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| Photograph by Dylan Evans |
La Boite Theatre Company have committed to another year of exciting new stories and collaborations, launching their 2019 season which Artistic Director Todd MacDonald describes as being all about connection and reconnection.
“La Boite is a beautiful collision of incredible history and future vision,” MacDonald said. “For 94 years, La Boite has been at the forefront of new Australian theatre. We take risks, we work with emerging artists, we make relevantm exciting theatre that is distinctly out of the box”.
In 2019, La Boite will continue their partnership with Queensland University with Technology, which delivered 2018’s acclaimed Lysa and the Freeborn Dames, to present a 21st century re-imagining of Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet, directed by Todd Macdonald and guest starring Lucas Stibbard.
“La Boite and QUT’s production of Romeo and Juliet takes no prisoners; reimagined for today through the energy and passion of a new generation,” MacDonald said.
La Boite have also announced a new partnership with Screen Queensland through their annual festival of new work, HWY, to explore the interconnected worlds of stage and screen. In September, a fierce and funny new Indigenous work by Australian comedian Steven Oliver, developed through the HWY program, will make its world premiere.
“After nurturing this incredible story via our HWY program, we are immensely proud to bring Steven’s darkly funny and deeply moving new work to life, directed by Isaac Drandic in his La Boite debut and starring a stellar Indigenous cast helmed by our beloved Roxanne MacDonald,” Todd MacDonald said.
2019 also sees La Boite continue its 94-year commitment to experimenting, discovering, and reinventing, with three artist residencies with Mad Dance House, Bleached Arts, and Opera Queensland set up to unearth the next great Australian stories.
Season passes are on sale now via the La Boite website, and single tickets will be available from Monday, November 19.
La Boite Theatre Company – Season 2019
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| Hsiao-Ling Tang, photographed by Dylan Evans |
Single Asian Female by Michelle Law
16 February – 9 March 2019
Michelle Law’s (Homecoming Queens, Bloomers) incisive and hilarious comedy, tackling race and gender in contemporary Australia, is back.
Single Asian Female follows the story of the Wong family as they deal with some of life’s big questions and explore what it means to be an Asian woman in Australia. Step into the afterhours of a suburban Chinese restaurant and meet the whip smart women who are definitely talking about you in their native tongue.
With two sisters at odds with each other and a mother harbouring a secret that threatens to tear her family apart, Single Asian Female is Australian domesticity like you’ve never seen it before.
“Michelle Law is a voice to be reckoned with and her ripper debut play is back by popular demand, with original cast members Emily Burton, Patrick Jhanur, Courtney Stewart and Hsiao-Ling Tang reprising their roles for this encore season,” Todd MacDonald said.
Along with presenting partner, Philip Bacon Galleries, catch the Wong family in their return to the La Boite stage, following a sold out 2018 season in Sydney at Belvoir.
HWY FESTIVAL
25 March – 6 April 2019
HWY is La Boite’s annual festival of new work that encourages artists to stretch boundaries and take risks, while inviting audiences to enter into a dialogue around new work and theatre practice.
Supported by Screen Queensland and Brisbane Airport Coroporation, HWY is an invitation to engage with Brisbane’s dynamic theatre sector through participation in the development of new Australian work.
Over an action-packed two weeks, HWY attendees participate in readings, showings, workshops, masterclasses, conversations and pitches. These events provide a platform for the industry and wider arts community to engage in robust dialogue about the future of theatre in Brisbane.
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| Romeo and Juliet will be reimagined for the 21st century. Photographed by Dylan Evans |
Romeo And Juliet by William Shakespeare
25 May – 15 June 2019
A 21st century re-imagining of Shakespeare’s iconic love story, La Boite and QUT Creative Industries production of Romeo and Juliet takes no prisoners in its version of theatre’s infamous star-crossed lovers.
Two families at war, two teenagers in love, a three-day affair that ends in six deaths. Did Romeo and Juliet love too much, too hard, too soon? Did their union even stand a chance? And why do we still care?
Under the gripping direction of Todd MacDonald, the ongoing partnership between La Boite and QUT promises to pack a punch. Brisbane’s best emerging actors perform alongside an ensemble of incomparable senior artists in La Boite’s take on this enduring Shakespearean love story.
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| Revolting Rhymes & Dirty Beasts, photographed by Dylan Evans |
Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes & Dirty Beasts
Adapted for stage by Shake & Stir Theatre Co.
24 – 28 July 2019
Think you know the stories of the Three Little Pigs, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Goldilocks or Jack and the Beanstalk? Think again!
Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes & Dirty Beasts bursts off the page in a spectacular live show that takes the world’s best-loved fairy tales and rearranges them with surprising and hilarious twists.
Frighteningly funny and seriously silly, Revolting Rhymes & Dirty Beasts is the perfect family entertainment for children five to 105. It will delight and disgust in equal measures.
Don’t miss the return of this multi-Helpmann Award nominated production penned by the world’s number one storyteller and from the team that brought you George’s Marvellous Medicine.
From Darkness by Steven Oliver
7 – 28 September 2019
It’s the anniversary of Vinnie’s death. His brother, 17-year old Preston is being visited by spirits—seemingly tormenting him while he sleeps. His sister, Akira buries her pain in her phone. Their father, Eric, is in denial and their mother, Abigail, is numbing her pain with drink, while Nan is coping with it all by talking… a lot.
There’s no denying that Preston’s on the cusp of something otherworldly. The family’s disconnect from each other and the world has gone on long enough. It’s time to purge the past to embrace the present, if they’re to have a future, and an encounter with spirits might just be the catalyst they all need.
Steven Oliver’s (Black Comedy, Black Queen Black King) deeply moving new play deep-dives into contemporary family politics and the connection between culture, grief and our humanity, with Oliver’s signature aplomb. In his debut at La Boite in collaboration with Brisbane Festival, Isaac Drandic directs this incredible new Australian work with a stellar Indigenous cast.
Open Homes by Jeffrey Tan (Singapore)
25 October – 10 November 2019
Ever wanted to step inside someone’s house, out of sheer curiosity? Open Homes is your invitation—a unique theatre experience coming to Brisbane in 2019.
The doors of local homes will be flung open over three weekends as residents invite us into their private spaces and enchant us with personal stories, histories and anecdotes.
In partnership with Backbone and facilitated by Brisbane-based theatremakers, each 30-minute performance will deliver an intimate view of the heartbreak and humour, comedy and chaos, and domestic dramas and dreams that take place in our apartment buildings, Queenslanders and neighbourhoods across the city.
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| Naomi Price, photographed by Dylan Evans |
Christmas Actually by Adam Brunes & Naomi Price
27 November – 7 December 2019
From the creators of Rumour Has It and Lady Beatle comes the festive event of the year: Christmas Actually. See the world’s most-loved movie soundtrack live on stage.
Starring Queensland’s first lady of song Naomi Price (The Voice Australia, Ladies in Black, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), Christmas Actually delivers all the hits from beloved holiday classic Love Actually wrapped up with a sprig of holly and The Little Red Company’s trademark comedy and charm.
Relive the magic musical moments from your favourite festive film including smash hit songs by Mariah Carey, Joni Mitchell, and The Beatles, brought to life by a band of Australia’s top musicians and superstar vocalists.
Bursting with nativity lobsters (yes, more than one), cinnamon sticks and endless fun, Christmas Actually is the ultimate silly season starter.
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