A moving documentary play drawn from the traumatic recollections of members of the Newcastle Workers' Club, which was destroyed in the 1989 earthquake.

Resources

• Listen to Paul Brown - on verbatim theatre in Australia, the role of the writer, journalistic function, meaning and context.
• Listen to Brian Thompson (Set Designer)  on his design for the Belvoir production.

In 1948, Angela left Malta. Having gathered up five children, she sailed out on the Strathnavar, leaving poverty and the war behind.

Her destination: Australia. In Surry Hills, she could build a bright new life.

If only she could first learn the language, finish shoring up their dilapidated house, find new friends, get the racist neighbour off her back and keep her son away from sly grog queen Kate Leigh’s kids.

Back in Malta, someone else has made a journey. Making his way along Kalkara’s glistening harbourside, a young man with flowing black hair has returned to claim his past. Paul Capsis is walking home.

A journey that begins at a kitchen table becomes a sprawling family history and a fitting tribute to a much-loved matriarch.

Polyneices and Eteocles, two brothers leading opposite sides in Thebes’ civil war, have both been killed in battle. Creon, the new ruler of Thebes, has declared that Eteocles will be honoured and Polyneices disgraced. The rebel brother’s body will not be sanctified by holy rites, and will lay unburied to become the food of carrion animals. Defying Creon’s edict Antigone buries her brother and in so doing unleashes a terrible tragedy.

Extract

Review

Bastard Boys is the story of the fight that stopped the nation—the 1998 battle for Australia's waterfront. More than just a dispute over reform, it became a campaign for the hearts and minds of all Australians. Controversial, all-consuming and combative, it forced people to pick a side and fight for their beliefs. Political thriller, war film, buddy movie, love story and courtroom drama all rolled into one, this is the story of the people behind one of the most significant events in Australia's recent past.

Review

OUT OF STOCK. REPRINTING.

A fictionalised account of a true incident—the grounding of British Airways Flight 149 at Kuwait International Airport during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990—Black Box 149 explores the impact of war and terror on the lives of civilians. Written as an intense psychological and emotional journey, the play explores secrets, betrayal and guilt, and how the personal is impacted by the political.

Review

Based on the controversial stage playby Gordon Graham, The Boys is an unflinching analysis of the violence that lurks in Australian society.

Returning home from prison, Brett sets about re-establishing control over his wayward brothers as he searches for an act the three brothers can participate in jointly, and thereby violate norms.

The play of The Boys is also available.

 

Burke's Company is a 'play of disillusion', writes Katharine Brisbane, which looks at 'the blindness of European exploiters like Robert O'Hara Burke who failed to manage his company or listen to their voices; and refused to acknowledge the Aborigines' offers of salvation. Burke's dream is to conquer the land, by traversing it from south to north. He wants their exploits gloriously recorded in Wills' writings. A play about class—in this case the moneyed class—for whom discipline is a tool of survival not always placed in the safest hands.'

Published in Plays of the 60s Volume 3

A gripping, intelligent and unlikely story that sees coming of age meet historical apocalypse.

Set in Berlin, 1945, three young boys huddle for days in the sewers as Russian tanks rumble through the streets above. Through membership of the Hitler Youth, the boys are conditioned to fight to the last bullet but, almost paralysed by fear and indecision, they bicker among themselves as they determine how to survive.

A play about history and our children, warfare and freewill.

This provocative screenplay takes us inside the mind of Mark Brandon ‘Chopper’ Read, one of Australia’s most notorious criminals, whose sometimes violent antics have earned him cult status.

Includes an introduction from the writer-director, a foreword by Mark Read and stills from the film.

Review

It’s a terrific script—wildly entertaining, well-written and surprisingly touching.  - Scenario, USA.

Awards

• 2000 AFI Awards - Best Director, Best Actor for Eric Bana and Best Supporting Actor for Simon Lyndon.