Queensland Theatre Unveils 2017 Season And A Rebrand
New artistic director Sam Strong cuts the company but add nine "key commitments"
Queensland Theatre Company has announced its 2017 season and a rebrand (again). Until 2001, the Brisbane-based theatre company had the rather ostentatious title of The Royal Queensland Theatre Company. Today, they’ve shorted the company’s name again, to simply “Queensland Theatre.”
This streamlined moniker is just the start of a shakeup for QT under the leadership of its new young and dynamic artistic director Sam Strong. As well as unveiling the nine productions Brisbane’s theatre lovers will be seeing next year, Strong has also announced nine commitments that he intends to champion during his inaugural year. These include touring QT productions to 15 interstate theatres across Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Canberra and ensuring certain high-profile engagements are exclusives to Queensland – Marta Dusseldorp and Ben Winspear in Scenes from a Marriage, and Nakkiah Lui’s directorial debut, An Octoroon, are 2017’s ring-fenced acts.
Strong has also made a commitment to promote the work of the next generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander talents, such as Jimi Bani, Nakkiah Lui and Miranda Tapsell, and QT will also commit to supporting independent artists with residencies and other opportunities, in a timely response to the severely depleted funds of the Australia Council. Equality and diversity are also part of Strong’s vision for QT, with gender parity achieved in this debut season and a third of the actors engaged for 2017 representing racially diverse backgrounds.
Kiwi Rocker Tim Finn’s debut musical is a brilliantly upbeat setting of Madeleine St John’s treasured comedy of manners, set in a 1950s department store.
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When: 28 Jan – 19 Feb
Book by Carolyn Burns Music and lyrics by Tim Finn Director: Simon Phillips Venue: Playhouse
Based on Madeleine St John’s novel, The Women in Black
Starring: Kate Cole, Carita Farrer Spencer, Bobby Fox, Natalie Gamsu, Madeleine Jones, Kathryn McIntyre, Sarah Morrison, Trisha Noble, Ellen Simpson and Greg Stone
Touring Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra
A touching microcosm of the million tiny dramas that make up everyday life, played out against the backdrop of a crumbling cinema.
When: 10 Feb – 5 Mar
Playwright: Annie Baker; Director: Nadia Tass; Venue: Cremorne Theatre
Starring: Ngaire Dawn Fair, Kevin Hofbauer, Dion Mills and Ben Prendergast
Red Stitch Actors Theatre Production.
This quirky sci-fi romance has already charmed audiences in New York and London. Now Queensland has a chance to experience infinite love.
When: 9 Mar – 9 Apr
Playwright: Nick Payne; Director: Kat Henry; Venue: Bille Brown Studio
Starring: Lucas Stibbard, Jessica Tovey
(Touring Brisbane, Gold Coast, Townsville, Rockhampton, Mackay, Cairns, Gladstone, Bundaberg, Ipswich, Toowoomba and Caloundra)
This newly penned play gives a universally human story an Australian twist. Directed by Strong, it explores how we evaluate our lives when faced with our own mortality.
When: 22 Apr – 14 May
Playwright: Michael Gow; Director: Sam Strong; Venue: Playhouse; Co-production: Black Swan State Theatre Company
Starring: Adam Booth, Jason Klarwein, Toni Scanlan and Steve Turner
This tried and true comedy favourite is a flawless comic story about tragically flawed people. Behold the meta-farce, about a chaotic and woefully inept company of actors.
When: 3 Jun – 25 Jun
Playwright: Michael Frayn; Director: Sam Strong; Venue: Playhouse; Co-Production: Melbourne Theatre Company
Starring: Simon Burke, Ray Chong Nee, Libby Munro, Hugh Parker, Louise Siversen and Nicki Wendt
(Touring Brisbane, Melbourne)
Personal stories are pitted against our globalized, multi-cultural society in this play examining the experiences of migrants in Australia.
When: 24 Jun – 16 Jul
Playwright: Michele Lee; Director: Lee Lewis; Venue: Bille Brown Studio; Co-presenters: Queensland Government and Griffin Theatre Company, Winner: Queensland Premier’s Drama Award 2016-2017
Starring: Kristy Best
(Touring Brisbane, Sydney, Albury-Wodonga)
This play is a rarity, focusing on the experiences of a small community of people living remote but nonetheless complex lives on Mabuiag Island in the Torres Strait.
When: 22 Jul – 13 Aug
Based on a story by Dimple Bani, Jimi Bani, and co-created with Jason Klarwein; Director: Jason Klarwein; Venue: Bille Brown Studio
Starring: Jimi Bani, Dmitri Ahwang-Bani, Agnes Bani, Conwell Bani, Petharie Bani and Richard Bani
(Touring Cairns, Brisbane)
This witty and incisive comedy offers takes a frank yet whimsical look at historical attitudes to race, from 19th-century Louisiana to Far North Queensland.
When: 16 Sep – 8 Oct
Playwright: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins; Director: Nakkiah Lui; Venue: Bille Brown Studio Co-production: Brisbane Festival
Starring: Elaine Crombie, Chenoa Deemal, Shari Sebbens, Colin Smith, Anthony Standish and Miranda Tapsell
This dream combo of an award-winning and celebrated playwright, plus a real life acting power couple and Ingmar Bergman is a marriage made in theatre heaven.
When: 11 Nov – 3 Dec
Playwright: Joanna Murray-Smith; Director: Paige Rattray; Venue: Playhouse
Starring: Marta Dusseldorp, Christen O’Leary, Hugh Parker and Ben Winspear
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