AustLit

'London, the present day. A woman is driven to the unthinkable by her desperate desire to have a child

'Written and directed by Simon Stone, this radical new version of Lorca's tragedy of yearning and loss won universal critical acclaim when it premiered at the Young Vic in 2016 and triumphed at the the 2017 Olivier Awards. ' (Production summary)

'The story follows a man who returns home to discover a long-buried family secret, and whose attempts to put things right threaten the lives of those he left home years before.' (Production summary)

'Nikolai Gogol was a nutcase. Bonkers. And in between bouts of nuttiness he just happened to write what are unquestionably the two funniest plays of the nineteenth century: The Diary of a Madman and The Government Inspector. Ever since then, actors and directors have been using his plays as a leaping off point for their own journeys into theatrical madness.

'Now, a new generation of comic geniuses sink their teeth into The Government Inspector. Under the direction of the ever-inventive Simon Stone, this ridiculous, laugh-out-loud comedy will take a mad-cap turn toward twenty-first century Australia. It may not entirely resemble the play Gogol wrote in 1836, but this new The Government Inspector is an implausible masterpiece for our implausible times.'

'Tracy Samantha Lord Haven is rich and smart and famous and she is getting married to George Kittredge. C.K. Dexter Haven is her ex-husband and he has invited himself to the wedding. Macaulay Corner is the joumalist C.K. Dexter Haven has brought with him to document the nuptial lead-up. As it's a comedy you can be sure it ends with a wedding ... but who will Tracy Samantha Lord Haven marry?

'The Philadelphia Story is a first-class screwball-type midsummer night's pre-marital freakout comedy. Its dialogue simmers with winks and nods and verbal parries, its characters are fabulous, its plot is a lesson in the craft, and the cast and creatives of this production are going to have a ball. Join them.

'Simon Stone and co turn a radical new lens on this effervescent Hollywood classic about love and celebrity and love and f**cking up in public and love and excess with some extra love thrown in for good measure.'

Source: Belvoir.

'Julie is still in her teens. She is rich because her father is rich. Jean is not rich - he works for the family, in a lowly way - but he would quite like to be. They have this much in common: they would both like to rule their own lives, they both think they can get that from each other, and they both think sex is the way to do it.

'A red-blooded new Miss Julie about men and power, about extreme privilege, about freedom, and about how cruel we can be to each other in the interests of self-preservation.'

(Source: http://belvoir.com.au/productions/miss-julie/ )

'Carol Lang joins Vic and Gail for Christmas Day. They are invited to their relatives for lunch and end up at the wrong house in the wrong swimming pool. They experience brings Gail and Carol together after many years of strained relations.'

Source: The Turning website (http://www.theturningmovie.com.au/#!/reunion/). (Sighted: 6/12/2013)

'Are there some truths it’s better not to know?

Winner of three Helpmann Awards (2011) and four Sydney Theatre Awards (2011), this taut, stripped-back rendition of a modern classic never lets up. Director Simon Stone has developed from a wunderkind of Melbourne’s indie theatre to an established force on Australia’s mainstages. Here he transplants Ibsen’s characters into the contemporary world in a new play tailor-made for an astonishing cast led by Ewen Leslie.

Hjalmar Ekdal grew up rich but scandal cast him into poverty. Now he lives in a tiny flat with his father, his wife, his daughter and a duck. When his old friend Gregers Werle returns with unfinished business, the truth Gregers brings could shatter the world Hjalmar has built around himself.

A bittersweet portrait of family dysfunction, deception and denial, The Wild Duck resounds for a new age.' (Source: Malthouse Theatre website)

'The world is in the midst of a huge environmental and economic crisis. Semyon Semyonovich can't find a job and he's stuck living with his mother-in-law. When, in a heated argument, his wife refuses him a slice of sausage for his midnight snack, it's the final straw. He disappears naked onto the streets and his wife is convinced he's off to kill himself.

'Their opportunistic neighbour sees the chance to make some money and embarks on a scheme to sell off Semyon's suicide rights to various political lobbyists. The highest bidder will win a handwritten suicide note dedicated to their cause. In anticipation of his sacrifice, the community hosts a party to send him off in style. A comedy of despair and longing, "The Suicide" combines high farce and poetic insight.'

Source: Belvoir Street Theatre website,
Sighted: 23/03/2010

'Since the accident that injured their child, Alfred and Rita's marriage has degenerated into a mess of recriminations, sexual frustration and misdirected fury. Then one day their son goes missing. What follows is this young couple's sometimes shocking, sometimes hilarious struggle to stay together despite the odds.'

Source: The Hayloft Project website, http://www.hayloftproject.com/
Sighted: 04/01/2010