Black Swan State Theatre Company Season 2013

Western Australia’s Black Swan State Theatre Company has announced its 2013 season, featuring a mix of classic and new works.

Six plays will be staged at the Heath Ledger Theatre, with a further production to be staged in the Studio Undergroundas part of the Perth Fringe World Festival 2013.

The season features:

Bruce Beresford directs the WA Premiere of Joanna Murray-Smith’s comedy Day One, A Hotel, Evening, with a cast including Roz Hammond.

Kate Cherry says: “Acclaimed director and Academy Award nominee, Bruce Beresford has not only made many of Australia’s most iconic films, he is an icon himself. It is a pleasure to welcome him to WA for DayOne, A Hotel, Evening, written by Australian luminary Joanna Murray-Smith.”

Shrine, the third new play by Tim Winton about the iconic Western Australian landscape and its inhabitants, will star John Howard under the direction of Kate Cherry. The cast also features Paul Ashcroft, Luke McMahon, Sarah McNeill, Will McNeill and Whitney Richards.

Cherry says: “Anyone who has floated in the sea at night, when the water and the horizon become one, will understand the power and promise of Shrine. Exquisitely wrought, this play excavates the perils and joys of being young and beautiful, and the possibility of finding solace in the most unlikely of people.”

Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, directed by Kate Cherry, will feature Adriane Daff, Jenny Davis, Rebecca Davis, Stuart Halusz, Pete Rowsthorn, Scott Sheridan and Pauline Whyman.

Cherry says: “This is Oscar Wilde’s Edwardian rom-com, in which four beautiful young people meet their true loves. Wilde has fashioned us a delightful soufflé of a play, sparkling with elegance, wit and fabulous frocks.”

Kate Cherry will direct the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-nominated Other Desert Cities by Jon Robin Baitz, a co-production with Queensland Theatre Company, with a cast including Robert Coleby and Rebecca Davis.

Cherry describes the play as: “A profoundly moving family drama about the generational divide, revealing the fault lines that have cracked the entire fabric of middle class America. This play will make you laugh and cry at the same time. It offers warmth and compassion to any family who knows what it is to risk everything to save a child, even when they are a grown-up.”

Adam Mitchell will direct Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, starring John Stanton, with Adriane Daff, Luke Hewitt, Talei Howell-Price, Eden Falk, Caroline McKenzie, Jo Morris and Steve Turner.

Kate Cherry says, “Here is writing so good it grabs you by the throat and won’t let you go. A masterful modern tragedy, Death of a Salesman is one of the most powerful experiences you will have in the theatre.”

Mitchell will also direct well as the Studio Underground West Australian Premiere production of  The Motherf**ker with the Hat by Stephen Adly Guirgis as part of the Fringe World Festival, with a cast including Fayssal Bazzi, Austin Castiglione, Rhoda Lopez, Kenneth Ransom and  Alison van Reeken.

Cherry says: “The Motherf**ker with the Hat has been described as “a high-octane verbal cage match about love, fidelity and misplaced haberdashery.” Continuing on from his writing for hit shows like The Sopranos and NYPD Blue, Guirgis brings to life the vibrant profanity of underclass America in this hipster comedy, which is as contemporary as it gets.”

Damon Lockwood will direct Brendan Hanson (of I Will Survive fame) and Claire van der Boom in Midsummer [A Play with Songs] by David Greig and Gordon McIntyre.

Kate Cherry says: “Deliriously funny and a pure delight - what better way to sail into the merry season? Anyone who has ever had a bad date or a light-hearted dance through a madcap evening, in fact, anyone who likes a laugh and a song will love this. Enjoy.”

Season Dates

Heath Ledger Theatre

The Importance of Being Earnest: 9th – 28th March 2013

Death of a Salesman: 4th – 19th May 2013

Day One, A Hotel, Evening: 15th – 30th June 2013

Other Desert Cities: 20th July – 4th August 2013

Shrine: 31st August – 15th September 2013

Midsummer [A Play with Songs]: 9th November – 24th November 2013

Studio Underground

The Motherf**ker with the Hat: 17th January – 3rd February 2013

www.bsstc.com.au