AustLit

'The story of the House of Atreus is one of the greatest cycles ever conceived by humankind – a diabolical sequence of brilliant dramatic premises. At its heart is an unstoppable chain reaction as each generation, one after the other, tries to solve the problems their parents made worse by trying to solve the problems their parents made worse…

'It is hard to say when it all began. For Clytemnestra the cause was this: her husband Agamemnon’s sacrifice of their daughter at the outset of a great war a decade ago. For Elektra and Orestes the cause was this: Clytemnestra’s vengeful slaughter of their father Agamemnon at the victorious close of this same great war. Now Orestes is in exile and Elektra, Hamlet-like, stalks her mother’s palace looking for a way to achieve some semblance of justice.

'Anne-Louise Sarks (Nora, Medea) has forged a remarkable series of shows by combining the full force of old tales with the uncanny familiarity of modern life. Here she teams with playwright Jada Alberts (Brothers Wreck) to create twin shows in a single night. One whole turn of the bloody cycle of love, justice and revenge.

'Hunter Page-Lochard (Brothers Wreck) is the perfect contemporary Orestes, supported by a cast that will truly resemble the world we live in.

'This brilliant epic is proof that everything old is new again.' (Production summary)

'I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book to raise the Ghost of an Idea which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it. Their faithful Friend and Servant, C. D. 1843.

'The most famous miser of all misers – and there are a lot of misers out there! – is Ebenezer Scrooge. Caught in the great grind for money, he forgets to live a shared life – until one Christmas night when something utterly, famously un-money happens to the old bastard…

'A Christmas Carol is one of the all-time most wonderful stories of redemption and awakening. All of us are Scrooge in some way: holding on to things. Given the chance to step back from our lives we would see how much is meaningless and inconsequential. This show is about having a second chance. It is about how precious the life we have left is. It is about finding joy in those around us. Joy!' (Production summary)

'It’s all very well to walk out the door slamming it behind you, as Ibsen’s Nora Helmer did in 1879; declaring yourself at long last liberated from A Doll’s House. But what happens after that triumphant moment? How much exactly does it cost a woman to leave her child, family and husband to choose her self?

'Kit Brookman and Anne-Louise Sarks revisioning of Nora’s iconic story overlaps with Ibsen’s revolutionary play but takes an audience beyond the moment of leaving and follows Nora through into the complications that doubtless, surely, follow her choice.

'In 2014 Nora’s dilemma is still going: just how much will a woman put up with and why? And what are her alternatives to putting up with a situation that makes her diminutive?

'Anne-Louise Sarks makes classics reverberate and resound in a new way. Her 2012 production of Medea in our Downstairs Theatre stunned students and teachers alike. This contemporary production will provide a strong framework for students to hone their critical skills by contemplating texts comparatively across time. She brings her unique vision to this deeply felt play about how to work out your own freedom and become comfortable with your own power.' (Production summary)

'Two performers stand before you and tell all. A man is blinded. A woman loses her brother. A man becomes a woman, who becomes a man. A city falls into civil war. A corpse lies unburied. The earth opens up.They have seen it. They have acted as messengers. They are on the margins. Scribbled in the margins. Unable to intervene.

Through contemporary dialogue and raw narration, 'By Their Own Hands' is a stark opus on ancient Greek myths and contemporary humanity. The audience is taken on a journey through an epic yet utterly recognisable world, seen through the eyes of people on the sidelines.

Now, as then, these stories are real.' (Source: Melbourne Theatre Company website)

'Locked in their bedroom, two brothers play games to pass the time, as siblings do. Off-stage, their parents are having a very famous showdown. At an inevitable moment, the children will be drawn away from their games and into their parents' bitter argument. From there, they will enter mythology as the most tragic siblings of all time.'

Source: Black Swan Theatre Company.

'They dream of changing the world. Until they wake up.

They've got no plans. There is no revolution. They're between projects. They're between sheets. They've had too much to think and they're dripping with an irony that no one enjoys.

In a rambling house, a restless rabble live, fight, dance, pray, drink, love and try to find a way out.'

Source: The Hayloft Project website, www.hayloftproject.com (Sighted: 15/12/2010)