An intimate and strongly shaped human drama which examines the social forces behind the impulse to violence in individual lives, the Seymour Centre and White Box Theatre presents the gripping and controversial drama, Blackrock in the Reginald Theatre from 9 March 2017.
Written by award-winning Australian playwright Nick Enright (A Man With Five Children, Cloudstreet, The Boy From Oz and the Academy Award-nominated screenplay, Lorenzo’s Oil), Blackrock was adapted from his original play, A Property of the Clan, and was inspired by the 1989 murder of Leigh Leigh in Stockton, near Newcastle.
In Blackrock, it’s Toby Ackland’s birthday party near the surf club, and that should mean heaps of grog, drugs and good clean fun. But by the morning, a young girl is dead, raped by three boys and bashed with a rock.
Blackrock was a confronting piece of work when it first premiered in 1995, going on to win the AWGIE Award for best play in 1996, and to be developed into a feature film. A stunning exploration of Australian youth culture, our viewing of women in society and what it is to be a ‘man’, Blackrock is a powerful Australian classic that remains startlingly relevant in 2017.
Nick Enright (1950–2003) trained for the theatre at New York University School of Arts after early experience in Australia. He was an actor, director and teacher as well as a prolific writer. He has also written for film and television, including co-writing with George Miller the screenplay for Lorenzo’s Oil which was nominated for an Oscar, a number of musicals with composer Terence Clarke, and the book for the Australian production of The Boy From Oz. Among many awards were two Green Room Awards for Best Play, and four Gold AWGIE Awards, the 1998 Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award and the NSW Premiers’ Special Award.
Director: Kim Hardwick Featuring: Kate Cheel, Sam Delich, Lucy Heffernan, Tessa James, Alex Packard, Gautier Pavlovic-Hobba, Zoe Carides, Noel Hodda Set & Costume Design: Isabel Hudson Lighting & Vision Design: Martin Kinnane Composition & Sound Design: Nate Edmondson
Blackrock
Reginald Theatre – Seymour Centre, Corner City Road & Cleveland Street, Chippendale
Season: 9 – 25 March 2017
Information and Bookings: www.seymourcentre.com