GLEN STREET THEATRE PARTNERS WITH NIDA TO CELEBRATE DIVERSITY IN WARRINGAH

Glen Street Theatre has announced an exciting opportunity for young people to share their voice and celebrate cultural diversity in association with the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA).

Voices of Warringah is an innovative theatre project nurturing the experiences and sharing the stories of young people from Warringah. Led by theatre director and NIDA Lecturer in Acting Kristine Landon-Smith and renowned composer and writer Felix Cross, the project will fuse verbatim stories, scenes and characters devised by young people and inspired by real life events and experiences.

Glen Street Theatre and NIDA are looking for enthusiastic and reliable Year 7–9 students who are interested in drama to create this unique performance. The project will be devised from their stories and experiences and will use each and every language and cultural heritage from the performing ensemble.

Students are encouraged to audition through fun workshops, which will be held on Saturday 3 May and Saturday 10 May. The workshops will include theatre games, improvisations and story telling techniques.

Twenty students will then be selected to commit to creating this exciting work together over a period of six months. Rehearsals will take place every second Saturday afternoon from May to October and the devised performance will be presented at Glen Street Theatre on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October.

GLEN STREET THEATRE ANNOUNCES 2013 SEASON

Glen Street Theatre has announced an exciting line up of entertainment coming to the Glen Street stage in 2013. A diverse and exciting programme of drama, music, satire and comedy, 2013 promises something for everyone.

The season kicks off with Managing Carmen, the brand new comedy by Australia’s most successful playwright David Williamson. A play about football, identity and slingbacks, Managing Carmen is laugh out loud comedy for lovers of football and designer dresses alike. Then, David Denborough’s Sundowner, starring the much-loved Helen Morse, explores the complicated realm of memory through a powerful combination of theatre, dance and physicality in a story of lament and at times, grief and sorrow.

Next in line is Elizabeth Coleman’s deliciously funny and sweetly dark play It’s My Party (And I’ll Die If I Want To). A comedy of anxiety, absurdity and occasionally terror, Henri Szeps stars in what promises to be one of the highlights of the 2013 season. Following this, audiences will be spoilt with a glittering evening of delight, wit, song and dance in the highly entertaining, strangely familiar and surprisingly touching Noël and Gertie, based on the legendary on and off stage partnership of Noël Coward and Gertrude Lawrence.

Australian legend Uncle Jack Charles offers an insight into his fascinating life as a veteran actor, musician, Koori elder, activist and, until recently, heroin addict and cat-burglar. Nominated for Helpmann Awards for Best Director and Best Male Actor in a Play, Jack Charles v The Crown is a theatrical delight and a celebration of one of the country’s near forgotten treasures.

In 2013 Glen Street is thrilled to be hosting version 1.0 and their hit production The Table of Knowledge - a hilarious and utterly compelling interrogation of power, corruption and good governance in contemporary Australia. The theatre will also host the incomparable Catherine Alcorn, singing the hits of Bette Midler in her critically acclaimed cabaret The Divine Miss Bette. 
Following the overwhelming response they received at Glen Street this year, Australia's leading taiko drumming group, TaikOz returns in 2013, this time with prominent Melbourne DJ/Producer, Max Royce-Hampton in TaikoDeck – a visually spectacular show features more than 20 taiko drums and percussion instruments including traditional Japanese bamboo flutes, bells, gongs and cymbals.
And rounding out a year of phenomenal entertainment are those wizards of satirical comedy, the team from The Wharf Revue. 

In 2013 Glen Street will introduce some exciting new initiatives. Firstly, Tuesday performances will commence at 6.30pm and will be followed by a ‘Meet the Cast’ session where you can engage in discussion about the production with the performers.
Secondly, the theatre will host ‘Quarterly Wine Tastings’ in partnership with Wine Partner, Samuel Smith and Son, where audiences will be able to enjoy a free wine tasting prior to the performance.
Thirdly, if you want to subscribe but can’t yet decide on which plays you’d like to see, make the most of a Flexible 3 Play Package Voucher. This voucher allows you to secure the 3 play subscription discount, while giving you the freedom to take yourtime in choosing which shows you want to see.
Glen Street Theatre invites you to enjoy a year of exciting entertainment that will delight and move you.

Of Earth & Sky

One word that springs to mind throughout Bangarra’s Of Earth & Sky is haunting. Known for their earthy, visually stunning pieces, this double bill is no exception and leaves the audience spellbound.

Commissioned by artistic director Stephen Page, Of Earth & Sky stays true to Bangarra’s internationally recognized messages and themes whilst providing an avenue for new Indigenous choreographers to begin shaping the future of an iconic Australian dance theatre group.

The first act, Riley, by the youngest choreographic contributor for Bangarra, seasoned company dancer Daniel Riley McKinley draws inspiration from acclaimed Aboriginal filmmaker and photographer Michael Riley’s cloud series. Images form the dominant focus of the set, accompanied by an experimental soundscape that launches the haunting feeling that continues throughout all of the works. Despite being young, McKinley’s work is anything but immature and elements of the affinity McKinley shares with Riley is obvious, particularly in the closing moments of Feather which takes on a literary as well as symbolic meaning.

Artefact, the second act of Bangarra’s double bill varies greatly to the first performances but is no less captivating nor moving. Choreographed by long-time Bangarra performer Frances Rings, the opening Museum is a visually arresting piece using an almost other worldly looking cloak that expels plumes of dust and covers the dancers, McKinley and Travis De Vries and evokes and even eerier sense of being a spectator of another other time and place. Rings’ pieces focus on the value and importance that objects have for Indigenous people and Grinding Stone in particular - a piece performed by the male ensemble - furthers this with ghostly connotations of their past.

Of Earth & Sky is visually compelling throughout, with each element of performance working seamlessly to reaffirm by Bangarra is still a force to be reckoned with on the national and international dance scenes.

Whilst minimal, Jacob Nash’s set design further tells the stories unfolding on stage, and when paired with David Page’s musical creativity, heightens the haunting experience that is Of Earth & Sky.

Of Earth & Sky

Glen Street Theatre

28 March to 1 April