Black Swan announces 2014 season

Peter Rowsthorn Image by Rob FrithBlack Swan State Theatre Company has launched its 2014 season in the State Theatre Centre’s Heath Ledger revealing a mainstage season of six plays containing a mix of classics and new work, and a return to the Studio Underground with two plays as part of the Black Swan Lab program.

Artistic Director Kate Cherry says ” The battle for dominance between chaos and order, savagery and civility makes for great theatre, and is central to our 2014 season.”

Sigrid Thornton will star as Blanche DuBois in Tennessee William’s A Streetcar Named Desire. Featuring Nathaniel Dean and some of Western Australia’s most acclaimed performers, this heartbreaking play directed by Kate Cherry will intoxicate you with its raw, dramatic power.

As You Like It is one of the most beloved romantic comedies of all time. Playful, passionate and enchanting, the topsy-turvy tale of Rosalind and Orlando is chock-full of outlandish characters and some of Shakespeare’s greatest lines. Roger Hodgman will direct a large WA cast in Shakespeare’s topsy-turvy comedy.

Tender, uplifting and unforgettable, Dust, by acclaimed and dazzling playwright Suzie Miller is about the odysseys we embark on when our worlds turn upside down. A stunning look at the ways in which we love, blame, connect, and find beauty in the chaos of our lives. A Rio Tinto Black Swan Commission.

The Seagull is about the stories we craft out of our dreams and disappointments, about love in all its guises and about artists who behave just like everyone else – only a little bit more so! Greta Scacchi and her daughter Leila George will star in Chekhov’s work of genius, directed by Kate Cherry.

It’s 1953. Senator McCarthy is raising hell about ‘reds’ in show biz, and there’s “a wait list to get on the blacklist”. Written by Neil Simon, Laughter on the 23rd Floor is based on his time as one of Sid Caesar’s comedy writers, the non-stop gags keep on rolling in this clever comedy about clever comedians, starring the impossibly funny Peter Rowsthorn (pictured).

Imagine a world in which the air we breathe is just another commodity like food and fuel. Something that can be bought and sold according to market forces. How much do you think you’d have to breathe?

This was the darkly comic premise on which Ben Elton based his first play, the hilarious and critically acclaimed satirical comedy Gasping. Ben Elton has revisited his original play and re-imagined it for a new century and a new country.

In the Studio Underground, a new initiative called Black Swan Lab will provide dynamic opportunities for ambitious artistic collaborations. In its inaugural year, the Black Swan Lab presents two world premieres, Flood by Perth writer Chris Isaacs and The House on The Lake by Aidan Fennessy.

“We are proud to bring artists of this calibre to the people of Western Australia. This season of drama is sexy, scintillating and downright hilarious, a cri de coeur to live our lives as fully as we can and to share them with strangers as well as with friends,” says Cherry.

For more information, visit: www.bsstc.com.au for details.

Image: Peter Rowsthorn by Rob Frith