Cirrus@Austlit

'Playwright and author Hannie Rayson brings her sublimely comedic one-woman show to Griffin. Featuring select stories from her acclaimed book Hello, Beautiful!, Rayson shares true tales from an adventurous life, ranging from her childhood in East Brighton to the treacheries of Hollywood, from sharehouses in Fitzroy to the beauty of rural Australia. Rayson’s writing has always been driven by her deep curiosity about contemporary Australian life: how we live, what matters to us, and the political and ethical challenges we face. Self-deprecating and hilarious, Hello, Beautiful! seeks out extraordinary moments in the everyday.'

Source: Griffin Theatre company 2018 season.

'They Saw a Thylacine: Out of the darkness, Sarah Hamilton and Justine Campbell conjure the ghost of one of Australia's lost beauties, the thylacine. With all the suspense of a campfire story, these feisty, funny women weave a lyrical tale of adversity and extinction. For this thylacine tracker and this zoo keeper's daughter, it's a quest not just to protect a threatened creature, but themselves. Rebellious and gutsy, these women face life and fight to survive.

'Extinction delves deep into the heart of our own morals, choices and tightly-held convictions. Extinction wraps an important conservation message around a unique and personal human story. A wild, rainy night, a twist of fate and an injured tiger quoll bring together a passionate environmentalist and an unlikely Good Samaritan. Both are hell-bent on saving the species, but intentions are murky. What will be compromised in the quest to save the quoll? Nothing is black and white in this intriguing story about love, sex, money and power.

'The Honey Bees: As the world's honeybees disappear, a family-owned apiary struggles to keep up with overseas demand. Driven by matriarch Joan's iron will, the business continues to grow. And then Melissa arrives out of the blue. The Honey Bees is a tale of Family and Empire; Action and Consequences; and what happens when the bee finally stings. ' (Publication summary)

A series of five plays by Australian playwrights, collected and performed as a single performance.

'The death of an endangered tiger quoll is the critical backdrop to an Australian story about our very survival.

'Andy Dixon is a vet who believes strongly in preserving the environment and our natural resources. When his lover, the determined conservation biologist Dr Piper Ross, agrees to undertake research paid for by the CEO of a mining company, he begins to question her methods and his feelings toward her.

'Little does she know that Andy has been diagnosed with a rare illness, and his life is in as much danger as the species she is trying to save.

'From the mind of Helpmann Award-winning Australian playwright, Hannie Rayson (Hotel Sorrento, Life After George), comes the world premiere of Extinction, a unique drama with a timely and important message of environmental awareness and conservation.' (Production summary)

'I realise that, despite all the references to my longing to be a writer, two things are apparent. The first is that I don’t actually do much writing; the second is that my teenage reflections display absolutely no talent for it. My Diary is prima facie evidence of self-delusion on a grand scale.

'A memoir in parts, from one of Australia’s best-loved playwrights.

'Hannie Rayson—writer, mother, daughter, sister, wife, romantic, adventuress, parking-spot optimist—has spent a lifetime giving voice to others in the many roles she has written for stage and television.

'In her new book, she shines the spotlight on herself. This collection of stories from a dramatic life radiate with the great warmth and humour that has made Hannie one of the best-known playwrights in the country. From a childhood in Brighton to a urinary tract infection in Spain, from a body buried under the house to a play on a tram, Hello, Beautiful! captures a life behind the scenes—a life of tender moments, hilarious encounters and, inevitably, drama.' (Publication summary)

'Hannie Rayson engages with the national conversation and rehearses the big debates of our time. She uses family as a platform to discuss these issues. Hotel Sorrento, Inheritance, Life After George and the provocative Two Brothers make up her most influential works. She talks freely about her influences, her working methods and her urbanity.

'This title consists of a short filmed interview (approx 30 mins) with the playwright discussing her plays and writing methods; short "lesson starter" films about each play and about curriculum concerns; accessible and informed commentary; easy to use chapters and menus; teachers notes; the writer reading a passage from one of her plays.

'The writer discusses key literary figures; development of her ideas and themes; motivation of her characters; adaptation of the texts; dramaturgy and staging of her plays; social and historical context of her plays; inspirational sources for her plays; tips for young writers.' (Publisher's blurb)

'Based on a true story, Hannie Rayson's 'The Glass Soldier' is a deep, sincere tribute to two generations of Australians that had little, but gave everything.

'When artist Nelson Ferguson went to war, he promised his sweetheart Maddie that he would not die. But for keeping that promise, the gods exacted a terrible price: the destruction of the sight that was his livelihood and the spirit that made his life sweet. Only his mate Wolfie understands his pain; only Maddie has the faith to outlast it.'

Source: Melbourne Theatre Company website, http://www.mtc.com.au/
Sighted: 23/07/2007