Sydney’s New Theatre reveals a quartet of plays for first half of 2023. From classics to new works, this quartet of plays will continue the New’s tradition of presenting affordable theatre without skimping on quality.
“It’s a wonderful feeling to finally get to launch a season after nearly three years of stop, start, off again on again and off again. And what a line up we have!” said New Theatre’s Artistic Director, Louise Fischer.
“We’re ‘going dark’ in January to accommodate some long-overdue capital works: namely, the resurfacing of our stage. Anyone who has worked here knows what a patchwork of bumps and cracks it is, and replacing it has been on the agenda for many years. Finally, we are in a financial position to make this happen.”
“Once the lights go back on and the doors are thrown open again, we’re presenting four plays that will challenge you to question the definition of normal, give you moral conundrums to unravel, reaffirm your faith in the power of kindness and make you laugh till you nearly pee yourself.”
“The productions are helmed by four dynamic and imaginative directors: we welcome back Saro Lusty-Cavallari (Animal Farm), Deborah Jones (Nell Gwynn, The Women) and Alice Livingstone (My Night With Reg, Top Girls), and welcome Angus Evans, making his New Theatre directorial debut. Each will bring to their production talent, passion and vision,” said Fischer.
Read on to discover the treats in store, and we look forward to seeing you in the foyer during 2023. For more information, visit: www.newtheatre.org.au for details.
Image: New Theatre’s 2023 Season (supplied)
New Theatre’s 2023 Season (February – July):
Jumpers for Goalposts:
7 February – 4 March
February/March means New Theatre’s Mardi Gras production, an annual event at the Theatre for over 26 years. However in 2023, Sydney is being taken over by WorldPride – which means our city’s LGBTQI festival will be bigger and brighter than ever before. Directed by Alice Livingstone, NT’s contribution is the Sydney premiere of Tom Wells’ Jumpers for Goalposts – a delightful queer rom-com centred around the members of Barely Athletic, a bottom-of-the-ladder five-a-side soccer team in an amateur LGBTQI league in Hull, England. How five very different personalities support each other on and off the field lies at the core of this hilarious and heartwarming play about football, friendship and finding your way.
One Man Two Guvnors:
14 March – 15 April
Francis Henshall is sooooo hungry. He’s also unemployed. He needs a job, pronto… Stuck in the seedy and slightly disreputable English seaside town of Brighton, an opportunity arises to become ‘minder’ to an East-End gangster, Roscoe Crabbe, who’s travelled down from London to reclaim a debt from his fiancée’s dad. At the same time, never letting an opportunity go begging, Francis is also running errands around town for a posh twit named Stanley Stubbers. Two guvnors, two paydays, two meal tickets. All he needs to do is keep them from discovering each other. What could possibly go wrong? Acclaimed playwright Richard Bean has relocated the action to the swinging 60s and channeled the classic humour of Ealing comedies, Carry On films and Fawlty Towers, to bring fresh life to Carlo Goldoni’s 18th century Italian farce, The Servant of Two Masters. Directed by Angus Evans, this hilarious romp is a glorious celebration of the best of British comedy, a unique laugh-out-loud mix of satire, slapstick, skiffle music and sparkling one-liners.
All My Sons:
25 April – 27 May
In the aftermath of World War Two, Joe and Kate Keller appear to be the perfect Middle American couple: he’s a successful businessman and she’s a homemaker. Together, they’re the embodiment of the American Dream. But there are cracks in the façade. Joe escaped a wartime charge of supplying defective parts to combat planes by letting his partner take the blame. Now he’s living with the guilt, and about to be confronted by the consequences of his actions. Larry, their younger son and his parent’s favourite, was declared missing in action during the war, but three years later, Kate stubbornly refuses to accept his death. Then older son Chris announces that he plans to marry Larry’s fiancée, in part as a way of attempting to win the love of the father he idolizes. But instead of reconciliation, old wounds are opened, and the bitter recriminations that ensue expose painful and unforgivable truths. Directed by Saro Lusty-Cavallari, Arthur Miller’s searing drama of a family in crisis, written in 1946, was also a scathing indictment of post-war America. Half a century later, it is still devastatingly relevant.
Jellyfish:
6 June – 1 July
Kelly is 27, an energetic young woman, never still. You sense that she has powers untapped. She loves dirty jokes and sea creatures washed up on the shore, hot chips and walks on the beach. And she loves Neil. He has kind eyes, and she leaves him breathless. For her mum, Agnes, life has been a rough journey. But she’s tough, resilient. Her jagged edges are her defence, because being mother to a daughter with Down’s syndrome is hard. Now she must confront the burgeoning relationship between Kelly and Neil and come to grips with her daughter’s desire for independence and sexual fulfillment. Directed by Deborah Jones, this radical and heartfelt play is a love story with a difference, and a tender exploration of what living with disability really entails.