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The formidable Leah Purcell embraces a Louis Nowra classic
Radiance 3 JANUARY – 8 FEBRUARY
By Louis Nowra Director Leah Purcell Both a powerhouse actor and a powerhouse director, Leah Purcell gets back on the main stage at Belvoir to direct herself in this classic work. Three sisters gather for their mother’s funeral in tropical Queensland, and find that escaping the past is not as simple as scattering ashes. The play premiered at Belvoir in 1993 and its trio of brilliant roles have been played by all of the country’s great black actresses. For this major revival Purcell is joined by a new generation: The Sapphires’ Shari Sebbens and Miranda Tapsell.
For a great Australian classic with a brilliant cast, start your year with this. Indigenous Theatre at Belvoir supported by The Balnaves Foundation
A game-changer for black theatre
Kill the Messenger 14 FEBRUARY – 8 MARCH
By Nakkiah Lui Director Anthea Williams The writer of this play, who is also its central character and lead actor, is the remarkable Nakkiah Lui – a name you need to know. The multi awardwinning Lui is funny, angry, fearless and super articulate. Her play is part fiction, part fact about life and death in Western Sydney. Innovative in form and contemporary in approach, its central question isn’t an easy one but it’s a necessary one: why do we carry on watching black people suffer, on stage and off?
If you love provocation and deliberation, secure tickets now (it’s a short run). Indigenous Theatre at Belvoir supported by The Balnaves Foundation
The archetypal Greek tragedy told as a modern family drama
Elektra / Orestes 14 MARCH – 26 APRIL
By Jada Alberts & Anne-Louise Sarks Director Anne-Louise Sarks Two sisters, a brother and a mother struggle to make sense of a disordered world of war and natural disaster, and find themselves taking extreme actions in an attempt to make right. In 2014, the humanity and warmth of Jada Alberts’ writing made Brothers Wreck one of the standout new Australian plays of recent years. Director/writer Anne-Louise Sarks (Medea, Nora, A Christmas Carol) has been boldly, resolutely making old stories new again for years now. Together they ask: Who is responsible for the state of things and what can any one of us possibly do about it?
If a contemporary take on a classic story is your thing, book this.
Oz as you’ve never, ever seen it
The Wizard of Oz 2 MAY – 31 MAY
After L. Frank Baum Director Adena Jacobs ‘Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first person she meets and then teams up with three strangers to kill again.’ (LA Times TV listings, 1998) It might not sound like The Wizard of Oz, but it is. Director Adena Jacobs calls this new production a radical feminist take on a story of biblical proportions. It all sounds a little alarming, and it probably is, but with this material Jacobs is free to engage in the kind of potent visual storytelling she excels at. Dark, dry humour and a sense of disturbed beauty are her hallmarks, which makes The Wizard of Oz an oddly perfect fit.
For a universal story of biblical proportions on our humble corner stage, tick.
The toughestminded love story ever written
Mother Courage and Her Children 6 JUNE – 26 JULY
By Bertolt Brecht Director Eamon Flack Robyn Nevin in the role she’s been waiting her whole career to play. But forget the idea that this is a dour anti-war play. Mother Courage is an epic fable for the 21st century – a parade of ordinary people getting on with life in the midst of war and massive historical change. At its centre is a small, tough, funny woman refusing to give up on a good life for her family – the kind of woman you might find today in Syria, or the Ukraine, or even Pennant Hills.
Loved The Glass Menagerie and Angels in America? This one’s for you.
The cream of the crop of Australian theatre royalty
Seventeen 1 AUGUST – 13 SEPTEMBER
By Matthew Whittet Director Anne-Louise Sarks This one’s a real treat no matter which way you look at it. Take the cast: six acting legends of Australian theatre. Or take the play: written specially to make these legends seventeen again. Or take the writer: one of the funniest and most delightful theatrical imaginations in the country. Or take the director: the wonderfully inventive creator of Belvoir’s A Christmas Carol. Or take the central theme: life, whether it’s stretching out before you or laid out behind you, is a wonderful thing.
Peter Carroll, Maggie Dence, Judi Farr, John Gaden, Barry Otto. Say no more.
Bafflement and idiocy in the Age of Abbott
Ivanov
19 SEPTEMBER – 1 NOVEMBER
By Anton Chekhov Director Eamon Flack It could be subtitled: ‘How to Find Faith in Humanity – or Not’. This early Chekhov is a glorious ensemble comedy about the fact that the future is looking bleak. Here it gets its first Australian mainstage production. What a fantastic mix of rage and silliness; its characters all torn between making money and getting in on something bigger and more meaningful than themselves. How apt. Incoming Artistic Director Eamon Flack directs Ewen Leslie and an excellent cast of tragic clowns in this exuberant Russian classic about the Age of Abbott.
Loved The Glass Menagerie and Angels in America? Book now.
Cocaine crime drama to knock your socks off
Mortido 6 NOVEMBER – 23 DECEMBER
By Angela Betzien Director Leticia Cáceres A brilliant, ambitious new play about Sydney’s second-favourite topics: money and crime (property gets a look-in as well). Angela Betzien’s writing is funny and brilliantly plotted. Actors love it. Colin Friels for one. The brilliant thing about this play is that it ranges across a vast field of contemporary life from Mexico to Surry Hills without losing sight of its essential theme: redemption in a corrupt world. A thriller with a gorgeous strain of magic realism.
To end the year with a sprawling, epic, unforgettable work, book right now. A co-commission with Playwriting Australia A co-production with State Theatre Company of South Australia
Downstairs Theatre Our Downstairs Theatre is where emerging artists and established artists create bold, innovative work. Here’s a one-line rundown of our four Downstairs shows in 2015. (PS: Turn over for our Upstairs shows.)
Blue Wizard
19 FEBRUARY – 15 MARCH
exposes the adventures of a lonely, gay, intergalactic wizard.
Presented in association with Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
Samson
7 MAY – 31 MAY
is a gorgeous four-hander about teens, death and faith from Parsons Award-winner Julia-Rose Lewis.
A co-production with La Boite Theatre Company
The Dog / The Cat
18 JUNE – 12 JULY
is a double-bill rom-com by double-trouble Brendan Cowell and Lally Katz.
La Traviata
27 AUGUST – 20 SEPTEMBER
is a high-camp, low-budget extravaganza from the thriving, anarchic Melbourne duo Sisters Grimm. A co-production with Sisters Grimm
Belvoir subscriptions hotline: 02 8396 6290 Subscribe quickly and easily online: belvoir.com.au/subscribe Soak up our 2015 Season: belvoir.com.au/2015-season
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