Cirrus@Austlit

'How do you grow up in a world that’s anti-ageing?

'When Hans and Gret’s mum arrives home from a radical health retreat with the years literally shaved off her, their lives are thrown into chaos.

'As parents become teenagers again and kids all over their community start disappearing, the pair are led down a seductive forest path that will see them leave everything they know behind. Part teenage fever dream, part dystopian nightmare, Hans and Gret reinvents the classic fairytale for a new generation. This collaboration from South Australia’s internationally lauded Windmill Theatre Company and creative technology innovators Sandpit is a psychological thriller pulsing with danger, betrayal and dread.

'Hans and Gret is an anarchic, edge-of-your-seat world premiere that plunges audiences into a dangerous world of seduction and mind control where nothing is what it seems and immersive audio technology is used to whisper secrets directly into your ear.

'Don’t eat the gingerbread...'

Source: Adelaide Festival.

'Squinters is a 6 x half hour narrative comedy series that celebrates the mundane ritual that is the work commute. The show follows a group of unrelated workers stuck in their cars each morning and afternoon as they crawl along the M4 with the sun in their eyes.' (Production summary)

Adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel.

'This riotous new play about two fiercely competitive bridge-playing grandmothers stars Virginia Gay, Nancye Hayes and Sue Jones in a charming odd-ball story that will leave you grinning.' (Production summary)

'Lally Katz is on a journey. She’s left Australia behind and she’s in the country of her childhood, trying to find a way back to when things were innocent. Her relationships are chaotic, her professional life is a shambles and contemporary America seems riddled with charlatans and shysters. But along the way moments of wisdom bubble up, as if from some lost ancient city beneath the waves off Florida…

'Five women play the myriad characters of Lally’s life: ageing Jewish grandparents in Miami, wizened taxi drivers, cynical prophets, unhappy pharmacists, clowns, hip-hop artistes, narcissists, angels, animals – and, of course, Lally herself.' (Production summary)

From the utterly marvellous writer of Neighbourhood Watch and The Cat comes a modern romance about wanderlust, love and karate. Lally Katz has spent the past decade turning her life into a series of hilarious and theatrically gorgeous plays. This time it’s her parents’ turn.

'After nearly losing his mind in the abandon of 1960s America, young Danny (who happens to share a name with Lally’s father) finds his way again with the help of an enigmatic sensei. At a New Jersey karate dojo, he and other mislaid souls make their way back into the world, and Danny bumps into a woman called Lois… Meanwhile, in present-day Australia, Danny’s long-lost grandson has decided to become Patti Smith…

'Inspired by the true events that brought Dan and Lois Katz together, Back at the Dojo features a Hogarthian parade of characters, two real-life karate masters, and the incomparable Luke Mullins (Angels in America, The Glass Menagerie) in a role written specially for him. Belvoir joins forces with legendary Melbourne company Stuck Pigs Squealing for this ravishing, nourishing story about the myths families live by.' (Production summary)

'Dear Golden Years, 
'As a child growing up in Miami, Florida, I had golden blonde hair. No one knew where I'd got it from. My dad had black hair and my mum's hair was dark brown. There was no other natural blonde on either side of my family. ' (Introduction)

'Timeshare / plots your comedic escape to a ramshackle resort that time forgot.

'Straddling the International Date Line, Paradise was once a history-themed retreat providing the ultimate in glory-day getaways. Unfortunately, the years have been unkind. Today, it’s a dilapidated tourist trap filled with vagabonds and oddballs; a place where swindling stranded cruise passengers is the only way to make a living.

'Cast off and crack up with a musical fable from award-winning writer Lally Katz and the Debate Society’s Oliver Butler (NY). With one foot in the present and the other in the past, join this hilarious human search / for a fleeting slice of paradise.' (Publication summary)

'John Marsden and Shaun Tan's haunting picture book tells a story we all know: a story of colonisation, civilisation and progress — a story about displacement, destruction and culture clash. And in that landscape, it tells a story of hope taking root.

'It's a story for young people, it's a story for old people, it's a story for all of us.

'Opera Australia and Barking Gecko Theatre Company have assembled some of Australia's foremost creative talents to collaborate on a new opera for children and families.

'Gabriela Tylesova's kooky sets and costumes realise Tan's pictures in all of their mystical wonder, while Lally Katz has turned Marsden's spare poetry into an enchanting libretto. To write the score, Kate Miller Heidke: the butterfly-voiced, classically-trained indie-pop singer who is as at home on the charts as she is performing at the Met. As well as composing The Rabbits, Kate will perform in this production.' (Production summary)

'It is the question on everybody’s lips: Where are all the romantic comedies?! Tragedy? Bah! Pathos? Schmathos! We want ROMANCE! With COMEDY! We want ROMANTIC COMEDY! Well, here you have it. Not one but two. On the same night! Two interconnected tales of true love and stupidity from two of the hottest playwrights around.' (Production summary)

'Katz on cats: Owning a cat is not easy. Co-owning a cat with your ex is less easy. Co-owning a smart-talking, irritable, meddling cat with your ex is comedy. If this sounds to you like the kind of thing Lally Katz (Stories I Want to Tell You in Person, Neighbourhood Watch) should write, you’re right. There is no-one else who does charming, funny and unlikely quite like Katz.' (Production summary)

'Nora seems to have it all - a successful husband, adorable children and a beautiful home. But this picture perfect life is actually a complicated trap of secrets and lies. Here is a story of domestic revolution, marriage and motherhood, female empowerment and the journey towards self-liberation.

'Henrik Ibsen’s great psychological thriller was recently named as the world’s most performed play. And why wouldn’t it be? It’s brilliantly plotted, boasts striking characters, and tells a story that’s still as charged and moving as it was 135 years ago.

'In a superb new version by Lally Katz, one of Australia’s most gifted playwrights, and directed by Steven Mitchell Wright, one of our most intrepid directors, this enduring masterpiece will be a highlight of La Boite’s season and the 2014 Brisbane Festival.' (Production summary)

A re-boot of Prisoner, Wentworth takes place in an earlier time for Bea Smith: top dog in Prisoner, she is here a new inmate, trying to consolidate her position in prison.

For a full list of episodes and authors, see Film Details.