Cirrus@Austlit

'When and how do many voices become one?

'What happens when they do?

'When does group become herd?

'And how do we tell communal stories for an endlessly heterogeneous group of people?

'HERD is a new work of queer music theatre.

'Springing off Lachlan Philpott’s 21-year-old play BISON, this new work expands outwards, opening up from its original metaphor for the gay male herd to consider herding and herdlike behaviours, kinship, discrimination and isolation in the wider LGBTQIA+ community.

'HERD lays claim to queer history, insisting it be visible and seeking to memorialise those lost to stigma, illness, violence and ignorance. An unapologetic provocation for our times, HERD sharply examines what it means to be part of ‘the queer community’.

'Are we all in it together?'

Source: Theatre Works.

'Kirsty Everett joins us to talk about her memoir. Honey Blood is the story of a life lived, instead a life planned and her experience with Leukaemia.' (Production summary) 

'Following the death of queer icon George Michael, Paul Mac and Jonny Seymour commissioned a mural by artist Scott Marsh on the exterior of their home. Draped in a rainbow stole with a spliff in hand and a sacrosanct bottle of poppers in the other, Saint George’s eyes watched over the suburb and he winked at commuters through the windows of passing trains. He became a landmark, a local shrine, and was adored by all. 

'But the vivid life of Newtown’s patron saint of queer communion was cut short. Hours after the nation said 'YES' to the postal plebiscite on Marriage Equality, the mural was destroyed by a group of young men who claimed it violated their Christian faith. 

'Leading queer artists, pop icon Paul Mac and playwright Lachlan Philpott, have collaborated to create an immersive and highly personal music experience that is a unique reminder of a tough chapter of our history that shouldn’t be forgotten. Directed by Kate Champion, Mac communes on stage with this city’s finest singers. With the backing of a giant choir, this is a work of resilience and hope. 

'A love letter to Sydney’s fluid queer audacity, The Rise and Fall of Saint George connects us to a shared need to be a part of a community, explores finding solidarity in bleak times. It is an urgent call to arms to not let hard-won rights and freedoms be taken for granted.' (Production summary)

'With a broken heart, Claire felt like escaping the city was a good idea. But there's something strange going on in the small town she moves to, and no one wants to talk about it.'

Source: Radio National Fictions.

'Silence is not redemption.

'Exploring a shocking chapter in our recent history, Lost Boys is a fierce and compelling new play by award-winning Australian playwright Lachlan Philpott (Silent Disco, The Trouble with Harry), commissioned and developed by Merrigong.

'Cy and Robert Murphy are teenagers living a life of sun and saltwater, but as the sun sets, a malevolent culture of homophobia and violence surfaces, with consequences that ripple across generations.

'Inspired by real events and told through the eyes of three generations of the Murphy family, Lost Boys rips into a dark part of our male-dominated culture, asking how perpetrators of violent crimes live with their unspeakable pasts.

'Commemorating lives lost, this deeply affecting and potent new work forces us to examine secrets held for decades, and prejudices still held today. Bearing witness to our times, this is vital and unflinching work from a compelling voice in Australian theatre. It’s a story that needs to be told.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'It’s 2022 and Queensland is now part of China to resolve a civil war. The rest of Australia has become Nation One, with a conservative government and a return to traditional values. The regime's hopes and dreams are pinned on the next generation and the school formal is a chance for them to celebrate their achievements and history.

'After the difficult exams and aptitude tests, the formal is the last night of freedom before these young citizens step up to serve their government. But this formal will end more than their time at school and it will change their future forever.' (Production blurb)

'‘Little Emperor Syndrome’ is a term used to describe the behavioural time-bomb created by China’s One Child Policy. Introduced in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution as a way of curbing population growth, an entire generation was raised without siblings. Pampered, entitled, and bucking against China’s proud tradition of filial piety, the children of the world’s next superpower were born bearing the weight of their parents’ expectations.

'What would happen if someone you knew disappeared? How would you react? How would your school react? An assembly called, a footy game postponed, a class interrupted. But who is Michael Swordfish? And who knows where he’s gone?

'For two years award-winning playwright Lachlan Philpott collaborated with students from Newington College, Sydney, to bring their voices and worlds to life. Michael Swordfish is the exciting product of this collaboration: a play that traverses the tumultuous landscape of the teenage experience with a sober truth and darkly comic voice.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Currency Press).

'Kane and I were both rising stars. I was rising to the top of the hand-modelling world and Kane was doing his plays. Kane got his first action film and I became his double. We clicked. Everyone said so. It’s there on screen.

Kane is now one of the world’s hottest movie stars. His body double has been there from the start sharing more than just looks with his famous counterpart. But just how intertwined are their lives?

'In Lake Disappointment, the body double (played by Luke Mullins) is devoted to his star counter Kane. Their last film Briefcase Bomb was such a hit that they are moving out of art-house film into more mainstream blockbusters. Before they head to Paris to shoot the biggest budget action film of all time, they are to work on Lake Disappointment - an obscure small budget film with a shoot in a remote mountain town. The double is sent to the set of Lake Disappointment early to save Kane time. On arriving the double notices that there is something peculiar about this town with its silvery lake.

'The film’s content and ambition also confuse the body double. Kane’s character spends a huge amount of time searching for a lake but can never actually find it. On set the body double makes friends with Kane’s strange co-star Linda Hunt. Linda plays the guest house owner in the film but also seems to be doing that job in real life. Linda asks the double questions which provoke him to start looking at this world and himself in a very different way. Kane’s arrival keeps being postponed. The shoot becomes increasingly difficult for the double. Worryingly, whenever he finds himself near water…. he starts having thoughts.' (Production summary)

'For most girls, finding a place within the cliques, the hierarchies, and the gossip of a new school is tough enough. For Freya Star, it's astronomically more difficult. She's different; she is convinced she has been marked by something not of this world. She knows she is destined for something amazing, but when the girls at school start prying into Freya's life everything she thinks she knows starts crashing down to earth.' (Publication summary)

'Inspired by interviews with real life Australian alien abductees ALIENATION will divide sceptics and believers with the question, ‘Are we really alone in the universe?’

'Informed in part by the research of Mary Rodwell, subject of the provocative 2010 SBS documentary My Mum Talks to Aliens; 'ALIENATION' is a brave new production presenting us with an ultimately human story of how we adapt to life changing events.

'n this world premiere production from award-winning writer Lachlan Philpott (Truckstop, Silent Disco), relationships are tested and beliefs are questioned when three everyday Australians are contacted by an otherworldly force. 'ALIENATION' is a witty, thought-provoking and bitingly funny play.' (Source:http://jspac.com.au/qtheatre/Alienation13.php)

'The Trouble with Harry', the story of Eugenia Falleni, the notorious 'ManWoman' of Sydney in the early 1900's, is a thrilling new play by award winning Australian playwright Lachlan Philpott [Colder/ 'Silent Disco']. Falleni enjoys a unique place in Sydney’s bawdy history and her story continues to fascinate. An Italian immigrant, Falleni lived much of her life as a man - Harry Crawford - and served time in prison for the murder of her own wife. Developed as part of the PlayWriting Australia National Script Workshop, this work takes an idiosyncratic look at the Falleni story, questions versions of this history and looks at contemporary debates and assumptions surrounding gender.' (Source: http://www.cre8ion.com.au/TroubleWithHarry.php)