§ The Possibilities, by Howard Barker (Sidtreack Theatre, Marrickville) — How do you share a house with a professional torturer? How many years apart before you no longer recognise your husband? Would you brave the Cross in the world’s last pair of high heels? A series of ten seductive and brilliantly written scenarios that take us to the extremes of human experience. 7–28 Aug.
Image: Brynn Loosemore.
§ Wish I'd Said That, written and performed by Henri Szeps (Ensemble Theatre, Kirribilli) — Joe Bleakley is an actor who, despite being forced by his daughter into the Foggadieu Retirement Village, can’t quite retire. Determined to continue performing he has devised a show wherein he will get to deliver the greatest speeches of all the parts he hasn’t played. Join Joe in his apartment as he prepares for his world premiere performance at the retirement village’s monthly concert with excerpts from Shakespeare, Death of a Salesman, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, The Prisoner of Second Avenue and many more. But behind the quotes, anecdotes and jokes we learn of a father whose difficult relationship with his daughter is a source of great pain. Written and performed by the Ensemble’s own Henri Szeps, this is an honest and insightful look at an actor’s life and a father’s regret. 9 Dec–29 Jan.
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Yet to open ... listed in order of opening date
§ Between Us, by Joe Hortua (Ensemble Theatre, Kirribilli) — Joel and Carlo have been friends since their college days when they dreamed of becoming professional photographers. Years have passed and they are now dealing with life’s responsibilities: marriage, kids and mortgages. Joel has a career in advertising while Carlo is about to get his big break with a photographic exhibition in New York. Two painfully hilarious nights spent in each others homes with their wives, Sharyl and Grace, reveal the disappointments, jealousies and resentments that can grow between friends when they regret the life choices they have made. 29 Jul–11 Sep.
§ Winter's Discontent, written and performed by William Zappa (Riverside Theatres, Parramatta) — In a dressing room backstage of a rundown theatre sits Robert Winter, on an interminable tour with a one-man show. With only his stage manager for company, the line between reality and acting becomes blurred as Winter struggles to believe in his life and to live up to his theatrical creed — the show must go on. 29–30 Jul.
§ Gwen in Purgatory, by Tommy Murphy (Company B & La Boite | Belvoir Street Theatre, Surry Hills) — Gwen is 90. She woke up this morning to discover that purgatory is sitting alone in a new house in a new subdivision on the edge of town, trying to work out if the remote in her hand operates the TV, the air-con or the fan-forced oven. But the kids are coming round and Father Ezekiel is on his way to bless the house, so the beginning of the end is looking up … 31 Jul–19 Sep.
§ Golden Soil, by Carol Dance (Double Dare Productions | Parade Theatres, Kensington) — An Australian in Iraq, Grandpa in the bush, Blackwater, UN, wheat, family, and compassion. An Australian executive becomes enmeshed in dealings that will rock his family, his country, and the world. Farcical real world events to make you laugh and cry. 4–14 Aug.
§ Woyzeck, by Georg Buchner (B Sharp | Belvoir Street Theatre, Surry Hills) — Poor and desperately trying to provide for his wife and young child, Woyzeck agrees to take part in a military medical trial to top up his measly soldier’s pay. Subjected to bizarre medical experiments, the oppressive regime of the military and finally the infidelity of his wife, what sane action is left for Woyzeck to take? 5–29 Aug.
§ The Comedy of Errors, by William Shakespeare (Sydney Theatre Company | Wharf 2, Walsh Bay) — One of Shakespeare’s funniest plays, The Comedy of Errors is an enthralling farce of mayhem and mistaken identity. When two sets of identical twins, both of whom were accidently separated at birth and are unaware of the others existence, coincidentally end up in the town of Ephesus at the same time, hilarious consequences are inevitable. Accompanied by towns-folk and family the four twins find their lives inexplicably descending into riotous chaos. 6–27 Aug.
§ August: Osage County, by Tracy Letts (Steppenwolf Theatre Company & Sydney Theatre Company | Sydney Theatre, Walsh Bay) — Beverly Weston has disappeared. His wife Violet has hit the pain killers … hard. With Mom and Dad in crisis there’s no alternative but for the reluctant family to reunite and descend on their rambling country house in Oklahoma. Someone is going to have to take control of the situation. 13 Aug–25 Sep.
§ Tusk Tusk, by Polly Stenham (Australian Theatre for Young People & Sydney Theatre Company | Wharf 1, Walsh Bay) — An unfurnished flat, strewn with yet to be unpacked removal boxes and unsupervised by adults, would be a veritable playground for any child yet for Maggie (14), Elliot (15) and Fin (7), this space has become a fortress. Here they bunker down, expertly avoiding the unwanted attentions of prying adults. Within these walls they will battle one another, in a bid to protect themselves from the unnamed enemy outside. 13 Aug–4 Sep.
§ And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie (The Genesian Theatre, city) — Tells the story of ten individuals having a weekend retreat in a beautiful post-gothic mansion on an isolated island. But it's no holiday... as it is soon discovered that each has a shady past and something to hide. Someone is lying and committing the most dastardly murders. Is it the doctor, the judge, the cad, the spinster or the butler? Can the intended victims solve the rhyme and be able to save themselves in time? 21 Aug–2 Oct.
§ The Gruffalo (Tall Stories | Riverside Theatres, Parramatta) — Take the grandkids. Join Mouse on an adventurous journey through the deep, dark wood in this magical, musical adaptation of the Blue Peter award-winning picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. 30–31 Aug. READ REVIEW
§ Driving Miss Daisy, by Alfred Uhry (HIT Productions | Riverside Theatres, Parramatta) — Set in the Deep South in 1948, just prior to the civil rights upheaval in the United States. Daisy Wertham is a rich and sharp-tongued widow of 72 and having recently demolished yet another car, she is informed by her businessman son, Boolie, that from now on she must rely on the services of a chauffeur, Hoke. Immediately Miss Daisy regards Hoke with disdain and he, in turn, is not favourably impressed with his employer’s patronising tone or her latent prejudice. In a series of absorbing, revealing scenes, spanning 25 years and filled with warm humour and glinting insights, the two, despite their mutual differences, grow ever closer and more dependent on each other, until, eventually, they become almost a couple. 31 Aug–4 Sep.
§ Yellow Moon — The Ballad of Leila and Lee, by David Greig (B Sharp | Belvoir Street Theatre, Surry Hills) — It’s Friday night. Stag Lee is 17, bored and figuring out how to make fast money from a life of crime. Silent Leila is at the all-night superstore feeling stupid and ugly, wishing she lived inside the pages of a celebrity magazine. A chance meeting. A life-changing event. In a heartbeat the duo are headed north in search of refuge. Marooned in an unforgiving landscape, this unlikely Bonnie and Clyde are forced to hunker down and confront who they really are. 2–26 Sep.
§ Rain Man, by Dan Gordon (Ensemble Theatre | Glen Street Theatre, Belrose) — Charlie Babbitt is in crisis. His business is about to go under, his girlfriend, Susan, is going to leave him and he’s just learned that his father has died, leaving his $7 million fortune in trust to an unknown beneficiary. Charlie’s journey to claim his inheritance begins at the Wallbrook Institution where he discovers Raymond, an autistic savant with an extraordinary gift for numbers who happens to be his older brother. What begins as a kidnapping attempt leads Charlie and Raymond on a road trip of discovery beyond the hospital gates and into a world of love and understanding. 7–18 Sep. READ REVIEW
§ The Trial, adapted by Louise Fox from the novel by Franz Kafka (Malthouse Melbourne & ThinIce & Sydney Theatre Company | Wharf 1, Walsh Bay) — Josef K is in trouble with a capital T. He’s been accused of something and no one will tell him exactly what. Despite his adamant protestations of innocence, K finds himself swept up on an inexorable tide of bureaucracy, dragged adrift by strange forces that are invisible, threatening and unstoppable. He knows that the law court is intent on punishing guilt but just what ‘guilt’ is is growing ever more ambiguous. 9 Sep–16 Oct.
§ Our Town, by Thornton Wilder (Sydney Theatre Company | Sydney Opera House, Circular Quay) — It’s 1901. Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire. Welcome to Our Town. A small American town like any other; simple, sleepy and cheerful. People here are like people anywhere else: they are born, they fall in love, they die. Ordinary people leading ordinary lives. Or so we might believe, until the Stage Manager – our guide for the evening – takes us on a tour of the town and we begin to glimpse how extraordinary even the most ordinary of lives can be. 14 Sep–23 Oct.
§ Rhinestone Rex & Miss Monica, by David Williamson (Ensemble Theatre, Kirribilli) — What do a classical musician and retired country-and-western singer have in common? Not a lot according to Monica who really just wants Gary, aka Rhinestone Rex, to do the job he’s being paid for and renovate her kitchen. She hates his taste in music, his attitudes to women and the plinths he wants to put on her cabinets. World premiere. 16 Sep–14 Nov.
§ The Ballad of Backbone Joe (The Suitcase Royale & Sydney Theatre Company | Wharf 2, Walsh Bay) — A dollar fight gone wrong, a classy Sheila with a mind for revenge and a private detective hot on her heels … The Ballad of Backbone Joe tells a twisted tale of the apparent death, the murder no less, of a woman in a blood red dress. Set in the roaring carnival days of prewar Australia, in a small town’s abattoir and boxing emporium, the tale unfolds through jigsaw narrative, film, visual trickery, bone-crunching slapstick, dark humour and the unique Rag ‘n’ Bone music and junkyard aesthetic of Melbourne-based, internationally acclaimed trio The Suitcase Royale. 21 Sep–2 Oct.
§ Namatjira, by Scott Rankin (Company B & Big hART | Belvoir Street Theatre, Surry Hills) — Elea was born in the desert in Arrernte country, Central Australia, in 1902. Two years later he was baptised Albert. Thirty one years after that, at his first solo exhibition of watercolour landscapes, he signed his work with his father’s surname for the first time: Albert Namatjira. 25 Sep–7 Nov.
§ Murderers, by Jeffrey Hatcher (Ensemble Theatre, Kirribilli) — What would make you murder someone: money, revenge, justice? Residents of the Riddle Key retirement community start dropping like flies when three unrelated individuals are driven to commit murder. 30 Sep–20 Nov.
§ Fool for Love, by Sam Shepard (B Sharp | Belvoir Street Theatre, Surry Hills) — Reunited by a powerful but toxic love which they are unable to reconcile or walk away from, May and Eddie are holed up in a seedy motel room on the edge of the Mojave Desert. Torn between love and hate, lust and disgust, they tear each other limb from limb, hurling themselves against the walls and each other with frenetic violence. 30 Sep–24 Oct.
§ The Gruffalo, by (Tall Stories | Glen Street Theatre, Belrose) — Take the grandkids. Join Mouse on an adventurous journey through the deep, dark wood in this magical, musical adaptation of the Blue Peter award-winning picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. 6–10 Oct. READ REVIEW
§ The Wharf Revue 2010 (Sydney Theatre Company | Wharf 2, Walsh Bay) — They’re back. After a decade of delivering world’s-best-practice satire, the ever-popular Wharf Revue returns in 2010, serving up Sydney’s tastiest smorgasbord of irreverent humour, pastiche and extravagant production values. Join the outrageously talented team led by Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe and Phillip Scott as they continue to make Sydneysiders laugh at themselves and each other. 6 Oct–21 Nov.
§ The Pigeons, by David Gieselmann (Griffin Theatre Company & Pearly Productions | Stables Theatre, Kings Cross) — Have you ever dreamed of disappearing without a trace? From one of Germany’s finest young playwrights comes an award-winning neurotic puzzle and fierce black comedy that will make you stop and take a second look. 6–30 Oct.
§ True West, by Sam Shepard (Sydney Theatre Company | Wharf 1, Walsh Bay) — Austin is on the brink of something big. He has secured a Hollywood deal for his latest film script. He’s about to hit the big bucks and the big time. Soon he’ll be living the dream. Lee is a bum: a free agent. He has been roaming the wild untamed plains of America’s West, eking out a hand-to-mouth existence and thieving household appliances. He’s got nothing to his name except a six pack, a criminal record, a chronic case of sibling rivalry … and authenticity. They’re brothers but they are as different as day and night. 27 Oct–18 Dec.
§ The Sweetest Thing, by Verity Laughton (B Sharp | Belvoir Street Theatre, Surry Hills) — Sarah is trapped in her parents’ story. Now she’s fled to New Zealand after the sudden death of her father, leaving the grief stricken remains of her family behind. Teetering out of balance she finds herself falling in love and lust with Jim, a relationship that will change everything, forever. 28 Oct–21 Nov.
§ The Grenade, by Tony McNamara (Melbourne Theatre Company & Sydney Theatre Company | Sydney Opera House, Circular Quay) — Someone has planted a grenade in the kitchen of the McTavish family home. Although the pin remains firmly in place, political consultant and man of the house Busby McTavish (Garry McDonald) has just exploded into a paranoid frenzy of security insecurity. No one is above suspicion. And in Busby’s line of work he could have any number of enemies. 4 Nov–12 Dec.
§ The Bougainville Photoplay Project, by Paul Dwyer (Company B & Version 1.0 | Belvoir Street Theatre, Surry Hills) — An intimate performance that highlights the moral and ethical commitments binding Australians and the people of Bougainville in the wake of a brutal civil war. Writer, academic and performer Paul Dwyer retraces three journeys made by his father, Dr Allan Dwyer, a world-renowned orthopaedic surgeon, who visited Bougainville during the 1960s, healing dozens of crippled children. Family stories become entwined with the larger narrative of Australia’s colonial enterprise in the years following: the opening of the giant Panguna copper mine, environmental devastation and Bougainvillean resistance, a war that cost the lives of up to 20,000 people. 9–28 Nov.
§ Uncle Vanya, by Anton Chekhov, in a new adaptation by Andrew Upton (Bell Shakespeare & Sydney Theatre Company | Sydney Theatre, Walsh Bay) — On a dilapidated, remote farm Uncle Vanya and his niece Sonya have worked slavishly to sustain an estate in decline. And so it has been for years. Now Professor Serebryakov and his beautiful young wife, Yelena, have returned to visit. Adding to the chaos and disruption are the constant visits of the charismatic Astrov. Lunch is no longer served at lunch time — now it is procrastinated until dusk — work is forgotten and the long, cool nights have become sleepless. With John Bell, Cate Blanchett, Sandy Gore, Anthony Phelan, Richard Roxburgh, Jacki Weaver, Hugo Weaving. 9 Nov–1 Jan.
§ Last of the Red Hot Lovers, by Neil Simon (Ensemble Theatre, Kirribilli) — Meet Barney Cashman. He’s 47 years old, married with kids, a responsible restaurateur who has always done the right thing, but not today. Today he is going to change his life and do something reckless; something wild; something exciting! He is going to have an affair... in his mother’s apartment. 25 Nov–9 Jan.
§ The Diary of a Madman, by Nikolai Gogol, adapted by David Holman with Neil Armfield & Geoffrey Rush (Company B | Belvoir Street Theatre, Surry Hills) — St Petersburg in the time of the Czar. Poprishin is a kind of human photocopier: he spends his days writing what’s on one page onto another page for endless thousands of pages. Towering above him is the most insane and terrifying hierarchy in human history. Down the bottom with him are millions of other clerks. But Poproshin’s a little bit different. Poprishin’s got love and he’s on his way to the very top. 4 Dec–6 Feb.
§ For a Better World, by Roland Schimmelpfennig (Griffin Theatre Company & Company No 3 | Stables Theatre, Kings Cross) — In an isolated jungle – sometime in the future – a unit of eight men and women fight an unknown enemy. It is a war that has gone on so long no-one can remember why it started or imagine how it can end. Soldiers have lost touch with reality, glass-eating aliens have infiltrated their ranks, and unit Delta Zero’s massacre replays itself night after night in the same dark clearing. 5–29 Jan.
*Synopses and performance dates are as listed on relevant theatre-company website.
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