Black Swan State Theatre Company have announced their 2024 season and it’s filled with acclaimed international works, local favourites, and unexpected choices.
Artistic Director Kate Champion believes the company’s 2024 Season is a fascinating array of different ways to see the world through the lives of others.
“For me, theatre is an extraordinary opportunity to experience the world through a perspective other than my own; how someone lives, the concerns they have, the hopes they harbour. Each of these stories and every one of these characters have a unique reality to share with you – up close and personal, intriguing and insightful.” Champion said of the program that was announced on Thursday night.
Steve Rodger’s play The Pool will have an unusual performance venue, the Bold Park Aquatic Centre in City Beach. The play, which will form part of the Perth Festival, will see audiences immersing themselves in an intimate experience as you eavesdrop on the conversations of ordinary everyday people through a personal headset. The company used a similar technique for their 2019 production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town.
Rodgers and Champion have previously had successful collaborations including Food for Belvoir St and Force Majeure. Rodgers also recently co-wrote the Western Australian feature film Sweet As with Jub Clerc.
The cast includes Kylie Bracknell, Edyll Ismail, Emma Jackson, Joel Jackson, Geoff Kelso, Polly Low and Tobias Muhafidin.
In April Andrea Gibbs play Barracking for the Umpire will have a return season at the Subiaco Arts Centre.
Drawing upon her own upbringing in Donnybrook, Gibbs created a story about a family whose lives are centred around the world of local footy. The play was commissioned by Black Swan for their 2022 season and after it plays in Perth it’ll be heading off on a regional tour.
Michael Abercromby, Pippa Grandison, Joel Jackson, Steve Le Marquand, Jo Morris and Ian Wilkes will appear in the production.
Over four dates in May the company will present Pickle Jam at the Holmes à Court Gallery in the arts focused neighbourhood of the Pickle District.
The event will see eight of Perth’s up-and-coming writers respond to existing texts in a variety of different ways. Described as raw and stripped back performances Grace Chow, Medina Dizarevic, Andrea Gibbs, Joe Paradise Lui, Sam Nerida, Ebony McGuire, Morgan Owen and Marano Wangai will all create works for a production directed by Emily McLean.
In June the company will perform the first of two plays in its season written by Australian playwight Suzie Miller.
Direct from a critically acclaimed sell-out season at Sydney Theatre Company, Australian legend, Heather Mitchell, commands the stage in this intimate theatrical portrait of US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
From life as a young Jewish woman questioning gender inequality, to holding her ground in the Oval Office through multiple US presidencies, RBG: Of Many, One celebrates the legacy and tenacity of this cultural icon who passed away in 2020.
What is sure to be a highlight of the season is a production of Miller’s highly acclaimed one-woman play Prima Facie. It’ll be at the Health Leger Theatre in July.
Miller drew upon her own experience as a legal practitioner to create this tale of a lawyer who has often defended people accused of sexual assault, but suddenly finds herself seeing the law in a different way when she is the victim of a crime.
A West End production won the Olivier Award for Best New Play, and Jodie Comer took home the Best Actress trophy. Miller has recently released a novelisation of the play.
There’s been no announcement yet on who will be staring in the Perth production, but it’ll be a sought-after role for Australia’s top actors.
In late August the company will stage a production of The Children, a work from British playwright Lucy Kirkwood.
Mel Cantwell will direct a cast that includes Nicola Bartlett, Humphrey Bower and Caroline Brazier. While Rachel Sease will create the play’s soundscape and music.
The Children was first staged at London’s Royal Court Theatre in 2016 to critical acclaim. Inspired by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear explosion in Japan, the play tells the tale of married couple Hazel and Robin, both nuclear scientists, who live in a remote cottage in Scotland while the world outside deals with a major nuclear disaster.
The play has previously been stage as a co-production by the Melbourne and Sydney Theatre Companies. Wentworth actor Pamela Rabe won the 2018 Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor ins Play for her performance in the work.
The company’s final production for 2023 will be a production of The Seed by Kate Mulvaney staged at the Subiaco Arts Centre.
This multi-generational drama began life at Belvoir St Theatre in 2007 as part of their B Sharp Season and was restaged the following year as part of their mainstage program.
An intimate, brash, and poignant family drama, The Seed brims with comedy and tension as three family members navigate finding new life amongst the rubble of old wars.
Rose Maloney is a writer ready to pen her story. Her father, Danny, is a Vietnam veteran still managing the effects of war. Danny’s father, Brian, is an IRA soldier. All three celebrate their birthday on the same day.
This staging will feature Geoff Kelso, Tegan Mulvany and Steve Turner. and will be directed by Matt Edgerton.
To book tickets for the season head to Black Swan State Theatre Company.
Graeme Watson
You can support our work by subscribing to our Patreon
or contributing to our GoFundMe campaign.
