Cirrus@Austlit

'Melbourne Theatre Company’s nuanced and intelligent production of Emma Mary Hall’s award-winning World Problems shifts from a real past into an imagined future. By Robert Reid.'

'Carpet and Sand is a pastiche of narrative threads. Peter Brook and a troupe of actors travel through the Sahara Desert in search of a new type of theatre. Tens of thousands of sheep spontaneously panic and stampede across Oxfordshire. A flock of birds gather for a conference. The play asks: who do we follow and why?'

Source: Production blurb.

'Ash Flanders has always pushed against convention. His new play, This Is Living, is no exception. By Robert Reid.' 

'Melbourne Theatre Company’s newest work is an adventurous and relentlessly upbeat portrayal of the life of Evonne Goolagong Cawley. By Robert Reid.'

'Cyrano – a contemporary adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac playing at the Melbourne Theatre Company – is another tour de force from Virginia Gay that tempts us with a romantic, all-consuming love fired by intellectual and creative connection. It is clever, witty, challenging, funny, touching and thought-provoking. It’s like a great first date – you get caught up talking and don’t even notice until the place starts closing around you.' (Introduction)   

 (Introduction)

'A new exploration of the Bacchae myths, steeped in ritual and rebellion. A female & non-binary identifying cast tell stories of women and cults who have challenged the patriarchal status quo throughout history. Forget the original Bacchus, where the women wait offstage while men try and fail to tell their story. In Robert Reid’s epic new text the women take centre stage en masse! This fierce retelling, inspired by Richard Schechner’s “Dionysus in ‘69”, weaves in classic and pop culture references from Sophocles to The Manson Family. Join the Cult.'

Source: La Mama.

'We are intellectual refugees from a culture that persecutes us and we demand asylum.

'Three academics get tanked in the faculty lounge and end up in the middle of the ocean fleeing Australia by boat. What could go wrong?'

Source: La Mama.

'The Australian Contemporary Theatre Company (ACTC) was resident at The Church Theatre from 1983 to 1989. The Church was an independent suburban venue, separate from the metropolitan theatres, and housed a season of works throughout the year, curated by the ACTC. Viewed in the context of the larger system of Melbourne theatre, the history of the ACTC demonstrates the value of a balance between large-scale, centralised, mainstream metropolitan arts centres and disparate, mid-sized suburban venues. During the 1980s, the presence of these companies and venues better enabled the kind of grassroots activity that fed the mainstage companies, gave crucial development time to emerging artists and artistic collaborations, and better integrated the performing arts into the wider community, encouraging ongoing engagement with new audiences.' (Publication abstract)