Cirrus@Austlit

'Reflecting on religion, life, death and the importance of tea and cake, Tasmania’s living theatre treasure Robert Jarman returns with his latest solo show about the power of ritual in modern life. The Protecting Veil mixes the richness of the Catholic and Anglican traditions with a generous serve of gay sensibility and a dash of Renaissance Art History to explore how ceremonies help us all make sense of the passage of our fragile bodies from birth to death. With a maximum audience of 25, The Protecting Veil is a secular sacrament, a thoughtful ritual of community.'

Source: Ten Days on the Island.

'To celebrate his 60th birthday, Robert Jarman, Artistic Director of Blue Cow Theatre, created a new show. A tribute to his parents and a celebration of the theatre to which he has devoted his life.'

Source: Blue Cow Theatre.

'A celebration of the lives of two of the 20th Century most idiosyncratic, charismatic icons: Mexican surrealist painter Frida Kahlo and English punk film-maker Derek Jarman.

'The lives of these striking individuals share surprising parallels. Both had almost mystical regard for colour, both practiced their art with exuberant excess, opulence and flirtation, and both kept exotic gardens. Derek was a loud and proud gay activist; Frida a committed communist. Pain, injury and illnesses stalked Frida for her whole life, while Derek’s final year was veiled in blindness.

'These fascinating characters have captured the world’s imagination. In “Frida and Derek”, Blue Cow set them free in Tasmania’s gardens.'

Source: Blue Cow Theatre.

'Les Winspear’s play is based on interviews conducted with people who lived through the 1967 bushfires. The stories told in the play – despairing, surprising, funny, tragic, and hopeful – are all true, based on real events lived by the people who were there, and often told in their own words.'

Source: Blue Cow Theatre.

'Patrick is a leading plastic surgeon. He wanted the perfect daughter. So he made her.'

Source: Blue Cow Theatre.

'Jeff Michel is a movie buff who, by his own admission, has for years packaged-up and paralleled his life in an idealised cinematic world. Loosely autobiographical, "Pedaling Back" sifts through memories of his teenage years, when his passion for the movies clouded his ability to cope in the real world of adolescence. The most reliable constant in Jeff's childhood was his friend Elle, who kept him grounded. Jeff first noticed Elle because she rode a rusty, decrepit bicycle. Their friendship grew when he repaired the light on her bike. They would cycle together to the movie-theatre. But then - and this is a true story - Elle was murdered. Her abandoned bicycle was found on the roadside ... and her body eventually located in bushes nearby. Jeff explores - with humour and theatricality - the puzzlement of a young person facing the trials of adolescence and the realities of mortality.'

Source: Blue Cow Theatre.

'Commissioned to mark the 100th anniversary of the beginning of Australia’s involvement in the First World War, this sprawling new play takes a tangential look at the reasons that societies so often find themselves in terrible and tragic conflicts. With its scores of short scenes tumbling over each other, 100 Reasons for War is at times funny, moving and provocative but always questioning the multiple and complex reasons why war has become such a prominent feature in the history of humankind.'

Source: La Mama.

'Steve and Max, two middle-ranking Tasmanian public servants, are enlisted to solve the state’s financial woes, and given just four weeks to do it! In a period when political correctness has overwhelmed us, Biggins’ satire is punchy and refreshing, but even when he is pointing out our most frustrating foibles he does so with affection and Aussie good humour.

'It’s a laugh-out-loud comedy about… us!'

Source: Blue Cow Theatre.

'Sex is his lifeblood, and his lips drip kisses. Pursuit, seduction and betrayal are his standard operating procedure. Now this archetypal story gets given a modern and very local spin by Robert Jarman. As a director/designer Robert has staged many of Tasmania’s most memorable and beautiful productions of the last two decades. His take on Don Juan is thoughtful, sexy, funny, gorgeous and philosophical. It’s about sex and deception and hypocrisy and, of course, it’s a comedy.'

Source: Blue Cow Theatre.

'An original Tasmanian play marking the tenth anniversary of The War on Terror: a disturbing and disarmingly humorous response to that epoch-making event. Tidal Pools offers a glimpse of contemporary Australia from two strikingly different perspective: an adult world of politics and brutal ambition, and a child’s world of innocence and whimsy. In each, the stakes are high.'

Source: Blue Cow Theatre.