AustLit

'Fusing inquest transcripts, press clippings, private correspondence, real and imagined monologues spanning five decades of anti-gay violence, and 30 years of research by local historian Tim Reeves, this joint commission between Adelaide Festival, Feast Festival and State Opera South Australia demands the embrace of all thinking audiences, but is of special importance to this city.'

Source: State Opera South Australia.

'Alive in the present, our story is not past

'In the deep darkness just before dawn, workmen find bones while excavating for a dam. Among the workers is Bilin, a Yugambeh man, who convinces his colleagues to let him keep the ancestral remains. This ancestor is Wudjang, who, along with her young companion spirit, Gurai, longs to be reburied in the proper way.

'Composed of poetry, spoken storytelling, live music and the astonishing choreography for which Bangarra Dance Theatre is internationally renowned, Wudjang: Not the Past is an epic-scale new co-production featuring 17 dancers, four musicians, and five actors.

'Directed and co-created by Bangarra’s Artistic Director Stephen Page (Bloodland, The Secret River, Bennelong), and featuring Mibinyah language from his home on Yugambeh Country, this ambitious and powerful piece of performance illuminates the ways in which ancient traditions continue to guide and strengthen current and future generations of First Nations people.'

Source: Sydney Theatre Company.

'After years of research, and a lot of help from the community, Alana Valentine’s much-anticipated story of a little chapel in a back street of the Cross premieres at Belvoir. The Wayside Chapel under the Reverend Ted Noffs set itself up for those who might not find a place elsewhere to welcome them, and over the years has become a home and haven in a sometimes brutal town.

'This play is about the quietly revolutionary act of marriage – sometimes in the face of fierce resistance from family, from society, from the church hierarchy. It’s the story of a space where those who didn’t quite fit in to the mainstream could have their walk down the aisle.

'Moving, inspiring, Valentine’s play is about all of us – and a portrait of this city at its raffish, recalcitrant best.' (Production summary)

'INVENTOR. DISSENTER. INERTIA BUSTER

'A mesmerising series of songs. A spellbinding portrait of scientific endeavour. A homage to invention in our country that will inspire and challenge the belief ‘everything good gets invented somewhere else’.

'This compelling story of visionary Australian scientist David Warren and the invention that transformed technological and aeronautical history explores the core human emotions behind the world-changing Black Box Flight Recorder. Feel the pain of parochialism, the unconscious grind of childhood grief, and the elation of hard-won success.'

Source: The Street Theatre.

'‘Mostly it feels like you don’t know—like you’re reaching for something that you can’t quite grab. Some writers talk about their fear of the blank page, but the playwright who draws work from life can have the opposite problem. Spoilt for choice. Presented with myriad possibilities and competing ideas of how to condense the source material or arrange it in a theatrically dynamic, original and compelling way. Lost in a sea of options, yet perversely obsessed with the interview not done, the perspective not transcribed, the final piece of the jigsaw forever elusive. And it’s not about a lack of confidence, although that can hum away in the background for longer than you might expect. It’s about not trying to have clarity. It’s about waiting until you do.’

'So begins Bowerbird, a journey through the life and plays of Alana Valentine, as well as the creative process behind the plays. One of Australia’s most inventive playwrights, Alana shows the power of bringing new audiences into our theatres to share the space with traditional audiences, detailing how to gather and transform lived experience into compelling drama. In Bowerbird she reveals the motor of her artistry by combining stories from her life with observations from her experience.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Narelle is a high achiever, a lawyer, with working-class roots and political clout. But something keeps bringing her back to Pyrmont. This peninsula was her family’s bedrock, and the home of her extraordinary grandmother June, who held everything together through the decades: a son’s brush with the law, a daughter’s battles with demons, a husband’s decline.

'Life revolved around the sugar refinery. For a time this was the sweetest neighbourhood in the country. But the family bedrock, like the sugar, has dissolved away. Narelle can’t fix the past, but maybe she can fix the future.

'A story of Sydney – work and corruption, family and massive social change. A story of how Australia went from working class to middle class. Best of all, the great Kris McQuade returns to Belvoir.' (Production summary)

'The Azaria Chamberlain case was one of the most followed and documented murder trials in our nation's history. And we responded with grief, rage, prejudice and remorse to Lindy directly, through thousands of letters. 

'Here, Alana Valentine uses a selection of the letters sent to Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton to capture Australians' reaction to the loss of Azaria. The court of public opinion made its own ruling in the case, shown in the hurtful, supportive, accusatory or sympathetic letters received by Lindy in prison. Some of the letters are full of vitriol; some include bizarre theories. More are compassionate, sent by mothers, by people of faith or by those who had suffered similar tragedies. We hear Lindy's voice too, in candid conversations with the author. 

'The selection is a time capsule of Australia, a reflection of our attitudes and of how far we've come. These are the letters, poems and works of art we were compelled to send to Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton.' (Publication summary)

'Meet Barbara and her band the Camp Dogs. Barbara’s been trying to make it in Sydney but maybe this just isn’t her town. In all the relentless demands of city life, where’s the sense of belonging she craves? It’s time to take a break with her cousin René.

With Ursula Yovich as Barbara and Casey Donovan as her redoubtable cousin, Barbara and the Camp Dogs is a rock-gig musical about love and home.' (Production summary)

'One Billion Beats is a new theatre work that draws together Australian cinematic history with poetry and original score. Conceived and performed by Goenpul Jagara/ Bundjulung poet and filmmaker Romaine Moreton, One Billion Beats examines the historical representation of Aboriginal people in Australian cinema and its projection onto Romaine’s own lived experience and personal stories.

'One Billion Beats is a profoundly political and resonant work, an act of intellectual courage and personal candour that will privilege an Indigenous perspective on cultural representation in film and beyond. This performance is a story of insight, horror, relevance and beauty.' (Production summary)

'There are three things that have divided this nation right down the centre. Conscription, Whitlam and Lindy Chamberlain.

'Filled with humour and heartbreak, this stunning new work by award-winning playwright Alana Valentine explores the public’s relationship with one of 20th Century Australia’s most iconic figures.

'The court case captivated a nation. A mother accused of murdering her child, her claim – that the baby was taken by a dingo – denied and discredited by zealous police and a flawed legal system. The media circus, the rumours, the nation’s prejudices laid bare. And in the eye of the storm – Lindy Chamberlain.

'Over three decades, from baby Azaria’s death to the final coroner’s report, the public’s fascination with Lindy has seldom waned. The National Library in Canberra holds a collection of more than 20,000 letters to Lindy. From sympathy to abuse, from marriage proposals to death threats and photos of dogs’ birthday parties (yes, really!), the correspondence traverses the gamut of human response to Lindy’s story.

'Letters to Lindy draws on this extraordinary correspondence and interviews with Lindy herself, to create an enthralling, revealing, and long overdue dialogue between Lindy and the nation. It paints a singular portrait of the heartbreak, wisdom and resilience of a grieving mother.' (Production summary)

'It’s Ladies Day at the Broome races and the divinely beautiful Mike is the toast of the track. But amongst the froth and festivity, a brutal act of violence reminds us that life is not just all swishy hemlines, debonair gents and fascinators galore.

'Alana Valentine is one of Australia’s best playwrights. Known for her incredibly successful verbatim works, she takes her interviews and research with individuals and communities, and mixes them with a healthy dose of drama. The result is powerful, thought-provoking theatre in which the voices of her protagonists ring absolutely true.

'Alana spent months interviewing the gay community of Broome to create a play that asks questions about tolerance, isolation, love, hope and the right to have your story told. Griffin is proud to present the world premiere of Ladies Day -­ a vivid, richly evocative play with a big heart, directed by Darren Yap.' (Production summary)

'Struggling to escape the world of prostitution, Kira has recently received a large sum of compensation money. Unsure what to do with it, and under pressure from an old friend, Kira meets Nina, a social worker in training, and an unlikely friendship develops.'

Source: BBC World Service (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/FJvJkgP6qYBzPHNMLmjzvS/alana-valentine). (Sighted: 28/9/2015)

'The Fox and the Freedom Fighters is a new theatre work about Aboriginal activist Charles ‘Chicka’ Dixon, told from the perspective of his daughter Rhonda Dixon-Grovenor and granddaughter Nadeena Dixon. An iconic figure in Australian history, Chicka’s political activism left his family at the wayside at the height of his success. Mother and daughter celebrate Chicka’s lifetime of achievements, which highlight the ongoing fight to maintain cultural and spiritual freedom for Indigenous Australians in this country. This is their story.' (Source: Performancespace website)

'Tinderbox', by Alana Valentine, reunites the acclaimed team who recently presented the rave reviewed 'Tarantula' at King Street Theatre in October 2012. With an original score by John Encarnacao, 'Tinderbox' is a searing theatrical experimentation of poetry and music and a harrowing story of destruction and regeneration in the lives of three compelling characters. Is it possible to love someone who has committed an act of unspeakable wrong? 'Tinderbox' will intrigue and inspire you with the durability of love under even the most onerous circumstances. Produced by Tredwood Productions, this Theatre 19 production marks the play's world premiere.' (Source: Tredwood Productions website)

'The Tree Widows tells the stories of not just the soldiers whose trees are on the Soldier’s Memorial Avenue but gives a surprising glimpse into the families, relatives, friends and members of the general public who have a connection to this contemplative, beautiful place.'

'Moving with the performers from tree to tree along the Avenue, these monologues are an engaging, funny, and deeply moving way to see a place you may think you know in an entirely new way – a way to breathe in the past through your own city. '

'The Tree Widows is a unique Tasmanian piece of theatre that celebrates why families today continue to lovingly care for this place of memory and meaning.' (Source: Tasmanian Theatre Co. website)

'At 6.24am on Friday 31st January 2003, a State Rail train left Sydney on the journey south to Wollongong. It never reached its destination. In a bush cutting just south of Waterfall station it left the tracks, the front car dragging the trailing carriages, claiming seven lives and injuring dozens more in what became known as the Waterfall train disaster. A Special Commission of Inquiry concluded that earlier safety warnings regarding the ‘deadman’s emergency brake’ had been ignored.

'Using the words of survivors, as well as family members of victims, emergency service workers, and even the Inquiry transcript itself, Dead Man Brake sensitively explores the tragic circumstances of that day.

'Commemorating 10 years since the accident, Merrigong Theatre Company is now honoured to present this poignant and poetic new Australian work by award-winning playwright Alana Valentine. Dead Man Brake is ultimately an uplifting and powerful examination of human resilience in the face of tragedy.' (Source: http://www.merrigong.com.au/shows/dead-man-brake.html )