Belvoir have announced the productions making up the first part of their 2021 season. In recognition of the unpredictable times at hand, the first announcement reveals the shows that will take to the stage from February to September 2021, with the second announcement to be shared in early 2021.
Comprising of four brand new shows and the welcome return of two ‘all-time best’ shows, Belvoir’s 2021 season continues to celebrate outstanding established and emerging voices and great Australian storytelling, as we all optimistically turn to a new kind of normal.
“We’re always talking about change here at Belvoir, but no-one could have foreseen a year like the one we’ve had!” said Artistic Director, Eamon Flack. “It’s particularly rocked our community of artists. But we’re responding to some pretty massive challenges the way a theatre should – on our stage.”
“We’re packing all the energy of the moment into Part one – some reminders of what we’ve always done well, and some bold, contemporary voices too. Onwards!” says Mr Flack.
Subscriptions for Belvoir’s 2021 Season are now available. For more information, visit: www.belvoir.com.au for details
Image: Belvoir’s 2021 Season – photo by Daniel Boud
FANGIRLS
The Seymour Centre: 30 January – 20 February
Back after an overwhelming sell-out debut season is the thrilling new musical Fangirls. Written by the superb young talent, Yve Blake, the fun is bolstered by a vibrant and eclectic cast who perfectly embody the frenzy of the digital spaces young fangirls inhabit. It returns as an award-winning show – Winner of Best Production of a Mainstage Musical at the Sydney Theatre Awards and Best Musical or Cabaret at the Queensland Matilda Awards. Director: Paige Rattray Associate Director: Carissa Licciardello – with a cast including Aydan, Chika Ikogwe, Shubshri Kandiah, Ayesha Madon, James Majoos and Karis Oka.
STOP GIRL
Upstairs Theatre: 20 March – 25 April
The premiere of a new play from Walkley Award-winning ABC foreign correspondent Sally Sara. A fictional drama that asks how we get back to ‘normal’ life after being ripped away from it, Stop Girl is a ratbaggy, wise play told through the unerring eye of one of the country’s great journos. Directed by Anne-Louise Sarks – with a cast including Sheridan Harbridge.
A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN
Upstairs Theatre: 6 – 23 May
Back by popular demand, the magnetic Anita Hegh will reprise her role in this return season of A Room of One’s Own. Rippling with passion, Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own is arguably one of the finest pieces of writing in the last hundred years. Woolf’s essay has been painstakingly adapted by Carissa Licciardello and Tom Wright. Directed by Carissa Licciardello – with a cast including Anita Hegh and Ella Prince.
THE CHERRY ORCHARD
Upstairs Theatre: 29 May – 27 June
It’s an uncertain time. Change is coming, you can sniff it in the air. Anton Chekhov’s great, last play needs no embellishment to describe our times. Directed by Eamon Flack – a richly talented cast from today’s Australia, including Nadie Kammallaweera, Pamela Rabe and Keith Robinson, in a classic as funny as it is profound. This promises to be one of the highlights of 2021.
MISS PEONY
Upstairs Theatre: 3 July – 1 August
A brand-new comedy from the writer of the nationwide smash hit Single Asian Female. Michelle Law’s (SBS’s Homecoming Queens) Miss Peony is a glitzy, glamorous and slightly unhinged comedy about a Chinese-Australian beauty pageant, the competitive advice of a ghostly grandmother and being caught between two generations and two cultures. Directed by Courtney Stewart – with a cast including Michelle Law, Mabel Li and Shirong Wu.
AT WHAT COST?
7 August – 5 September
A brilliant new play from a brilliant Palawa voice, Nathan Maynard, the 2019 Balnaves Fellow. A robust, clear-eyed story set in Tasmania, now – Dan’s got enough on his plate between keeping a young family together and his responsibilities to land and people. But every year more and more folk are claiming to be Palawa too. Folk no-one’s heard of until now, who haven’t been ‘round before. Are they legit? Or are they ‘tick-a-box’? Who decides? And how? A trip for old mob and new back into a knotty past. Directed by Isaac Drandic.