Season Overview
The Sydney Theatre Company’s 2008 Season features eleven extraordinary productions created by extraordinary imaginations. Showing in the Drama Theatre of Sydney Opera House are:
The Vertical Hour
David Hare’s most recent play The Vertical Hour is a sophisticated and eloquent thriller of culpability, in which a family is divided in its passionate arguments for and against the Iraq war. Philip has brought his American fiancée, Nadia, to meet his reclusive father, Oliver. She is an ex-war correspondent, notorious among liberals for her public support of the war in Iraq. Oliver is an urbane GP and a serial philanderer, living in rural seclusion on the Welsh border. The result is an exhilarating cocktail of sexual tension and the clash of ideologies.
The Serpent’s Teeth
In The Serpent’s Teeth, the STC Actors Company performs two compelling and moving one-act plays by acclaimed Australian playwright Daniel Keene. Citizens, directed by Pamela Rabe, and Soldiers, directed by Tim Maddock, each examine the real tragedy of war and its impact on ordinary lives.
The Narcissist
In this sparkling new Australian play Stephen Carleton has created two fabulous figures of fun: Xavier, a distinctly gay blade and man about town, and his best friend Bronwyn, a boozy forty-something single woman. Bronwyn challenges Xavier to a duel: "Six weeks to bag a man! No ifs, no buts, no limits, no boundaries and no rules!" Packed to the brim with narcissists of every stripe, withering one-liners and wild farce, The Narcissist was a massive success in Brisbane and promises to roar into the Sydney Opera House on all cylinders.
The Pig Iron People
Nick, a young man wanting to reinvent himself and find his voice as a writer, moves in to a quiet suburban street with not quite enough parking for the residents. It is 1996, the day of John Howard’s first election victory. Looking for solitude, he ends up falling in love with April, a young actress, and striking up a bumpy relationship with his nosy, cantankerous old neighbours. These are The Pig Iron People, the generation who grew up under Menzies. Without realising it, he and April will be growing up under Honest John.
Image Credit: 2008 STC Actors Company. Photographer: Jason Capobianco
Company Overview
Sydney Theatre Company produces theatre of the highest standard that consistently illuminates, entertains and challenges. STC has been a major force in Australian drama since its establishment in 1978, producing up to 12 plays each year including works from the classic repertoire, Australian plays, musicals, contemporary foreign works and cabaret.
Artistic Directors (from 2008): Cate Blanchett & Andrew Upton
General Manager: Rob Brookman
Telephone: + 61 2 9250 1700
Fax: + 61 2 9251 3687
Email:
mail@sydneytheatre.com.au
www.sydneytheatre.com.au