Cooper George Amai, Sheridan Harbridge & More to Star in Darlinghurst Theatre Company's GAYBIES

Darlinghurst Theatre Company has announced the exciting cast for the highly anticipated Sydney Premiere of Gaybies. This funny and moving piece of real-life theatre opens on 10 February at Eternity Playhouse and is presented as part of the 2015 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

Written and directed by Helpmann Award-winning director Dean Bryant, the ensemble cast is made up of Cooper George Amai (Stainless Steel Rat, Woyzeck), Sheridan Harbridge (The Speechmaker, Dr Blake Mysteries), Rhys Keir (A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Cherry Orchard), Steve Le Marquand (Rake, Two Hands), Zindzi Okenyo (Wonderland, A History of Everything), Olivia Rose (STOP KISS, Packed to the Rafters) and Georgia Scott (This is our Youth, Renoir).

Gaybies tells the story of children raised in rainbow families. This script is drawn straight from interviews with people aged four to forty who have grown up with same-sex parents, surrogate mums and donor dads. These are authentic accounts of family life told with humour, honesty and wisdom.

Following rave reviews when it was first staged as a moved reading at Melbourne's Midsumma Festival in 2013, Dean Bryant is excited to bring this deeply personal and highly topical play to Sydney. "Gaybies is the perfect answer to anyone who has ever asked, 'But what about the children?' It's sincere, touching, hilarious and heart-breaking," he said. "It requires a highly talented bunch of actors to do these characters justice and I'm thrilled to have assembled a dream cast which, in a wonderful twist, includes one of the original interviewees."

Dean Bryant interviewed actress Georgia Scott about her experience of her father coming out. "There is always a lot of hype around what people assume or what people can philosophise is going to be the effects of gay parenting on children," she said. "This is a genuine look at how these people have lived and what their experience has been. And you know, it is not sugar coated and it's not all great."

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