New Theatre Announces 2017 Season

On Monday 5 December, in front of a packed house, Artistic Director Louise Fischer announced New Theatre's exciting season for 2017.

We're presenting seven extraordinary plays spanning comedy and drama, contemporary and classic, revivals and premieres, examining the many ways in which people deal with 'secrets and lies'.

Intimate love stories; an epic tale of female rebellion; confronting examinations of sexuality and obsession; the satirical dissection of Hollywood double-standards, rock-stardom and small-town politics: these plays will present creative teams and actors with enormous challenges and exciting opportunities and audiences with some of the best theatrical writing around.

We kick off with a Douglas Carter Beane's The Little Dog Laughed for Mardi Gras, followed by the Australian premiere of Consensual by Canadian-British writer Evan Placey, long-overdue revivals of classics from Australia (The Chapel Perilous by Dorothy Hewett) and England (After The Dance by Terence Rattigan), the Sydney premieres of The Clean House by American playwright Sarah Ruhl (In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play) and Birdland by acclaimed UK writer Simon Stephens (Punk Rock), with the comic shenanigans of Jonathan Biggins's Australia Day to end the year.

We're fulfilling our brief to give both emerging and established artists - actors, directors, designers and technical crew - the chance to display their work, stretch their skills and have their talents seen and appreciated, priding ourselves on being a stepping-stone to working on the broader independent scene and the professional stages of Sydney.

Our directorial team for 2017 includes four women: Artistic Director Louise Fisher (House of Games, Mother Clap's Molly House, Harvest, Enron), Fiona Hallenan-Barker (Piranha Heights), Alice Livingstone (The Heidi Chronicles, The Real Thing, Privates on Parade, Top Girls) and new NIDA MFA in Directing graduate Carissa Licciardello. We're welcoming back Johann Walraven (The Chekhov Term), Giles Gartrell-Mills (Sweeney Todd) and one of Sydney's finest, Anthony Skuse (Julius Caesar, Medea) who is a bit of a Simon Stephens specialist, having previously directed Punk Rock and On The Shore of the Wide World.

With something for everyone and all ages, it's going to be a stellar year!

Here's the line-up of shows. Bookings now open at NEWTHEATRE.ORG.AU

Presented in association with the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival

THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED

BY DOUGLAS CARTER-BEANE

Directed by Alice Livingstone

7 FEBRUARY - 4 MARCH

"I'm a lesbian, he's a fag, we're in show business, we're a perfect couple.

Mitchell is an actor, a rising star and firmly in the closet. Diane is his wildly ambitious, take-no-prisoners agent and awards-night beard. Alex and his girlfriend Ellen are two young hustlers on the make.

Late one night, on a business trip to New York, Mitch calls for a rent boy and Alex turns up. Two worlds and four lives collide. Within days, Mitch is declaring he's in love and planning to 'come out' while Diane is desperately trying to prevent him committing what she sees as career suicide.

A tale of sexual ambiguity and immoral values, this modern comedy of manners is both a scathing attack on Hollywood stereotypes and double standards and a bitingly funny yet moving portrayal of people yearning to connect.

"Deliciously good fun" The New York Post

Australian Premiere

CONSENSUAL

BY EVAN PLACEY

Directed by Johann Walraven

14 MARCH - 15 APRIL

"Give the facts, show the photos, but don't get too close unless you want your head blown off"

As Head of Year 11, Diane is meant to be implementing the new 'Healthy Relationships' curriculum. She's responsible for guiding these impressionable teenagers through the minefield that is 'sex education'.

Then Freddie arrives. She hasn't seen him since that night six years earlier when he was fifteen. She thinks he took advantage of her. He thinks that she groomed him for months. Neither is sure. But when it comes to sex and consent, how far can you blur the lines?

An explosive and thought-provoking play from one of Britain's most exciting new voices, exploring what happens when buried secrets catch up with you.

"Gets the brain pounding and the blood pumping" Time Out

THE CHAPEL PERILOUS

BY DOROTHY HEWETT

Directed by Carissa Licciardello

25 APRIL - 27 MAY

"We can go wrong in our minds, but what our blood feels and believes and says is always true"

This iconic masterpiece of Australian theatre charts the painful and sometimes farcical life of a defiant young poet, Sally Banner, as she searches for love, sex, adoration and artistic freedom.

Set against a background of Australia's changing social and cultural landscape, we follow Sally's coming-of-age and subsequent brutal disillusionment as a communist, feminist, bohemian, wife, mother and writer.

At the heart of the play is Sally's journey from rebellious schoolgirl to independent adult, whilst battling the conservative forces that want to stifle her ambitions.

Hewett's semi-autobiographical play is an exhilarating mix of poetry, vaudeville, musical theatre and panoramic social realism: ground-breaking, gutsy, confronting and hugely entertaining.

"A great play of life, love and longing" Australian Stage Online

Sydney Premiere

THE CLEAN HOUSE

BY Sarah Ruhl

Directed by Fiona Hallenan-Barker

6 JUNE - 8 JULY

"Love isn't clean. It's dirty. Like a good joke"

Lane values order in every aspect of her life. Her live-in maid Matilde hates cleaning and yearns to be a stand-up comedian. Lane's depressed sister Virginia finds solace in cleaning and secretly takes over Matilde's duties.

When Lane's husband, a surgeon, falls in love with a terminally-ill patient, everything that was clean and tidy for Lane - her house, her emotions, her relationships - is thrown into disarray, and Matilde must come to her rescue.

Blending magic-realism and oddball humour with wisdom and compassion, this romantic comedy about sex, death and dusting proves that the best things in life are infinitely worth waiting for and that shared laughter can heal almost anything. Ultimately it is a celebration of the solidarity, practicality and emotional resilience of women.

Winner: Susan Smith Blackburn Prize 2004 (awarded annually for the best English-language play written by a woman)

"One of the finest and funniest plays you're likely to see" The New York Times

AFTER THE DANCE

BY Terence Rattigan

Directed by Giles Gartrell-Mills

8 AUGUST - 9 SEPTEMBER

"The awful thing is that we're still running away"

David Scott-Fowler is a would-be historian, suffering writer's block and mired in an alcoholic haze, his self-destructive lifestyle ruining his marriage.

When he falls into a relationship with the much-younger Helen, an idealist who is determined to 'save' him, events take on a tragic turn.

A searing study of a lost generation, Rattigan's play, written in 1939, investigates the young people who survived World War One, lived life to the full in the hedonistic 1920s, only to find themselves in middle-age, disillusioned and on the brink of another war.

"One of the supreme dramatists of the 20th century" The Guardian

Sydney Premiere

BIRLDAND

BY Simon Stephens

Directed by Anthony Skuse

3 OCTOBER - 4 NOVEMBER

"All I wanted was to sing songs to people. I never wanted any of this"

Paul is a rock god. Everybody knows his face, his name. He can have whatever he wants. He can fuck whoever he wants. Buy anything. Eat anything. Drink anything. Smoke anything. Go anywhere.

But as his latest European tour grinds to its end, the mega-fame and limitless money that go hand-in-hand with rock stardom are messing with his head, the pressure is starting to get to him and Paul is set to implode at any moment.

A sexy and revealing exploration of fame and celebrity, from the award-winning author of Punk Rock and the stage adaptation of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

"A play with guts, compassion and cauterizing honesty. It's unmissable" Time Out

AUSTRALIA DAY

BY Jonathan Biggins

Directed by Louise Fischer

14 NOVEMBER - 16 DECEMBER

"You think we're old fashioned, out of touch, that's it's all Captain Cook and flag tattoos"

In the fictional NSW town of Coriole, preparations are underway for the annual Australia Day celebrations and the organising committee are hashing out the details amidst disagreements over politics, patriotism and progress.

Whether it's angst over a new development, the best snags to serve at a multi-cultural barbie, or the looming spectre of racism, throughout runs the theme of self-censorship: at what point do you abandon the politically-correct stance and say what you really think.

Jonathan Biggins (The Wharf Revue) is one of Australia's sharpest satirists and he zooms in on the dynamics of small-town society with ruthless verve and an unerring eye and ear for the humour embedded in everyday life.

"A near flawless farce" The Sydney Morning Herald

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