AustLit

'Marvellous is a play about the everyday lives and extravagant, sometimes fantastical inner lives of two nonagenarian women and their 60+ plus daughters.

'Marvellous inter-weaves the voices and psycho-physicalities of elderly mothers and their daughters: their connectedness, their failing/falling bodies, their wayward memories and inventions.

'There is loss here – of control of faculties, of mental capacity, of bodily functions, of beauty – and a dark physical comedy is discovered in the changing shape of relationships between mother and daughter. There is also tenderness, and compassion for the ordinary pain of our lives together and in the cherished and lovingly curated archives of our human bodies in decline.'

Source: La Mama Theatre.

'A surreal, darkly funny play about an outer suburban autistic family and their technicolour brain explosions as they struggle to communicate and connect with one another.

'Breeders is a play about our world, where autistic children are considered problematic nightmares, and dodgy anti-vaccine ‘doctors’ become God-like saviours.

'Jumping between naturalism, satire and surrealism, this is today’s Melbourne through the acerbic eyes of Anna, a young autistic woman and budding journalist.

'Between domestic disputes, Anna’s family is confronted by media coverage about their lives in which they have no say.

'That is, until the media is hijacked by “problematic nightmare children.”

'Written by a neurodivergent artist and performed by predominantly neurodivergent actors, Breeders takes aim at the violent myths hurled at parents of autistic children which are much scarier than having a disabled child.'

Source: La Mama Theatre.

'This is a song for Garcia Lorca
Who; like many who looked
For a future but were 
Murdered by the past

'On Tuesday night 18th August 1936 Frederico del Sagrado Corazon Jesus Garcia Lorca better known as Garcia Lorca was taken by a Francoist death squad from the house of a friend in Granada; driven to a field near the farm called Cortijo de Gazpacho and shot dead. His remains are still await exhumation; like 114,266 other Republicans dead. GAZPACHO takes up an oral history story from later in the Civil War of four Republican prisoners awaiting their last dawn.'

Source: La Mama Theatre.

'On the brink of artistic discovery, Michel’s plans for the future are interrupted by a diagnosis of schizophrenia – he must rely on his sister – yet Karen has dreams of her own, how long can she push them aside to care for him?

Drawn from the writer’s lived experience of schizophrenia, this powerful play explores the relationship between siblings who grapple with managing this condition, which interrupts their focus on transforming the world through art. 

'Michel is writing his first novel, Hipflask, his older sister Karen is in Europe turning the world into paintings. Michel’s letters take a strange turn. He believes Joan Miro and Franz Kafka are his companions and he can speak with them. His sister Karen rushes home. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, Michel is unable to accept it. Karen becomes her brother’s career, which tests but cannot destroy their strong bond.'

Source: La Mama Theatre.

'Sister Bernard, a Cistercian nun of strict observance, has been confined to her cell. Following the rigid structure of ‘The Liturgy of the Hours’, William Lyons’ play is a delightful, frank examination of the fragility of religious belief and of a religious vocation, as well as a contemplation on what happens to the ‘natural’ part of us when we give ourselves over to the supernatural.

'‘All The Hours’ is a mischievous, funny, visceral monologue backed by an evocative psalm-chanting chorus.'

Source: La Mama Theatre.

'A soulful reimagining of 1890s Melbourne

'Take up a seat here,
Play me a tune.
Lost you to history,
Reunite soon.

'In a time of Boom, Depression and Rebirth, a young banker yearns to become a bohemian and befriends a musician. As their friendship develops, they come to terms with a changing world and the challenges of addiction.

'Travel back to the days of Marvellous Melbourne. Encounter the opium dens, street hustlers, corrupt land banks and the wild Australian Bush.

'With an ensemble of 8, The Measure of a Moment explores the themes of youth, duty, self-destruction and grief. It includes an original score and songs.'

Source: La Mama Theatre.

'Carl is a man grieving the death of his dog Grover and the deportation of his Taiwanese, drug trafficking girlfriend. Formerly an actor on the soap opera 'Neighbours' he was fired for attacking the director; now he spends his time writing poetry and reflecting on his unusual and turbulent life. Over the course of an evening with his brother and sister in law he finds a sense of family and love.'

Source: La Mama Theatre.

'Inspired by the life of Lucia Joyce, the only daughter of James Joyce, Solas attempts to give voice to a young woman silenced by history.

'Set in Bray, Ireland, in the 1930s, Solas explores the period Lucia spent in Ireland living with her cousins. It aims to celebrate her love of art, music and dance, while acknowledging her emotional and psychological fragility. It reimagines the events which precipitated Lucia’s disappearance and her eventual incarceration in an asylum.'

Source: La Mama Theatre.

'Stevie walks onto the highway and vanishes, disappears. No blood, no body and no witnesses. Four strangers are catapulted into the mystery of her whereabouts. They twist and turn on a wild, chaotic ride through memories, secrets and hidden truths.

'What happened to Stevie?

'Stevie lives in a concrete casket,

'Underneath the sidewalk where the eucalyptus burns.

'She doesn’t sleep anymore.

'Not since that happened.

'That thing.

'The thing, that happened to Stevie,

'Happened to all of us.'

Source: La Mama Theatre.

'In the not too distant future, global environmental collapse triggers wars, the movement of millions of people, failure of mass food production and the breakdown of democracies. But this story focuses on one woman’s desperate struggle to survive. Maria lives in a city plagued by chronic food and water shortages. Now it is survival of the fittest and young people have the competitive advantage.

'Maria is not young and now is trapped in her apartment with her husband Paul and their neighbor, Ewa. Their last moments are a bitter competition for food and water. But Maria refuses to give up. Maria plans her escape. She needs to see her son one last time. And when she does – nothing is as she wished.

'#NoExemptions, a new work for theatre, explores a dystopian vision for humanity that is not predictable, but a savage critique of current privilege and inequality—with a twist—and not without humour. Told from the intimacy of one family’s crisis and isolation, the play is a compacted moment in time in which unfolding events are the result of an already projected environmental collapse from climate change, pollution and over consumption. No amount of privilege can protect anyone from the consequences. #NoExemptions is a bold, confronting and provocative statement of human equality. We all share one world.'

Source: La Mama Theatre.

'A day librarian and a night librarian guard secrets about the hidden history of iconic poets Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes and his lover Assia Wevill.

'Set in a twilight magic realist world, the events of the poets’ fateful and tragic lives are investigated by a girl wanting to know who she is and her forgotten place in their story. The play highlights the choices these protagonists made, and the consequences of their choices on the girl.'

Source: La Mama Theatre.

'Sybylla Melvyn is a young woman on the verge of life and freedom and is determined, above all else, to break down the barriers keeping her from both. 

'From the award-winning Skin of Our Teeth Productions comes My Brilliant Career, a theatrical re-imagining of Stella Miles Franklin’s timeless novel. This is the story of Sybylla Melvyn, a young woman on the verge of everything – hope, loss, freedom and the search for independence. Christine Davey’s adaptation is a glorious love letter to landscape and language, a homage to life.'

Source: La Mama Theatre.

'let bleeding girls lie examines the unexpected intimacy between Grace, Juice, and Lou, three strangers donating plasma at a Melbourne city blood bank during the Manchester Arena attack. Live carnage unfolds on the news, forcing private lives into public space as the women seek strength in each other.'

Source: La Mama Theatre.

'Red dirt. Isolation. A tight-knit family journeying with you as you hurtle around the sun at 107991 km/h. Mars? Or just Wagga Wagga? 

'When Katie gets back home to Wagga after 6 years working in New York, she’s shocked by how much and how little has changed— until something changes that can never be changed back. 

'With songs about the Opportunity Mars Rover, giant butterflies, dogs, dead owls and deep space, Andrew Strano & Loclan Mackenzie-Spencer take their trademark quirky, honest, and heartfelt look at grief, isolation, and how we can survive it together.'

Source: La Mama Theatre.

'Luke Icarus Simon’s fifth play explores domestic and family violence, the most urgent social issues in Australia today. 

'It is 2009. Apollo meets married man Achilles. They fall in love. But is love ever enough? Is Apollo strong enough to stop a lifetime of abuse? Can Achilles stop living a lie?

'Let the witty dialogue, references to Greek philosophy and language entertain you and the evocative Greek soundtrack take you to the Aegean. 

'Celebrating 41 years since his stage debut, this premiere is Simon’s ode of love for his Greek cultural heritage.'

Source: La Mama Theatre.

'Abbie and Pb are in their last year of high school. It’s going well. I mean, they’re still virgins, but it’s going well. And then Abbie finds out that she can’t have kids. It doesn’t mean much to her at first – who wants a kid at seventeen? But as things and people start to change around her, she is suddenly and unceremoniously confronted with a world she wasn’t ready for.'

Source: La Mama Theatre.

'Welcome to Katyń! A little son et lumière? Join Stalina and her friends Hyby and Exy where the meaninglessnessless becomes meaningful. Jim Daly, Green Room-awarded actor and Helpmann nominee, brings together a superb team of theatre-makers to visit the most infamously-ignored crime of the Twentieth Century. Call yourself Aussie? Didn’t know the Japanese bombed Darwin 64 times? Ma-a…te! For sure you won’t know how many times Uncle Joe dropped it, individually, on the Poles in 1940 and made Mummies. Gesture and vocality get mashed. Get invaded, see the force! Obsession & grot. Feel… the It.'

Source: La Mama Theatre.

'An Australian Gothic, Kafkaesque tale about a young woman’s investigation into Australia’s Phantom Cat.

'Sally’s busy life as a city-living student does not fulfil her. Her boyfriend James won’t please her. Her mother won’t help her. Maybe a road-trip to research the urban legend of Australia’s Phantom Cat will bring a little interest to Sally’s life. 

'In the bush of Gippsland, The Tom waits. This big cat has feasted on cattle, taken domestic pets and created excitement in the day-to-day lives of Gippsland’s residents. Were its ancestors panthers, abandoned by the circus? Or is it the reincarnation of a long-dead bush-ranger? 

'Sally tries to find the answers, and slowly loses herself.'

Source: La Mama Theatre.

'On the brink of artistic discovery, Michel’s plans for the future are interrupted by a diagnosis of schizophrenia – he must rely on his sister – yet Karen has dreams of her own, how long can she push them aside to care for him?  

'Drawn from the writer’s lived experience of schizophrenia, this powerful play explores the relationship between siblings who grapple with managing this condition, which interrupts their focus on transforming the world through art.  

'Michel is writing his first novel, Hipflask, his older sister Karen is in Europe turning the world into paintings. Michel’s letters take a strange turn. He believes Joan Miro and Franz Kafka are his companions and he can speak with them. His sister Karen rushes home. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, he is unable to accept it. Karen becomes her brother’s carer, which tests but cannot destroy their strong bond.'

Source: La Mama Theatre.