Welcome to our April newsletter. In this issue, you can learn more about the difficult relationship between fiction and history with Henry Reynolds’ compelling critique of The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith – the latest title in our Australian Screen Classics series – which will be launched in Canberra on Thursday, 17 April. You will also find some fabulous Special Offers and Give aways, find out more about our new releases, get an update on what’s happening on stage and read the latest on awards and other performing arts news. Enjoy!

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith

Henry Reynolds

In this compelling critique, Henry Reynolds explores the difficult relationship between fiction and history. Reynolds views The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith in its political and historical context, and examines the ways in which a study of Australian cinema is also a study of Australian social issues.

The latest title in Currency’s Australian Screen Classics series will be launched at the Arc Theatre at NFSA in Canberra on Thursday, 17 April. For more information see our Events section below. To order your copy, visit our website.

Special offer: Order a copy of The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith and get any other title of the series at half price! For details, check our Specials section below.

The Serpent's Teeth

Daniel Keene

The first title under Currency’s new STC imprint, The Serpent’s Teeth is a double volume of two compelling and moving new one-act plays by Daniel Keene.

The two plays – Citizens and Soldiers – explore the real tragedy of war and its impact on ordinary, yet precious, lives. The script is published in time for the STC production, opening 19 April. For more information on the production, check our special offers and the production section below.

To order your copy of the plays, visit our website.
 

Stories in the Dark

Debra Oswald

A terrified 12-year-old boy finds himself separated from his family in the unfamiliar streets of a war torn city. Into his life steps Anna – older, street smart and scornful of his crying. As a way of shutting the boy up, she starts to tell him a story that she remembers from her own childhood.

Stories in the Dark explores the power of storytelling, mingling the magic and earthy wisdom of folk tales with the hard-edged story of violence, conflict and the struggle to survive.

Stories in the Dark is nominated for the NSW Premier's Literary Awards this year. The play will be available end of April. For more information and to pre-order your copy, visit our website.
 

Australian Marriage Act

Marcia Ferguson

When sixteen-year-old Victoria is refused permission to marry her fiancé Rod from both her parents and the courts, she takes her case to the Supreme Court.

Australian Marriage Act is a frank, humorous and moving account of a young couple’s fight for love. Exploring sexual relationships and the age of consent, personal identity, discrimination, privacy and the law, Australian Marriage Act is bold, original and raw theatre.

For more information and to order your copy, visit our website.
Australian Marriage Act is currently touring Victoria, for details see the production section below.
 

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith by Henry Reynolds, the eighth title in Currency’s Australian Screen Classics series, will be launched at Arc Cinema at the National Film and Sound Archive in Canberra on Thursday, 17 April 2008 at 6pm. Followed by a screening of the film and a Q&A with Henry Reynolds and series editor Jane Mills. The launch is a free event, tickets for the screening can be bought at the NFSA box office on the night ($9.50 per ticket). For more information on the event, visit www.nfsa.afc.gov.au. To order your copy of the book, click here.

The Sydney Eisteddfod Story: 1933-1941 by Jennie Rowley Lees will be launched by Peter Kirkpatrick on 19 April, 2008. A concert featuring some of the most outstanding winners from the 2007 McDonald’s Performing Arts Challenge will precede the launch. Concert begins 7pm, book launch 9pm at The Smith Auditorium, Shore School, William Street, North Sydney. Admission to concert $20 or $30 with after party. For more information and bookings call Sydney Eisteddfod on (02) 9261 8366.

This magnificent book is essential reading for anyone interested in, touched by or researching the Gallipoli campaign.

Gallipoli: The Front Line Experience
Tolga Örnek & Feza Toker

Gallipoli: The Front Line Experience changes the way we see war by giving a voice to the men who experienced it first-hand: ordinary men, forced to face the extraordinary.

A companion volume to the acclaimed feature-length documentary Gallipoli, by Turkish filmmaker Tolga Örnek, this collector’s edition incorporates significant material not included in the film as it describes life in the trenches through the letters, diaries, photographs and drawings of soldiers. It is particularly moving in its focus on the experiences of individual Australian, New Zealand, British and Turkish servicemen, and the different fates that befell them.

A project that involved research across seven countries and more than 70 archives, the book, like the film, also draws on interviews with international experts of the battle including Les Carylon; and Brad Manera, who traveled to Turkey during the film shoot to check the historical accuracy of every detail in every scene.

This magnificent book is illustrated throughout and includes two foldout maps and a poster.

‘Örnek’s superbly presented book, comprising letters, photos, clippings and maps… is thoroughly recommended.’ Louise Keller, Urban Cinefile

Normally $35 Currency is offering Gallipoli: The Front Line Experience at the special price of $25. To take advantage of this offer, order online from  www.currency.com.au and put 'ANZAC Day Offer' in the comments field. We will apply the discount when processing your order. Offer expires 30 April 2008.

To purchase a copy of the DVD go to www.roninfilms.com.au

AUSTRALIAN SCREEN CLASSICS Special offer: Order a copy of Henry Reynolds' critique of The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith - the latest title in the series - and purchase any other title in the series at half price!

To take advantage of this offer, order online from www.currency.com and put 'ASC Offer' in the comment field and we will apply the discount when processing your order. Offer expires 30 April 2008.

Special Ticket Offer: We are delighted to extend this exclusive ticket offer from our friends at Sydney Theatre Company: Purchase tickets to any performance of The Serpent’s Teeth from 25 April through to 9 May inclusive and pay the preview price of $50 per ticket (saving up to $27 per ticket)!
The production is on at the Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House. To book your tickets call the STC Box Office on (02) 9250 1777 and quote the ‘Daniel Keene’ offer (tickets are subject to availability and a $7 booking fee per transaction will apply.)

Competition and Special Ticket Offer: Win one of three double-passes to see the Christopher Johnson’s new play La La Land on Wednesday, 30 April – courtesy of Darlinghurst Theatre Company. Directed by Michael Pigott, La La Land is an unashamedly excessive comedy of Aussies in Hollywood. To win, be amongst the first three subscribers to send an email with ‘La La Land’ in the subject line and your details in the email body to karin@currency.com.au. Only winners will be notified.
Darlinghurst Theatre Company also gives all Currency newsletter readers concession price tickets of $20 to all Tuesday performances and $25 to all other performances. To book, call (02) 8356 9987 and quote ‘Currency offer’. For production details, visit darlinghursttheatre.com.

The shortlist for the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards has been announced today. The nominations for the Play Award are: Alana Valentine for Parramatta Girls, Wesley Enoch for The Story of the Miracles at Cookie's Table, Debra Oswald for Stories in the Dark and Nicky Bloom for Tender.

Stories in the Dark will be available at the end of the month and Tender will be published by Currency in November. Parramatta Girls and Cookie's Table have been published in 2007 and can be ordered from our website.  

The winners will be announced on 19 May at the Art Gallery of NSW and there will be a reading from the winning publications as part of the Sydney Writers' Festival on 21 May.

The shortlist for the Patrick White Playwrights' Award 2007 has been announced yesterday. The award is Australia’s richest prize for playwriting for an unproduced play. Shortlisted are: Wretch by Angus Cerini, The Man in the Attic by Timothy Daly, War Poems by Suzanne Hauser, The Ides of March by Duncan Levy, Bare Witness by Mari Lourey, Concussion by Ross Mueller, Precipice by Catherine Ryan and The Water Carriers by Ian Wilding.

The winner will be announced on Friday 23 May at 7pm by STC Co Artistic Directors Andrew Upton and Cate Blanchett, during the 2008 Sydney Writers’ Festival, followed by a rehearsed reading of the play by STC artists.

Limited tickets for the event are available from the STC box office:
(02) 9250 1777 or sydneytheatre.com.au
 

Gail Jones has been nominated for three literary awards:
Her novel Sorry has been longlisted for this year’s Orange Prize for Fiction and for the 2008 Miles Franklin Award. Also, Gail’s novel Dreams of Speaking has been shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the most valuable literary prize for a single work of fiction published in English. The winner will be announced on 12 June 2008.
Gail Jones is the author of The Piano, the sixth title in Currency’s Australian Screen Classics series. For more information on the series, visit our website.

Romulus, My Father won the 2008 Movie Extra Filmink Awards for Best Australian Film. Romulus, My Father, based on Raimond Gaita's memoir, was adapted for the screen by British poet Nick Drake. For more information on the screenplay, click here.
For the full list of winners visit smh.com.au.

Bran Nue Dae, Jimmy Chi’s beloved indigenous musical, will be adapted for film. The story of Willy and Old Uncle Tadpole fleeing the city to embark on a journey of personal discovery and outrageous adventures will be directed by Rachel Perkins ( Radiance, One Night the Moon). Bran Nue Dae has been co-published by Magabala Books and Currency Press, for more info and to order your copy, click here.

After the huge success of the first six episodes of The Circuit – starring Aaron Pedersen as a city lawyer out of his depth in the bush – a second series has now secured funding. Currency Press has published the script of the first series, click here for more information.

Margot – a three-part documentary on Margot Fonteyn is currently showing on ABC TV, following the prima ballerina’s extraordinary life on and off stage. Part two will screen on Sunday, 20 April at 10pm. For more information, go to the ABC website.

Margot Fonteyn: Prima Ballerina Absoluta of the Royal Ballet brings together for the first time over 120 images which chart the whole of Fonteyn's career with The Royal Ballet from 1934 until her last appearances in galas in the 1980s. The book is part of a series—Royal Opera House Heritage Series—featuring a unique collection of images from the Royal Opera House Archives and is now available through Currency Press, have a look on our website.