Theatre Works Touring Slate 2021 & Beyond

THEatre works

TOURING SLATE

2021 & BEYOND

ABOUT THEATRE WORKS

For 40 years, Theatre Works has been a vital national incubator of high-qualit provides a platform for hidden voices and unheard stories from our contempor independent artists and nurtures creative career development, Theatre Works

Theatre Works remains a creative hotbed for independent artists exploring un inspire, inform, challenge, entertain and provoke, contributing to the importan

The size, versatility and capacity of our venue space, combined with the uniqu support is unique compared to any other organisation in Australia.

Over the last three years, we have developed new created voices and investe since 2017. Our mission was and always will be: to enable new work, foster and and engage new audiences.

Theatre Works programming model is based on co-producing and present various opportunities. Our support ranges from concept/script development, p technical and venue resources to work with the artists to present their vision.

Recently, Theatre Works has shifted its selected works producing model to in appeal and investment potential. Our aim is to find a place in the national to relationships for our artists.

The variation in programming will include co-productions with artists/compan selection of TW produced works in-house.

Theatre Works’ annual program of works includes plays that are on the VCE audiences on the touring circuit. These works may consist of remakes of classic

ty Australian theatre. An adventurous presenter, Theatre Works unearths and rary community. As one of the few arts organisations that actively seek diverse, s is an essential part of the national theatre ecology.

nique perspectives and creative approaches. We present performances that nt, ongoing conversations that shape our society.

ue skillset of our team to provide producing, technical, publicity and marketing

ed in building new audiences, attracting over 27,000 patrons across 60 events d develop new voices, be a vital support for established voices, and welcome

ting independent works, alongside the development of artists’ skills through producing support in the form of investing marketing, publicity, administration,

nclude quality theatrical productions of a high standard that have touring ouring landscape to build ongoing and sustainable touring opportunities and

nies that have the capacity to deliver work of a touring standard, alongside a

Theatre Studies / Drama Playlists, with the hope that we can engage school cal plays or the development of works that respond to current conversations.

WHEN THE RAIN STOPS FALLING

BY ANDREW BOVELL PRESENTED BY IRON LUNG THEATRE

Theatre Works Season 2021 Availability Straight out of TW or later in 2021 Price Point To be negotiated depending on number of shows VCE Playlist Application Submitted

WHEN THE RAIN STOPS FALLING Winner of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award, the Queensland Premier’s Literary Award and theGreen Room Award, 2008, and the Sydney Theatre Award for Best New Australian Work in 2009.

Alice Springs. 2039. A fish falls from the sky - it still smells of the sea. It’s been raining for days, the apocalypse looms ever closer and Gabriel York knows something is wrong.

WHEN THE RAIN STOPS FALLING unfolds like a puzzle to be solved. Told through the interconnected stories of two families over four generations; between a prediction in London 1959 and its outcome in Australia eighty years later.

This intricate, multi-layered story explores betrayal, abandonment, destruction, forgiveness and love. Where damage to the planet serves as a metaphor for the damage inflicted from generation to generation.

Writer Andrew Bovell (Lantana) has created an epic and powerful piece of magic realism, which ask the question: do we have the capacity to address the damage of the past in the future?

“It will haunt you long after the rain has FINALLY stopped falling and the house lights turned on...”

The Sunday Telegraph “A gloriously written and gripping script that is dramatically unpredictable and yet piercingly beautiful…”

ArtsHub

ABOUT IRON LUNG THEATRE Iron Lung is a Melbourne-based independent theatre company. It was founded by NIDA graduates Esther van Doornum and Briony Dunn in 2018. We produce classic and contemporary Australian, American and European text based work from a shared vision and create theatre of imaginative daring and emotional depth. We are committed to bringing creative people together to tell stories that affect us all.

We hope our productions inspire hearts and minds, encourage debate and crack open new ideas. Our inaugural show - ‘night, Mother by Marsha Norman - received both critical and audience acclaim.

VOLDEMORT

AND THE TEENAGE HOGWARTS MUSICAL PARODY PRESENTED BY SALTY THEATRE

Theatre Works Season 2021 Availability Straight out of TW or later in 2021 Price Point To be negotiated depending on number of shows

Image by: Aaron Walker

VOLDEMORT AND THE TEENAGE HOGWARTS MUSICAL PARODY A show with mass-appeal, Voldemort and the Teenage Hogwarts Musical Parody broke the all-time Theatre Works pre-sale record prior to its postponement.

Before Voldemort was He Who Must Not Be Named, he was just Tom Riddle, another moody teen that couldn’t talk to girls. Join Tom and his Hogwarts classmates on a hilarious musical adventure packed with magic, hormones and more than a few murders. This is a Harry Potter musical parody that is sure to leave you spellbound!

From the co-creators of ‘Thrones! The Musical Parody’ comes their latest smash parody extravaganza! After two hugely successful back-to-back seasons at The Edinburgh Fringe and The King’s Head in London, VOLDEMORT AND THE TEENAGE HOGWARTS MUSICAL PARODY is being introduced to Australian audiences for the first time ever by Salty Theatre, Red Hot Productions and Theatre Works.

“It is a wizarding-world extravaganza, FLourished with unforgivable curses, witty humour and muggle-worthy entertainment. A must see for Harry Potter fans.”

VoiceMag.uk “An hour loaded with sharply written Potter-parody, gags every few seconds, stellar singing and comedy.”

FringeReview.co.uk

ABOUT SALTY THEATRE Salty Theatre was co-founded by theatre, dance and cabaret veteran Sarahlouise Younger and Canadian theatre and screen vet Ashley Taylor, and in its short existence has begun making a mark by presenting edgy and hilarious musicals to the Melbourne independent theatre scene. This female-led independent theatre company connects writers, directors, producers and performers from across the globe to form new creative partnerships and present never-before-seen or rarelyproduced works to Australian audiences.

SWANSONG

BY CONOR MCDERMOTTROE

Theatre Works Season 2018 & 2019 Availability Throughout 2021 Price Point To be negotiated

Image by: Robert Catto

SWANSONG After a sell-out tour a Theatre Works in 2018, Swansong went on to a national & international Tour, where lead performer Andre De Vanny won the coveted Best Actor Award at the United Solo Festival New York.

In 2019, Swansong returned to Theatre Works before a 12 venue tour across regional Victoria.

Swansong tells the story of Austin ‘Occi’ Byrne, the illegitimate child of a single mother in the Catholic west of 1960’s Ireland. Shunned by church, state and family, Occi must fight his way to adulthood in a dog eat dog world. It’s an exhilarating journey that plunges him into murder and mayhem, love and death, only to return him to the place where he began. Tragic, tender and uproariously funny, Swansong is the story of a lost soul in search of redemption.

Andre de Vanny (Best Actor - Green Room Awards) delivers a mighty tour de force performance in the role of Occi Byrne. At once charming, joyful and darkly comic, his conjuring of Occi has left audiences both thrilled and devastated. It’s a powerhouse performance brimming with tenderness, raw honesty and unbridled brutality.

“An intense, dynamic and technically assured performance it thoroughly deserves the standing ovations it receives.”

The Age (on Season 2019) “In a stand-out year for the one-actor show, André de Vanny provides us with a riveting demonstration of the power of one.”

The Age (on Season 2018) “Swansong is responsible for one of my favourite performances of 2018. Andre de Vanny is absolutely astonishing in this violent, tragic and hauntingly tender story of a young man FIGHTING his way into adulthood.”

My Melbourne Arts “Swansong is a mighty tour de force featuring an indisputable talent and his boundless energy and commitment. What de Vanny brings to the stage is faultlessly executed.”

Suzy Goes See

SINGING SWALLOWS

BY ROMI KUPFER

Theatre Works Season 2021 Availability Second week of July 2021 onwards Price Point To be negotiated VCE Playlist Application Submitted

Image by: Pia Johnson

SINGING SWALLOWs Singing Swallows connects young people with the messages from our Holocaust survivors, messages of love, peace, acceptance, strength, So that when they do engage with Holocaust education, they feel connected to the stories and have empathy and interest to what happened.

A beautiful and symbolic representation of a storytelling experience that cannot be replicated, SINGING SWALLOWS is an early start to understanding the Holocaust.

Connecting to young people’s lives through voice recording and visual storytelling, the stories are compiled from interviews with Holocaust survivors, recorded by young Jewish children in primary school.

“As our Holocaust survivors are aging, soon we will not have their voices to tell their stories. I believe that Singing Swallows address the need of our community to keep on telling the stories, and reconnect our youth with our Jewish history.”

Tali Barr Waanders | Bialik College, Co-ordinator of Hebrew & Jewish Studies Primary and Early Learning Centre “I have felt there is a void to sharing these days with younger children, in terms of availing age appropriate, emotionally sensitive material... Romi and her team were able to help us FILL that void.”

Rivka Measey | Leibler Yavneh College Primary Coordinator of Informal Jewish Education

ABOUT ROMI KUPFER Romi Kupfer is a contemporary theatre maker, director and producer. Romi’s practice has evolved since 2013 through practical experience collaborating with companies, artists and communities as well as theatre training. Romi’s work stems from urgent thoughts, experiences and understandings that happen in her life. Often conceptually driven by ideas around culture and identity, mental health, female spaces and power dynamics.

JUNGLE BUNGLE

BY CRAIG CHRISTIE PRESENTED BY VTM PRODUCTIONS

Theatre Works Season 2021 Availability Throughout 2021 Price Point To be negotiated

JUNGLE BUNGLE An incredibly affordable and infectiously cheerful musical for the whole family, Jungle Bungle has minimal set and tech requirements.

It’s a new day and a new school for Oliver, and making a new friend when he meets Claire in the school ground doesn’t help him with the feeling that nothing is as it should be. Even when Claire agrees to show Oliver home at the end of the school day and then stay and play for a while thingsstill aren’t right. And they are about to get much worse.

Somehow they find themselves a lot further away from home than either of them could ever have imagined! Here they were in a jungle, without supplies, a mobile phone or a map, and only Oliver’s crazy compass, which has a mind of its own, to guide them. How were they ever going to get out of this place and find their way home? Oh and did we mention that they were being followed?

Join Claire and Oliver on an exciting musical safari created to engage the young and young at heart in a magical adventure. JUNGLE BUNGLE explores the theme of fear of the unknown while celebrating friendship, individuality and imagination.

“A toe-tapping delight… The perfect theatre introduction for adventurous little ones!”

Comedian Sammy J “a fun piece with a fantastic message. It is a clever piece, which provokes great discussion.”

The Melbourne Observer

MAD AS A CUTE SNAKE

BY AMELIA EVANS & DAN GIOVANNONI

Theatre Works Season September 2019 Availability Throughout 2021 Price Point To be negotiated

Image by: Sarah Walker

MAD AS A CUTE SNAKE MAD AS A CUTE SNAKE is a riotous and joyful theatrical adventure story for kids 6+ and their families, about having the courage to be yourself – whatever that may be!

Join Cardigan Coriander-Turner on an epic adventure from suburban Melbourne to the Daintree Rainforest and beyond as she tries to save Trix, her family’s pet snake, from certain tragedy. On the road, they encounter a host of colourful characters: a camel who dreams of performing in Birdz got Talent! , a ruthless baby-pirate named Captain Dimplybum, and the King of the Daintree, a rapping tree-frog.

Featuring hilarious clowning, backyard acrobatics, original songs, DIY sock puppets and plenty of high-energy slapstick humour, this silly-as-pants theatrical rollercoaster is about having the courage to be yourself – whatever that may be. It’s also chockfull of dance breaks, fabulous costumes, jokes about poo, bums, and other gross stuff that will delight family audiences.

MAD AS A CUTE SNAKE is from the multi-award winning team behind the nationally toured smash-hits CUT SNAKE and SUPERHERO TRAINING ACADEMY , and combines high-caliber theatre with insane amounts of silliness, wrapped up in a package that the whole family will enjoy.

WINNER: MELBOURNE FRINGE BEST KIDS’ SHOW 2019 “AN EVENING OF PERFECt, PURE JOY.” The Age (on “Cut Snake”) “It is marvellous. It is spectacular. It is brilliant. And it is magical.”

Australian Stage (on “Cut Snake”)

MARKETING ANGLES + MAACS is a colourful and funny adventure perfect for the whole family – there’s something for the very-smalls and the not-so-smalls. Ideal for families with children 6+ + Particular marketing focus to rainbow families. + The show features high-energy DIY circus, backyard acrobatics and homemade puppets, all set to original songs. + This is a high-quality theatrical work for young people from a multi-award winning collective of artists whose work for kids has toured the country and played to thousands of school- aged children. + The show has an empowering message perfect for kids – if you be yourself and express yourself, people will love you for whoever you are.

THE VIEW FROM UP HERE IN DEVELOPMENT

The View From Up Here begins with the same question as many contemporary stories: in the face of a climate catastrophe, should we be having children? Set in a fire-ravaged region of Australia, with the return of a prodigal daughter in search of a future embodied by a child, View initially setsup and then rejects the comforting narrative of forgiveness and hope built on the crumbling foundations of the nuclear family. Digging into the uncomfortable physical and existential realities of human reproduction at the end of the world, Views asks its audiences to consider what we really mean when we talk about sacrifice, family and the future.

IN DEVELOPMENT 2021

Theatre Works Season 2022 Availability & Price Point Please send all inquiries to gm@theatreworks.org.au VCE Playlist Application Submitted

The Owl and The Albatross IN DEVELOPMENT

How the hell are you meant to figure out who you are while the world is on fire around you?

The year is 2023. The sky is filled with smoke and for a kid with asthma, you haven’t got a chance in the city.

So you get sent to live with your grandad, a boring old man who lives in a lighthouse by an ocean filled with rubbish and a baby albatross with no one to look after them.

So you fight for justice. But how are you meant to fight when the adults who can make a difference don’t care at all? And how can you possibly save the world when you’re barely staying afloat yourself?

IN DEVELOPMENT 2022

Owl & the Albatross is made by a group of queer theatre-makers telling the stories they missed out on growing up—stories with queer kids who don’t like being told who they are and what their name is and now they have something to say.

This is a story for anyone who has ever felt lost, for those who haven’t been heard, the adults who don’t listen and for anyone waiting for a light to guide them home.

Theatre Works Season 2022 Availability & Price Point Please send all inquiries to gm@theatreworks.org.au