Download Brisbane 2014

The 2014 Vision Australia Audio Described Schedule of
Events
Live theatre events for Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and
Wollongong
Table of Contents
The 2014 Vision Australia Audio Described Schedule
What is Audio Description?
Table of Contents
2014 Sydney Audio Description Service
January
THE BLACK DIGGERS
February
The Magic Flute
March
April
May
July
August
September
October
November
December
Melbourne 2014
Tickets for Melbourne events
FEBRUARY
MARCH
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
JULY
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
2014 Brisbane Calendar of events
February
March
April
May
July
September
October
End of Brisbane Schedule
2014 Canberra Schedule
February
May
THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR by SIMON STONE after NIKOLAI
GOGOL
June
August
September
October
Wollongong 2014
FEBRUARY
MARCH
APRIL
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
What is Audio Description?
Audio description brings transitions, movements, gestures, props, settings,
costumes and scenery vividly and succinctly to life during pauses in on stage
dialogue. Delivered by highly trained Vision Australia Audio Describers and
transmitted to you by a small radio receiver and single earpiece, allowing you
to sit in virtually any area of the theatre. Pre-show notes are also circulated via
email in the week prior to the performance with descriptions of set design,
characters and costumes.
For further information, or to join our mailing list to keep you up to date with
the latest inclusions throughout the season please call Vision Australia on
1300 84 74 66
Sydney 2014
Tactile tours are also offered at selected shows prior to the performance.
Please state that you require Audio Description when placing your booking at
the theatre.
January Sydney
NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH By Alan Ayckbourn
Thursday 16 January at 11am and 8.15pm
Saturday 18 January at 5pm
Ensemble Theatre, 78 McDougall Street, Kirribilli. Phone 9929 0644
Bluebell Hill is a nice place to live – the only blight on the landscape is the
nearby housing estate and its undesirable inhabitants.
When new residents Martin and Hilda band together to form their own
neighbourhood watch, their close-knit community begins to unravel as the
committee become more threatening than the hoodlums.
Alan Ayckbourn’s 75th play is a riotous and often scathing examination of the
effects of power in the hands of the masses.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
DIDO AND AENEAS
Music by Henry Purcell; Choreography by Sasha Waltz
Sydney Festival Event
Sunday 19 January at 5pm
Sydney Lyric Theatre at The Star, 80 Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont.
Tactile Tour 3pm
Henry Purcell's 17th century masterwork is the myth of a queen, a soldier and
the illicit love that tore them apart. Waltz's version transports the audience into
a wondrous underwater realm, where submerged dancers glide gracefully
around a glass aquarium that fills the stage.
From these watery depths, Waltz breathes new life into an enduring love story,
carrying it to spectacular heights.
THE BLACK DIGGERS
Sydney Festival Event
Sunday 26 January at 5pm
Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House Phone 9250 1777
It tells the compelling story of the Indigenous Australians who enlisted to fight
for the British Commonwealth during WWI, 1914–1918. It is a story of honour
and sacrifice offering a richer understanding of Australian identity and history.
Tactile tour at 3pm
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
February Sydney
The Magic Flute
Saturday 15 Feb 1pm at Sydney Opera House
Opera Australia Box Office 02 9318 8291 or emailing [email protected]
Running time: 2 hours with one 20 minute interval
Tactile Tour TBA
Welcome to Mozart’s imagination run wild, in a playground on the path to
enlightenment, brought to life with spellbinding costumes and effects from
Julie Taymor, director of Broadway sensation Disney’s The Lion King.
If you go down to the woods today, you might find a pure-hearted prince and
his feathered sidekick en route to rescue a damsel in distress; a queen atop
her starry throne; mysterious temples, dancing bears and a levitating picnic.
If in danger, just follow the sound of the flute.
No, it’s not Disney – this is opera.
For The Magic Flute, Mozart truly embraced his inner child, and in Julie
Taymor’s anything-is-possible production she reaches out to everyone’s inner
child. A nine-metre serpent, towering polar bears and hundreds of props
painstakingly hand-crafted bring a kaleidoscope of colour and whimsy to
favourites like the stratospheric Queen of the Night’s Arias and Papageno’s
cheery pipe song
The props department at Opera Australia is responsible for the manufacture of
much of what you see on stage.
While the production was first designed for New York’s Metropolitan Opera,
the production you see here has been created a new, from the ground up, in
Opera Australia’s set construction, props and wardrobe workshops.
“There are small intimate hand puppets operated by the dancers very close
around the performers, such as the silkcovered wire-framed birds, all of them
beautifully hand painted,” explains Mat Lawrence, head of props for the
original build.
“Then there’s the giant goose. It flies at about 4 metres off the ground. We use
aluminium, carbon fibre and silk to make it as light as possible.”
Co-ordinating the construction was as full of challenges as Tamino’s quest to
save Pamina: the set, costumes and props teams puzzled over how to make
the nine-metre serpent’s turning circle as tight as possible, how to avoid injury
to the dancers, and even how to fit the giant puppets in the wings when they
were not in use.
Above all, the Opera Australia build needed to be true to Julie Taymor’s
unique aesthetic, a look which extends to every part of the show from
costumes to props to hair and even make-up.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
THE LONG WAY HOME by Daniel Keene
Friday 14 February at 7.30pm
Saturday 15 February at 1.30pm
Sydney Theatre, Walsh Bay. Phone 9250 7777
Created from first-hand accounts, The Long Way Home reflects the Australian
Defence Force's recent experiences on operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and
East Timor as well as humanitarian and disaster relief and protecting
Australia's borders.
Sydney Theatre Company has embarked upon an historic endeavour with the
Australian Defence Force to present this major new work, taking the words
and experiences of servicemen and women to create a unique, inspiring and
unforgettable event.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
ANNIE: THE MUSICAL
Saturday 22 February at 2pm
Riverside Theatre, Parramatta. Phone 8839 3399
Boasting a classic Broadway score with hit song after hit song including
Tomorrow, It’s The Hard Knock Life, Maybe and Little Girls, ANNIE is a
spectacular production that will delight audiences of all ages.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
PROOF by David Auburn
Thursday 27 February at 11am and 8.15pm
Saturday 1 March at 4.30pm
Ensemble Theatre, 78 McDougall Street, Kirribilli. Phone 9929 0644
Catherine has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father Robert, a
famous mathematician. As she celebrates her 25th birthday, she has to deal
with the arrival of her estranged sister and the attentions of Hal, a former
student of her father’s who hopes to find valuable work in Robert’s notes. Over
the long weekend that follows, a burgeoning romance and the discovery of a
mysterious notebook draws Catherine into the most difficult problem of all:
how much of her father’s madness or genius has she inherited?
A captivating character study, PROOF was awarded the 2001 Pulitzer Prize
and Tony Award for Best Play. PROOF beautifully captures the curse and the
gift of beautiful minds.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
March Sydney
TWELFTH NIGHT, or WHAT YOU WILL By William Shakespeare
Saturday 8 March at 2pm
Riverside Theatre Parramatta. Phone 8839 3399
A thrilling, hilarious and moving voyage of discovery awaits audiences. The
production transports its audience with the insatiable spirit of a summer
holiday right to the waters edge, and between heat and storms, idyll and icecream, we witness a ‘miracle’ – the restoration of family. Along the way, we
are made to think of things that touch us close to home – the voice of
refugees, stranded souls seeking asylum on islands of plenty, the thirst for
revenge and the pains and pleasures of love. And as any family knows, on
holidays, we never entirely escape our demons, indeed, we tend to pack them
with us.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
ONCE IN ROYAL DAVID’S CITY By MICHAEL GOW
Saturday 8 March at 2pm
Belvoir St Theatre, Surry Hills. Phone 9699 3444
Once in Royal David’s City is big and small at once, tumbling from the fifties to
the present, from West Berlin to Byron Bay, from brief encounters to the cycles
of history. It is about mothers and sons, lost innocence, omnipresent death. It
is about rage. It is about the brilliant possibilities of theatre.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
Bizet’s CARMEN presented by OPERA AUSTRALIA
Thursday 20th March 7.30 pm Sydney Opera House
Synopsis: Dark, beautiful and a little bit dangerous, the vivacious gypsy girl
Carmen has been captivating hearts for nearly 150 years. Every so often, a
mezzo-soprano emerges who can do more than just sing the role – she can
inhabit it. It takes a certain fire, a certain physicality, and a certain throatiness
to really sell the feisty Carmen to an audience. As she draws Escamillo and
Don José to her flame, the audience needs to cheer for this provocative
woman from the wrong side of the tracks.
Running time: approx two hours and fifty minutes including one twenty-minute
interval.
Performed in French with English surtitles.
NOISES OFF By MICHAEL FRAYN
Friday 28 march at 8pm, and Saturday 29 March at 2pm
Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House. Phone 9250 1777
A tour de farce
Michael Frayn's comic masterpiece reveals the goings-on as a Z-list touring
theatre company attempts to mount the somewhat dire bedroom farce,
Nothing On.
With a deft comic touch, as seen in his play Australia Day and countless Wharf
Revues, Jonathan Biggins directs a highly accomplished cast led by Marcus
Graham as the despotic director, and including Genevieve Lemon, Tracy
Mann and Ron Haddrick - a collective that will ensure that behind the pratfalls
and missed cues is a craft so precise you'll not know where reality ends and
the play begins.
Will two separate love triangles, a dipsomaniac and lost contact lenses
prevent the show from going on?
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
OKLAHOMA By RODGERS and HAMMERSTEIN
Presented by Miranda Musical Society
Sunday 30 March at 1pm
Sutherland Entertainment Centre, 30 Eton St. Sutherland. Phone 8814 5827
A romantic musical with many well known songs, such as Oh, What a
Beautiful Morning, Surrey with the Fringe on Top, Kansas City.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
April Sydney
CLYBOURNE PARK By BRUCE NORRIS
Thursday 3 April at 11am and 8.15pm
Saturday 5 April at 4.30pm
Ensemble Theatre, 78 McDougall Street, Kirribilli. Phone 9929 0644
CLYBOURNE PARK is a wickedly funny, fiercely provocative play about race,
real estate and the volatile values of each. The first act is set in Chicago 1959
where a house in Clybourne Park has just been sold. Act Two fast forwards
fifty years where the same house is about to be levelled and rebuilt. In both
scenarios, we watch supposedly civilised people behave like territorial
savages.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
May Sydney
PINOCCHIO Based on the books by Carlo Collodi
Thursday 1 May at 11am
Friday 2 May at 6.30pm
Saturday 3 May at 1pm
Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House. Phone 9250 1777
A rollicking revision of the classic tale of a wooden boy with a nose for trouble.
Once there was a lonely man with lots of love to give. He wanted a child so
much that he carved himself a beautiful little boy. But the boy wanted the world
- adventure, fame and the latest designer sneakers. He wanted more than his
father could possibly give, and so he ran away to get it.
This is his story.
The classic tale by Carlo Collodi is given a 21st century spin and retold as a
witty, rocking, music theatre spectacular; a mix of old time theatre fun and a
celebration of the 'whatever' generation.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
CALENDAR GIRLS
Saturday 3 May at 2pm
Q Theatre, Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre,
597 High St. Penrith Phone 4723 7600
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR Music by ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER,
Lyrics by TIM RICE
Presented by Engadine Musical Society
Saturday 18 May at 2pm
Sutherland Entertainment Centre, 30 Eton St. Sutherland. 1300 616063
The musical is loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the last week of
Jesus' life, beginning with the preparation for the arrival of Jesus and his
disciples in Jerusalem and ending with the crucifixion. It highlights political and
interpersonal struggles between Judas Iscariot and Jesus, struggles that are
not in the Bible.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
CRUISE CONTROLby DAVID WILLIAMSON
Thursday 22 May at 11am and 8.15pm
Saturday 24 May at 4.30pm
Ensemble Theatre, 78 McDougall Street, Kirribilli. Phone 9929 0644
The latest hilarious comedy from the pen of Australia’s most popular
playwright, David Williamson. Three couples book themselves on the Queen
Mary II to enjoy a luxury escape from reality, but instead find themselves
trapped in the hellish world of designated dinner seating and B-grade cabaret.
Amongst the endless stream of Dom Perignon and Tequila Sunrises, this
holiday cruise unfolds into a bedlam of sexual tension and drowning
relationships.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
July Sydney
RICHARD III By WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Thursday 10 July at 11am and 8.15pm
Saturday 12 July at 4.30pm
Ensemble Theatre, 78 McDougall Street, Kirribilli. Phone 9929 0644
Richard is malicious, power hungry, obsessive and aspires secretly to the
throne – as the man and his friends delve deeper into the dark world of the
play, the line between reality and Shakespeare is thrillingly explored with
passionate, tragic and hilarious results.
Remaining true to Shakespeare’s dialogue, Mark Kilmurry’s exciting new
production honours the original play whilst wildly re-imagining it for new
audiences.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
Rigoletto
Sat 19 July 1pm at Sydney Opera House
Opera Australia Box Office 02 9318 8291) or emailing [email protected]
Running Time: 2 hours and thirty minutes with one 20 minute interval
The fires are burning merrily in the Duke’s palace as beautiful people at
magnificent candlelit dinners party on into the night. Meanwhile, in the streets
of Mantua, shadows tread softly.
Words pass between hooded figures, their meaning drowned out by the
sounds of drunken revelry. Are they whispering sweet nothings, or bitter
secrets? Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference in the gloom.
Verdi’s dark tale glitters with passion and suspense in this glamorous new
production. Tell your jokes, lock up your daughter and trust nobody.
The moment he wrote it, Verdi knew he had a hit on his hands.
So much so that for the first performance of Rigoletto he rehearsed the Duke’s
famous aria, ‘La donna è mobile’, in secret to avoid giving away what was to
prove one of the catchiest tunes in opera.
‘La donna è mobile’ is just one of many fabulous arias in Rigoletto and to
serve it well requires exceptional singers.
Verdi is about voice, voice and more voice and Artistic Director Lyndon
Terracini is detemined to let Australian audiences hear the finest on the world
stage.
The cast for this new production of Rigoletto is a gathering from around the
world.
As the swaggering Duke, Mexican tenor Diego Torre and Italian Gianluca
Terranova, who performed this role at La Scala and the Arena di Verona.
As Gilda, an Australian star, Emma Matthews.
And taking the momentous step into one of Verdi’s most important baritone
roles, two singers who have enjoyed immense success in Australia and
around the world, Giorgio Caoduro and José Carbó.
Not every singer is discovered on the world stage or developed through the
Opera Australia ensemble, however. David Parkin was discovered on
television, when he won the role of Sparafucile on Operatunity Oz.
It doesn’t really matter what path leads an artist to this demanding repertoire,
nothing beats the thrill
HEDDA GABLER By HENRIK IBSEN
Saturday 26 July at 2pm
Belvoir St Theatre, Surry Hills. Phone 9699 3444
Hedda Gabler is trapped inside a conventional life: she married the scholar
George Tesman. But money is short, Tesman’s old rival Ejlert Lövborg has
turned up again, Judge Brack is visiting with alarming regularity, and Hedda
Gabler’s volcanic boredom is reaching its limits. So begins a dangerous game
of finding purpose in a purposeless existence.
Belvoir’s Hedda Gabler will be a primal close-up of Ibsen’s electrifying
marriage tragedy.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
August Sydney
DARK VOYAGER by JOHN MISTO
Thursday 14 August at 11am and 8.15pm
Saturday 16 August at 4.30pm
Ensemble Theatre, 78 McDougall Street, Kirribilli. Phone 9929 0644
Hollywood, 1962. Bette Davis and Joan Crawford are at war – their careers
are on the skids, they are aging rapidly, and they are locked in a titanic
struggle for top-billing on their latest movie. When America’s most feared
columnist, Hedda Hopper, invites them to supper, they call an uneasy truce.
However the evening turns chaotic when an unexpected guest arrives – a very
young and very drunk Marilyn Monroe. Will old age and treachery defeat youth
and courage? Or is there more to Marilyn than anyone could have guessed?
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
Don Giovanni
Sat 30 Aug 1pm at Sydney Opera House
Opera Australia Box Office 02 9318 8291 or emailing [email protected]
Running Time: 3 hours with one 20 minute interval
The serial seducer is on the loose again, in a new production from one of the
most provocative minds in opera today, Sir David McVicar.
Teddy Tahu Rhodes’ Don is mad, he’s bad, he’s dangerous but, damn him to
hell, his serenades are just divine. In the role he was born to sing, Teddy Tahu
Rhodes’ powerful magnetism, dark-hued voice and imposing physique make
being bad seem oh so good. Before Don Giovanni opens his mouth, before
the curtain has even gone up, Mozart has us jumping out of our skins with an
earth-shattering D Minor chord from the pit: the sound of the gates of hell
juddering open.
Opera’s lecherous anti-hero has already been condemned – the work was
originally subtitled “the libertine punished”, after all. But how do we judge the
notorious ladies’ man today? Is he a sex addict, or just a rich, randy player
whose diversions have become an inexorable way of life? Are fire and
brimstone really his just desserts? And in any case, isn’t he losing his touch?
Although his list of conquests extends beyond a staggering 2,000 names, we
never see him complete his ritual seduction – even if we hear some very
persuasive serenades along the way.
Sir David McVicar teases out the psychological drama of these questions in a
highly anticipated new production and Australian debut from the leading opera
director of his generation: a fearless iconoclast and a bit of a rogue himself.
And in the role he was born to sing, Teddy Tahu Rhodes’ powerful magnetism,
dark-hued voice and imposing physique make being bad seem oh so good.
The Don has met his match.
September Sydney
MACBETH By WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Friday 5 September at 7.30pm
Saturday 6 September at 1.30pm
Sydney Theatre, Pier 4, Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay Phone 9250 1777
A dark prophecy triggers Shakespeare's gory tragedy that charts the rise, rise
and fall of a political couple whose wayward moral compass takes them in a
deadly direction.
Fasten your seat belts for another towering performance from Hugo Weaving
as he wrestles with one of Shakespeare's most complex protagonists. A man
whose opportunism o'er-shadows his humanity, whose ambition destroys its
prize.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
The King and I
1.00pm Wednesday 24th September at Sydney Opera House
Opera Australia Box Office 02 9318 8291 or emailing [email protected]
Don’t miss this legendary production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's THE
KING AND I. A triple crown award winner: The Tony, the Drama Desk and the
Outer Critics Circle for Best Musical Revival, this dazzling show is a lavish and
triumphant fresh new look at a time-honoured classic.
Hailed as 'THE MOST RAVISHING SHOW YOU MAY EVER SEE ON
BROADWAY' when it opened in 1996, this multi-award winning production of
THE KING AND I was created in Australia and conquered Broadway and
London before touring the US and the UK. It is a story of love and joy, set to
one of the most glorious, unforgettable scores ever written, including Shall We
Dance, I Whistle A Happy Tune, Hello Young Lovers, Getting To Know You, I
Have Dreamed and Something Wonderful.
October Sydney
OTHER DESERT CITIES By JON ROBIN BAITZ
Thursday 9 October at 11am and 8.15pm
Saturday 11 October at 4.30pm
Ensemble Theatre, 78 McDougall Street, Kirribilli. Phone 9929 0644
Lyman Wyeth is an ex-Hollywood actor. He and his wife Polly enjoy wealth
and fame in the sun drenched comfort of Palm Springs. Their daughter Brooke
comes home for Christmas with news that threatens to tear open old wounds
and send the family into crisis.
Nominated for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and 2012 Tony Award for
Best Play, Jon Robin Baitz has crafted a razor-sharp family mystery that
delivers a killer dose of both humour and pathos.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
CHILDREN OF THE SUN By MAXIM GORKY
In a new version by Andrew Upton
Friday 10 October at 8pm
Saturday 11 October at 2pm
Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House. Phone 9250 1777
In a rambling mansion in provincial Russia at the beginning of the 20th
century, a sister, a brother, their partners and admirers pursue their intimate
intrigues oblivious to bigger new realities brewing at their door. A family born
to privilege but bound for dysfunction.
Both a sparkling comedy and a thoughtful exploration of the larger issues of
privilege, progress and being caught at the wrong end of history, Children of
the Sun captures the atmosphere of upheaval of its era - with more than a
fleeting resonance to our own troubled times.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
HENRY V by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Saturday 18 October at 2pm
Q Theatre, Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre,
597 High St. Penrith Phone 4723 7600
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
November Sydney
BLUE/ORANGE by JOE PENHALL
Thursday 20 November at 11am and 8.15pm
Saturday 22 November at 4.30pm
Ensemble Theatre, 78 McDougall Street, Kirribilli. Phone 9929 0644
Christopher has been held in a psychiatric hospital for the past month. Today
he is due to be released, but his doctor Bruce wants more time to settle on a
diagnosis. The tantalising question of Christopher’s freedom - and future - is
left in the hands of Bruce and his mentor Robert, two doctors with very
different views on how this patient should be treated.
Winner of the 2001 Olivier Award for Best New Play, the 2000 London Critics’
Circle Award and the 2000 Evening Standard Award, Joe Penhall’s riveting
comic thriller puts sanity, race and power through psychoanalysis with wit and
earnest questioning of how the ‘insane’ should be treated in our ‘sane’ world.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
A CHRISTMAS CAROL by CHARLES DICKENS
Saturday 29 November at 2pm
Belvoir St Theatre, Surry Hills. Phone 9699 3444
The most famous miser of all misers is Ebenezer Scrooge. Caught in the
great grind for money, he forgets to live a shared life until one Christmas night
when something utterly, famously un-money happens to the old bastard…
A Christmas Carol is one of the all-time most wonderful stories of redemption
and awakening. All of us are Scrooge in some way: holding on to things. Given
the chance to step back from our lives we would see how much is
meaningless and inconsequential. This show is about having a second
chance. It is about how precious the life we have left is. It is about finding joy
in those around us.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
December Sydney
SWITZERLAND by JOANNA MURRAY-SMITH
Friday 5 December at 8pm
Saturday 6 December at 2pm
Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House. Phone 9250 1777
Finely plotted, suspenseful and surprising, Switzerland will have you on the
edge of your seat.
The taut prose, macabre scenarios and ambivalent moral stance, the villains
enjoy happy endings as often as their victims. In Switzerland, Patricia
Highsmith, the compelling crime novelist, is the central character, brought to
life by the wonderful Sarah Peirse.
True to its genre, Switzerland kicks off with a knock at the door - before
spiralling into a grim and lively contest of wits, words and wills.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
CYRANO DE BERGERAC by EDMOND ROSTAND
Adapted by Andrew Upton
Friday 12 December at 7.30 pm
Saturday 13 December at 1.30pm
Sydney Theatre, Pier 4, Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay Phone 9250 1777
In wordplay and swordplay, Cyrano de Bergerac has no peer.
He is a man's man who can speak as eloquently of battle as he can of love
even though the latter has eluded him. Cursed with an enormous nose, he has
resigned himself to experience love vicariously. And so, despite his feelings for
Roxane, the beautiful heiress, he agrees to court her on behalf of his
handsome friend Christian, who learns by heart Cyrano's urgent, amorous
poetry.
Richard Roxburgh returns to STC to play with customary panache the title
role.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
End of Sydney 2014 Audio Description Schedule
Melbourne 2014
Booking audio description equipment:
After making your booking, please contact Janene on (03) 9864 9384 to book
the equipment required to access Vision Australia’s Audio Description Service.
Please leave a message if your call is not answered or email your name,
phone number, the name and date of the performance you will be attending
and the number of receivers required to [email protected]
Important: The equipment you will require to hear the audio description cannot
be guaranteed unless you have booked it in advance of the event you are
attending. If a show is very popular, you may miss out on equipment if you
have not booked it, or if there have been no bookings received for equipment
a week out from the description, the audio described performance may be
cancelled.
Earphones for use with Receivers
Please bring your own bud-style earphone fitted with a standard stereo mini
earphone jack which will fit into our receiver to listen to the audio description.
The only exception to this is for operas where in-ear type earphones will be
supplied. Headphones cannot be used for any audio described performance
as too much sound escapes from these into the audience. The audio
description equipment supplied by Vision Australia may not be suitable for use
with hearing aids; please discuss this matter if applicable when requesting a
receiver.
Tickets for Melbourne events
Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC)
Phone (03) 8688 0888
Companion Card bookings are accepted.
Opera Australia
Phone (03) 9685 3700.
Companion Card bookings are accepted
Discount tickets are available to Arts Access Vic members.
Victorian Opera
Phone 1300 182 183, or the number provided at the end of the opera, no later
than a week before the performance. Single operas go on sale from Monday 2
December 2013. To book in for the tactile tour, phone Melissa Stark on (03)
9012 6652.
Bell Shakespeare
Tickets for Henry V and The Dream go on sale on Monday 4 November,
Phone The Arts Centre booking line on 1300 182 183.
Your Comments
Your comments about our Audio Description Service are always welcome:
Phone (03) 9864 9384 or
Email [email protected]
January Melbourne
King Kong
Saturday 18 January 2014 with the show commencing at 2pm Regent Theatre
1300 889 278
Global Creatures and Vision Australia is pleased to announce an encore
performance of the great musical King Kong with Audio Description.
Five years in the making, King Kong features a cast of more than 40 actors,
singers, dancers and circus performers, and a team of puppeteers who bring
to life one of the most technologically advanced puppets in the world – a onetonne, six-metre tall silverback gorilla.
The exciting score features modernised musical standards including I Wanna
Be Loved By You, Brother Can You Spare A Dime and Get Happy from
Australia’s best contemporary artists, as well as dazzling choreography,
traditional puppetry, breathtaking circus skills and advanced animatronics to
showcase one of the most romantic and timeless love stories of our time.
A group booking has again been organised for this musical and I have
attached the pre-show notes for your perusal.
This fast moving louder show uses deep sounds and movement to portray
King Kong and action so you need to be aware of this if intending to bring a
guide dog with you.
If you would like to book for King Kong, please contact 1300 889 278 and say
you wish to book for the matinee audio described performance on 18 January.
Tickets are priced at $95.00 plus a booking fee and Companion Card bookings
are accepted.
When booking please advise if you will be accompanied by a guide dog then
be sure to let me know that you are coming so that a receiver can be reserved
for you and BYO standard earphone. I will also need to provide numbers for
the tactile tour so please say whether or not you will be staying back for this
after the show.
FEBRUARY Melbourne
Private Lives by Noel Coward
Tuesday 25 February at 6.30pm
Saturday 1 March at 4pm. Tactile Tour at 3pm
Sumner Theatre, Southbank Theatre, Melbourne Theatre Company
Cast includes Lucy Durack, Leon Ford, Julie Forsyth and John Leary. Director
Sam Strong.
Synopsis: Elyot and Sybil are honeymooning in France. In the adjoining hotel
room Amanda and Victor are delighting in their own postnuptial bliss. The fact
that Elyot and Amanda were once married to each other isn’t such a big
deal…Until by chance, the two couples meet.
MARCH Melbourne
COCK by Mike Bartlett
Tuesday 4 March at 6.30pm
Saturday 8 March at 4pm. Tactile tour at 3pm
Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne, Melbourne Theatre Company
Cast includes Tom Conroy and Angus Grant. Director Leticia Caceres.
Synopsis: John is dissatisfied with his relationship and wants a break from his
needy boyfriend. Actually, John doesn’t really know what he wants. But while
he’s thinking things through, he meets a girl, and is faced with a whole new
world of possibilities and complications.
APRIL Melbourne
NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH by Lally Katz
Tuesday 8 April at 6.30pm
Saturday 12 April at 4pm. Tactile tour at 3pm
Sumner Theatre, Southbank Theatre, Melbourne Theatre Company
Cast includes Robyn Nevin, Charlie Garber, Megan Holloway and Kris
Mcquade. Director Simon Stone.
Synopsis: Ana lives alone with her dog in Kew and it’s hard to say who is
snappier. At eighty years of age, this widowed Hungarian émigré has no time
for niceties. She does have time, though, for her young neighbour Catherine,
with whom she has formed an unlikely bond. The play is a glorious new
comedy about hope, death and pets and is a classic odd-couple story.
Verdi’s RIGOLETTO presented by OPERA AUSTRALIA
Saturday 26 April at 1pm
State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne
Synopsis: Verdi’s dark tale glitters with passion and suspense in this
glamorous new production.
Words pass between hooded figures, their meaning drowned out by the
sounds of drunken revelry. Are they whispering sweet nothings, or bitter
secrets? Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference in the gloom.
Running time: approx two hours and thirty minutes with one twenty-minute
interval.
Performed in Italian with English surtitles.
MAY Melbourne
Tchaikovsky’s EUGENE ONEGIN presented by OPERA AUSTRALIA
Saturday 3 May at 1pm
State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne
Synopsis: Eugene Onegin is the journey of what could be to what might have
been. In between lies the tragedy. A simple story of unrequited love, rejection,
jealousy, revenge.
Running time: approx two hours and forty minutes with one twenty-minute
interval.
Performed in Russian with English surtitles.
Rossini’s THE TURK IN ITALY presented by OPERA AUSTRALIA
Saturday 10 May at 1pm
State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne
Synopsis: Take two long-lost lovers – a gypsy and a prince. Add a quarrelling
couple – a free spirit and a fool. And add another secret lover, just for good
measure. Mix them with a masquerade ball, a dash of the seashore, some
bikinis, mistaken identities, Naples, Turkey, dancing, deceit and delightful
confusion, all splashed with the most charming operatic music around and
you’ve got the recipe for a side-splitting romp with Rossini
Running time: approx two and a half hours with one twenty-minute interval.
Performed in Italian with English surtitles.
Verdi’s LA TRAVIATA presented by VICTORIAN OPERA
Saturday 24 May at 7.30pm Tactile tour at 6.20pm prior to performance
Her Majesty’s Theatre, Exhibition Street Melbourne
Synopsis: From legendary European designer Josef Svoboda, comes a
towering vision of Verdi’s famous opera, dubbed the ‘Traviata of the mirrors’.
Through the extraordinary window of a giant mirror, the audience gazes into
the life of the ‘fallen woman’. Violetta Valéry is a celebrated courtesan who
must choose between her desire for high society and her longing for love.
Australian singing revelation Jessica Pratt brings to life the tragic figure of
Violetta, a role often considered the pinnacle of soprano repertoire.
Running time: 2 hours and 10 minutes with one interval
Bizet’s CARMEN presented by OPERA AUSTRALIA
Sunday 25 May at 2pm
State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne
Synopsis: Dark, beautiful and a little bit dangerous, the vivacious gypsy girl
Carmen has been captivating hearts for nearly 150 years. Every so often, a
mezzo-soprano emerges who can do more than just sing the role – she can
inhabit it. It takes a certain fire, a certain physicality, and a certain throatiness
to really sell the feisty Carmen to an audience. As she draws Escamillo and
Don José to her flame, the audience needs to cheer for this provocative
woman from the wrong side of the tracks.
Running time: approx two hours and fifty minutes including one twenty-minute
interval.
Performed in French with English surtitles.
JUNE Melbourne
GHOSTS by Henrik Ibsen
Tuesday 10 June at 6.30pm
Saturday 14 June at 4pm. Tactile tour at 3pm
Sumner Theatre, Southbank Theatre, Melbourne Theatre Company
Cast includes Pip Edwards, Richard Piper and Philip Quast. Director Gale
Edwards.
Synopsis: Pastor Manders has come to Mrs Alving’s home to discuss the
opening of an orphanage in her late husband’s name. But when the Pastor
discovers the truth about Mrs Alving’s marriage, he begins to see their world
for what it really is.
THE SPEECHMAKER by Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner and Rob Sich
Tuesday 17 June at 6.30pm
Saturday 21 June at 4pm. Tactile tour at 3pm
Playhouse Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne
Cast includes David James, Jane Harber and Toby Truslove. Director Sam
Strong.
Synopsis: Air Force One is London-bound for a surprise Christmas meeting
between the US President and the British PM, but with the seatbelt signs
barely switched off a major international crisis begins unfolding. As the stakes
rise the President and his advisors are forced to make some uncomfortable
decisions.
HANSEL AND GRETEL by Engelbert Humperdinck, presented by Victorian
Opera
Saturday 21 June at 11.30am. Tactile tour at 10.45am.
Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne
Synopsis: Filled with magic and beautiful music, this specially abridged version
of Humperdinck’s masterpiece Hansel and Gretel, is the perfect introduction
for young audiences to an enchanting world of opera. Hansel and Gretel, two
mischievous children are sent into the forest and discover a gingerbread
house and its unpleasant owner, a wicked witch who eats children. Book early
to avoid disappointment.
Duration: 1 hour, no interval
Sung in German with English surtitles
The King and I
1.00pm Wednesday 25th June at Princess Theatre
Don’t miss this legendary production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's THE
KING AND I. A triple crown award winner: The Tony, the Drama Desk and the
Outer Critics Circle for Best Musical Revival, this dazzling show is a lavish and
triumphant fresh new look at a time-honoured classic.
Hailed as 'THE MOST RAVISHING SHOW YOU MAY EVER SEE ON
BROADWAY' when it opened in 1996, this multi-award winning production of
THE KING AND I was created in Australia and conquered Broadway and
London before touring the US and the UK. It is a story of love and joy, set to
one of the most glorious, unforgettable scores ever written, including Shall We
Dance, I Whistle A Happy Tune, Hello Young Lovers, Getting To Know You, I
Have Dreamed and Something Wonderful.
JULY Melbourne
HENRY V by William Shakespeare, presented by Bell Shakespeare Company
Saturday 12 July at 2pm. Tactile tour at 1pm
Fairfax Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne
Synopsis: In an exciting new production of Henry V, Damien Ryan will direct
his first main stage production for Bell Shakespeare in 2014.
Damien’s contemporary vision for this play is inspired by a true story – for 71
consecutive nights during the Blitz in 1941, a group of boys trapped in a
bunker rehearsed a new play each week and would then perform it for others
in the shelter. Damien takes Henry V into the 21st century with a group of
young people sheltering from a modern conflict who need this play to summon
up their own spirits and courage, to get through the ‘horrid night, the child of
hell’. But Henry V will tell them more about their own capacity for violence and
for brotherhood than they expect.
INTO THE WOODS music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James
Lapine, presented by Victorian Opera
Wednesday 23 July at 1pm. Tactile tour at 11.50am
Playhouse Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne
Synopsis: The musical is a darkly enchanting story about life after the ‘happily
ever after’. Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine reimagine the magical world
of fairy tales as the classic stories of Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Little
Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel collide with the lives of a childless baker and
his wife. A brand new production of an unforgettable Tony award-winning
musical.
Duration 2 hours and 50 minutes including one interval
GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS by David Mamet
Tuesday 29 July at 6.30pm
Saturday 2 August at 4pm. Tactile tour at 3pm
Sumner Theatre, Southbank Theatre, Melbourne Theatre Company
Cast includes Alex Dimitriades. Director Alkinos Tsilimidos.
Synopsis: Four Chicago Salesmen live to close the deal. But money is tight in
reality these days and there are cutbacks on the way. This month the race to
sell comes with a catch; first prize is a Cadillac, second prize is steak knives,
third prize is… you’re fired.
SEPTEMBER Melbourne
THE EFFECT by Lucy Prebble
Tuesday 9 September at 6.30pm
Saturday 13 September at 4pm. Tactile tour at 3pm
Sumner Theatre, Southbank Theatre, Melbourne Theatre Company
Cast includes Nathaniel Dean, Zahra Newman, Sigrid Thornton. Director
Leticia Caceres.
Synopsis: When unemployed drifter Tristan and psychology student Connie
fall for each other on a drug trial, their happiness seems the most natural thing
in the world. But what if the chemistry between them is only a side-effect of the
drug they’re taking?
THE SUBLIME by Brendon Cowell
Tuesday 16 September at 6.30pm
Saturday 20 September at 4pm. Tactile tour at 3pm
Fairfax Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne
Cast includes Josh McConville. Director Sam Strong.
Synopsis: First there’s Dean, a former NRL star who switched codes and
cities. Then there’s his brother Liam, the footy workhorse who tried to clean up
Dean’s mess. And finally there’s Amber, the teenage athlete who sets in
motion a chain of events that reach far beyond the footy field.
THE RIDERS, a new opera presented by the Victorian Opera
Saturday 27 September at 7.30pm. Tactile tour at 6.20pm
Merlyn Theatre, Malthouse, Tickets phone (03) 9685 5111.
Synopsis: Award-winning composer Iain Grandage and librettist Alison
Croggon breathe new life into Tim Winton’s gripping portrait about the panic
and terror of someone suddenly bereft of love. When the unthinkable happens,
Scully, a decent hearted Australian embarks on a race across Europe
desperately trying to locate his missing wife, with his six year old daughter
Billie in tow. Score features bouzoukis, piano accordions, fiddles and the
sublime recorder playing of Genevieve Lacey.
Running time: 90 minutes with no interval
OCTOBER Melbourne
THE DREAM presented by Bell Shakespeare
Saturday 4 October at 2pm. Tactile tour at 1pm
Fairfax Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne
Synopsis: Peter Evans will reawaken Shakespeare’s classic A Midsummer
Night’s Dream with a breathless 90-minute production that amplifies the
magic, mirth and mayhem.
Love is in the air in Athens – and it’s contagious. Besides the royal wedding,
which is just days away, there are young lovers dreaming of contented futures
together. Hermia and Lysander are besotted with one another, while Helena
adores Demetrius. The only snag is that Demetrius loves Hermia – and he’s
got Hermia’s father on his side. So nobody is happy. (Shakespeare wasn’t
kidding when he said the course of true love never ran smooth).
Determined to be together, Hermia and Lysander meet in a moonlit forest, with
plans to elope. Following hot on their heels is Demetrius, who in turn is
pursued by a lovelorn Helena. But the young lovers are not alone in the forest.
Nick Bottom and his hapless bunch of tradies have gathered to rehearse a
play to be performed at the royal wedding. And, hidden from human eyes, a
mischievous sprinkling of fairies are also in the forest that night. The three
worlds collide in an explosion of comic confusion that throws the future of all
the lovers into jeopardy.
NOVEMBER Melbourne
I’LL EAT YOU LAST by John Logan
Tuesday 25 November at 6.30pm
Saturday 29 November at 4pm. Tactile tour at 3pm
Fairfax Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne
Starring Miriam Margolyes.
Synopsis: Welcome to the glamorous home of Hollywood agent Sue Mengers.
It is 1981 and if an actor isn’t represented by Sue, you haven’t heard of them.
Names will be dropped, secrets divulged, and dirt dished in this wickedly brash
one-woman show.
Donizetti’s DON PASQUALE presented by Opera Australia
Audio described by request only, Saturday 29 November 2013 at 1pm State
Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne
Respectable man of a certain age seeks young lady for companionship and
maybe more. Must like stamp collecting…Tall, handsome 20-something, ready
for romance.Dream girl enjoys riding scooters and drinking capuccinos.
Innocent young lass, loves to walk and read, ideally hoping to meet someone
who can keep her in style.Young professional, medically trained, looking for
business partner with a view to making a motza.
Four characters, four spectacular voices, and a fast-moving plot: this new
production of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale is as fresh and zingy as a lemon
gelato. Enjoy!
Running time: approx two hours including one twenty-minute interval.
Performed in Italian with English surtitles.
DECEMBER Melbourne
PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE by Joanna Murray-Smith
Tuesday 2 December at 6.30pm
Saturday 6 December at 4pm. Tactile tour at 3pm
Sumner Theatre, Southbank Theatre, Melbourne Theatre Company
Synopsis: Joanna Murray-Smith, Bernadette Robinson and Simon Phillips
reunite for a follow-up to the runaway hit ‘Songs for Nobodies’, featuring a
fresh collection of iconic singers who all had a relationship to the White House
- as a performer, a friend or something more intimate.
Verdi’s FALSTAFF presented by Opera Australia
Saturday 6 December at 1pm
State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne
Here comes Sir John, wide of girth, broad of humour and bold in his desires, a
ruddy-nosed knight in all his magnificence.
It’s an incredibly skilful distillation of the slightly unwieldy farce Shakespeare
wrote. Verdi uses great economy and pillages the Henry plays to give Falstaff
extra depth. As a piece of comic writing, it is nearly faultless.
Running time: approx two hours and fifty minutes including two twenty-minute
intervals.
Performed in Italian with English subtitles.
Puccini’s TOSCA presented by Opera Australia
Saturday 13 December at 1pm
State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne
At last they are alone. The man hunt, the interrogation, the prayers, all
forgotten as he leers at his conquest. Just sign the note of safe passage and
she’s his! Where’s that pen? His upper lip sweats as he readies himself for
Tosca’s kiss. He doesn’t see the knife glinting behind her back.
Tosca’s story has been transplanted to 1943, when Mussolini’s successors
abandoned Rome to the invading German armies.
Running Time: Approximately 3 hours and five minutes including two intervals
of 35 and 25 minutes.
Performed in Italian with English surtitles.
End of Melbourne 2014 schedule
Brisbane 2014
Ensure you are seated 15 minutes prior to the start of the performance to
receive broadcast of program details and a description of the set design
through the ear piece.
For all bookings please call qtix group sales (07) 3840 7466 Monday to Friday
9am - 5pm or by emailing [email protected]
Please state that you require Audio Description when placing your booking
Companion Card bookings are accepted for all performances
All Performances take place at The Queensland Performing Arts Centre
Corner Grey and Melbourne Streets, South Bank 4101
For further information regarding Audio Description, or to join our mailing list to
keep you up to date with the latest inclusions throughout the season and
receive pre show notes call Vision Australia on 1300 84 74 66
February Brisbane
The Rocky Horror Show
Sunday 9 February - 1:30pm
Lyric Theatre, QPAC (07) 3840 7466
Get ready for fun, frolics and frivolity in this all new 40th anniversary
production of Richard O’Brien’s classic The Rocky Horror Show
The coveted role of Frank N Furter will be played by Craig McLachlan, fresh
from shooting the title role in the second series of ABC TV’s top rating drama
series The Doctor Blake Mysteries. Playing the roles of Janet and Brad, the
naïve young couple caught up in a situation they don’t understand, will be
musical theatre favourites Christie Whelan Browne (A Funny Thing Happened
On The Way To The Forum, Shane Warne The Musical) and Tim Maddren (Hi
5, The Addams Family). Reprising his role as Riff Raff, Frank’s loyal
handyman, which he played in New Zealand and the UK will be Kristian
Lavercombe, while his sister Magenta will be played by Erika Heynatz, who
was nominated for a Helpmann Award for her debut musical theatre role in
Legally Blonde.
Columbia, the groupie in Frank’s entourage, will be played by Ashlea Pyke
(Legally Blonde), and Eddie and Dr Scott will be Nicholas Christo (My Fair
Lady). In his first leading role as Frank’s creation Rocky will be Brendan Irving
(An Officer and a Gentleman). The Phantoms will be played by Vincent
Hooper (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), Luigi Lucente (Wicked), Meghan O’Shea (A
Chorus Line) and Angela Scundi (Spring Awakening), while the Swing/Dance
Captain will be James Maxfield (A Chorus Line).
Ready to thrill you with its frothy fun and naughty moments, The Rocky Horror
Show is the boldest bash of them all!
So, ladies and gents, sharpen those stilettos for the rockiest ride of your life!
Australia Day (QTC)
Friday 7 February - 7.30pm
Saturday 8 February - 2pm
Playhouse, QPAC (07) 3840 7466
The Mountaintop (QTC)
Saturday 8 March - 2pm
Playhouse, QPAC (07) 3840 7466
A rainy April night in Memphis, 1968 – and it will be Dr Martin Luther King Jr's
last night on Earth. Wearied by his years-long march at the head of the Civil
Rights Movement, the preacher checks into room 306 at the modest Lorraine
Motel. Before the sun sets again, he will be shot dead. King's late-night room
service coffee comes with more of a kick than he bargained for: Camae, a
hotel maid on her first night on the job. Fascinated by this beautiful, brassy,
blunt lady, King allows her to take him on a journey to confront his past before
his date with destiny. But is this irreverent maid all she seems to be, or does
she have a grander plan for the firebrand preacher?
Insightful and provocative, The Mountaintop is a lively, funny, moving and
magical look back at the life of one of the most inspirational men in history. But
far from putting him on a pedestal, it's a warts-and-all portrait of a human
being, culminating in a blistering recap of decades of civil rights history, and
leading right up to the present day.
Penned by brilliant young Memphis playwright Katori Hall, the play was a West
End and Broadway sell-out. Making his Company debut, Pacharo Mzembe
shines as Dr Martin Luther King Jr while vivacious actress, activist and hip-hop
sensation Candy Bowers (pictured) dazzles as Camae.
Original Broadway production produced by Jean Doumanian, Sonia Friedman
and Ambassador Theatre Group.
Warning: Some coarse language
WINNER OF OLIVIER AWARD FOR BEST NEW PLAY (2010)
March Brisbane
Rigoletto (Queensland Opera)
Tuesday 25 March - 7.30pm
Saturday 29 March - 1.30pm
Lyric Theatre, QPAC (07) 3840 7466
April Brisbane
Macbeth (QTC)
Saturday 5 April - 2pm
Friday 11 April at 7.30pm
Playhouse, QPAC (07) 3840 7466
William Shakespeare's Macbeth is the original game of thrones – a dark epic
of ambition, betrayal and murder set in the wilds of the Scottish highlands.
Wending his way back from war, famed general Macbeth is seduced by three
witches who prophesy he will be king.
Spurred on by his adoring and ambitious wife, he schemes and sets about the
massive sin of regicide – the violent murder of a king – leaving the blood
stained couple to wrestle with its monumental consequences.
Directed by Michael Attenborough, and presented in association with 40-year
veteran Brisbane theatre troupe Grin & Tonic, this is a colossal production with
a cast of 15. Jason Klarwein andVeronica Neave (pictured) star as the royal
couple and head up an all-star local cast.
This initiative is supported by Arts Queensland through the Super Star Fund, a
Queensland Government program that delivers super star performances
exclusive to the state.
May Brisbane
The King and I - Opera Australia
Wednesday 21 May at 1.30pm.
Don’t miss this legendary production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's THE
KING AND I. A triple crown award winner: The Tony, the Drama Desk and the
Outer Critics Circle for Best Musical Revival, this dazzling show is a lavish and
triumphant fresh new look at a time-honoured classic.
Hailed as 'THE MOST RAVISHING SHOW YOU MAY EVER SEE ON
BROADWAY' when it opened in 1996, this multi-award winning production of
THE KING AND I was created in Australia and conquered Broadway and
London before touring the US and the UK. It is a story of love and joy, set to
one of the most glorious, unforgettable scores ever written, including Shall We
Dance, I Whistle A Happy Tune, Hello Young Lovers, Getting To Know You, I
Have Dreamed and Something Wonderful.
Coppelia (Queensland Ballet)
Saturday 10 May 1.30pm
Playhouse Theatre
July Brisbane
Romeo and Juliet (Queensland Ballet)
Lyric Theatre, QPAC (07) 3840 7466
Saturday 5 July - 1.30pm
Shakespeare's tragic tale of star-cross'd lovers is told through breathtaking,
glorious dance in Sir Kenneth Macmillan's iconic production of Romeo & Juliet.
Queensland Ballet is honoured to be the first company in Australia to present
this celebrated work of 20th century dance.
With dazzling guest stars Tamara Rojo, Carlos Acosta and Steven McRae,
also in the cast for selected performances are acclaimed Australian Ballet
Principal Artist, Daniel Gaudiello, as Mercutio and former Principal, Steven
Heathcote, as Lord Capulet.
MacMillan's Romeo & Juliet is a magnificent and grand production, but the
very human story at its heart is told with extraordinary intimacy. Whether in a
lethal marketplace brawl or the blissful balcony pas de deux, the realistic and
daring choreography resounds with raw emotional truth.
Celebrating the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare's play and the 50th
anniversary of the creation of this ballet, Romeo & Juliet will be a superlative,
not-to-be missed, event.
Choreography Sir Kenneth MacMillan
Designer Paul Andrews
Lighting Designer John B Read
Birmingham Royal Ballet Head of Scenic Presentation Doug Nicholson
Costume Supervisor Michael Brown
With the Queensland Symphony Orchestra
Conductor Andrew Mogrelia
Composer Sergei Prokofiev
September Brisbane
The Perfect American Opera Queensland
Friday 19 September - 7.30pm
Concert Hall, QPAC (07) 3840 7466
October Brisbane
Black Diggers (QTC)
Friday 3 October - 7.30pm
Saturday 4 October - 2pm
Playhouse, QPAC (07) 3840 7466
One hundred years ago, a bullet from an assassin's gun sparked a war that
ignited the globe. Patriotic young men all over the world lined up to join the
fight - including hundreds of Indigenous Australians. Shunned and
downtrodden in their own country, these bold souls took up arms to defend the
free world in its time of greatest need. For them, facing the horror of war on a
Gallipoli beach was an escape from the shackles of racism at home. However,
when the survivors came back, there was no heroes' welcome.
Black Diggers is the story of these men – a story of honour and sacrifice that
has been covered up and almost forgotten.
Directed by Wesley Enoch and written by Tom Wright, Black Diggers is the
culmination of painstaking research into the lives and deaths of the thousand
or so Indigenous soldiers who fought for the British Commonwealth in World
War I. Grand in scale and scope, it draws from in-depth interviews with the
families of black Diggers who heard the call to arms from all over Australia, as
well as conversations with veterans, historians and academics. Young men
will step from the blank pages of history to share their compelling stories – and
after the curtain falls, we will finally remember them.
Warning: Low level coarse language. Adult references to death and war.
GASP!
Saturday 29 November - 2pm
Playhouse, QPAC (07) 3840 7466
Corporate powerhouse Lockheart Industries is already making a mint, but too
much money is never enough. Slick executive Philip comes up with a genius
plan to privatise the air we breathe, with the 'Suck and Blow' filtering machine
– guaranteed to cut down on smog and offer a better class of oxygen. It's an
instant hit, and sales soar – but corporate greed rears its ugly head, ethics are
blown away, and Philip's idea splits the planet into the haves and the havenots – and if you can't pay, you don't breathe.
Infused with the sarcastic, sharp wit that made Elton a household name, the
play is a breathtaking, biting, brilliantly funny satire on the heartlessness of big
business and the ruthlessness of the advertising industry.
Continuing QTC's fertile collaboration with Western Australia's Black Swan
State Theatre Company, Gasp! draws cast members from Brisbane and Perth.
First performed in London in 1990, starring Hugh Laurie, it was the playwriting
debut for stand-up comic Elton, who is still beloved for his scriptwriting on
seminal sitcoms such as The Young Ones and Blackadder.
Twenty-five years after Gasp! (previously known as Gasping) was written,
Elton's first play hasn't run out of puff. Somewhat frighteningly, it seems to
have become even more relevant.
Warning: Some coarse language
End of Brisbane Schedule
Canberra 2014
Tactile tours are also offered at selected shows 1 hour prior to the
performance
Please state that you require Audio Description when placing your booking at
the theatre.
For further information, or to join our mailing list to keep you up to date with
the latest inclusions throughout the season please call Vision Australia on
1300 84 74 66
February Canberra
A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED By AGATHA CHRISTIE
Sunday 23 February at 1pm. Tactile tour at 12pm prior to performance
Canberra Theatre, Civic Square Phone (02) 6275 2700
In an English village, you turn over a stone and have no idea what will crawl
out. The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn, including Miss Marple, are agog with
curiosity over an advertisement in the local gazette which reads: ‘A murder is
announced and will take place on Friday 13th October, at Little Paddocks at
6.30pm.’ A childish practical joke or a hoax?
Unable to resist the mysterious invitation, a crowd begins to gather at Little
Paddocks when, at the appointed time, the lights go out, a gun is fired and a
body falls…
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
May Canberra
ADMISSION: ONE SHILLING devised by NIGEL HESS
Wednesday 21 May at 1pm
The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre Phone (02) 6275 2700
Patricia Routledge, best known as Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping up
Appearances, stars alongside renowned classical pianist Piers Lane to tell the
inspiring story of Dame Myra Hess in Admission: One Shilling.
Adapted from interviews given by the legendary pianist and interspersed with
short piano pieces by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Beethoven and Bach,
this captivating production will transport audiences back to the moraleboosting recitals at London’s National Gallery which Dame Myra produced
during World War II.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR by SIMON STONE after NIKOLAI GOGOL
(Replacing The Philadelphia Story)
Saturday 31 May at 2pm. Tactile tour at 1pm prior to performance
The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre Phone (02) 6275 2700
Nikolai Gogol invented one of the great comic premises of all time: what
happens when a completely ordinary, perhaps even sub-ordinary guy finds
himself, more or less by accident, enjoying the full benefits of public power?
In a town somewhere - could be anywhere, really - news comes from the
capital that someone seriously serious is coming to report on the state of this
and that. Panic! And that indolent nobody Khlestakov finds himself the subject
of all the fawning and excess of being somebody.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
June Canberra
HENRY V by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Saturday 28 June at 2pm. Tactile tour at 1pm prior to performance.
The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre Phone (02) 6275 2700
When Henry is manipulated by church advisors, taunted by French royalty and
betrayed by English nobles, he has all the ammunition he needs to lash out
and invade France, or does he? Having executed conspirators, and
vanquished enemy forces in Harfleur, Henry’s army is ‘weak and sickly’ as it
staggers towards a showdown at Agincourt.
The night before battle, the king endures a long dark night of the soul, where
he hears first-hand about the fears and frailties of his outnumbered soldiers,
but Henry has one last weapon up his sleeve: the power of words, and it may
just be enough to save his men, his country and himself.
Told through the prism of civilians caught in a 21st century conflict, Damien
Ryan’s courageous production will expose the hidden layers within Henry V,
from their hiding place underground, the children’s portrayal of Shakespeare’s
classic will reveal how violence can be a rite of passage into manhood, on a
broader level, it will be an unflinching examination of political spin, patriotism,
religion, class, brotherhood and leaders of men.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
August Canberra
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST by OSCAR WILDE
Saturday 23 August at 2pm. Tactile tour at 1pm prior to performance.
The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre Phone (02) 6275 2700
Set within the stifling conventions of Victorian England, two young bachelors
have taken to bending the rules and the truth to add a dash of excitement to
their lives. Jack invents a brother Ernest as an excuse to leave his dull country
life behind so that he may pursue Gwendolen, the delectable daughter of the
formidable Lady Bracknell.
Across town Algernon decides to take the name Ernest when visiting Jack’s
young ward Cecily. When each gentleman is forced to unwind his web of lies
and reveal himself – being ‘earnest’ takes on a whole new meaning!When
booking, please state that you require Audio Description. Note: Companion
Card is accepted
September Canberra
THE DREAM by PETER EVANS after Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream
Saturday 13 September at 2pm. Tactile tour at 1pm prior to performance
The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre Phone (02) 6275 2700
Love is in the air in Athens – and it’s contagious. Besides the royal wedding,
which is just days away, there are young lovers dreaming of contented futures
together. Hermia and Lysander are besotted with one another, while Helena
adores Demetrius. The only snag is that Demetrius loves Hermia – and he’s
got Hermia’s father on his side. So nobody is happy. (Shakespeare wasn’t
kidding when he said the course of true love never ran smooth).
Determined to be together, Hermia and Lysander meet in a moonlit forest, with
plans to elope. Following hot on their heels is Demetrius, who in turn is
pursued by a lovelorn Helena. But the young lovers are not alone in the forest.
Nick Bottom and his hapless bunch of tradies have gathered to rehearse a
play to be performed at the royal wedding. And, hidden from human eyes, a
mischievous sprinkling of fairies are also in the forest that night. The three
worlds collide in an explosion of comic confusion that throws the future of all
the lovers into jeopardy.When booking, please state that you require Audio
Description. Note: Companion Card is accepted
October Canberra
THE WHARF REVUE
Saturday 4 October. Tactile tour at 12.30 pm prior to performance
The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre Phone (02) 6275 2700
Join Jonathan Biggins, Amanda Bishop, Drew Forsythe and Phillip Scott as
they bring an all new, up-to-the-minute dose of their keenly-observed comic
genius.
Look out for some of your most – and least! – loved public figures as they are
paraded in their emperor’s clothes for your delectation.
Featuring an array of characters including Keating, Gillard, Howard and
Hawke. This brilliant blend of side-splitting sketches and musical mayhem
never fails to amuse.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description. Note:
Companion Card is accepted
End of Canberra schedule
Wollongong 2014
Tactile tours are also offered at selected shows 1 hour prior to the
performance
Please state that you require Audio Description when placing your booking at
the theatre.
For further information, or to join our mailing list to keep you up to date with
the latest inclusions throughout the season please call Vision Australia on
1300 84 74
FEBRUARY Wollongong
MAN WHO DREAMT THE STARS devised by the cast and creative team
Saturday 22 February at 7.30pm
Gordon Theatre, Illawarra Performing Arts Centre Phone 02 4224 5999
Cast: Alicia Battestini, Drayton Morley, Rachel Murphy, Phillip Prentice
Synopsis: The Quiet Man is obsessed with all things astronomical; his solitary
days spent dreaming of space travel. On the night of a solar storm, his
peaceful seclusion is disrupted by a crack in the space-time continuum, and
into his world come three lonely figures. Will the cosmic forces unleashed in
this brave new world of connection transform his dreams into reality?
The Man Who Dreamt the Stars combines stunning interactive video
projection, visual storytelling, and a unique soundscape to create an absurd,
playful and powerfully emotional world.
Recommended for ages 12+.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
MARCH Wollongong
THE LONG WAY HOME by Daniel Keene
Saturday 8 March at 2pm
IMB Theatre, Illawarra Performing Arts Centre Phone 02 4224 5999
Sydney Theatre Company has embarked upon an historic endeavour with the
Australian Defence Force to present this major new work.
The Long Way Home reflects the Australian Defence Force's recent
experiences on operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and East Timor, as well as in
humanitarian and disaster relief, and protecting Australia's borders.
British director Stephen Rayne and multi-award-winning Australian writer
Daniel Keene have shaped a powerful piece of theatre, featuring military
personnel recovering from physical and psychological injuries. These
servicemen and women will perform alongside professional actors as part of a
broader rehabilitation program that will assist their recovery.
Running time: about 2 hours including interval
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
APRILWollongong
THE 13-STOREY TREEHOUSE adapted by Richard Tulloch
Wednesday 16 April at 12pm
IMB Theatre, Illawarra Performing Arts Centre Phone 02 4224 5999
Who wouldn’t want to live in a treehouse? Especially a 13-storey treehouse
that has everything, including a bowling alley, a secret underground
laboratory, self-making beds, a vegetable vaporiser and a marshmallow
machine.
The 13-Storey Treehouse is brought to life by a seriously funny cast and
magical moments of theatricality.
Recommended for ages 6+.
Running time: about 1 hour with no interval
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
JUNE Wollongong
THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR by Simon Stone after Nikolai Gogol
Saturday 7 June at 2pm
IMB Theatre, Illawarra Performing Arts Centre Phone 02 4224 5999
Cast: Emily Barclay, Gareth Davies, Greg Stone
Synopsis: Nikolai Gogol invented one of the great comic premises of all time:
what happens when a completely ordinary, perhaps even sub-ordinary guy
finds himself, more or less by accident, enjoying the full benefits of public
power?
In a town somewhere - could be anywhere, really - news comes from the
capital that someone seriously serious is coming to report on the state of this
and that. Panic! And that indolent nobody Khlestakov finds himself the subject
of all the fawning and excess of being somebody.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
JULY Wollongong
THE FACTORY by Vela Manusaute
Saturday 12 July at 2pm
IMB Theatre, Illawarra Performing Arts Centre Phone 02 4224 5999
A big-hearted musical with a whole lot of soul.
Arriving in New Zealand with her father, a young Samoan woman with big
dreams and hopes for a brighter future is immediately set to work in a South
Auckland textile factory; but each time the factory bell rings, she feels further
away from both her home and her aspirations.
Hilarious and heartfelt, this vibrant, funk-fuelled musical weaves a romantic
narrative and wry lyrics into a tribute to the courage of the Pacific peoples who
migrated to Auckland during the 1970s. Featuring an original score, a live
band, slick choreography, and a dazzling array of exuberant and soulful
songs, The Factory is a clever and optimistic exploration of the migrant
experience that will leave you beaming!
Running time: 1 hr 30 mins (no interval)
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
AUGUST Wollongong
FOOD by Steve Rodgers
Saturday 21 August at 2.30pm
Gordon Theatre, Illawarra Performing Arts Centre Phone 02 4224 5999
On a stretch of Australian highway, two sisters run a takeaway joint, their days
heavy with Chiko Rolls and memories. While they quietly wage war with their
past and dream of a brighter future, a young life-loving Turkish traveller arrives
with a charm and sensuality that turns their world around.
Their dreams become reality when they transform their rundown fast-food stop
into a restaurant showcasing Elma’s gift for comfort cooking. Audience
members become restaurant guests as the sisters serve up Elma’s hearty
minestrone soup, sourdough and local wines.
Recommended for ages 16+. Contains strong language and adult themes.
Running time: 1 hr 30 mins (no interval)
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted
SEPTEMBER Wollongong
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST by Oscar Wilde
Saturday 6 September at 2pm
IMB Theatre, Illawarra Performing Arts Centre Phone 02 4224 5999
Cast: Nancye Hayes, Nathan O’Keefe, Anna Steen, Rory Walker
Synopsis: Set within the stifling conventions of Victorian England, two young
bachelors have taken to bending the rules and the truth to add a dash of
excitement to their lives. Jack invents a brother Ernest as an excuse to leave
his dull country life behind so that he may pursue Gwendolen, the delectable
daughter of the formidable Lady Bracknell. Across town, Algernon decides to
take the name Ernest when visiting Jack’s young ward Cecily. When each
gentleman is forced to unwind his web of lies and reveal himself, being
“earnest” takes on a whole new meaning.
Grand dame of the Australian theatre, multi-award-winner Nancye Hayes OAM
brings the formidable and acidic Lady Bracknell to life alongside the elastic
and hilarious Nathan O’Keefe as Algernon in a theatre event that is
guaranteed to delight!
Recommended for ages 12+.
When booking, please state that you require Audio Description.
Note: Companion Card is accepted. End document