Big names, big roles, and unusual productions, as programmed by Artistic Director Andrew Upton.
Andrew Upton’s first solo season for the Sydney Theatre Company will explore work from a range of playwrights, with top dramatic players set to tread the boards.
The play’s the thing according to Upton, and his commitment to represent texts from a range of authors will see the season take some dramatic and unexpected turns in a diverse program of 16 productions.
Classic works from William Shakespeare, Michael Frayn, David Williamson, Edmond Rostand and Maxim Gorky will be staged alongside newer works from Joanna Murray-Smith, Lachlan Philpott and others in a bid to showcase a range of old and new voices. The modern yet definitive works of Marius von Mayenburg and Jez Butterworth will also be included.
Highlights of the season are plentiful.
Hugo Weaving will take on the tortured and charismatic role of Macbeth, and Richard Roxburgh will be at his seductive best in Cyrano de Bergerac.
Marcus Graham, Genevieve Lemon and Tracy Mann will have audiences laughing from backstage in the three-act farce Noises Off, while Bryan Brown will do his best to romance Greta Scacchi in Travelling North.
Gorky’s Children of the Sun will also be staged with Justine Clarke, Jacqueline McKenzie and Helen Thomson tackling the 1905 world of a Russian family filled with plots and intrigue.
Things get experimental as the role of audience is explored in Fight Night, written by Alexander Devriendt and cast. An interactive angle to the production will be introduced with the audience invited to vote for their favourite on-stage candidates via electronic devices.
Children aren’t forgotten either, with the staging of Pinocchio, based on Carlo Collodi’s books and created by Rosemary Myers with writer Julianne O’Brien. The innovative theatre makers of Windmill Theatre give the work a modern update by transforming the classic tale into a highly physical music theatre production with a sharp and imaginative wit.
As a springboard for many successful theatrical performers such as Mel Gibson, Judy Davis and Geoffrey Rush, The Sydney Theatre Company has built up a strong reputation since curtains originally opened in 1978. With a strong mix of talent and text programmed for the 2014 season this reputation seems set to stay.
2014 Season Tickets are on sale from 9am on Tuesday 17 September with productions spread over the Sydney Theatre Company’s two venues, The Wharf and Sydney Theatre in Walsh Bay.
Visit the Sydney Theatre Company website for more information.
(Image: ‘Noises Off’ [cropped])
