Cirrus@Austlit

'It’s 1886 and the very first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary is being compiled. Four-year-old Esme Nicoll has a front row seat. Well, she’s hiding under the sorting table, anyway. As her father and his male colleagues decide which words stay and which go, Esme collects the discarded (often gendered) scraps to compile her own far more radical, far more magical dictionary.

'A sweeping historical tale in the spirit of The Harp in the South, The Dictionary of Lost Words follows Esme from her childhood in the 1880s, into adulthood at the height of the women’s suffrage movement and the beginning of the First World War.'

Source: Sydney Theatre Company.

'Memories of 1984. London. Phil Collins on MTV. Cassette tapes.

'Janet is 23 and to make some money she and her fellow Tasmanian friend pretend to be expert live-in housekeepers. They land a job with Harold Pinter, one of the most significant playwrights of the twentieth century. Harold loves his house of treasures but mostly his favourite ugly coffee mug. Coffee every day – breakfast, lunch and dinner. If anything were to happen to his favourite mug…

'Hilary Bell’s new play explores our love for odd things. What is the magic that makes us possessive about objects? Three stories intertwine to take us on a hilarious, poignant and magical journey.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Every night, same time, same pigeon crash lands in my room.
At first I think it’s dead, But then it starts talking.

'A homing pigeon with no sense of direction becomes the unlikely saviour of a young girl up against her first encounter with heartbreak.

'Rose’s life has been turned upside down. She seems to be getting through it ok, except at night when her dream life is taken over by a mouthy homing pigeon that claims to be her subconscious.

'The last thing Rose wants is to be put through a psychological boot camp by a bossy rat with wings, but the bird’s intentions are good. It is there to help Rose to prepare for a new world order. It knows her Dad is not coming home.

'Rosieville is a universal story about getting back up after a blow to the heart. It is a homage to the instinct, loyalty, stamina and grit of homing pigeons who, despite countless obstacles and long distances, always manage to find their way home.' (Production summary)

'Newly deposed Prime Minister Gough Whitlam descends the steps of Parliament House to rage against his dismissal by Governor-General Sir John Kerr, who has replaced him with the opposition leader, Malcolm Fraser. A scoop of reporters throng toward him - chief among them Gold Logie-winner, beloved larrikin, and Wollongong’s favourite son: Norman Gunston.

'Half a century later, Norman returns to deliver a rollicking, razor-sharp musical account of Australia’s epic constitutional crisis. “The best Australian musical of the century” (Audrey Journal) will have you revelling through this all-singing, all-dancing, all-mud-slinging retelling of the monumental events that brought our country to its knees.

'In the spirit of Keating!, SIX, and The Wharf Revue comes “Australia’s answer to Hamilton” (Sydney Morning Herald) - a toe-tapping journey through time, a wry commentary on Australian history, and a confronting portrait of our national character.

'With unimpeachable wit, electrifying music, and a big heart, this ambitious World Premiere doubles as both reckoning for the nation’s soul and a sensational night out, stirring audiences across generations and political persuasions.'

Source: Production blurb.

'Claire’s having trouble connecting… IRL that is. Enter SAAM: A Social Ally Android Machine – her ‘shortcut to friendship.’ Configured based on her digital behaviour and social media profiles, SAAM’s an expert at connection – which is great, because Claire’s birthday is next week and the RSVPs are sitting at a grand total of zero. Not great. With SAAM’s help, Claire’s circles are growing. The foodies, the handballers, even the SRC kids start to invite her to things. Nothing stands in her way, except of course her crippling social anxiety.'(Production summary)

'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.