LA BOITE 2013 SEASON

Brisbane’s La Boite has unveiled a new-look season for 2013 that includes Holding the Man, The Glass Menagerie and a very new look at The Wizard of Oz. Classics sit at the heart of the season of five Mainstage and six La Boite Indie productions.

There’s a classic of the American stage, one of Australia’s great love stories fresh from a run in London’s West End, a surprising trip down the yellow brick road, a new Australian play, and a special show for kids and their families set in a huge pool of green slime.

“When Judy Garland’s Dorothy declared ‘we’re not in Kansas anymore’, she couldn’t have known that she was redefining a classic; or that La Boite would team up with The Danger Ensemble and the Brisbane Festival to completely remake L. Frank Baum’s brilliant story and bring the wonderful Wizard of Oz screaming into the 21st century,” Artistic Director David Berthold said.

“Classics sit at the heart of this season. Holding the Man - in which Dorothy makes a guest appearance - is one of Australia’s great love stories. It has played around the world. But now we’ve assembled a new all-Queensland cast to breathe fresh life into the original production, a classic of the recent Australian theatre.”

Berthold’s original production of Tommy Murphy’s Holding the Man returns to Brisbane in February following seasons at Griffin Theatre Company, Sydney Opera House, Belvoir, Brisbane Powerhouse, Melbourne Theatre Company and in London’s West End.

Holding the Man is one of two productions Berthold will direct for the company in 2013. After three productions of Shakespeare, he puts his stamp on Tennessee Williams’ great American classic, The Glass Menagerie, in August.

“Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie is one of the most loved plays of the American theatre – a gorgeous heartbreaker if ever there was one – but we have a hunch there’s a lot more to it and are keen to dust it off in a way that will give it a surprising new glow,” Berthold said.

On the Mainstage in April is Force Majeure and Belvoir’s production of Steve Rodgers’ new Australian play Food.

“Food is a new play that sits on the La Boite menu along with Blue Love [2009], Stockholm [2010] and Tender Napalm [2012] as pieces in which dance and movement provide stunning new dimensions,” Berthold said.

“Kate Champion’s dance theatre work is beautifully human, and her influence helps transform Steve Rodgers’ generous story into a delicious theatre experience.”

And after box office hits with The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child, La Boite has teamed up with shake & stir theatre co to create Out Damn Snot especially for families.

“We wanted a new work for kids too, so we’ve teamed up with shake & stir theatre co to create Out Damn Snot. It finds inspiration in the classics – Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream – but all you really need to know is that it’s set in a vast pool of green slime.”

La Boite Indie 2013 sees QPAC join Brisbane Airport Corporation in support of the program. Now in its fourth year, La Boite Indie 2013 presents six Australian productions.

Images by Dylan Evans

LA BOITE MAINSTAGE 2013

A La Boite and shake & stir co-production

OUT DAM N SNOT

Written by shake & stir

8 – 19 January

HOLDING THE MAN

By Tommy Murphy from the book by Timothy Conigrave

16 February – 16 March

La Boite presents a Force Majeure & Belvoir co-production

FOOD

By Steve Rodgers

16 – 27 April

The Glass Menagerie

By Tennessee Williams

3 – 31 August

A La Boite, The Danger Ensemble & Brisbane Festival co-production

The Wizard of Oz

By Maxine Mellor & The Danger Ensemble

7 – 28 September

LA BOITE INDIE 2013

La Boite Indie & Sandra Carluccio

This is Capital City

Created by Sandra Carluccio

8 – 25 May

La Boite Indie & No Show present

The Séance

Created by Mark Pritchard & Bridget Balodis

8 – 25 May

La Boite Indie & Skye Gellman present

Blindscape

Created by Skye Gellman & Kieran Law

8 – 25 May

La Boite Indie & Natasha Budd present

Joy Fear and Poetry

By Natasha Budd

10 – 20 July

La Boite Indie & Tamarama Rock Surfers present

Show Me Yours, I’ll Shw You Mine

By Tim Spencer

10 – 27 July

La Boite Indie & The Breadbeard Collective present

><R&J

By The Breadbeard Collective

13 – 30 November