Ten new plays will be brought to the local, national and international stage when the 2016 season of the South Australian State Theatre Company kicks off in February.
State Theatre Company (STC) returns after a successful year to produce a slew of new plays; five of which are co-produced with inter-state companies and one which will be made in collaboration with London's physical theatre company Frantic Assembly. These co-productions have become a staple of STC's method, leading to shows that play around the country and have turned STC into a major player in the national theatre scene.
RumpelstiltskinRob Brookman, CEO and Producer of the company, explains how these co-productions benefit cast and crew. “Not only do co-productions bring new energy to creative collaborations, they also provide fantastic opportunities for South Australian artists to strut their stuff on the national stage and very significantly extends periods of employment for our fine cohort of actors, directors, and designers, making it more viable for them to continue to live and work in South Australia.”
The last three years at the company have seen co-productions played in every state in Australia, as well as a production of 'Pinnochio' running on Broadway. Next year will be no exception, with plays travelling around the country and overseas, as well as a strong foundation in Adelaide.
Tartuffe Brookman says “the 2016 season is one of our strongest yet. It retains the Company’s commitment to new Australian writing and our South Australian artists as well as bringing some of the best of the best from around the country to create work right here in Adelaide.” This season will see some of Australia's leading theatre actors and actresses teaming up with word class writers and directors to create exciting new seasons of theatre.
The EventsSTC's 2016 season opens with the Australian premiere of Edinburgh Fringe Festival award-winning 'The Events'. Written in response to the mass-shooting in Norway in 2011, 'The Events' is a story of 'tragedy, obsession and our destructive desire to fathom the unfathomable.' The play stars Catherine McClements ('Rush', 'Water Rats'), who makes her return to STC for the first time since she graduated drama school. Debuting at the Sydney Festival, the show will then open for a season in Adelaide before heading to Sydney and Melbourne.
'Machu Picchu' sees Gold-Logie award winning actress Lisa McCune make her STC debut. 'Theatrically rich, bluntly human and wickedly humorous,' 'Machu Picchu' follows a couple whose lives are inextricably changed after one of them is injured in a car accident and they are left to examine the meaning of it all. Lisa is excited about the role and working with STC. “I’m very much looking forward to spending some extended time in South Australia working on this new Australian play by Sue Smith. Under the direction of Geordie Brookman and playing opposite Darren Gilshenan, I couldn’t think of anywhere else I would rather be in April. There will be laughter and there will be tears ...”
Things I Know To Be TrueThe season will also see the world premiere of 'Things I Know To Be True', a devised theatre piece made in collaboration with London's Frantic Assembly, a physical theatre company hailed by The Times as 'the most innovative and progressive company around.' Telling the story of an Australian family with a focus on existential scope and a gripping analysis of human nature, 'Things I Know To Be True' debuts for a season in Adelaide before launching in Canberra and London.
Straight White MenProduced in conjunction with Brisbane's La Boite Theatre Company, 'Straight White Men' is a new play from New York's Young Jean Lee. Described as 'the most adventurous downtown playwright of her generation', by the New York Times, it examines the bond between three young men and their father, nostalgia, familial hijinks and the possible downsides of white male privilege. The funny and quirky family drama opens for a season in Adelaide, followed by one in Brisbane.
The Red Cross Letters Other plays hitting the 2016 season are a musical adaptation of 'Rumpelstiltskin'; an adaptation of John Buchan’s classic novel and Hitchcock’s hit film 'The 39 Steps'; an updating of Molière’s 1664 play 'Tartfuffe'; teenage drama 'Gorgon'; historical South Australian 'The Red Cross Letters'; and examination of rural Australia 'Red Sky Morning'.
The State Theatre Company's 2016 season kicks off with 'The Events' on 25 February.
