Playwright Tommy Murphy, director Eamon Flack, set and costume designer Romanie Harper, and Belvoir's Head of New Work, Louise Gough discuss the cyclical patriarchal brutality of PACKER & SONS; a play which charts the transitions of power in one of Australia's most powerful families over three generations. Podcast recorded by Zoe Ferguson.

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Tommy writes real life like no one else – robust and brilliant, complex dramatic portraits, a pitch-perfect sense of the public interest in the private life. In other words, no one is better suited to write about the Packer line. This is about power in Sydney, and fathers and sons across generations, and the childhood traumas that drive us forward.

From humble beginnings, the myth of the Packer dynasty grows in step with their increasing influence, as each son feels the weight of time, of power. Newspapers, magazines, broadcast TV – what are they? How does each generation keep the empire one step ahead of the technological race, declare himself free of the shadow of his father and build a lasting legacy.

A deeply researched, muscular work, Packer & Sons puts on stage the men who have loomed large over Sydney for nearly a century, following the transitions of power from father to son over three generations.

Supported by Australian Writers’ Guild’s David Williamson Prize, The Copyright Agency Cultural Fund, and the Walking Up the Hill Foundation.

PACKER & SONS
16 NOV - 22 DEC
TICKETS: https://bit.ly/2QSJRMS

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Yve Blake, the writer of the book, music and lyrics of FANGIRLS, as well as one of its star performers, is joined by co-star Aydan, associate director Carissa Licciardello and musical director Alice Chance, to discuss the birth of the show and the much maligned demographic of unapologetically enthusiastic teenage girls. Podcast produced for Belvoir by Zoe Ferguson.

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Director Eamon Flack, along with performers Colin Friels, Sonia Todd and Vaishnavi Suryaprakash discuss the flawed and brilliant figure that was Galileo Galilei, the nature of truth and lies, and the high stakes theatre of astronomical reinvention. Podcast produced for Belvoir by Zoe Ferguson.

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Step behind the scenes, into the making of Andrew Bovell's THINGS I KNOW TO BE TRUE, directed by Neil Armfield.

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Writer Andrea James, along with Director Anthea Williams, performer Angeline Penrith, and Cultural Design Consultant Danièle Hromek discuss the play, the importance of Country for Indigenous peoples and the value of the stage in telling one's stories. Podcast produced for Belvoir by Zoe Ferguson.

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Director Kate Champion and Co-Director Steve Rodger discuss with set designer Isabel Hudson and solo performer Kate Mulvany, the enduring and quietly powerful nature of Every Brilliant Thing and it's exploration of mental illness. 

Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe
Director Kate Champion
Co-Director Steve Rodgers

Podcast produced for Belvoir by Zoe Ferguson.

8 - 31 March
BOOK HERE

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Director Jessica Arthur, alongside cast members, Brenna Harding, Sofia Nolan and Nikita Waldron discuss the understated power of teenage girls on the cusp of adulthood in this Pulitzer Prize nominated play.

The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe
Director Jessica Arthur

Podcast produced for Belvoir by Zoe Ferguson.

2 February - 3 March
BOOK HERE

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Writer S.Shkathidharan and Director Eamon Flack, discuss the monolithic endeavour that has been breathing life into COUNTING AND CRACKING after it was first conceived over 10 years ago.

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On the banks of the Georges River, Radha and her son Siddhartha release the ashes of Radha’s mother – their final connection to the past, to Sri Lanka and its struggles. Now they are free to embrace their lives in Australia. Then a phone call from Colombo brings the past spinning back to life, and we are plunged into an epic story of love and political strife, of home and exile, of parents and children.

Counting and Cracking is a big new play about Australia like none we’ve seen before. This is life on a large canvas, so we are leaving Belvoir St and building a Sri Lankan town hall inside Sydney Town Hall. Sixteen actors play four generations of a family, from Colombo to Pendle Hill, in a story about Australia as a land of refuge, about Sri Lanka’s efforts to remain united, about reconciliation within families, across countries, across generations.

We’ve done some big shows before – Cloudstreet, Angels in America. This is big too, but in a different way: it’s a new kind of Australian story. What makes it magnificent is its grand theatrical sweep, and its vision – deeply moving, compelling – necessary, of why we must never flag in the pursuit of an open society. Co-produced with Co-Curious Sri Lankan Meal provided by Dish Dining & Events.

COUNTING AND CRACKING
SYDNEY TOWN HALL
JAN 11 - FEB 2
TICKETS: https://belvoir.com.au/productions/counting-and-cracking/

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Writer S.Shkathidharan, Director Eamon Flack, and Cultural and Costume Advisor Anandavalli describe the mammoth undertaking that is COUNTING AND CRACKING, and the pressing need for theatre that speaks to the multiplicity of Australian and Sri-Lankan Australian life.

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On the banks of the Georges River, Radha and her son Siddhartha release the ashes of Radha’s mother – their final connection to the past, to Sri Lanka and its struggles. Now they are free to embrace their lives in Australia. Then a phone call from Colombo brings the past spinning back to life, and we are plunged into an epic story of love and political strife, of home and exile, of parents and children.

Counting and Cracking is a big new play about Australia like none we’ve seen before. This is life on a large canvas, so we are leaving Belvoir St and building a Sri Lankan town hall inside Sydney Town Hall. Sixteen actors play four generations of a family, from Colombo to Pendle Hill, in a story about Australia as a land of refuge, about Sri Lanka’s efforts to remain united, about reconciliation within families, across countries, across generations.

We’ve done some big shows before – Cloudstreet, Angels in America. This is big too, but in a different way: it’s a new kind of Australian story. What makes it magnificent is its grand theatrical sweep, and its vision – deeply moving, compelling – necessary, of why we must never flag in the pursuit of an open society. Co-produced with Co-Curious Sri Lankan Meal provided by Dish Dining & Events.

COUNTING AND CRACKING
SYDNEY TOWN HALL
JAN 11 - FEB 2
TICKETS: https://belvoir.com.au/productions/counting-and-cracking/

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The cast and creatives of Strindberg's trailblazing work, The Dance of Death (1900), discuss the play's inherent darkness and the enduring power of a tortured marriage laid out on stage.

The Dance of Death by August Strindberg
Director Judy Davis

Podcast produced for Belvoir by Zoe Ferguson.

10 November - 23 December
BOOK HERE

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