Capricorn
24 July – 12 August 2023
Roundhouse Theatre, Kelvin Grove
Content warnings: Coarse language, themes of sexual violence, miscarriage, family passing and relationship breakdown. Recommended for ages 15+.
A bittersweet play about love, loss, identity, culture, sexuality, and pet fish, will premiere at La Boite Theatre, dissecting the doomed relationship of ill-fated lovers Sam and Ally. The play tells the story of their gradual uncoupling from both protagonists’ viewpoints as well as that of their pet fish, Here Fishy Fishy Fishy.
Written and directed by Butchulla and Kabi Kabi writer Aidan Rowlingson, Capricorn is an unconventional rom-com that follows the fractured trajectory of a relationship in decline and asks whether it is possible to love someone and hate them at the same time.
Capricorn’s heartbreak is tempered with surrealism and comic relief and touches on environmental issues, institutional corruption and the importance of protest along the way.
“From the get-go, I wanted to invite the audience in to really immerse themselves in these characters, whether they identify with Sam, Ally or even Here Fishy Fishy Fishy, the outsider looking in,” Rowlingson said. “The beauty of what I am trying to achieve is to enable the audience to switch sides throughout the play: none of the characters are the good guy, none are the bad guy and that is what makes it so relatable.”
In addition to writing Capricorn, Rowlingson will co-direct the world premiere work with Queensland producer, playwright, director and Yuwi woman, Nadine McDonald-Dowd. It marks his mainstage directorial debut and he says he is excited to work alongside his mentor, McDonald-Dowd, as well as a creative team that brings new ideas and interpretations to his script.
“I’m a firm believer that theatre that speaks to a lot of people should be made by a lot of people,” Rowlingson said. “My role as director is about getting the other creatives in my team excited and inspiring them to dream as big as I was dreaming when I wrote Capricorn.”
For ticketing and further information, visit the La Boite website
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