Belvoir is proud to announce the breathtaking, thoughtful, ridiculous, confronting and just plain fun productions making up its 2022 season. Next year sees nine plays (and one repertory season) take to the stage to introduce some astonishing new stage talent.
“Theatre is a leap of faith at the best of times: anything could happen at any moment. It’s the one-off-ness that makes it special. The pandemic only makes it even more special. The instinct to gather for a story is irrepressible. It’ll never end. We’re still here. Join us,” said Belvoir Artistic Director, Eamon Flack.
BELVOIR’S 2022 SEASON
BLACK BRASS: 6 – 23 JANUARY
A moving and poignant play of voyaging and discovery, told through music and song that span a continent (Shangana, Swahili, Kikuyu, Xhosa, as well as English). Written and performed by the extraordinary Mararo Wangai, joined onstage by composer-musician Mahamudo Selimane, the lauded hit of Perth Festival now opens in Sydney for a limited season. Produced by Performing Lines WA in association with Sydney Festival. Co-created and Directed by Matt Edgerton.
AT WHAT COST?: 29 JANUARY – 20 FEBRUARY
A brilliant new work from a brilliant Palawa writer, Nathan Maynard, the 2019 Balnaves Fellow. A robust, clear-eyed story set in Tasmania, now – Boyd’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 and featuring a cast of 4 including Luke Carroll, Sandy Greenwood and Alex Malone, Indigenous theatre at Belvoir supported by The Balnaves Foundation.
OPENING NIGHT: 26 FEBRUARY – 27 MARCH
In a startling theatrical reimagining by Carissa Licciardello (A Room of One’s Own), the cult classic 1977 film of what happens when a woman can’t play her role anymore is brought to life for the Belvoir stage. Starring Leeanna Walsman as star of the stage Myrtle Gordon, this is a visually-arresting theatrical experience where reality and make-believe start to blur. Based on the screenplay by John Cassavetes Directed and adapted by Carissa Licciardello and featuring a cast of 6 including Leeanna Walsman. Supported by Oranges and Sardines Foundation.
WAYSIDE BRIDE & LIGHT SHINING IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE: 2 APRIL – 29 MAY
These plays are presented as part of a repertory season – two plays, with the same cast, on the same set, performed on alternating nights.
Wayside Bride – In a street out the back of the Cross is a very special place – the Wayside Chapel. It’s a haven for the poor, the excluded, the misfits. It’s a place of faith and a place of love. And it’s a place where people could declare their love – even when the rest of the world has turned you away. A story of those who don’t, or can’t, fit – and the Australian who made a space for them. Written by Alana Valentine, Co-directed by Eamon Flack and Hannah Goodwin.
Light Shining In Buckinghamshire – Caryl Churchill’s 1976 classic Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, set during the English Civil War, tells of the ordinary people who went into battle for the soul of the nation. Incendiary, pulsing with ideas and poetically-heightened speech, it speaks of the revolution that never happened, and some ghosts it left behind. Written by Caryl Churchill, Co-directed by Eamon Flack and Hannah Goodwin. A cast of 10 including Arkia Ashraf, Maggie Blinco, Marco Chiappi, Emily Goddard, Sandy Greenwood, Sacha Horler, Rebecca Massey, Brandon McClelland and Angeline Penrith. Supported by the Nelson Meers Foundation.
SEXUAL MISCONDUCT OF THE MIDDLE CLASS: 2 JUNE – 10 JULY
A gripping, contemporary drama of truth and deceit, in sharp new writing from Canadian Hannah Moscovitch. Jon’s an award-winning writer, but it doesn’t seem to have made him happy. His third marriage is going about as well as his first two, and his university job is mainly teaching ‘creative writing’ to the self- absorbed. But this year there’s one student who seems to be worth his attention. Annie’s smart, spontaneous, and knows Jon’s work backwards. In her bright red coat she certainly stands out – it feels like their affair was written in the stars. One day the fires will die down. But who gets to write their history? What was going on, exactly? Written by Hannah Moscovitch, Directed by Petra Kalive with Dan Spielman and Izabella Yena. A Melbourne Theatre Company production.
TELL ME I’M HERE: 20 AUGUST – 25 SEPTEMBER
The life-changing memoir is now a breathtaking Belvoir play: since its publication thirty years ago, Anne Deveson’s family memoir Tell Me I’m Here has become a classic. Now, in a superb adaptation, it comes to the Belvoir stage for a heart-rending, exquisitely touching play. Directed by Leticia Cáceres (The Drover’s Wife, Barbara and the Camp Dogs), this is a portrait of a family which knows joy and death intimately, in a play about getting on with life before it’s too late. Written by Veronica Nadine Gleeson, based on the book by Anne Deveson. Directed by Leticia Cáceres and featuring a cast of 6 including Tom Conroy and Sarah Peirse. Supported by The Group
LOOKING FOR ALIBRANDI: 1 OCTOBER – 6 NOVEMBER
Three generations of women. The Italian-Australian experience. A tale of Sydney. A much loved modern classic novel, a ground-breaking film, and now at Belvoir, a simply great night out. In her last year of school, 17-year old Josephine Alibrandi waits for her future begin. If only she can get past the world of her Nonna, holding on to the values of the old country and the world of her Mum, full of care and secrets. This is the year she falls in love. And this is the year she uncovers the truth – and finds the Alibrandi she has been searching for. Written by Vidya Rajan, based on the book by Melina Marchetta. Directed by Stephen Nicolazzo and featuring a cast of 6 including Ashley Lyons, Chanella Macri and Lucia Mastrantone. A co-production with Malthouse Theatre. Principal Partner Ord Minnett
THE JUNGLE AND THE SEA: 12 NOVEMBER – 18 DECEMBER
A fascinating, detailed new play from the team which made the acclaimed Counting and Cracking, The Jungle and the Sea takes two great pillars of literature – one Eastern, one Western – to forge a contemporary story of beating a path to reconciliation. A play of justice, of perseverance, and inspiration. As a harmonious nation is torn apart by war, a mother loses her family, one after the other, until it seems she has nothing. But there is something she hasn’t lost – her hope blazes as a beacon through dark times. Written and directed by S. Shakthidharan & Eamon Flack, after Antigone and the Mahabharata. A cast of 9 including Anandavalli,Prakash Belawadi, Nadie Kammallaweera, Jacob Rajan, Kalieswari Srinivasan, Rajan Velu and Vaishnavi Suryaprakash. Co-Produced with Lingalayam Dance Company. Supported by Chair’s Circle.
Subscriptions for Belvoir’s 2022 season are now on sale. For more infrormation, visit: www.belvoir.com.au for details.
Image: Belvoir’s 2022 season – photo by Daniel Boud