Belvoir St Theatre Sydney’s 2023 season is simply bursting at the seams with joyful optimism, thought-provoking theatre, and lashings of heart.
The year will see ten plays gracing the Belvoir mainstage, with something for everyone – there's a Sondheim musical, a best-selling book adaptation, climate issues, exuberant comedy, and much more. . . All while shining the light on incredible Australian artistic talents.
Throughout the season expect to see productions like 'Blue', a breathtaking, intimate work and playwriting debut from Thomas Weatherall; 'Into The Woods', a Stephen Sondheim classic 35 years on from its Broadway premiere directed by Eamon Flack; 'Scenes From The Climate Era', more than 50 small plays from the mind of climate expert and playwright David Finnigan; 'The Weekend' adapted from Charlotte Wood's bestselling novel following three old friends and a dog; 'The Master And Margarita' told by a giant talking cat, a mad novelist and an ill autocrat, and more.
“Theatre-going is one of life’s great acts of optimism. That’s never been truer than in these last few years,” Belvoir Artistic Director Eamon Flack says.
“But Belvoir was born from optimism, so we’re getting on with doing what we do best: a lot with a little, and something for everyone. Our headlong love of Australian stories continues – seven of them, including two great new Indigenous plays, a Chinese-Australian comedy in three languages, a lesbian divorce dramedy (yes that’s a genre now), an astonishing, thought-provoking, heart-hitting play about life in the climate era, and Charlotte Wood’s beautiful novel 'The Weekend' comes to the stage.”
“Then there’s the music, and a lot of it this year – I guess because we’ve all had enough of realism in real life. We’re doing our first ever Stephen Sondheim musical. When he died last year the great Australian critic Peter Craven made the call that Sondheim is the Shakespeare of music theatre. We agree,” Eamon continues.
“Plus there’s Zahra Newman as Billie Holiday – say no more – and the return of the legendary Robyn Archer. Finally, there’s a piece of pure theatrical pleasure, a stage version of the (literally) magical anti-authoritarian novel 'The Master And Margarita', which we began work on in the darkest days of lockdown. We’ve gone looking for 'classics' in new places, and this, alongside 'Into The Woods', are our offers.”
“It’s a mad time to be alive, but Belvoir’s your yellow brick road through the demented wonderland of life on planet earth in 2023.”
Belvoir's 2023 season begins with 'Blue' from 14-29 January.
