QUT Gardens Theatre has their biggest season yet planned for 2009. Between them, the eight shows will combine drama, truth, hilarity, black comedy, brilliance, tear-jerking honesty and music.
The shows will range from the ever-popular Menopause the Musical to the award-winning new drama, The Seed.
Here’s a summary of what’s on offer in 2009:
The Seed
Kate Mulvany’s The Seed is a play that’s garnered awards and accolades for the young writer who also stars in the production. The play is based on Mulvany’s family history and is an intimate drama about finding new life among the rubble of old wars. 6-7 May, 2009.
The Debutante Diaries
Kate McLennan’s one-woman show The Debutante Diaries was the over-whelming success story of the 2007 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. This multi-award winning comedy follows the trials and tribulations of a high school community preparing for that teenage rite of passage – the Debutante Ball. 22-23 May, 2009.
A Stretch of the Imagination
John Wood stars in Jack Hibberd’s one-man show A Stretch of the Imagination, a surreal, black comedy that introduces us to the painfully lonely work of Monk O’ Neill (John Wood), bush philosopher and yarn-spinner and one of the great comic creations of Australian dramatic literature. 15-17 June, 2009.
Menopause the Musical
Menopause the Musical, the show that’s delighted over 130,000 Brisbanites already, will be making a comeback in 2009. The show was inspired by a hot flush and a bottle of wine and was created as a celebration for women who are on the brink of, in the middle of, or who have survived ‘The Change’. 29 June – 8 July, 2009.
Dealer's Choice
Patric Marber’s Dealer’s Choice is a clever comedy about what happens to a regular poker game, played in a restaurant after closing time, when a ring-in arrives – a mystery guest with an axe to grind. 10-11 July, 2009.
Steel Magnolias
Jacki Weaver and Geraldine Turner star in Steel Magnolias – an enduring comedy and heart-felt celebration of love and sisterhood. 11-12 September, 2009.
Embers
Brisbane audiences will, at last, have the chance to see the winner of the 2007 Queensland Premier’s Literary Award for Stage (Drama) – Embers. This gripping drama tells the true story of the January 2003 fire storm in Victoria’s North East and Gippsland, made up of interviews and observations from writer Campion Decent. 29-30 September, 2009.
The Needle and The Damage Done
Fiona Scott-Norman’s The Needle and The Damage Done rewinds back to the worst music ever released on vinyl and is described as two parts nostalgia, two parts cultural satire and ten parts shock and awe comedy. It takes audiences on a hysterical journey through the appalling musical excesses of William Shatner, VFL footballers, white supremacists, Torville and Dean and John Laws. 16 October, 2009.
To find out more about the productions and QUT Gardens Theatre’s subscription packages call GardensTix on 07 3138 4455 or visit www.gardenstheatre.qut.com.
