Cirrus@Austlit

'Adapted from the Stella Prize-winning novel by Heather Rose, The Museum of Modern Love follows New York-based film composer, Arky Levin, a man struggling to live and work in the face of incredible loss.

'By chance, Arky finds his way to MoMA and sees Marina Abramović in The Artist is Present—a marathon and now-legendary feat of performance art that saw Abramović sitting silent and completely still opposite thousands of museum visitors in the spring of 2010.

'Arky returns to MoMA again and again, and encounters other viewers also drawn to the exhibit, each with their own reasons for spending hours in the presence of Abramović. As the performance unfolds, so does Arky, and with his life coming back into focus, he finally understands what he must do to move forward.

'Set against the backdrop of one of the greatest art events in modern history, and blurring the lines between spectator and artist, this transfixing new work explores dying and living, courage and commitment—and meditates on the power of art to unite and connect us, even in an increasingly disconnected world.'

Source: Seymour Centre.

'An opera singer living and working Freiberg, Germany, contracts coronavirus. Her health-scare forces her to take a rest from the frenetic pace of her career and consider what’s actually important, about life, about making art and about being together.'

Source: Malthouse Theatre.

'A high school teacher deals with a range of competing pressures including the death of his boss, a person who he would normally look to for guidance through times of crisis. He contemplates ideas of leadership and what the loss of this mentor will mean for him personally and for his students.'

Source: Malthouse Theatre.

'One of the greatest crime novels of our times is given a brilliant stage adaptation by Tom Holloway with direction by Sam Strong.

'Insurance agent Walter Huff has nosed around the business long enough to smell a scam, so when he meets Phyllis Nirdlinger to talk about her husband’s insurance coverage he gets a perfumed whiff of trouble. But she has a persuasive way of putting things. Can’t a wife fix a little security for herself? After all, a beloved husband can suffer a fatal accident just as easily as an honest guy can fall hard for a dame who’s no good.

'The LA sunshine throws plenty of dark shadows in James M Cain’s sensational thriller novels of the thirties and forties, of which this steamy tale of murder and desire is the undoubted masterpiece.

'Cain’s novel was famously adapted for the screen, and Tom Holloway’s smart-mouthed stage adaptation now breathes new life into one of the greatest crime narratives of our times. With Sam Strong (The Speechmaker) providing the hard boiled direction, and a stellar cast including Leon Ford (Private Lives), Claire van der Boom (Sisters of War), Jessica Tovey (Wonderland), and Lachlan Woods (North by Northwest), Double Indemnity promises audiences at least twice the ordinary payout in passion and intrigue.' (Production summary)

'Somewhere along the way I’ll pick her a flower from the front garden of a house like I used to do when we first met.” The night creeps in and rain buckets down on the streets of Melbourne. Billy Joel blasts ironically from hotted-up hatchbacks full of youths. Four people have a night they will never forget as two strangers are thrown together through one shocking event. Sunshine is a funny, full-hearted and devastating piece of choral theatre.' (Source: Liveguide website)

'From two leading playwrights, Simon Stephens (UK) and Tom Holloway (Aus) comes an exhilarating cross-continental endevour in Dead Centre | Sea Wall. In Tom Holloway’s Dead Centre we meet Helen, journeying to the land of Neighbours and Uluru in search of solace. In Stephens’ Sea Wall, Alex invites us into his life and all that he cherishes. These beautifully written companion pieces explore family, time, place and how we deal with things that cannot be undone.' (Production summary)

'Commissioned to mark the 100th anniversary of the beginning of Australia’s involvement in the First World War, this sprawling new play takes a tangential look at the reasons that societies so often find themselves in terrible and tragic conflicts. With its scores of short scenes tumbling over each other, 100 Reasons for War is at times funny, moving and provocative but always questioning the multiple and complex reasons why war has become such a prominent feature in the history of humankind.'

Source: La Mama.

'There are many important issues that demand our attention in the 21st Century. This trio of extraordinary plays by three exceptional Tasmanian writers, explores contemporary masculinity and the impact it can cause.

'These writers weave through the maze of ideas concerning fallen masculinity, isolation, communication and disconnection. They have stepped outside their own comfort zones and styles to examine the damage wrought by, and to their gender.

'Born from Animals will bring together the expertise and experience of one of Australia’s leading directors of new Australian theatre in Aidan Fennessy, the amazing design talents of Peta Heffernan and Elvio Brianese from Liminal Spaces and some of Tasmanian’s most experienced actors.

'This is strong, original, contemporary Australian theatre.'

Source: Tasmanian Theatre Company.

'Gerry is almost 60, and he is going to meet his mother for the first time since he was three. His daughter Sally has had it up to here with him and his problems. The old lady lives somewhere in the UK. Liverpool, according to the records. So Gerry is going to Liverpool to find out what made him who he is.

'Tom Holloway's play started life as a conversation between Belvoir and Liverpool's Everyman and Playhouse Theatres. Holloway's task was to tell the story of the 3000-odd English children who, between 1945 and 1968, were told they were orphans and sent to Australia on a promise of warmth, fresh air, abundant food and boundless opportunity. Instead they arrived to deprived institutions where neglect and abuse were the norm.'

(Source: http://www.stagewhispers.com.au/news/2013-season-belvoir )

'Young Storm Boy lives a simple yet free life on the coastal wilds of the South Australian Coorong, combing the beaches with his reclusive father, Hideaway Tom.

'During a long summer, he makes two friends who will shepherd him from childhood into adulthood: the jester Fingerbone Bill, who teaches him about his country; and Mr Percival, an orphaned pelican who prepares Storm Boy for the wider world with a poignant lesson about love, loss and letting go.'

Source: Queensland Theatre Company.

'On an expectant stage - a dreamscape of an Australian backyard - five actors tease out the story of a father and daughter. They question each other, they watch each other, they confess, they draw each other along. By the end of the story, modern life has been engulfed in fire, and a tale of pure love has become a tragedy of leadership and sacrifice.

'Love Me Tender is a play of beauty and emotional power. Inspired by Euripides' Iphigenia in Aulis, Tom Holloway has orchestrated a thrilling vision of contemporary Australia drawn from our experiences of the Black Saturday bushfires, of raunch culture and pre-teen sexuality, and of our domestic rituals. This is exquisite writing about our fears and expectations of fathers, about the extremities of love, and about the need for action when the world comes undone.'

Source: Belvoir Street Theatre website, http://www.belvoir.com.au/
Sighted: 22/09/2009

'An extravaganza of vaudevillian ennui, The Suicide Show is an exploration of men's mental health and the Australian male suicide rate. Blackly humorous, subversive, honest and moving, you (and all the men you know) can't afford to miss it. Created from original material by Tom Holloway, Mark Jones, Stephen Taberner and Martin White as well as existing work by Nick Cave, Gnarls Barkley and more, The Suicide Show is a work that will stay with you long after the band has stopped playing.'

Source: Melbourne Fringe Festival website, http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/
Sighted: 28/09/2009

'After a long and successful marriage, Pam and Don are still very much in love. But Pam is ill and has to make a heartbreaking decision that will transform both their lives. She does so in the only way she knows how - quickly, pragmatically, and resolutely. Don behaves in the only way he knows how - struggling to keep up but desperate not to lose touch.

'And No More Shall We Part follows Pam and Don's halting, humorous and devastating attempt at the impossible - to begin to say goodbye to each other after a lifetime together.' (From the publisher's website.)

'Red Sky Morning is a lyrical exploration of dislocation and the need to connect told through the experience of a father, a mother and their teenage daughter in the course of a single, life-changing day.'

Source: Red Stitch Actors Theatre website, http://www.redstitch.net/
Sighted: 11/08/2008

'After a decade under siege - a city has finally fallen. But ten years of fury have taken their toll. For an officer returning from this epic campaign, it is time to put the horrors of war behind him, and take back his place at the family table. For the officer's wife, it is time to begin again.

'The future is set. The real battle for hearts and minds must start now.'

Source: Griffin Theatre website,
Sighted: 22/07/2008