AustLit

'From the mind-bending, award-winning comedian who brought us ABC’s Choose Your Own Adventure, Unbelievable, and the feature film Sucker, Lawrence Leung has devised an ingenious new cocktail of hilarious stunts, immersive experiments, and real-life Jedi mind tricks.

'This live, online performance takes place on two sides of a screen – Lawrence’s and yours. Performed over Zoom, this unique interactive comedy gives you the best seats in the house – that is, in your house.

'Viewers will be guided through mini- experiences where the idea of ‘connection’ is explored in increasingly awesome and wicked ways. Can participants read each other’s minds through a screen? Will complete strangers discover remarkable coincidences? Are we all connected?

'All you need is an internet connection, a device, and your favourite chair.'

Source: Black Swan Theatre Company.

'The Castle meets The Club in this original family drama that asks us: what are we willing to sacrifice for the great game?

'Doug Williams is the greatest footballer Donnybrook has ever seen. Hard as flint. Salt of the earth.

'Delveen, his wife, has been by his side for years, through head knock after head knock.

'The club want to honour Doug with a lifetime achievement award, so the kids are all flying home to join the celebration. But the sure hands of this once great player are starting to fumble the ball.

'Barracking for the Umpire tackles blokes and their vulnerability, the fragility of the human body, and the impacts of brain injury on ourselves, our family, and our community. This story will resonate with every AFL fan, player, and parent.'

Source: Black Swan Theatre Company.

'Alone in the goalsquare. About to seal the premiership. What could go wrong?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A renowned musician follows his passion for song to a country far from the land of his birth.'

Source: Black Swan State Theatre Company of Western Australia.

'A courageous doctor risks all, to shine a light on the right to choose.'

Source: Black Swan State Theatre Company of Western Australia.

'Carmela Caterina Tassone is a woman that places aren’t named after. Her name has never made newspaper headlines. You will never have heard of her. This is the story of her nondescript existence.'

Source: Black Swan Theatre Company of Western Australia.

'From the stages of Subiaco to international acclaim, Effie Fellows. She wowed audiences around the world with her male impersonation act.'

Source: Black Swan State Theatre Company of Western Australia.

'She’s strong, she’s smart, she has a wicked sense of humour. Her story of survival has changed the law.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Madame Ranevskaya is fresh out of love and money. After a failed romance, she returns to the family farm in Manjimup. Faced with impending bankruptcy, the vast and beautiful cherry orchard is soon to be auctioned off against her mounting debts. It’s time to call in the family.

'The Cherry Orchard is Anton Chekhov’s last great masterpiece and this new one-act adaptation by Adriane Daff and Katherine Tonkin, directed by Clare Watson, revels in the comedy of inevitable catastrophes. Overflowing with charm, a touch of the 1980s and a self-absorbed ensemble of Kath-and-Kim characters. This spirited adaptation looks at those who become victims of their own privilege.'

Source: Black Swan Theatre Company.

'A tree-changing couple try to make an old building a home. A pack of Cub Scouts on summer camp are terrorised by a ghostly matron. A returned soldier seeks aid for his sick son. An unjust trial sentences two Nyoongar men to death.

'Set in and around a single old abandoned hospital, York moves through time to uncover the buried histories we have built over. Traversing four different eras, this daring new work sheds light on how our stories are told – and who tells them.

'Inspired by 200 years of real accounts, York is a collaboration by Ian Michael and Chris Isaacs.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Manor Farm is in a state of rebellion as a gang of pigs unite to overthrow their cruel human oppressor.

'Written in the 1940s by George Orwell as a response to the rise of authoritarian governments, Animal Farm is a timeless examination of extremist rule. This new adaptation continues to caution with the universal message that power can corrupt – and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

'Adapted by political powerhouse Van Badham (Banging Denmark, Q&A, The Drum and writer at The Guardian), this high-octane three-hander features a cast of stellar comedians, improvisers and storytellers. They bring to life a farmyard of characters including the hardworking Boxer and power-hungry Napoleon. This is a biting political satire that will make you grunt.'

Source: Black Swan Theatre Company.

'Hey d*#kface,

'I know where to find a dead kangaroo. There’s one in the bush near my house. Want to see it? I’m going tonight. Sneaking out my window. Unless you’re scared. Are you scared? Are you nervous? No? Meet me at the fallen tree.

'Lucy and Arnold are 13. Both outcasts. Both have seen hard times. Both irrevocably changed from one adventure into the bush looking for a dying kangaroo. Now they must navigate a wasteland of broken hearts, peed pants and carrot spew. It’s homework, hormones and homicide.

'A hit of The Blue Room Theatre 2019 season, this modern suburban coming-of-age story explores how we hurt each other, how we help those that are hurting, and how your music taste is never better than when you’re a teenager.'

Source: Black Swan State Theatre Company.

'All Breythe ever wanted was to be an actor, but this isn’t how he imagined his first big television gig – as a young Aboriginal man, being the face of a disastrous misfire of an advertisement that will get him roasted by his mob.

'When a messenger bird suddenly brings Breythe tragic tidings from his family, it spurs him on a journey of grief and duty. Returning home to Kalgoorlie, he is thrust headlong into family conflict and the reality of what it means to be an Indigenous youth in today’s Australia.'

Source: Queensland Theatre Company.

'Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa shot to fame in Australia and around the world with her poetry on Australia's Got Talent. But before she went viral, Sukhjit was a brown, hairy Sikh girl growing up in the suburbs of Perth. Fully Sikh is her story.

'The show is a hilarious and heartfelt poetic procession through Sukhjit's life, her family and her faith, all told with her trademark lyrical flow. Fully Sikh will be a sensory feast for audiences, full of music, dance, poetry and food.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Water follows the journey of families born at different times in Australia’s history, who are united in their determination to create safe passage for their loved ones.

'It begins in Western Australia in the not-too-distant future, where we meet with a once powerful politician about to celebrate his birthday at the family’s island home – a retreat from the world that has clearly seen better days. There’s no water in the taps, there are no birds in the sky and to top it off, an unexpected guest arrives for dinner. With party politics high on the agenda and questions about who is to blame for crimes against humanity, celebrations are derailed and tensions run high.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'We fall into it, out of it and find it everywhere. It’s a battlefield, an open door and it’s even in the air. But what does finding love really mean to you?

'You Know We Belong Together is a story of love; a theatrical celebration of this incredible force of nature that strikes like lightning into our hearts. Family, friends and lovers, Julia Hales offers a deeply personal account of her own experiences of love as a daughter, actor, dreamer and person with Down syndrome.

'Bringing with her the voices and aspirations of a community rarely seen on stage, You Know We Belong Together is an uplifting performance with video, dance and song. As the Studio Underground is transformed into Julia’s own private realm, it becomes a place where dreams could be brought into reality.'

Source: Black Swan Theatre Company.

'The childhood home is up for sale. Three sisters are left adrift and grappling with the sudden loss of their mother, and with each other.

'Candice just wants to pack up a lifetime of memories without getting sentimental, while Alex – newly sober and dreading a relapse – sneaks old bits of Tupperware into her handbag. Their adopted little sister, Sydney, is doing pretty well, when she’s not trying to tell her best friend she’s in love with her. And the rookie real estate agent is only there to pay off her credit cards.'

Source: Black Swan Theatre Company.

'Boon is smart. Really smart. He's skipped four years of school, possesses a photographic memory and was playing Mozart and Beethoven aged two. So why is it so hard for him to wake up?

'Coma Land tells the story of a fifteen year old boygenius who finds himself trapped in a world between life and death. There, he meets Penguin, a young girl determined to fly, and they quickly become friends. But when her protective father stands between them and their escape, Boon soon learns that the one thing you can never outsmart is the truth.'

Source: Black Swan Theatre Company (2017 season).

'Theodore Lent is a calculating businessman on the cutting edge of one of America's most popular exports: the travelling freak show. When his wife (and star attraction) Julia falls pregnant, Theo couldn't be happier. What could be better than two stars for the price of one?

'However, dark clouds are forming In Theo's immediate future, as he begins taking steps toward the decision that will cost him his friends, his sanity, and perhaps even his life..'

Source: Black Swan Theatre Company.

'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.