Capricorn to premiere at La Boite Theatre Company this July

A bittersweet play about love, loss, identity, culture, sexuality, and pet fish, Capricorn, makes its world premiere at La Boite Theatre from 24 July to 12 August 2023.

Written and directed by Butchulla and Kabi Kabi writer Aidan Rowlingson, Capricorn is an unconventional rom-com that follows the fractured trajectory of a relationship in decline and asks whether it is possible to love someone and hate them at the same time.

It dissects the doomed relationship of ill-fated lovers Sam and Ally, telling the story of their gradual uncoupling from both protagonists’ viewpoints as well as that of their pet fish, Here Fishy Fishy Fishy.

“From the get-go, I wanted to invite the audience in to really immerse themselves in these characters, whether they identify with Sam, Ally or even Here Fishy Fishy Fishy, the outsider looking in,” said Rowlingson.

“The beauty of what I am trying to achieve is to enable the audience to switch sides throughout the play: none of the characters are the good guy, none are the bad guy and that is what makes it so relatable.”

A theatrical journey presented at La Boite’s iconic Roundhouse Theatre, Capricorn’s heartbreak is tempered with surrealism and comic relief and touches on environmental issues, institutional corruption and the importance of protest along the way.

In addition to writing Capricorn, Rowlingson will co-direct the world premiere work with Queensland producer, playwright, director and Yuwi woman, Nadine McDonald-Dowd.

It marks his mainstage directorial debut and he says he is excited to work alongside his mentor – McDonald-Dowd – as well as a creative team that brings new ideas and interpretations to his script.

“I’m a firm believer that theatre that speaks to a lot of people should be made by a lot of people,” said Rowlingson. “My role as director is about getting the other creatives in my team excited and inspiring them to dream as big as I was dreaming when I wrote Capricorn.”

Rowlingson was previously engaged at La Boite as an Assistant Producer and in pursuing his artistic career, La Boite Artistic Director Courtney Stewart had the pleasure of supporting an early reading of Capricorn in collaboration with Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC).

“Even then, reading to such an intimate audience, I knew Aidan’s writing would have wide appeal to audiences with a range of lived experiences and relationship constellations,” said Stewart.

“Being able to forge a relationship with Aidan early on in my tenure was fortunate; he’s very passionate about new work and he brings experience and new perspectives to how La Boite can evolve, support and respond to this new generation of writers and theatre makers.”

Capricorn is the second mainstage production in La Boite’s 2023 season which proudly debuts four bold new Australian plays across an entire season of necessary, never-before-seen work.

Stewart says she is inspired to support new writing that leaves room for interpretation and reflection rather than gives audiences definitive answers, a trait that drew her to Capricorn.

“I’m really passionate about all the works we program at La Boite having multiple lives and becoming part of a new, contemporary Australian canon of storytelling,” said Stewart.

“Aidan sets an exciting standard for writing with Capricorn and we, as a company, are so fortunate he is sharing this story and process with us as we continue to put the world on stage this season.”

Capricorn is presented by La Boite in association with QPAC and was developed with the support of Sparks, a Playlab Theatre and QPAC program that fosters the work of First Nations writers from development to stage, and Moogahlin Performing Arts as part of Yellamundie Festival.

Playwright and Director: Aidan Rowlingson | Featuring: Sean Dow, Jazleen Latrise, Kerri Llewy-Allan | Co-Director: Nadine McDonald-Dowd | Designer: Peter Keavy | Lighting Design: Geoff Squires | Video Design: Sasha Parlett (Red Handed Productions) | Sound Design: Wil Hughes | Composers: Waveney Yasso & Jhindu-Pedro Lawrie | Here Fishy Fishy Fishy Costume Commission: Delvene Cockatoo-Collins | Fight, Intimacy and Movement Director: Nigel Poulton | Cultural Consultant: Colleen Wall | Director Observer: Che Skeen