AMERICAN SIGNS Comes to Sydney Theatre Company in June

Sydney Theatre Company’s brand-new one-person play, American Signs, will see three of Australia’s most thrilling theatre-makers join forces in an electrifying dark comedy written by Anchuli Felicia King (The Poison of Polygamy), directed by STC Resident Director Kenneth Moraleda (A Fool in Love) and performed by award-winning, singular stage actor Catherine Văn-Davies (Constellations).

Playing the Wharf Theatre from 15 June, Văn-Davies will inhabit multiple characters in this 60-minute roller coaster that delves deep into the mess of the American consultancy industry and lays bare the brutal truth of what it means to ‘climb the ladder’.

American Signs showcases Anchuli Felicia King’s fierce intellect at its most daring and follows her recent international success writing on US TV series The Sympathizer, The Baby (HBO Max) and Mary & George (Starz).

King said, “American Signs was written for the extraordinary Catherine Văn-Davies, whose virtuosic talent I have been in awe of since she was in my first play White Pearl at STC in 2019. I’m equally thrilled to be collaborating for the first time with the wonderful Kenneth Moraleda, who has already been an extraordinary creative ally as we’ve developed this play.

“While American Signs is a pointed critique of the consulting industry, it’s also a character study about a young Vietnamese American woman grappling with her own traumas, ambitions, and desires in a morally complicated universe. I hope audiences come away entertained, amused, titillated, possibly a little disturbed, and with a more nuanced understanding of what consulting really looks like in America today."

In the high-powered and ultra-competitive offices of a top-tier management consultancy firm, our unnamed protagonist is struggling to stand out. Unlike many of her colleagues, she doesn’t descend from money, nor does she find the long hours and crushing workload a breeze, like the others seem to. She also happens to be running from a dark past. When an opportunity to prove her mettle and escape the office arrives, in the form of a distractingly handsome (and married) senior partner, she jumps at the chance.

The creative team features James Lew (Designer), Benjamin Brockman (Lighting Designer), and Sam Cheng (Composer & Sound Designer).

American Signs plays at Wharf 2 Theatre from 15 June 2024.