MTC Family and School Tips in 2019

The Melbourne Theatre Company’s 2019 season is filled with stories of adventure, love, friendship, discovery and drama. The season takes audiences on a journey around Australia and the world via the very best new plays, reimaginings of beloved classics and fresh productions of international smash-hits.

Three productions hold particular interest for families and schools. Esther Hannaford, Hunter Page-Lochard and Katherine Tonkin star in the MTC and Sydney Theatre Company co-production of Così, Louis Nowra’s darkly funny and deeply moving Australian classic, directed by Sarah Goodes. The timeless and much-loved classic novel Storm Boy is brought to the stage in an epic MTC and Queensland Theatre co-production, in association with Dead Puppet Society, directed by Sam Strong. The Violent Outburst That Drew Me to You by Finegan Kruckemeyer – MTC’s 2019 Family and Education show – is a smart, sweet and fiery tale about two offbeat kids at war with the world, starring Harry Tseng and directed by Prue Clark.

In The Violent Outburst That Drew Me To You we meet Connor, an angry sixteen year old. Everyone and everything annoys him, even his best mate. After his outburst, Connor’s parents exile him to the forest to calm down. There he meets Lotte – also sixteen, also angry – and the two teenage misfits find a happier future together.

The Violent Outburst That Drew Me To You has a long title but a short message: we were all teenagers once – we have all experienced the ticking time bomb of adolescence, the impatient impulse to kick and scream (or whinge) at the universe, while wanting to lie still in a quiet forest glade and dream of the future. Winner of the Australian Writers Guild Award for Best Play for Young Audiences, Finegan Kruckemeyer has written a script that will resonate with teenagers and anyone who has ever been one.

After its Victorian premiere season at Southbank Theatre, the Lawler (2 – 18 May 2019), The Violent Outburst That Drew Me Tour You will tour regional Victoria and Tasmania, performing at Mildura Arts Centre (22 May), Ulmarra Theatre Bendigo (24 May), the Potato Shed Geelong (28 May), Lighthouse Theatre Warrnambool (30 May) and Hobart’s Theatre Royal (5 June).

Image: The Violent Outburst That Drew Me to You - Photographer: Michelle Tran.