I wrote this play in a sports bra. I am not an athlete in my current life and hadn’t worn one since high school. I would take off my shirt, take off my bra, pull the sports bra over my …

The Wolves is a play that celebrates what it means to be a team, to be young and growing. Throughout this process it has been a privilege to work with a team of ten phenomenal women on a play that …

Actor Rajan Velu, recently returned from almost 10 years of film, television and theatre work in the US, on Counting and Cracking and the huge changes to the entertainment industry in the past decade, and the importance of representation. What …

Sydney based actor and youth worker Monica Kumar on learning new languages for the role and the incredible socio-political backdrop to the production. What did you expect when you were cast in Counting and Cracking?   I was really excited …

This is an Australian story. It’s not only an Australian story, but it is definitely an Australian story. Much of it takes place in Sri Lanka: the story of Australia is the story of many places, many people. Ours is …

This article was originally published in The Weekend Australian Review, January 5-6, 2019. Read the original article on The Australian here. Counting and Cracking is at Sydney Town Hall as part of Sydney Festivval, 11 January – 2 February …

“Early in 2018, when the playwright (Shakthidharan) and director (Eamon Flack) first came to my city Bengaluru, India for a quick audition, I was already in love with the script, which had been emailed to me. Several months later, when …

Yael Stone 7:30 Report Interview   “In regard to the 7:30 Report interview on 17 December, we’re upset that Yael has carried these years of anguish. Belvoir strives to have a safe and respectful workplace for artists, staff and audiences …

Perth based actor, writer and theatre maker Jay Emmanuel on the social and political power of Counting and Cracking, and his experiences of rehearsal as he works on his portrayal of young Thirru. What did you expect when you were …

Over the past twenty years it has become a rite of passage for young, innovative directors to take on Ibsen, the great Norwegian playwright born in 1828. By tackling the big social issues of his time and applying a more …

I first came cross random on a hot summer’s afternoon in London in 2009. It was my first time at the National Theatre Bookshop, and I was surrounded by all the best new plays that Europe had to offer. Something …

This brand-new version of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People by Melissa Reeves is a comedy with a fierce political heart. Ibsen wrote Enemy in response to the critical backlash he received for his play Ghosts. His script bristles …

Belvoir has announced Kodie Bedford as the recipient of the Balnaves Foundation Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Fellowship, an evolution of the Balnaves Foundation Indigenous Playwright Award, which has long been recognised as one of the most prestigious playwriting awards …

Shelagh Delaney, who grew up poor in the middle of England in the middle of the 20th century, wrote A Taste of Honey when she was 19. The way she tells it, a young man took her to a play …

I was asked recently what effect A Taste of Honey had had on my life. All I could remember were a handful of idiot teachers who said things like: “I bet you want to be a writer when you grow …

You’ve worked on a number of Belvoir shows, and the latest, A Taste of Honey, is about to open. Can you tell us a bit about your process? Does it change according to the director? My basic process is …

His heart revives nine minutes later, but while ‘dead’ he becomes aware of the literal reality of Heaven and Hell. So much so, that Harry thinks his return to life is actually an entry into Hell. This opens the Peter …

We were thrilled to see Sam’s name among the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honour List. She was awarded her AO “For distinguished service to the community through philanthropic support for arts programs and cultural institutions, and to a range of charitable …

This is a story about Harry Joy. He is awakening to the Hell he has been complicit in creating and he is only just starting to realise its vastness. He is beginning to understand the destructiveness of historic patriarchy and …

It’s the early 1980s in Australia. On the TV, ads flicker gravelly masculinity, flogging beer, lemon squash, and a new nationalism for the bigger world we are about to enter. “We’re gonna have to wake up sometime that everything’s not …

Bliss as a novel luxuriated in surrealist commentary on the hellishness of capitalism – excess and the hallucinations of ego-success. Was it difficult to translate the surrealism of the novel for the stage? Yes. With adaptations, it’s often what you …

How many times have you read Bliss? It’s a useful question because you could argue that I should’ve read it more! I read it perhaps three times before I was asked to write the adaptation. In hindsight, I wish …

Malthouse Theatre’s Youth and Education Manager Vanessa O’Neill met with their Artistic Director Matthew Lutton to discuss the Malthouse Theatre and Belvoir production of Bliss. Why are you interested in staging Peter Carey’s novel Bliss? I am interested …

Making theatre is expensive, especially if you’re starting out and you have no funding*. Theatre requires time and space. In Sydney, both these things are at a premium. So while we can’t buy time for the artists, we can give …

The Sugar House is a story of Sydney. Writer Alana Valentine talks about the play’s genesis… Nostalgia is not always a soothing experience. It can produce rage at things unnecessarily destroyed and pain from a sense of irretrievable loss.
Frank …

Sarah Goodes talks about bringing The Sugar House to the stage… When I first read Alana’s play I was struck by the family drama at the heart of it: the often tragic triangle of tension that lies within families – …

Critics and contemporaries agree that Nikolai Erdman is one of the greatest Russian playwrights since Chekhov, and his two plays are regarded as classics of 20th-century comedy. Erdman was born in Moscow on 16 November 1900, the son of a …

In 2012, after many years of friendship, Noni and I worked together for the first time on Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of The Heretic. This experience solidified our personal connection and established our professional rapport and desire to continue …

Whenever I see theatre in Australia I like to watch the people in the audience. They sigh, laugh and cry with recognition as the story unfolding on stage touches them, connects them, and validates their existence — something I rarely …

I wanted to make My Urrwai for a bunch of reasons. I wanted to find my voice on a stage. I wanted to put more Torres Strait Islander work on stage. I wanted to grow my practice, and one really …