Darlinghurst Theatre Company Presents World Premiere of IN REAL LIFE

With the already obsessive relationship we have with technology, mankind's most pressing existential crisis is already on our doorstep. People, everywhere, clutch a device, as if it were an extension of themselves in a never-ending quest for news, popularity, love and most of all connection.

Julian Larnach's In Real Life offers an unnerving portrait of our digital lives, a cautionary tale about our rapidly changing world where technology has pushed us beyond our moral compass and is rapidly breaking down societal norms.

In the not too distant future, Theresa is the CEO of a global digital company and inventor of the Drum, the world's most popular personal device. One evening she argues with her daughter who walks out of their secluded holiday retreat and vanishes without a trace.

Theresa yearns to find her daughter and for answers behind her disappearance. Desperate to reconnect, she attempts to use technology to bridge the gap between the digital world and real life.

In Real Life explores and questions the impact of new technologies on human relationships, many of which are already upon us and inevitable, such as our digital footprint, Artificial Intelligence, the digital afterlife and cloning.

Darlinghurst Theatre Company is proud to produce this new Australian work and present the world premiere of In Real Life.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT, JULIAN LARNACH:

Julian Larnach is a Sydney-based playwright. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government and International Relations from the University of Sydney, and a Graduate Diploma of Dramatic Art in Playwriting from NIDA. 2017 will see the world-premiere productions of Folk Song for Outback Theatre for Young People and In Real Life for Darlinghurst Theatre Company. In 2014, he was awarded the inaugural EMERGE: Riverina Playwrights Commission. The commissioned play, Beneath an Oxbow Lake, premiered in Griffith in June 2015, before a sell-out regional tour that finished at ATYP. His monologue Something I Prepared Earlier was produced for the 2014 season of ATYP's Voices Project, BITE ME, and published with Currency Press. He has completed creative developments for new works with Sydney Dance Company, Playwriting Australia and Griffin Theatre Company, as well as dramaturgical secondments with Belvoir and Melbourne Theatre Company. He has been generously supported by the Australia Council of the Arts, having undertaken a JUMP Mentorship and received an ArtStart grant. He was Resident Playwright at the Australian Theatre for Young People in 2015 and an Affiliate Writer for Griffin Theatre Company in 2013. Julian has been shortlisted for the Griffin Award for New Australian Playwriting, the Edward Albee Scholarship and the PWA Re-Gen Seed Commission. He is currently a member of the inaugural Sydney Theatre Company's Emerging Writers Group.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR, LUKE ROGERS:

Luke Rogers is a theatre director, actor, producer and teacher. He is a graduate of NIDA (Directing, 2012) and Theatre Nepean (Acting, 2002), and the Artistic Director of Stories Like These. In 2014, he was a Resident Studio Artist with Griffin Theatre Company. Directing credits include: Blink, MinusOneSister, Fireface, The Last Five Years, The Carnivores (Stories Like These), Play House (NIDA), The Pillowman, Waiting For Godot, Don Juan in Soho, Art is a Weapon, After The End, Blasted (New Theatre), Love and Information, Spring Awakening, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare's Women, Shoot / Get Treasure / Repeat (AFTT), Lysistrata, The Burial At Thebes, Pool (No Water), 4.48 Psychosis, Eyes To The Floor (Sydney Theatre School), Mr Marmalade (CQUniversity), Cyberbile, Embers (AIM Dramatic Arts) and Two Weeks With The Queen (Mountains Youth Theatre). Tour Director: The Witches (Griffin Theatre Company). Assistant Director: Eight Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography (Griffin Theatre Company / Perth Theatre Company), Story of the Red Mountains (NIDA), The Boys (Griffin Theatre Company / Sydney Festival), Steel Magnolias (BlackbiRD Productions / Australian Tour), Assassins and The Crucible (New Theatre and Seymour Centre). Luke was previously the Theatre Manager of New Theatre (2007 - 2012) and the creator and Artistic Director of The Spare Room. He has worked as a dramaturg for Playwriting Australia and regularly teaches and directs at various drama schools. In 2016, he was a member of the Directors Lab: Melbourne. His production of The Last Five Years was nominated for Best Production of a Musical at the Sydney Theatre Awards. Luke was the recipient of an ArtStart grant from the Australia Council for the Arts.

Tickets and Information: www.darlinghursttheatre.com / 02 8356 9987.

2026 Theater Fans' Choice Awards - Live Stats

Best Direction of a Musical - Top 3

1. Michael Arden - The Lost Boys

33.5% of votes

2. Tim Jackson - Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)

15.6% of votes

3. Lear deBessonet - Ragtime

10.3% of votes

Vote Now! View Live Stats