Following its critically-acclaimed premiere season at Riverside Theatres for National Theatre of Parramatta in 2018, Belvoir brings Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam to the mainstage from 7 February 2020.
Based on the 1993 novella by renowned Australian author and medical practitioner, Peter Goldsworthy AM, and adapted by Helpmann Award nominee, Steve Rodgers, Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam explores the life of the Pollards, an Australian family like any other, whose world is flipped on its head when illness breaches their sanctuary.
Returning to the stage for this season are Emma Jackson (Ch 9’s House of Bond, STC’s The Long Way Home), Grace Truman (Bell Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus), Mark Lee (Peter Weir’s Gallipoli, Ch 7’s A Place to Call Home) Liam Nunan (STC’s Away, Orphans at The Old Fitz) and Valerie Bader (Parramatta Girls, Barmaids), with the addition of Matthew Whittet (Atlantis, Book of Everything) playing Rick Pollard, the father.
Rodgers’ honest and heartfelt adaptation of Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam was the winner of Griffin Theatre’s inaugural Lysicrates Prize in 2015. This is a play that swings the emotional extremes – the laughter of found love, the tears of facing up to goodbyes. How far would you go for family?
“It’s emotionally deep, and it asks some pretty difficult questions,” said Belvoir’s Artistic Director Eamon Flack. “We love how audiences find themselves swept away by the tears and the truth of it. It’s the kind of show that just works brilliantly at Belvoir – you walk out of the theatre and into Sydney, changed by it.”
Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam is a play that goes straight to the heart and asks how far would you go to protect your family, what promises should be made to a child and would you ultimately die for a loved one. A powerful reminder of what we do for those we love.
Director: Darren Yap Featuring: Valerie Bader, Emma Jackson, Mark Lee, Liam Nunan, Grace Truman, Matthew Whittet Lighting and AV Designer: Verity Hampson Set and Costume Designer: Emma Vine Composition and Sound Designer: Max Lambert and Sean Peter Assistant Director: Erin Taylor
Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam
Belvoir Theatre, 25 Belvoir Street, Surry Hills
Season: 7 February – 8 March 2020
Information and Bookings: www.belvoir.com.au
Bruce Gordon Theatre – Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, 32 Burelli Street, Wollongong
Season: 10 – 15 March 2020
Information and Bookings: www.merrigong.com.au
Image: Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam – photo by Daniel Boud