Cancelled: American Song (Red Stitch Actors Theatre)

PLEASE NOTE: The season of American Song at QUT Gardens Theatre has been cancelled due to the limits on non-essential indoor gatherings of 100 or more persons. Ticket holders should have now received an email with further information, and can phone QTIX on 136 246 if they have any questions.

To keep up to date with QUT Gardens Theatre, please visit their website.

A friendly reminder that this pandemic is beyond the control of any organisation or individual, and that cancellations and postponements are being made with everyone’s health and best interests in mind. Please be patient, and be kind to one another in these difficult times.

American Song

March 20 & 21

QUT Gardens Theatre, Brisbane CBD

Tickets: $37 – $49

An exploration of parental responsibility from one of Australia’s most prolific playwrights. Ostensibly, this is a story about gun violence in America; Andy’s teenage son commits a heinous and psychopathic act, leaving thousands of questions in his wake. However, the heart of the play revolves around the shared human experience of relationships, responsibility and love – which transcend any time or place. It asks, ‘Are we really just the sum of our choices, or can we alter the course of our lives?’ and ‘Do I have the life I deserve?’.

After a sell-out Australian premiere season at Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre in 2017, the critically acclaimed production of Joanna Murray-Smith’s American Song plays Brisbane’s QUT Gardens Theatre as part of an eleven-city Australian tour. Directed by Tom Healey (The Spook, The Shape of Things), the work features seasoned Victorian actor Joe Petruzzi (Mambo Kings, The Devil’s Playground, Jurassica) in a reprisal of his provocative and profound solo performance as Andy.

Andy’s experience is common to many of us. The slow accumulation of a good life: love, work, friendship, family. But unforeseen events lead him to places he never imagined. As Andy heads off to work to give the biggest presentation of his career, he wishes his teenage son Robbie goodbye. Eight hours later, everything has changed.

First commissioned in the United States, and produced there in 2016 to great acclaim, American Song reaches beyond national or cultural borders in an intimate exploration of parenting, love and the question, ‘what could I have done differently?’

Ella Caldwell, Red Stitch Artistic Director said: “Red Stitch is thrilled that audiences around Australia will experience our celebrated production of American Song. Touring interstate and to regional audiences is an important part of our vision – to ensure these timely, urgent works reach a broader audience, and to sustain the life of exceptional productions.”

For ticketing and further information, visit the QUT Gardens Theatre website.