With a strong focus on the development of new work and artists, La Boite Theatre Company have announced their 2017 Season delivering the next generation of theatre with a focus on Your Stories, Your Community & Your Theatre.
“Each year we engage with new artists and create contemporary Australian work that reflects Brisbane and Australia to share with our audiences,” said Todd MacDonald, CEO & Artistic Director of La Boite Theatre Company. “We are proud to say we continue to nurture and develop the best new local talent and partner with some of the most exciting and diversely talented companies in Australia.”
Bursting onto the Brisbane theatre scene in 2017 is Single Asian Female – an incisive new comedy skewering race and gender in contemporary Australia from local award-winning writer, Michelle Law (Winner of the 2016 Queensland Premier’s Young Publishers and Writers Award). Set on the Sunshine Coast, this hilarious play explores what it means to be an Asian woman living in Australia. 11 February – 4 March 2017.
The Village showcases the cultural diversity of Australia and honours the courage, strength and determination of the women, men and children who made this country their new home. Using verbatim storytelling of refugees and asylum seekers, The Village has been developed in collaboration with resettlement agency MDA Ltd. This is a brutal and honest insight into the world around us. 15 – 19 May 2017.
Lady Beatle reunites collaborators Naomi Price (The Voice Australia) and Adam Brunes, creators of smash-hits Wrecking Ball and Rumour Has It, in their highly anticipated third pop-culture cabaret. Inspired by true accounts, Lady Beatle weaves a fantastical tale about the women who inspired The Beatles’ biggest chart toppers. Rediscover The Beatles’ immortal catalogue as new, reimagined and reinterpreted works. 25 May – 3 June 2017.
La Boite and QUT Creative Industries join forces to present the modern classic Blackrock by Nick Enright. This human drama examines the social impulse to violence within Australian culture. An exciting collaboration between La Boite and QUT sees the next generation of actors from QUT Bachelor of Fine Arts, Final Year Acting Students take on these iconic young roles alongside an ensemble of professional actors.
The annual Brisbane Festival and La Boite collaboration gets even bigger in 2017 by joining forces with Dead Puppet Society (The Wider Earth, The Harbinger) to premiere a new adaptation of visual artist Tim Sharp’s Laser Beak Man. Featuring live music by Sam Cromack (Ball Park Music), this new visual theatre work celebrates offbeat humour and has cult classic superhero aspirations. 9 – 30 September 2017.
Fairy tale meets the hip hop generation, when Candy Bowers expands your mind with One the Bear, pooling together a sleuth of talent including award-winning artists Busty Beatz and visual artist Jason Wing. A brand new work created in conjunction with Campbelltown Community Arts Centre and Black Honey Company, this gripping piece looks at peer pressure, conformity, gender and diversity, and will be presented entirely in rhyme. 10 – 21 October 2017.
The heart and soul of La Boite’s 2017 Season is dominated by creating opportunities for a diverse range of emerging and established artists to develop their work. With that in mind, we are excited to be presenting the second edition of La Boite HWY – the successful miniature festival which premiered in 2016. The program will be announced in April 2017.
La Boite works with a variety of diverse artists to present their ideas, workshops and forums in HWY which are headlined by La Boite’s Artist-in-Residence. In 2017 these artists include the Black Honey Company, Digi Youth Arts and Steven Oliver who embody the next generation of Your Stories, Your Community & Your Theatre.
For more information, visit: www.laboite.com.au for details.
Image: Candy Bowers to perform in One the Bear (supplied)