime genre upside down in more ways than one.

'The play boasts a cast of intriguing characters, all bought to life by a single performer, and all bound together in a cunning and unexpected narrative that will keep you guessing to the very end.' (Publication summary)

'In a claustrophobic suburban house, overrun by in-bred dogs, young Anna is getting itchy. She's in love with Roger, and she's ready...

'But how do you lose your virginity when you share a bed with your mother?'

Source: Old Fitzroy Theatre website, http://www.rocksurfers.org/
Sighted: 15/11/2010

'Ma Ma Ma Mad is the based on the true story of a young woman growing up in Singapore. This powerful play deals with death and suicide, love and loss, sex and sexual awakening, family and culture. Set in a dingy karaoke bar, this solo production brings us a heartfelt and honest tale, as the actor switches between herself, her mother, her maid and her ex-­lovers. Ma Ma Ma Mad is sometimes shocking, to the point of brutal honesty, but always endearing and ultimately hopeful tale from a woman who became an orphan as a child, then, after being raised by her adolescent brother, an international artist as a young woman.

'Drawing on a traditional narrative arc and littered with emotional expressions through physical theatre — sometimes words will just not do — this is an inspiring and raw tale that will have you questioning your own expressions of love, and leave you with faith in the human spirit that life does go on and, against all odds, we can triumph over the greatest of tragedies.' (Publication summary)

'Oddball teen cousins Ivan and Juniper Plank are putting together a glitzy variety show chronicling the series of extremely unfortunate events that led to the demise of 26 infants. It's a tribute ... of sorts.

'Welcome to a weird, warped Eisteddfod, where this endearing pair leads you on a brilliantly inventive, wickedly funny journey – in strict alphabetical order, of course – through the short lives of these doomed infants.

'The gothic quirkiness of Tim Burton meets the adorable kitsch of Wes Anderson in A Tribute of Sorts. An artful, dark, morbidly funny celebration of the art of theatre itself.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The fires of Rome and the characters surrounding Nero are warped and twisted out of their time and into ours. Disaster strikes this modern Empire when figures begin to appear from out of nowhere, bursting into flames and setting the city ablaze. One of these strangers survives; they have him imprisoned. 

'Empire Burning melds history and science-fiction with an evocative, poetic language to throw Western anxieties of the Other into sharp relief.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Josh has been with his first love for almost five years. On the eve of their anniversary, Emma has decided that she wants to leave. She won't say why. She won't say whose fault it is. She just says goodbye.

'All of a sudden Josh's world becomes a whole lot smaller. Dinner time becomes eating cereal on the floor. Work becomes a daily challenge to not punch people in the face. And the hollow feeling in his chest that was Emma's parting gift just won't go away.

'One morning, Josh wakes in the Breakup Forest - a magical, mysterious place where the terminally dumped are sent until they can piece together the past and move on. Emerging from the forest is his hand puppet spirit guide, Curly. Together, the two must undertake an epic journey through the darkness of the forest to confront Josh's demons, insecurities and fears.

'Will they uncover the reason Emma left? Can Josh get over it? And more importantly, can he get over himself?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'You live at the remote edge of a civilisation in economic free-fall, about to destroy itself in a nuclear war.

(Like anyone, you'd rather not think about that.)

You live in one of the most corrupt cities on the planet, under a state government elected by a minority who mostly live elsewhere.

Again, you'd rather be having fun. Maybe making some noise.

Except the government has significantly expanded the powers of the police to stop you.

Also, all the computers are owned by corporations, and all the phones are tied to the wall.

It's 1979.

Love you, Brisbane.' (Publisher's blurb)

'July 22, 2011, one of the most infamous dates in Norway’s history. Lone gunman Anders Breivik takes the lives of 92 people in a bomb attack on Oslo and a shooting on Utoya Island.  

'The Ecomomist follows the life of Andrew Berwick, a theatrical reflection of Breivik, and the events that lead him to July 22, 2011. Using material from Breivik’s own manifesto and blog, as well as countless media reports, The Economist tries to make sense of this dark and violent chapter of Norway’s history. Daring and different, The Economist deftly blends fact and fiction to fearlessly delve into the darkest parts of this tragic event, questioning the motivations of Breivik, the response of the media, and how we, as a society, have responded to the events.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Proud and ambitious King Vikram is visited by the mysterious sorcerer, Shantil, who offers him the secret to world domination if Vikram will do him a favour. Vikram must retrieve a mischievous spirit, Vetal, who is hiding inside a corpse in the Burning Ground and bring him to Shantil. Oblivious to the challenges which await him, Vikram pulls down the corpse from a tree, hoists it onto his back, and begins the treacherous journey back to Shantil, fending off, all the while, the vengeful spirits of the numerous people he has executed. On the way, to distract the king from his task, the anarchic Vetal, assisted by his eager cohort of spirit-actors, begins to tell Vikram stories, which magically come to life around him. Vikram comes to realise that the terrors of the outlandish tales, each of which contains an apt and painful lesson for him, are nothing compared to the barren world of his own soul … and that in Vetal he has met his match.

'Based on the delightful ancient Indian stories of Vetal and Vikram, The King and the Corpse! is a dynamic performance text which celebrates the art of storytelling and ensemble playing. It is an actor-driven theatrical tour-de-force which incorporates physical imagery, masks, music and dance, and is a must for students studying physical theatre, storytelling techniques in performance, or adapting ancient tales for the stage.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'In the 21st Century the statue of the Ancient Roman God Antinous comes to life to reclaim his place in history. He is not just the ‘shameless and scandalous boy’, that Christian historians dismissed him as, and he’s learnt a lot about life standing on his pedestal for 2,000 years. He begins to tell us about his mortal life and conjures up the characters from his story. We discover that, as a boy, he was chosen to be trained as an eromenos, a companion to an older man, and, as he grew into manhood, he survived by selling his body to Roman soldiers. Renowned for his beauty he finds himself, at the age of 16, the lover of none other than the 50-year-old Hadrian, the Emperor of Rome. His life becomes one of great wealth and luxury but he soon realises his continued prosperity is entirely dependent on his youth and beauty, and time is ticking on both. What’s more he needs to deal with Sabina, Hadrian’s politically manipulative wife, and with Lucius, Hadrian’s former lover who jealously guards Hadrian’s heart. To make things even more complex, Antinous meets a young man, Marcellus, with whom he falls in love, and Hadrian is falling in love with Antinous. Events begin to spiral out of control, but can Antinous use his intellect, rather than just his beauty, to survive?' (Publication summary)

'A darkly comic two-hander by award-winning playwright Katy Warner, in which military traditions blend with broken hearts and just a hint of Beckett …

'Set in a room that is filling with snow, two women soldiers sift through the debris to find a sense of themselves amongst the memories and lies, pop-culture references, and stereotypes. They have been told to protect the base but it’s been so quiet for so long and the vodka has run out, the radio is broken and the baby won’t stop crying.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A one-way ticket on the slut bus.

'The girls of Single Admissions, Kat, Peta and Alisha, are twenty-somethings missing one thing: a boyfriend. If love is a battlefield then single life is the apocalypse. To survive they must answer life’s big questions: How many Facebook status updates are too many? Is it possible to drink your bodyweight in alcohol? And is it really that bad to be single? For anyone who's ever texted under the influence, danced on their lonesome or been asked the question — repeatedly — "When are you getting married?" "No Seriously, when?"

'The Single Admissions story is of three young women navigating the perils of relationships. Through a mix of dark satirical humour and blatant pop culture currency, Single Admissions is a twenty something’s best friend.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Johnny is a digital chameleon, able to change who he is with the stroke of a key and the click of a mouse — a skill he puts to use in an online chatroom. Posing as a girl, under the screen name AlbaJay, Johnny stumbles across someone he knows from his real life, a boy from school, MarkyMark.

'The two begin a digital relationship, but as the fictional world he has created starts to collide with reality, Johnny must do whatever it takes to make sure MarkyMark still loves him.

'Based on true events, I Love You, Bro is a tale of love and deceit in a digital world.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The Grand has fallen under hard times. Between moss that grows as you watch, birds that just won’t quit and a lack of actual tourists, the hotel sits empty of guests. Save for one. The Grand’s proprietor, Matilda, reluctantly take on a new housekeeper, Eugenia, and as the months pass by a game unfolds distorting the line between real life and fantasy. 

'With a dry humor, this cyclical play explores peoples’ ambition and one's sense of belonging. Matilda and Eugenia struggle through a once grand hotel, in a town in the depths of a tourism deficit, solely dependent on one another.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The enigmatic character, Bartleby, embodies the confounding human problem at the heart of the office workplace. Imagined by Herman Melville in his equally enigmatic and acclaimed 1853 story that bears the character’s name, he asks: how much of another person’s humanity will we bear when it obstructs the flow of our work? What is the meaning of the work we do?' (Production summary)

'Bloke is a play that celebrates the Australian man: the awkward, the noble, the funny and the strange. Written as five monologues, Bloke, delves into the local characters we all recognise and love; a school boy, a brother, an Auskick coach, a bird lover and a man who dreams of bringing the whole street together. This ode to the Australian bloke is honest and breathtakingly good.' (Publication summary)

'A dark incantation. A letter that shouldn't be read. What would you do if a letter arrived addressed to you from a prisoner on death row? The catch – you’ve never heard of him before in your life, but you hear his voice clearer and sweeter than any other. Combat Fatigue is the story of gallery owners, Sam and Pippa who live in Sydney’s affluent inner west. Childhood sweethearts who, when faced with the aftermath of a devastating loss, discover their love has soured. ' (Publication summary)

'I say please because it makes people give me things.

'In an anonymous child care centre, somewhere in the city, there’s a nasty cough going around. At the same time four children gather to tell stories of Brian, a monster that lives at the top of a newly-sprung tree. Soon this innocent playtime curdles and infects the lives of three parents whose own sense of reality comes into question.

'Caught between doing what’s right for their kids and confronting their own demons, these parents will quickly find that there are worse things than a child-eating monster with teeth in his belly.

'Having worked casually in daycare centres, Sydney playwright Emily Calder has had ample time to absorb the nuances of children - as well as their parents. With great attention to detail, Calder takes their everyday dialogue and reweaves it into Cough, a psychedelic comedy examining dangerous imaginations, anxiety and the complexities of unconditionally loving little people.' (Source: http://unhappen.org/cough/ )

'On December 12, 1988, ‘Sunny Girl’ Susie turned sweet sixteen. Her boyfriend Jason, gave her a Poison t-shirt, her best friend, Kelly, gave her a name necklace and Kelly’s boyfriend, Dazza, gave her a handful of pills. That night Susie Greene disappeared. Her body and kidnapper were never found.' (Production summary)

'Amy and her brother Andy live in a small regional Queensland town caring for their sick mother. Amy escapes her mundane life through fantasies about her idol – Olivia Newton-John. However Andy is desperate to move on and enjoy the future he has planned for himself.

'This play with music moves between scenes of fantasy and reality to depict Amy’s hopes and fears and her feelings of loneliness, guilt, and denial. Olivia Newton-John’s own life story contextualises Amy’s and eventually becomes her source of inspiration and hope.

'Hopelessly Devoted is the latest work by Queensland playwright Elise Greig. Using humour and the popular hits of Olivia Newton-John, the play addresses serious issues of personal and familial responsibilities; growing up; fame and identity; and the powerful role of music and art in our lives. The conflict between Amy and Andy dramatically depicts a transitional time in life – when we must let go of the past and the people we know to embrace an uncertain future. ' (Production summary)

'It All Begins WIth Love presents an abstract space that enables five women to tell their personal stories as victims of domestic violence. The world is connected by an older woman whose story of witnessing violence as a child has affected her for her entire life. This verbatim play presents the real accounts of women subjected to violence in their homes by the one they thought they loved most. It is a short, powerful play that is relevant for communities and schools alike. The purpose of the play is to create open and honest conversations about violence against women in our society.' (Production summary)

'Hannah is 32, single and slightly overweight. Hannah has eczema and lives alone with a cat named Cupid. Hannah reads the love messages in the commuter magazine religiously, hoping one day, one day, there will be one just for her.

'But when Hannah goes missing while waiting for a mystery man at a Sydney train station, her friends and family are left to question whether their actions played a part.

'Meanwhile, the investigating detective is discovering just how easy it is to disappear when no one is looking for you.

'Girl in Tan Boots is a delicate and funny play about love, loneliness and the struggle to stay visible in a big, busy city.

'It marks the first SBW Stables Theatre appearance for Griffin Studio playwright Tahli Corin and director Susanna Dowling (The Kiss).' (Source: Griffin Theatre Company website)

'Two actors researching a theatre project befriend a seemingly quiet and ordinary man named Adam. In reality, Adam’s unexceptional existence is carefully calibrated – a precarious sideways tightrope-walk over his mental illness. Now, Adam’s new friends are at risk of throwing his life dangerously off balance. And there’s every chance they’ll go down with him.

'Music offers a sharp critique of the way mental illness is perceived today and examines the dangerous consequences of raiding people’s personal lives in the name of art. A surprising and surprisingly funny story of people connecting and colliding, as two actors blunder their way into Adam’s life, causing untold damage to him as a result.

'Having delighted Griffin audiences with This Year’s Ashes in 2011, the world premiere of Music marks the return to Griffin of playwright Jane Bodie. Winner of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award (2006) for A Single Act, Jane’s plays have been produced both nationally and internationally, including in London, New York and Brazil.' (Source Griffin Theatre Company website)

'The Pride takes a long hard look at lions.

'Bruce, weighed down by his impressive mane, is struggling with the pressure of renovations and taking care of his pride. Bruce knows time is limited, when James, his stronger, more handsome neighbour, starts peering through the windows admiring his home and his family.

'The drama of the jungle never seemed so close to home in this award-winning comedy that explores people’s readiness to forgive, even in the face of gross moral trespasses.

'After a wildly successful season at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Side Pony Productions heads to Sydney with this unique David Attenborough meets The Mighty Boosh comedy.' (Source: http://rocksurfers.org/thepride/ )

'It’s London 2012, and the greatest show on earth is about to commence. On the surface, it’s peace and love and plastic lanyards. But deep beneath the stadium, a terrible beauty stirs. The boys are going back to war. 

'For former commander Skin-the-Goat, laying down of arms has brought the trappings of power but drained him of respect. So he puts the band back together for one more operation. As well as bringing the peace prize he feels he deserves, he’ll impress the ambitious journalist Nina, who he hopes will break more than just the story of his last-minute intervention. 

'Coercing the young and Viet Cong-obsessed Boyler into action, Skin-the-Goat hauls his best but traitorous bomber The Baker back and prepares the scene to send the Olympics off with the ultimate bang. 

'As long as he keeps the plan on track, he’ll keep the peace, the prize, the girl, and a neat revenge on the quisling who forced him to stop the war in the first place. 

'But playing with embers is dangerous. War, like love, is easier to start than to stop. And just like the Olympics, not everyone is ready to play by the rules.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'He’s a good man; he just has bad habits. Or are they even bad to begin with? Perhaps society just has its definitions all wrong. She doesn’t like to make assumptions. She’s exactly what he needs, but she can’t go on being that forever. Where exactly is the line between good and bad, and who draws those lines, to begin with? After the school bell has rung and the class dismissed, two nameless faces: an older man for whom teaching English is a passion and a young woman wearing her school uniform neatly pressed, find themselves in his flat. It’s the first time she’s been there, and she’s the first girl from school he’s ever invited. So he says. She’s a clever girl who reads Marquez and seems to know all the right things to say to him. She’s his idea of physical perfection, and he happens to have her undivided attention. As her company inspires his confidence, and he blankets himself in his own self-righteous revelry, his hold over the right and the wrong of it loosens, and his temper flares. The man and the girl are plunged into a game of cat and mouse, where the weapon is manipulation and the only way for it to end is for one to consume the other.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'She has one job: to care for an elite robot prostitute. He is the maintenance man who repairs it. Life for both of them has been simple and regulated. Until now. The Good Girl is a black comedy set in the future. It’s about sex and ambition and getting ahead. Whatever it takes.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Violet and Ruth are bored as hell in their small town Australian high school, where there’s nothing but red earth, hurricane fences and the far off whirring of the quarry. But when a new teacher arrives, the borders of the town are no longer the limit of where a girl can go. If only they can escape to Melbourne or Paris or Tokyo before the sinister creature lurking at the edges of the town snatches them up and feeds them to the insatiable earth.
 
'Underland is a new Australian play that cracks open the desert to reveal mythic beasts, Chekhovian love triangles and big sky blues, while giving the finger to everything you thought you know about "down under" from Fosters' commercials. Underland was developed at Sydney Theatre Company.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'When we are small we skip, jump, hide and feel every rain drop. Then we grow hair where it never used to be, the cubby falls to pieces and we stop hanging off clotheslines. The Hoist follows the lives of Tim and Max who are hurtling towards the end of school and the challenges of the real world. 

'At the heart of Tim and Max’s friendship is an elaborate scheme they first dreamt up when they were seven years old, hanging off a clothesline. But as the boys and their friends will learn, sometimes the most unexpected of explosions change the course of the most detailed plans. 

'The Hoist explores what happens after play and before responsibility; the moments that force us to realise that childhood is ending and we have to grow up.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'In the camp tradition of the late sixties “psychobiddy” genre, Third Reich Mommie is Charles Busch on a day trip to the Grindhouse. Faded film star Bridgette Van Kamp has been a recluse since the second world war [sic]ended, relying on the good will and obedience of her daughter Cassidy to get by. But Cassidy’s coming into her own: she’s 17 and counting, with the inexplicable bloodlust to prove it. Who is Cassidy’s real father? And what is the dark secret that lies beneath her mother’s refusal to leave the house?

'Featuring some of Melbourne’s finest queer theatre-makers, Third Reich Mommie aims to titillate and terrify. Whatever happened to Baby Jane? She died in jail. Now meet Cassidy and Bridgette.'

'Yarn explores the idea that individuals evolve from the stories that precede them, as well as the stories others tell about them, and the stories they tell about themselves. At the center of Yarn sits Lily, a young woman attempting to untangle herself from three specific stories that she believes inform her identity. The stories she grapples with are ‘Lilith and Eve’ from the Judeo-Christian mythology, Oscar Wilde’s interpretation of ‘Salome’, and a contemporary tale of a young woman falling in love and having her heart broken.

'All of the women in these stories feel bound in some way and are searching for a freedom they cannot quite articulate. Each of them is cursed to replay their narrative over and over, examining it in detail from different angles but always ending at the same point. Salome always asks for John the Baptist’s head. Eve always eats the apple. The young woman’s relationship will inevitably fail. The play concludes with Lily deciding to ‘unpick the threads beat down precisely, unravel the yarns, the myths, ruin the tapestry’. Essentially she is choosing to start again from nothing, from a point that predates gender inequality, victim blaming and all the other narratives that have lead to her feelings of powerlessness. This is not a statement of nihilism but rather an optimistic, feminist rebirth; both an acknowledgment and rejection of determinism.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Four blokes, four beers, one hour and one actor. This honest and darkly funny tale introduces you to four mates who meet at the same bar at the same time every year. But this year, it’s different…

'A dark and dangerous secret brings these blokes together in an unbreakable bond of mateship and solidarity. On the eve of their annual get-together, the truth is in danger of being let out. As his mates rally around our main character, George, in an effort to protect him from whatever consequences may come, he takes this final moment of safety to reveal all to the audience before their lives are changed forever.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Jane and Kel are housemates, drinking mates and best mates with bad jobs and bad judgement. After Jane loses her job writing for a youth media blog she needs to save money, and so it becomes time for someone to move into the sunroom. After a string of interviews, Roy seems like the clear choice. And besides, it’s not like he’s a demon or anything. Except that he is. And he’s dragged Jane to Hell.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.