Cirrus@Austlit

'When a tomb in Vietnam is accidentally opened on the eve of the Hungry Ghost Festival, a vengeful spirit is unleashed, bringing the dead with him. As these spirits wreak havoc across the Vietnamese-Australian community in Melbourne, reclaiming lost loves and exacting revenge, young woman May Le (Văn-Davies) must rediscover her true heritage and accept her destiny to help bring balance to a community still traumatised by war.

'Hungry Ghosts reflects the extraordinary lived and spiritual stories of the Vietnamese community and explores the inherent trauma passed down from one generation to the next, and how notions of displacement impact human identity – long after the events themselves.'

Source: SBS (https://www.sbs.com.au/guide/article/2020/07/24/new-tv-drama-hungry-ghosts-four-night-special-event-coming-sbs). (Sighted: 20/08/2020).

'Sex and the millennial city

'Natalie Yang has just published her memoir, Banana Girl, a sexually explicit look at life as a twenty-something woman in millennial Australia. It isn’t the heart-warming migrant story that people expected. Nor is it a feminist call to arms. And it certainly isn’t on the best-seller lists.

'Going Down is the first full-length play for STC by Michele Lee, winner of the 2016 Queensland Premier’s Drama Award for her play Rice.

'Co-produced with Malthouse Theatre, it’s a brutally funny and frank examination of flawed characters failing at life in the most outrageous ways possible.

'Natalie, for one, has washed up on the shores of anonymity. But she isn’t going to wallow in existential crisis, she’s going to double down. Her next book, 100 Cocks in 100 Nights, could be the scandalous reboot her career needs. Or it could be a complete disaster. Only when she hits rock bottom will she find a way back up.

'"Look, let’s not talk about the Mekong. We’re all women here. Let’s talk about the female gaze. On sex. That’s my life. That’s what I write about." Natalie'

Source: STC.

'Rice explores the business of global food production, namely rice, and women in business. There are two main characters. The central character is Nisha. She’s 28, a young and precocious corporate hotshot working as the Executive Officer of Golden Fields, Australia’s biggest rice company. She’s a second generation Indian. Yvette is 61, Chinese; she’s a cleaner in the Golden Fields building. Golden Fields is in Melbourne; Nisha and Yvette play all the other characters.

'Nisha is close to sealing a confidential contract with the Indian government, which would see Golden Fields taking over India’s public food distribution systems – rice is a major staple distributed through this system. This secret contract is worth billions. When a flood in one of the southern states in India looks to distract the government and delay the deal, Nisha decides that she needs to go to India to finalise the contract in person, taking with her Graeme, the CEO, and Tom, the marketing manager that Nisha has romantic feelings for.

'Yvette’s daughter, Sheree, is facing charges for a protest that resulted in the assault of the CEO of Coles.'

Source: Author's website (http://www.michelevanlee.com.au/current-projects/rice/) (Sighted: 12/07/2016)