Thu 18th October, 2012
Queenslan Theatre Company's Season 2013
THE PITCH & THE CHINA INCIDENT
Down-and-out film writer Walter Weinermann is psyching himself up for the biggest pitch meeting of his life with a panel of powerful producers. He has an epic idea, he has a dream cast, but the one thing he doesn’t have is a decent ending.
The play’s companion piece The China Incident is the story of a perfect storm of crises, and altogether too many phones. With hotlines to the White House, to the United Nations and to a bloodthirsty dictator, PR agent Bea will learn the meaning of the term ‘communications breakdown’.
Cremorne Theatre, QPAC 2 February – 9 March Bookings: www.queenslandtheatre.com.au
END OF THE RAINBOW
It’s Christmas, 1968 – and Judy Garland is not in Kansas any more. A whirlwind success in her youth, the years have been unkind. A warts-and-all picture of the beloved but tortured musical icon, her strained relationships with men, her struggle to stay in the spotlight –and the pill habit that would claim her life.
Playhouse, QPAC 2 March – 24 March Bookings: www.queenslandtheatre.com.au
RED
Colin Friels breathes life into tortured artist Mark Rothko as he broods and seethes in his Bowery studio, literally painting himself into a corner, in Red. In the 1950s, Rothko took a commission from the swanky Four Seasons Restaurant that would set him up for life, but out of the blue, he stormily reclaimed the paintings and gave back the money. The catalyst of that event is explored with stunning intensity. From the pen of John Logan – acclaimed screenwriter of Gladiator, The Aviator and Hugo.
Playhouse, QPAC 27 April – 19 May Bookings: www.queenslandtheatre.com.au
MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN
Bertolt Brecht’s epic morality tale about the ravages of war is given a unique twist. Instead of the Thirty Years’ War of 1600s Europe, this near-future incarnation of the age-old story is set against the bleak backdrop of a post-apocalyptic desert where Mad Max might be at home – an Australia ravaged by devastating conflict, where life is cheap but business is still business.
Playhouse, QPAC 25 May – 16 June Bookings: www.queenslandtheatre.com.au
VENUS IN FUR
The end of a long day of casting, and playwright-director Thomas can’t find the right woman. He gets more than he expected when the raging storm blows in Vanda – late, frazzled, with the very litany of the flaws he just decried. She talks of Venus in Furs as one might talk of Fifty Shades of Grey – nothing but throwaway S&M porn. As the director takes a chance and allows her to read anyway, the balance of power tilts between actress and director, mistress and slave.
Cremorne Theatre, QPAC 22 June – 27 July Bookings: www.queenslandtheatre.com.au
OTHER DESERT CITIES
Christmas in sun-drenched Palm Springs, in the Inland Empire east of Los Angeles. A desert tomb, populated by shrivelled mummies with tans. The Wyeth children are home for the holidays: author Brooke has flown in from the east coast, joined by big-shot LA television mogul Trip.
Troubled writer Brooke has just finished her magnum opus, a tell-all memoir laying bare a pivotal, tragic, ferociously-guarded family secret.
Playhouse, QPAC 10 August – 1 September Bookings: www.queenslandtheatre.com.au
DESIGN FOR LIVING
Gilda loves Otto, and it’s entirely mutual. But Gilda is rather fond of Leo, as well. Leo adores Gilda – but come to think of it, Leo and Otto have a bit of history, too. What’s that all-too-common comment on relationships: “It’s complicated?” This one just happens to be a little more complicated than most.
Playhouse, QPAC 19 October – 10 November Bookings: www.queenslandtheatre.com.au
ONE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS
Aladdin. Ali Baba. Sinbad. The names are as well-known as the stories behind them. They resonate down through the immeasurable ages, and across vast oceans. They whisper the promise of adventure, exoticism, and romance, from their ancient roots among the shifting sands to the bedside of every child.
Bille Brown Studio, QTC 18 July – 28 July Bookings: www.queenslandtheatre.com.au
TROLLOP
Clara is uncomfortably numb. Cocooned in her spartan home, she wallows in tracky-dacks and the misery of the recently jobless, feeding on apathy and the images of natural disaster piped into her living room by the pitiless glare of the TV. Then, one stormy night, a stranger calls.
Bille Brown Studio, QTC 1 August – 17 August Bookings: www.queenslandtheatre.com.au