Red Stitch reveals 2019 Season

Red Stitch Actors TheatreRed Stitch Actors’ Theatre has announced a huge 2019 season – including five Australian premieres and another world premiere from the company’s INK program – exploring some of the highest hopes and the darkest undercurrents of humanity.

From pre-teen dreams and dance routines, to an exploration of the oil industry through one woman’s quest, a suburban backyard filled with surreal summer stories, to an underground city filled with horror, the season questions who we are and who we might become.

“Each play in the 2019 season is driven by a powerful need to understand who we are, why, and where this might lead,” said Artistic Director Ella Caldwell. “These works are all vastly different, but what they have in common is that each one defies expectations. They dare us to think again.”

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of Michael Gow’s masterful play, Sweet Phoebe, director Mark Wilson directs this sharp and disturbingly funny study of relationships in the modern world.

Clare Barron’s prize-winning Dance Nation makes its Australian debut, directed by Maude Davey. It follows a troupe of pre-teens working on a brand-new routine with their dance teacher in a study of power, puberty, friendship and ambition.

In a work that has been compared to Samuel Beckett, Will Eno’s Wakey Wakey makes its Australian premiere. Directed by David Myles, it sensitively examines human dignity delving into life’s most important markers, and reminding us to re-examine our relationship with the world.

In its first Australian production, Caryl Churchill’s new work Escaped Alone explores the stories of four older women who reflect on their lives over the course of many summers together. Jenny Kemp returns to Red Stitch to direct this stunning play which is, in turn, a linguistic joy ride, a car crash and a theatrical marvel.

The Australian premiere of Alistair McDowell’s dark and genre rich horror story, Pomona will grip audiences from start to finish. This powerful modern thriller asks what secrets lie beneath the veneer of contemporary civilization and the price you must pay to find out.

From Red Stitch’s new writing program, INK, comes the world premiere season of Control by Keziah Warner, directed by Julian Meyrick. Set across several decades, from Melbourne to Mars, this startling, funny and provocative new play follows Nicki and Caroline on the eve of a revolution as they attempt to gain control over their lives while their A.I. superior, Alex, dances the night away.

The Australian premiere of Ella Hickson’s Oil follows May and her daughter Amy through the evolution of the oil industry, forging through the world as it transforms around them, through lands, empires and centuries.

Back by popular demand is Red Stitch’s much anticipated site-specific event of the year, Playlist. For one night only, audiences can experience a moving festival of music and theatre, where you are invited to join the ensemble and guests and rub shoulders with the actors and musicians.

Tickets are now on sale. For more information and full program, visit: www.redstitch.net for details.

Image: courtesy of Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre