Cirrus@Austlit

'A bleak black comedy about the end of a relationship.

'The Platypus is a strange creature. It’s composed of odds and ends, as though Evolution got tired one afternoon and stopped paying attention to what it was doing. It seems wrong. Strangely put together. A curiosity.

'Just like this play.

'This play is about Richard and Jessica. About the messy ending of their relationship and whether they can put the pieces back together. Multiple genres, two actors, one audience… and possibly a platypus.

'Written and directed by well-known Australian actor Francis Greenslade (Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell, Winners and Losers, The Odd Couple, Shakespeare in Love) and performed by John Leary (The Good Place, Glitch, The Letdown, Upper Middle Bogan) and Rebecca Bower (The Spooky Files, Offspring, Wentworth), The Platypus brings together an outstanding team of cast and creatives.' (Production summary)

'Francis Greenslade has been an actor for thirty years. Here he tells the story of how as an enthusiastic but formally untrained actor he learnt to manage the demands of text and character and emotional connection with the character. Along with how to stand on your mark, and read a call sheet, and deal with directors.

'Half acting manual, half entertaining tale of the world of professional acting in Australia, this is a book for all actors, whether amateur or professional, novice or veteran, and indeed anyone who has ever wondered what it is that actors actually do.'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

'Pirate, a lost kookaburra, befriends a colourful bunch of dogs and a cat. His sense of fun turns their life upside down. At the same time, the dog's survival skills and the cat's wisdom take Pirate on a journey that changes his life for ever.' (Publication summary)

'Some wars are never over.

'From an award-winning author, a breathtaking new novel that holds a mirror up to contemporary Australia. Martin Godwin is a man alone. Divorced from his wife, in an uneasy relationship with his son, and with complicated, guilty feelings towards his lover, Nora, he is also a veteran of Vietnam, haunted by the fear that his exposure to dangerous chemicals such as Agent Orange has triggered his son's depression; and haunted too by the events of one sweltering afternoon during a raid on a village. These memories become more urgent when an old soldier comes calling, asking for Martin's silence as he establishes a political career. This powerful novel winds the strands of Martin's life – father, comrade, lover, unwilling conspirator and reluctant spiritual searcher – into a seamless and compelling whole. Through its lens we are given a snapshot of contemporary Australia, groping towards meaning in a rapidly changing world.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Cal and Ricky both stare at the one-eyed seagull. "You wanted food", Ricky whispers. "There it is." "A seagull? You'd eat a seagull?" "I'd eat anything," says Ricky. "Anything."

'When Ricky and Cal wag school they bite off more than they can chew...' (Publisher's blurb)