Cirrus@Austlit

'Once in a blue moon, in the middle of nowhere, two teenage boys meet under a lemon tree. After a rough start, a fragile friendship fruits into a heady romance. Ty and Neddy fall madly in love, as teenagers are wont to do.

'If history would just unfurl a little differently, the boys might have a beautiful future ahead of them. But without knowing it, Ty and Neddy are poised on the brink of a world that is about to change forever. It’s the early 19th century. Ty is River Mob. Neddy is Mountain Mob. And the earth they stand together on is about to be declared ‘Australia’.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'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.

'Even a flame needs a drop of water – no strength in burnin’ if there’s no risk of bein’ snuffed out.

'In a time when the sun burns through skin and water only comes in bottles, Ngadjung is an environmental drama set in a scarily imaginable future, right here on Ngunnawal Country. 

'A giant company sells synthetic liquid to quench the thirst of those who’ve survived, and natural water reserves have all but dried up. Two women – an unlikely pairing – unpack the past and spar over the future. Cass is from the city; she’s young, smart and reckons she can fix it all. Flick is from the river that no longer exists; she’s older, fiercer  and history runs through her veins. Without water, how can we live? And most importantly, how will we remember?'

Source: Production blurb.

'Lovers on the highway, chased down by their past.

'Cole and Sky, a young couple, are driving in a classic car from the coast into the guts of the country. Cole’s father is on his deathbed and there are rumours Cole is set to inherit the earth after a life of aimlessness. They set out with unbridled enthusiasm for the road ahead; swept up in romantic dreaming and poetic ruminations amid the boundless plains. They knit new narratives for themselves; give themselves new names and identities in sync with their seemingly unanimous versions of utopia. Their newfound freedom is underscored by a long-forgotten mix tape buried deep in the glovebox, but out of the static following the final song, a pubescent voice cracks — a younger, angrier, more violent Cole and his teenage manifesto recorded to tape.

'Equal parts Mad Max: Fury Road, Thelma and Louise, and the classic films of the Ozploitation era, Horizon keeps who we are in the rear view mirror, whilst asking what it is we can see in the warping heat-distorted bitumen ahead. With a smack of Wolf Creek, a slap of Wake in Fright, and a firm grip on the true stories of those lost to the isolation of the outback, Horizon is a high-octane journey that’s over the limit, over heating and tearing right into the heart of Australia.' (Production summary)

'Meg is busy and she'd rather not be. But sometimes she can't help it. She’s holding a town meeting and her ex-student Ethan is there. He hasn't got a job...he can't help that either. She wants to start a new festival to celebrate everything their little country town has to offer. It’s going to be called “Euphoria”, which means “happiness”. And they should be happy, shouldn’t they?

'With the festival barrelling towards them, Meg and Ethan come face to face with the darkest parts of themselves as the past collides with the present. Based on real conversations between playwright Emily Steel and regional South Australian communities, Euphoria is a gently moving new work that will see audiences come together for a town meeting they’ll never forget.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'When you lose something, you gain something else …

'Cathelijn is completely and undeniably alone: no friends, no family, no-one to turn to. All by herself in the centre of a dark forest, she tries to be strong, like a Viking. And that’s when she sees it – the house. A higgledy-piggeldy mess of a place as tall as the trees. Inside, she finds Piotr, a boy who never stops talking, and Elka, a grey-haired explorer who insists they keep the curtains closed tight. When they suddenly launch into the air and set off across the sky, Cathelijn learns that this is no ordinary house: it’s a Rescue House, and it rescues the Loneliest Child in the World.

'Bernadette hasn’t been home to Geraldton for a while. Her siblings are mad as cut snakes, the oldies are worse – even a simple conversation ends up a cyclone of screaming. But Nan’s leaving the world, and this mixed-up family returns to the roost; a brother living a big lie, a daughter swimming in little lies, and a mum who can’t tell the truth to save herself. Are they cursed? Or can they change the way they see themselves, and how the world sees them?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Trackers is set in the near future where suburbs are divided into Zones and society is under “Algorithmic” control. Algorithms, once man-made, have taken on a creepy life of their own and are dangerously influential. They track and monitor everything, controlling how you look, your diet, hobbies, popularity, the next hit song and even friend selection.

'Lately, their sinister intent has ramped up a notch. Algorithms have developed the ability to stimulate brain circuits to fully manage human behaviour. Their aim is to gain absolute control of humankind, and they’re starting with the youth.

'Enter SAM Turing, a naturally gifted coder and a bit of a loner. SAM’s life is thrown into disarray when he unwittingly cracks the Page Rank code on his home computer system, unlocking hidden information about the past. Shortly after, he and his Mum are relocated to C-Zone. Unbeknownst to SAM, C-Zone is the last stop for kids who don’t “align.” They’re the guinea pigs for the new brain circuit adjustment plan.

'To make matters worse, C-Zone High is terrifying! Sinister REGULATORS roam the hallways, MRS WATCHER has it in for him and the other students don’t seem quite right. If SAM is to survive C-Zone, he needs to do more than use his smarts…..SAM needs to make some real friends.'

Source: Australian Plays Transform.

'To win, you just need to believe in the rules. And Tessa loves to win, even when defending clients accused of sexual assault. Her court-ordained duty trumps her feminism. But when she finds herself on the other side of the bar, Tessa is forced into the shadows of doubt she’s so ruthlessly cast over other women.

'Winner of the 2018 Griffin Award, Prima Facie is an indictment of the Australian legal system’s failure to provide reliable pathways to justice for women in rape, sexual assault or harassment cases. It’s a work of fiction, but one that could have been ripped from the headlines of any paper, any day of the week, so common you could cry.

'Turning Sydney’s courts of law into a different kind of stage, Suzie Miller’s (Sunset Strip, Caress/Ache) taut, rapid-fire and gripping one-woman show exposes the shortcomings of a patriarchal justice system where it’s her word against his.

'Maybe we need a new system.'

Source: Griffin Theatre Company.

'‘Hate is a tiring thing. It is a commitment one must make, and invest in. It demands long hours and plenty of overtime. There are few perks, but wonderful camaraderie and an appreciation that everyone is working just as hard as each other’. An enquiry into the spread of hatred in today’s society, created with high-school students and performed to their peers, this play turns negativity on its head, presenting a how-to guide for the hopeful.'

Source: Author's website.

'Elvis wants Rosie. Rosie wants to escape. Maddie doesn’t know what the hell she wants, but it sure isn’t this. Cusp examines the lives of three young adults as they swim against the tides of irrevocable change. How do you move into the future, when your past keeps dragging you backwards?'

Source: National Playwriting Festival program.

'A great Australian novel. A landmark theatre event. A portrait of Sydney as it once was.

'The world premieres of The Harp in the South: Part One and The Harp in the South: Part Two are designed to be enjoyed as one unforgettable, epic theatrical experience.

'This major new work is one of the most ambitious productions STC has ever created. Celebrated playwright Kate Mulvany has adapted novelist Ruth Park’s revered Australian trilogy – Missus, The Harp in the South and Poor Man’s Orange – and spread these beloved stories across two equally ambitious plays.

'The two parts stand alone, but together they offer over five hours of monumental, exuberant theatre. It’s a moving family saga and a celebration of Sydney in all its funny, gritty glory.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Early evening. Autumn 1954. In a house beside the Nepean River a young woman is crying. Iris is chopping onions while Leo cooks the wild mushrooms he picked that morning. Iris is growing up at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Leo is making a new life for himself after fleeing war-ravaged Europe.

'Yellow Yellow Sometimes Blue is the story of Iris and Leo. They’re two outsiders peeking in at a world of money, power and gossip as they prepare canapés and cocktails for a debaucherous gathering of Sydney’s cultural elite. Tracing the roots of Sydney’s early Modernist thinking, it is performed by Adam Booth and Kate Worsley, designed by Katja Handt and features the live music of cellist Me-Lee Hay. It’s a 60ish minute story of surviving and thriving as an outsider looking in.'

Source: Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre.

'The spirits you carry, they carry you too.

'Twelve-year-old Celeste arrives in China to scatter Mother’s ashes, but in no time flat is thrust into a world of magic and adventure. Celeste’s grandmother has carried on the family tradition of ghost catching, and it turns out Celeste has a knack for the hairraising pursuit too.'  (Production summary)