AustLit

'The summery embrace of an Aussie family Christmas. Familiar characters pop the cork on mid-range bubbly for a raucous celebration of festive traditions. But, all is not well.

'As adult kids regress to the parental homestead, Mum and Dad’s apparent wealth is waning. They’ve sold the Audi. There are fewer presents. They’re even renting out the back shed to supplement their income.

'There’s a bunch of yobbos in the backyard!

'Following a Christmas dinner invitation, ocker antics start to infect the house. First, it’s the tracky dacks. Then, it’s the durries. Before you know it, the working class are treading their unsophistication all over the polished floorboards … or so it may seem.'

Source: Malthouse Theatre.

'A young woman (Ruby Hughes) and her mother (Caroline Lee) arrive in colonial NSW as free settlers. The plot is an unabashed cliche – a member of the Rum Corps (Dushan Phillips) and a convict (Troy Reid) vie for the lady's romantic affections, unaware of her dark secret.' (Source: Brisbane Times 25 July 2016)

'In a world where women have been idealised into powerlessness, one woman will fight to become the sexiest warrior of all time…

'Welcome to the battlefield.

'From the treadmill to the taco truck, Madonna Arms follows the internal struggle of chaos, terror and hope as one woman attempts physical transformation. Madonna Arms is a fantastical exploration of the ways in which power, strength and fitness live and die in the bodies and psyches of young women.

'Absurd and ultimately heart-wrenching, this inspired performance work provides an insight into a dangerous cultural logic we have learnt to accept as part of our everyday lives – as futile and devastating as war.

'Depicting the epic struggle behind a secret battle, Madonna Arms exploits the tropes of action and science fiction cinema to drag the female experience centre stage. Here the domestic is pushed up against the fantastical and the logical collides with the bizarre. Join us on journey through the terrifying world of self-destruction.' (Production summary)

'Zoey Dawson has written a play and it’s her big night, however real life rivalries and resentments are sending things way, way off-script. But nothing’s going to stop her putting on one hell of a show.

'The Unspoken Word is Joe is a biting meta-satire of Australian theatre which Zoey would describe as dramatic and beautiful. And tender. And also really clever. She wrote it as a way of dealing with a really bad break-up – but it’s not just a break-up play. It’s about love, and loss. It’s about life.  It’s a really, really good play. It’s a portrait of a woman desperate for the approval of her peers. You should totally see it.'

Source: Griffin theatre Company.