What’s On: Barbara and the Camp Dogs (Queensland Theatre)

Barbara and the Camp Dogs

1 – 25 May, 2019

Bille Brown Theatre

Barbara (Ursula Yovich) and her band, The Camp Dogs, have been trying to make it in Sydney, but it’s a tough town for musicians. In all the relentless demands of city life, the wild and unpredictable Barbara craves a sense of belonging. So, she hits the road with her cousin, René (Elaine Crombie). What follows is part road-story, part family drama, part political cry from the heart, interlaced with original songs that range from punk-inspired explosions of rage to tender rock and soul ballads full of yearning.

A Belvoir production in association with Vicki Gordon Music Productions, co-created by Ursula Yovich and Alana Valentine and directed by Leticia Cáceres, Barbara and the Camp Dogs is a rock‘n’roll family reunion that will break your heart and fill it with songs. Starring a live band on stage, the show also features cabaret seating for the first time at the new Bille Brown Theatre, with a limited number of seats on-stage, up close and personal to the music and the drama.

Queensland Theatre Artistic Director, Sam Strong is thrilled to welcome Barbara and the Camp Dogs Director, Leticia Cáceres back to Brisbane, “Leticia began her theatrical career in Brisbane as a former associate director of this Company under Michael Gow. We’re incredibly proud that she’s returning to us as one of Australia’s leading stage directors and a Helpmann Award winner.”

“It goes all the way back to the 1970s, under Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, when Brissie bands like The Saints would pack out pubs with sweaty audiences who came for the catharsis of watching their musical anti-heroes rail against the political status quo. That’s precisely the vibe Barbara and the Camp Dogs is going for. You may even be lucky enough to score a seat on the beer-soaked sofa, in the middle of the action!”

Since premiering in 2017, Barbara and the Camp Dogs has been nominated for Best New Australian Work and Best Original Score in the Sydney Theatre Awards, the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Drama, and the NSW Premier’s Literary Award Nick Enright Prize for Drama.

For ticketing and further information, visit Queensland Theatre’s website.