An enthralling memory play set across several decades and three generations, Darlinghurst Theatre Company presents Good Works by acclaimed playwright Nick Enright (Cloud Street, The Boy From Oz) at the Eternity Playhouse from 4 November 2015.
A powerful and masterfully told Australian story, Good Works follows the lives of two women and their two sons as they struggle to cram their complex lives within the narrow confines of Catholic morality. Would you ruin someone’s life, separate them from their soulmate and their only son, all the time telling yourself you’re doing the right thing? By turns angry, incisive, tender and tragic, Good Works is Nick Enright’s most complex and most personal play.
Renowned theatre director Iain Sinclair returns to Eternity Playhouse where he directed the inaugural play All My Sons to critical acclaim. “It’s always a great education for any director to work on a master script by a master playwright,” says Sinclair. “I had the wonderful opportunity of working on All My Sons by Arthur Miller, which is certainly a masterwork. I’d say Nick Enright is absolutely one of our masters, and this is arguably one of his greatest pieces, certainly his most heartfelt.”
“Audiences can expect a very complex ride with a very clear emotional through-line, so you’ll get the best of both worlds. It’s a seriously sophisticated piece of work by an artist at the top of his game – Nick Enright wrote this so richly and so beautifully and so ambitiously – but at the same time you’ll never be lost in this. You’ll be pulled all the way through and come out the other end with a much clearer feeling of what it’s like to grow up in a small town and be a bit different.”
Nick Enright trained for the theatre at New York University School of Arts after early experience in Australia including with Nimrod and MTC. He was an actor, director and teacher as well as a writer. His plays include On the Wallaby, Daylight Saving, St James Infirmary, Mongrels, A Property of the Clan, The Quartet from Rigoletto, Blackrock, Good Works, Spurboard and A Man with Five Children.
With Justin Monjo he adapted Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet for the stage. 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. He has written a number of musicals including The Venetian Twins and Summer Rain with composer Terence Clarke. He wrote 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. As well as being a prolific writer, Nick was a noted acting teacher, particularly at NIDA and WAAPA.
Director: Iain Sinclair Featuring: Taylor Ferguson, Lucy Goleby, Anthony Gooley, Stephen Multari, Jamie Oxenbould, Toni Scanlan Production Designer: Hugh O’Connor Lighting Designer: Sian James-Holland Composer & Sound Designer: Nate Edmonson Assistant Director: Nick Radinoff Fight Choreographer: Scott Witt Movement Choreographer: Julia Cotton Stage Manager: Michelle McKenzie
Good Works
Eternity Playhouse, 39 Burton Street, Darlinghurst
Season: 4 – 29 November 2015
Bookings: (02) 8356 9987 or online at: www.darlinghursttheatre.com
For more information, visit: www.darlinghursttheatre.com for details.
Image: photo by Helen White