Cirrus@Austlit

'Melbourne, 1980s. A group of misfit teenagers break into forbidden fortresses.

'The Pentagon. Stanford. NASA. There is no theft. No profits. No harm. They just want to look around.

'But when you’re storming castles, not everyone gets out unscathed. Australia’s most awarded playwright, Patricia Cornelius (Who’s Afraid of the Working Class?, Do Not Go Gentle), returns with a zeitgeist-defining investigation into the price the powerful will pay to control the truth and why the children once forced to live with lies become their greatest adversaries. The ones who wanted to change the world.

'This is the story of Julian Assange. Edward Snowden. Chelsea Manning. It is a story about the costs of not staying silent.

'Come experience a master playwright’s undertaking of a complicated truth.'

Source: Malthouse Theatre.

'Join the acclaimed motley crew A DAYLIGHT CONNECTION on the last plane hurtling out of Earth.

'Who will survive this wild ride (and its unruly passengers)? Can flight attendant Angel defeat God’s Greatest Gift in a battle for the ultimate prize?

'Find out in... A NIGHTIME TRAVESTY… an epic First Nations vaudevillian musical nightmare that is equal parts sardonic, cheeky and heartbreaking. It’s a non-stop riot of music, parody and political punch – a fever dream that feels like Babes in the Wood on acid.

'With explosions, zany costumes, gruesome decapitations, existential horror, Blak humour, romance, genocide and a live band, there’s something for everyone at this perpetual party floating in our neglected psyches!

'Leading independent artists Kamarra Bell-Wykes and Carly Sheppard (CHASE) bring to Malthouse a revamped version of the smash-hit production that brought audiences to their feet at every one of its sold-out performances at YIRRAMBOI Festival, now directed by Stephen Nicolazzo (Loaded).

'Strap in for a ferocious adventure that pushes form, genre and the realms of reality with a renowned crew hell-bent on reimagining what First Nations performance can be.'

Source: Malthouse Theatre.

'Congratulations!

'You’ve inherited a redundant cherry orchard, a crumbling climate, a failing economy, inept institutions and the final play written by Anton Chekhov. What will you salvage? How much are you willing to let go? How much will be taken from you? 

'Welcome to The Orchard, where doomed inheritances and impossible expectations collide. Choices must be made. Classics must be questioned. Wood must be chopped.

'From the ‘frenetically uproarious’ (Time Out) collective renowned for their ‘meticulously practiced feat[s] of coordinated effort’ (The Skinny) such as Burnout Paradise and Grand Theft Theatre, witness Pony Cam as they attempt to adapt Chekhov’s classic for an increasingly demanding world – and transform everything we hold dear along with it.

'There will be real indecision, real stories, a person in a tree costume, a lot of cling wrap and a chainsaw borrowed from a friend.

'Will you survive the adaptation?'

Source: Malthouse Theatre.

'From the studio that created the ward-winning films Everything Everywhere All At Once and Moonlight, and cult classics Hereditary and Spring Breakers, A24 had its breakthrough 2013 hit with Under The Skin starring Scarlett Johansson.

'An otherworldly woman, Isserley, embarks on a mysterious mission to hunt hitchhiking men for sustenance. She’s skilled at it, very skilled, but her perspective begins to shift as she learns more about why she’s been sent to hunt.

'Adapted from the Michel Faber novel, Under the Skin is an ambitious, highly technical collaboration between acclaimed writer Pamela Carter and Malthouse Theatre Artistic Director Matthew Lutton.

'In an extraordinary synthesis of performance and technology, featuring live motion capture and digital creature design, audiences are transported into a reality where we are not earth’s apex predator—and in turn—are invited to think deeply about the beauty of the world in which we walk.' (Production summary)

'Unpack Nicola Gunn’s personal fantasy of being a French actress—despite being categorically not French.

'In a surreal comedic encounter, the aspiring French actress quarrels with a Japanese film director and their interpreter about how to translate a script of a complex mother-daughter relationship to the screen. Their different points of view spiral into riveting and confounding misunderstandings, and the power of who is doing the translating is paramount.

'The Interpreters (Apologia) fuses comedy with awkward attempts to express ourselves and communicate across boundaries. Armed with her signature bold and candid approach, Nicola Gunn (Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster) confronts having your voice translated by others.' (Production summary)

'Struggling to work together, three employees grapple with questions of inclusion, identity and intersectionality. Civility slips, bad behaviour escalates and reality distorts. The witching hour is here. Who will be the scapegoat?

'Welcome to the workplace at the end of the world.' (Production summary)

'Join an odyssey of self-discovery and liberation. Actor, dancer and writer, Joel Bray invites you to an intimate exploration of his secret queer identity within the confines of a 1990s Pentecostal Church. Partake in a shared ritual that immerses you in the transformative power of music, movement, and collective ritual. 

'Pentecostalism is Australia’s fastest-growing religion, and Joel will lead you through an insider’s perspective on the intersection of faith and sexuality. From the humble church halls to the vibrant disco dancefloors, Homo Pentecostus peels back layers of conflicting allure and hidden shame to illuminate our quest to embrace our true selves. 

'Awaken your spirit. Shake up your perceptions. Homo Pentecostus is an ecstatic testament to resilience, love, and the pursuit of personal truth.' (Production summary)

'Inspired by the best-selling, award-winning memoir by Caribbean-Australian writer Maxine Beneba Clarke, The Hate Race is an unflinching exploration of the complexities of race in Australia, and the universal search for belonging. Making its theatrical premiere on the Malthouse stage, this powerful story stars Zahra Newman (Wake In Fright), who embodies all characters from the book with astonishing honesty and theatricality. 

'The Hate Race follows Maxine’s childhood in Sydney’s western suburbs, as she navigates the sting of otherness. From everyday street encounters to schoolyard battles, Maxine’s story exposes the realities of growing up the child of Black migrants in a predominantly white society. This inventive re-imagining, filled with poetry, music and beats, invites audiences to experience Maxine’s world —exposing biases, challenging societal norms, and asking us to foster empathy and understanding as we seek an inclusive future. 

'The Hate Race is more than a theatrical experience—it is a call to action. This is how we change.'

ARTISTS

'Release yourself from the capitalistic machine that Christmas has become and enjoy a wild, mutinous, hilarious holiday season celebration. Serving post-punk, anti-capitalist realness, this is an epic Grinchian party like no other, brought to you by a family of queers, rebels and runaways. It's time to flip four calling birds to secular traditions and embrace the festive chaos with Fuck Christmas.' (Production summary)

'Three friends gather in a theatre to talk about the Big One: CLIMATE CHANGE. But before they can even agree on how Big this Big One is, a tsunami hits—and both they and the audience are dragged to the bottom of the ocean…

'Using Plato’s ancient myth of a sunken city as an anchor point, Atlantis is an allegory for Australia in its current stage of climate crisis—and the search for lost systems of knowledge that might help us understand our relationship to the environment. Drawing on Indigenous and Pasifika philosophies and modes of storytelling, this fantastical play is ultimately about young people stepping into their power as future guardians of country.'

Source: Production blurb.

'Written and directed by Kamarra Bell-Wykes, Whose Gonna Love 'Em? I am that i AM is a post-traumatic performance thesis, winning the 2021 Patrick White Playwriting Award.

'Starring Maggie Church-Kopp, Corey Saylor-Brunskill, and Maurial Spearim, accompanied by a live improvisational score by smallsound, Whose Gonna Love 'Em? I am that i AM is an absurd group therapy session held somewhere in the deepest cells of the collective mind and the colonised heart.'

Source: Matlhouse Theatre.

'The cursed night approaches, or so the story goes. When the clock hits 3am the wolf returns to Hope Hill. The wise leave an offering at their door; else she takes what she is owed. 

'But it’s only a myth… Don’t believe everything you hear.

'Building on the landmark success of Because the Night (2021), Malthouse Theatre ambitiously realises Australia’s next chapter of large-scale immersive theatre. Hour of the Wolf introduces you to Hope Hill, a town that is yours to freely explore on the longest night of the year. Interweaving stories unravel the disturbing disappearances occurring between the hours of 3am and 4am. Choose which of the ten characters to follow, pick left or right at the end of every scene, and trace this night from different points of view.

'Everyone has their own truth in Hope Hill.

'Immerse in the stories and indulge your curiosity by venturing off the path to solve side quests that unearth the history of the town - it might take you one step closer to meeting the myth herself.

'Unlock the Hour of the Wolf.'

Source: Malthouse Theatre.

'Telethon Kid is the debut play from writer, comedian and self-described 'disabled ingenue' Alistair Baldwin. 

'Shortlisted for this year's Griffin Award, Telethon Kid sees a disabled influencer team up with the world's leading expert in his condition as they vie for funding at a pharmaceutical company's annual conference. Set in the fickle world of rare disease research, Telethon Kid promises to be a sexy ethical nightmare unlike anything you've seen onstage before.'

Source: Matlhouse Theatre.

'Falling apart can bring you together.

'Check your emotional baggage at the door because this self-described gang of queers, singles, and divorcees is going on holiday. Hugh has organised a fabulous weekend away for his partner and their best girlfriends in Hepburn’s finest to escape a year from hell. But even deli meats, medicinal hydroponics and soaking in spring water can’t fix everything. Try as you might to float on the surface, life has a funny way of bubbling up—and over.

'Writer Ash Flanders is notorious for crafting caustic comedy that makes you laugh ‘til you hurt, only this time he’s gone somewhere completely unexpected… the real world. This semi-autobiographical play is the saltiest, sweetest, and most honest look at love and friendship you’ll see.

'Because when shit hits the fan it’s your chosen family who’ll clean you up—once they’ve stopped laughing. So pack an overnighter and enjoy the only safe seat on a getaway you won’t want to get away from. This Is Living!'

Source: Malthouse Theatre.

'You've heard the rumours, the whispers of what happened here.

'Wander too far from Tasmania’s western highway and you might find Bluewater—a mining town that time left behind. The locals are desperate to restore the place to its glory days and put their faith in a mysterious investor with a green thumb and an appetite for blood.

'Vineyards are planted and money flows for the first time in years—so when people start disappearing, no one dares to ask why…'

Source: Matlhouse Theatre.

'Once considered ‘exotic’ trophies of antiquity, the bodily remains of Indigenous men, women, and children served scientific theories of evolution and were prized objects displayed on mantelpieces. In the cover of darkness, grave robbers would pillage burial grounds, to sell Ancestral remains to the highest bidder under the guise of scientific research. Thousands were stolen and sold.

'Today, they are still locked away.

'Some are displayed in private homes, while others are hidden deep within the bowels of museums and universities. Now is the time to bring them back to Country.

'Torres Strait Islander playwright John Harvey (Heart is a Wasteland) recounts a dark history of Australia in The Return, inspired by Yorta Yorta man Jason Tamiru’s experiences as a repatriation worker. Three narratives interweave—a repatriation officer, a museum curator, and a bone collector—uncovering a macabre history of false justifications in an epic tale spanning 250 years.'

Source: Production blurb.

'After a triumphant debut in 2022, garnering wide acclaim, four Green Room Awards and numerous five-star reviews—Malthouse is proud to present a return season of Kadimah Yiddish Theatre’s Yentl. This new stage adaptation of Nobel Prize laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer’s iconic short story is the first since the 1975 Broadway play and Barbra Streisand’s iconic 1983 musical film. 

'Yentl is the journey of a young woman who defies the Jewish orthodox tradition that forbids females from studying religious scripture. When her father dies, Yentl emancipates herself by dressing in male guise, determined to live as a man to continue her studies. Religion, gender, sexual politics, and traditional Yiddish culture collide as Yentl finds her truth through faith and love.' (Production summary)

'A SINKHOLE HAS OPENED IN THE GROUND. THIS IS THE STORY OF A WOMAN WHO CLIMBS INTO IT. AND WHAT SHE FINDS.

'In a thrilling fever dream told by Alison Whyte (Cloudstreet, The Bloody Chamber), a woman and her guide journey into a chasm that has opened in a city and stolen her sister. As they plunge into the subterranean depths; and on the knife’s edge of panic, the woman refuses the urgent pleas of her guide to turn back—how can she when she knows her sister is so close?     

'But they are not alone.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A play about two brothers, Niv and Sai, heading to the mountains to bury the hatchet on a lifelong rivalry.  

'Big brother Niv has gone vegan. He’s madly in love, he's starting his own business, and seems to have finally found himself after years as the black sheep of the family. In an attempt to reconcile their differences, Niv invites golden child Sai and his new girlfriend Kate on a ski trip where they can put the past aside for the sake of family.

'But when party banter turns political, Kate stumbles into a minefield, and finds herself the focal point of an all-out war.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Welcome aboard the luxury cruise liner S.S. Metaphor! Sure, this glittering ode to freedom, adventure, and endless possibility is stuck at sea, but as top tier passengers you’ll be none the wiser about troubles back home... or even below deck! Just slip on a kaftan or linen slack, sip your mai tai and kick up your heels as the world-class cabaret duo Cruise Control croon your cares away. Remember—it’s all about you!'

Source: Malthouse Theatre.