ATLANTIS

A play about ovaries, climate change and pursuing your dreams, New Theatre presents Atlantis by Lally Katz from 19 March 2024.

Australian writer ‘Lally’ is on a quest to make sense of her life, seeking to rediscover the lost innocence of her childhood in America, when things were simple, carefree and defined. Using both autobiographical fact and flights of imagination, the writer examines the turmoil of her personal situation within the context of a country gone crazy with excess and deception.

By turns self-deprecating, incurably romantic, optimistic and cynical, her journey through a maze of outrageous situations is hilarious and intoxicating. Infused with a delicious blend of the real and the fantastical, this superb example of theatrical magic realism takes us on a wild adventure.

First produced in Sydney at Belvoir St in 2017 to great acclaim, New Theatre continues its commitment to producing contemporary Australian plays with this new production.

Directing the production is Tiffany Wong (Artistic Director of Slanted Theatre, a company dedicated to presenting Asian voices on stage and supporting Asian creatives). This will be Wong’s first full production for New Theatre, having previously directed the staged readings at last year’s Silver Gull Play Awards presentation night.

Also marking their first production at New Theatre are Amelia Lane (set design), Topaz Marlay-Cole (lighting design) and Sam Hernandez (costume design), all alums of NIDA.

The cast includes New Theatre debutantes Georgia Britt, James Lau, Alyona Popova and Renae Valastro, and we welcome back Callum Alexander (Cats Talk Back, Consensual, After the Dance), Lisa Kelly (Pygmalion), Dallas Reedman (Breaking the Code) and Luke Visentin (Control).

Lally Katz was born in New Jersey, USA in 1978 but when she was eight the family moved to Canberra. She graduated from the University of Melbourne’s School of Studies in Creative Arts, studied playwriting at London’s Royal Court Theatre and in 2000 attended the Australian Theatre for Young People.

When she was 23 she joined Stuck Pigs Squealing Theatre Company. This company produced several of her early plays with great success. This led to her being commissioned by mainstage theatre companies in Australia.

By 2011 she had three premieres running on main stages in Australia: A Golem Story at Malthouse Theatre (winner, Victorian Premier’s Literary Award), Neighbourhood Watch at Belvoir (nominated for an AWGIE, a Helpmann Award and a NSW Premier’s Literary Award) and Return to Earth at Melbourne Theatre Company (nominated for a NSW Premier’s Literary Award).

In 2013 Katz’s one-woman show, Stories I Want to Tell You in Person, played to packed audiences at Belvoir and Malthouse Theatre and later toured to Joe’s Pub in New York, Mexico City and other cities in Australia before being adapted into a two-part television series for the ABC starring Katz and Robyn Nevin. Other work for television includes adult one-hour dramas Wonderland, Wentworth and Spirited and a children’s series, The Elephant Princess.

In 2015 Lally’s play, The Cat, was part of a double bill with Brendan Cowell’s The Dog, at Belvoir in Sydney. She also wrote the libretto for The Rabbits, composed by Kate Miller Heidke, which premiered in Perth Festival and then had sold out seasons in Melbourne and Sydney festivals, going on to win several Helpmann Awards, including the award for Best New Australian Work. It also won the Australian Writer’s Guild Award for the libretto.

In 2017 Katz had a premieres of her plays Minnie & Liraz at Melbourne Theatre Company and Atlantis at Belvoir in Sydney.

Katz is currently adapting Neighbourhood Watch for the screen with Gillian Armstrong attached to direct; developing a new play and television series with Windmill Theatre, and working on several original television series. She lives with her husband in Los Angeles.

Director: Tiffany Wong | Featuring: Callum Alexander, Georgia Britt, Tamara Foglia Castañeda, Lisa Kelly, James Lau, Alyona Popova, Dallas Reedman, Renae Valastro, Luke Visentin | Set Designer: Amelia Lane | Lighting Designer: Topaz Marlay-Cole | Costume Designer: Sam Hernandez | Movement Director: Emma Van Veen | Intimacy Director: Sonya Kerr | Dialect Coach: Benjamin Purser | Assistant Directors: Josephine Lee, Dominique Purdue, Bella Wellstead | Assistant Production Designer: Kaylee Ashton | Assistant Lighting Designers: Annie Fraser, Luna Ng | Assistant Costume Designer: Kaylee Ashton | Stage Manager: Atlas Andrews | Assistant Stage Manager: Kiana Gould-Arocha | LX/SX Operators: Dylan Chester, Cassidy Newman | Bump-in Crew: Alex Pas

ATLANTIS
New Theatre, 542 King Street, Newtown
Season: 20 March – 13 April 2024 (preview: 19 March)
Information and Bookings: www.newtheatre.org.au