Riverside Theatres brings a world of theatre and dance companies to Sydney audiences and particularly those in Western Sydney, with the announcement of their 2017 program.
Many of the nation’s performing arts companies alongside resident company Riverside|National Theatre of Parramatta (NTofP) and international touring productions, have been programmed in the line-up of 20 diverse and entertaining productions for 2017.
“Every great city has a great theatre. As Parramatta grows to take its place as a global city, Riverside Theatres’ 2017 program of sophisticated, diverse and virtuosic performing arts from around the world reflects the city’s vibrancy,” says Program manager for Riverside Theatres, Michelle Kotevski.
The program features contemporary and classic works from major performing arts companies including Melbourne Theatre Company (What Rhymes With Cars and Girls), Sydney Dance Company (Frame of Mind), Queensland Theatre (Grin and Tonic Theatre Troupe’s The 7 Stages of Grieving), Belvoir (Mark Colvin’s Kidney), The Australian Ballet (Giselle) and Sydney Theatre Company (The Wharf Revue).
Kicking off during the Sydney Festival in January, Riverside Theatres will co-present two productions – Hakawati from NTofP and Kaleidoscope from Company 2. Inspired by the ancient Arabic tradition of storytelling and breaking bread, Hakawati will celebrate food, music and the telling of tales; while Kaleidoscope will invite audiences to view life through the eyes of a young man with Asperger Syndrome in a joyous, poetic circus experience.
For the very first time, Riverside welcomes Melbourne Theatre Company for an exclusive Sydney season of the contemporary Australian love story, What Rhymes with Cars and Girls, based on the iconic album of the same name from You Am I frontman Tim Rogers. Performed with a live band led by Rogers, this intimate musical sees two lovers brought together by a conjunction of the stars and a pizza delivery gone weird.
In March, Satu Bulan Theatre Company and Performing Lines will present the Australian-Indonesian play, The Age of Bones by Darwin’s award-winning playwright Sandra Thibodeaux. Set in a magical world under the ocean, this fantastical piece is realised through a combination of shadow puppets, video and music.
Throughout 2017, NTofP will present three world-premieres including David Williams’ Smurf in Wanderland co-produced with Griffin Theatre Company, and two adaptations of Australian literature, The Incredible Here and Now by Parramatta writer Felicity Castagna, and The Red Tree by Shaun Tan and adapted by Hilary Bell.
In June Queensland Theatre and Grin and Tonic Theatre Group present an enduring masterwork of Australian Indigenous theatre, The 7 Stages of Grieving. Penned 20 years ago by today’s Sydney Festival Director, Wesley Enoch along with acclaimed actor Deborah Mailman, this new production stars Western Sydney actor Chenoa Deemal and is described as funny, devastatingly sad, politically relevant and culturally profound.
Making a welcome return to Riverside will be two of Australia’s most celebrated dance companies – Sydney Dance Company with a powerful double bill, Frame of Mind by Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela and Wildebeest by recipient of the prestigious 2016 Tanja Liedtke Fellowship, Gabrielle Nankivell. Plus, the Australian Dance Theatre’s Be Your Self (Redux) choreographed by Artistic Director Garry Stewart explores the fundamental question about ‘self’ using the body as the focus.
Rounding out the stellar program will be two classic stories including a new adaption of the Gothic horror story Dracula from shake & stir Theatre Co; and Katherine Thomson’s Diving for Pearls, produced by Griffin Theatre Company and starring Helpmann Award-winning actor, Ursula Yovich.
For more information, visit www.riversideparramatta.com.au for details.
Image: The Incredible Here and Now