Queensland Theatre Company 2008

Thursday, 10 July 2008

This World and the Next

“This World and the Next” was written as an introduction to the published play of David Williamson’s Travelling North. This extract is reproduced courtesy of Currency Press www.currency.com.au

Structuring experience is fundamental to David Williamson’s idea of the theatre. We are reminded that he came to play writing as a graduate in mechanical engineering who had extended his interests to psychology. The elements of experience are to be brought together, juxtaposed to suggest pattern, relationship, meaning; while the audience, he hopes, will compare and test their own reaction to situations against those of the stage characters. Williamson’s characters and situations solicit our attention not for their realistic execution, but for the structure of meaning of which they are components. To dwell on the conventional reticence of his naturalistic surface is to be assured of missing the point.

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Thursday, 10 July 2008

Heinur Muller on Anatomy TItus Fall of Rome

Playwright Heinur Muller discusses the reasons behind his decision to re-work Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus.
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Thursday, 22 May 2008

The August Moon - Cyclone Larry's emotional impact

In March 2006 tropical Cyclone Larry crossed the Queensland coast and devastated the community of Innisfail. In Sydney playwright Adam Grossetti (Mano Nera), born in Innisfail, phoned close friend actor/director Jean-Marc Russ (I Am My Own Wife) to suggest they travel to the stricken town with the idea of writing a play about the cyclone. When Adam read a newspaper article about the death of an August Moon caravan park resident, Bryan Young, he thought he’d found his story. He hadn’t.

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Thursday, 22 May 2008

Anatomy Titus - Examining the World. An interview with Michael Gow

In 1592, Shakespeare wrote Titus Andronicus: a succession of acts of senseless violence, hate, revenge and a perverted enjoyment of power. In 1984 the German author Heiner Müller adapted this piece into Anatomy Titus Fall of Rome: A Shakespeare Commentary, hoping not only to analyse the experience of random violence, but also to gain a better understanding of it as it pertained to his world. The Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq were at war, the Falkland’s War had just taken place, Israel had invaded Lebanon and theUnited States had invaded Granada. In September 2008, two decades on, Queensland Theatre Company and Bell Shakespeare test the vision of Anatomy Titus Fall of Rome: A Shakespeare Commentary against today’s reality in this Australian premiere. Here Director Michael Gow talks about Müller and his masterpiece.

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Thursday, 17 January 2008

Writing and the Women's Movement

In 2000, famous Australian writer and feminist Germain Greer was held hostage in her home by Karen Burke, an infatuated and unstable 19 year-old. This incident inspired playwright Joanna Murray-Smith to write The Female of the Species, a play about a fictional Feminist writer and the legacy of her works.

Here reknowned Australian feminist Dale Spender reflects on the role of women's writings in the Women's Liberation Movement.

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Monday, 17 December 2007

Something new in 2008

In 2008 Queensland Theatre Company will be engaging arts industry leaders, artists, academics and local community members to write essays giving you insight into the theatre business, issues involved with our productions and the ins and outs of making fantastic theatre. If you're interested in contributing, please contact our Publicity & Communications Coordinator at skelly@qldtheatreco.com.au

Be swept up by Cyclone Larry

In a production exploring the boundaries of cutting-edge theatre, Queensland Theatre Company captures the destruction and personal debris of Cyclone Larry in The August Moon.

14 Jul – 9 Aug