Packer & Sons
16 November - 22 December 2019
Upstairs Theatre
By Tommy Murphy Director Eamon Flack
About
A battler at a Tasmanian racecourse finds ten shillings in the dirt. He puts it on a 12-1 long shot, and when it romps home he’s off to the mainland, and the Packer Dynasty is born. Fathers and sons across generations, through war, the Depression, technological change. The family myth grows with the influence, and each son feels the weight of time, of power. But now it’s the 21st century. Newspapers, magazines, broadcast TV – what are they? Now it’s time for entertainment through your phone. And back to laying bets on long shots.
A deeply researched, muscular work from Tommy Murphy (Mark Colvin’s Kidney, Holding the Man), Packer & Sons puts on stage the men who have loomed large over Sydney for nearly 100 years.
Plotted around the transitions of power from father to son over four generations, this is a play about power and what it does to the men who wield it.
Tommy writes real life like nobody else – complex dramatic portraits, a pitchperfect sense of the public interest in the private life. In other words, no one is better suited to write about the Packer line. This is about power in Sydney, and it’s about the age-old matter of what is passed on from fathers to sons. Robust and brilliant.
Supported by Australian Writers’ Guild’s David Williamson Prize
Cast
John Gaden
John Howard
Brandon McClelland
Josh McConville
Team
Set and Costume Designer Romanie Harper
Stage Manager Luke McGettigan
Assistant Stage Manager Jen Parsonage
Performance Times
16 November – 22 December 2019
Tuesday 6.30pm
Wednesday 6.30pm
Thursday 1pm & 7.30pm
Friday 7.30pm
Saturday 2pm & 7.30pm
Sunday 5pm
Previews
7.30pm, 16 November
6.30pm, 17 November
7.30pm, 19 November
Opening Night (invitation only)
7.30pm, 20 November
Post-show Q&A
26 November, directly following the performance
Thursday Matinee
1pm, 28 November
1pm, 12 & 19 December
Unwaged Performance
1pm, 5 December
Belvoir Briefing
6,30pm, 7 November
Prices
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| Centre | Left/Right | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekday + Sat Mat | Weekend Evenings | Weekday Matinee | Weekday + Sat Mat | Weekend Evenings | Weekday Matinee | |
| Full Price (adult)^ | $80 | $85 | $70 | $75 | $80 | $65 |
| Mates Rates (Adult) | $70 | $75 | $60 | $70 | $75 | $60 |
| Senior* | $70 | $75 | $60 | $65 | $70 | $55 |
| Concession† | $60 | $65 | $50 | $55 | $60 | $45 |
| 30-Down# | $58 | $48 | $53 | $43 | ||
| Previews | $54 | $54 | $49 | $49 | ||
| Student Saver# | $45 | $35 | $40 | $30 | ||
Sponsors
Running Time and Content Warnings
Approximate running times of each production are uploaded to the production page as soon as that information becomes available. During the rehearsal period running times are liable to change given the extensive workshopping and development each production undergoes before it reaches the stage.
Content warnings will also be uploaded to each production page as they are advised.
Should you wish to speak to speak to a member of staff regarding running times, content warnings or any other show related queries, our box office can be contacted on 02 9699 3444.
