Andrew Upton and Cate Blanchett have announced their final season as Co-Artistic Directors of Sydney Theatre Company, including the outstanding on-stage partnerships directed by internationally acclaimed directors.
Legendary French actor Isabelle Huppert will join Blanchett on stage when they star as two murderous sisters in a unique exploration of Genet’s The Maids, by Upton and Benedict Andrews, to be directed by Andrews. The star power continues when Richard Roxburgh and Huge Weaving once again tread the boards in Beckett’s iconic masterpiece, Waiting for Godot, directed by Uncle Vanya’s Tamás Ascher. Great double acts seem the cornerstone of STC’s upcoming season with Tim Minchin and Toby Schmitz starring in Stoppard’s comic tour-de-force, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, under the guidance of director Simon Phillips.
There are renowned theatre makers aplenty directing new plays and classics at STC in the 2013 season. Neil Armfield will oversee the world premiere of Andrew Bovell’s adaption of Kate Grenville’s lauded novel, The Secret River, which will star Trevor Jamieson and Jeremy Sims.
Other offerings include Nicholas Hytner’s West End and Broadway smash One Man, Two Guvnors; Dance Better at Parties, Gideon Obarzanek’s first foray into text-based theatre; Robert Menzies staring in Joanna Murray-Smith’s smouldering new work, Fury, to be directed by Upton; the world premiere of Laser Beak Man that will see Bruce Gladwin collaborating with the extraordinary Back to Back Theatre; Tom Holloway’s adaptation of children’s classic Storm Boy, directed by John Sheedy; and the 2012 Adelaide Festival hit by Rosemary Myers, School Dance, written by and featuring Matthew Whittet.
Aside from the stalwarts of Australian and international theatre abovementioned, the 2013 season will also feature the next-generation of directors who in the coming years will be laying claim to theatre’s biggest stages. George Bernard Shaw’s Mrs Warren’s Profession will see Helen Thomson starring under the direction of Sarah Giles, while Kip Williams tackle the bard’s Romeo and Juliet and Imara Savage directs Sophie Treadwell’s Machinal. The world premiere of Verve (Faith), is the first co-production between STC and State Theatre Company of South Australia in eight years. Directed by Sarah Goodes, John Doyle’s new play stars Adelaide’s Paul Blackwell in the title role. Verve (Faith) is the first show announced for the State Theatre Company’s 2013 Season.
‘We’re enormously excited to be collaborating with Sydney Theatre Company on John’s moving and bitingly funny new play. To have Paul return to the State Theatre Company stage makes the project even more special,’ said incoming State Theatre Company Artistic Director, Geordie Brookman.
Of their final season Blanchett and Upton said:
‘Originally conceived as a sign-off season for both of us, our 2013 season has a lot of our passions and favourite artists and is brimming with some of the relationships and partnerships that have inspired us during the last five years.
‘There are some classics of the 20th century – seminal works we’ve always wanted to do such as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Waiting For Godot and The Maids, alongside many new Australian works including Laser Beak Man, Vere (Faith) and Storm Boy and the fabulous new commissions Fury and The Secret River.
‘A key ambition for us in terms of our international strategy has been to create opportunities and relationships that expose Australian artists to international artists and audiences. We’re thrilled that as a result of exposure to the company’s work, artists of the calibre of Isabelle Huppert and Tamás Asher will be working with us in 2013.
“We hope you’ll be there. There will be fireworks.”
Also featured in the 2013 STC season are the homage to horror films about evil children, Little Mercy from Sisters Grimm and perennial favourite, The Wharf Revue, back in its 14th year to lampoon the politics and pop culture of contemporary Australia.
Richard Roxburgh and Hugo Weaving in Waiting for Godot
Full list of performances and dates below. For further information head to the STC website
Sydney Theatre Company, Sydney Festival and Allens present
THE SECRET RIVER
By Kate Grenville. An adaptation for the stage by Andrew Bovell
8 January – 9 February 2013, Sydney Theatre
Sydney Theatre Company in association with Sydney Festival presents a Windmill Theatre production
SCHOOL DANCE
By Matthew Whittet
10 January- 3 February 2013, Wharf 1
Sydney Theatre Company presents
MRS WARREN’S PROFESSION
By George Bernard Shaw
14 February – 6 April 2013, Wharf 1
Sydney Theatre Company presents
LITTLE MERCY
By Sisters Grimm. Created by Ash Flanders and Declan Greene
7 – 17 March 2013, Wharf 2
Sydney Theatre Company and UBS Australia present A National Theatre of Great Britain production
ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS
By Richard Bean. Based on The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni
30 March – 11 May 2013, Sydney Theatre
Sydney Theatre Company presents
DANCE BETTER AT PARTIES
By Gideon Obarzanek
5 – 27 April 2013, Wharf 2
Sydney Theatre Company presents
FURY
A new play by Joanna Murray-Smith
15 April – 8 June 2013, Wharf 1
Sydney Theatre Company and Colonial First State Global Asset Management present
THE MAIDS
By Jean Genet. A new translation by Andrew Upton and Benedict Andrews
4 June – 20 July 2013, Sydney Theatre
Sydney Theatre Company and Commonwealth Bank present
ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD
By Tom Stoppard
6 August – 7 September 2013, Sydney Theatre
Sydney Theatre Company and Barking Gecko Theatre Company present
STORM BOY
By Colin Thiele. Adapted for the stage by Tom Holloway
9 August – 8 September 2013, Wharf 1
Sydney Theatre Company presents THE MOST EXCELLENT AND LAMENTABLE TRAGEDY OF
ROMEO AND JULIET
By William Shakespeare
17 September – 2 November 2013, Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House
Sydney Theatre Company, Back to Back Theatre and Malthouse Melbourne present
LASER BEAK MAN
20 September – 19 October 2013, Wharf 1
Sydney Theatre Company and Bank of America Merrill Lynch present
THE WHARF REVUE 2013
23 October – 21 December 2013, Wharf 1
Sydney Theatre Company and State Theatre Company of South Australia present
VERE (FAITH)
A new play by John Doyle
6 November- 7 December 2013, Drama Theatre Sydney Opera House
Sydney Theatre Company and Qantas present
WAITING FOR GODOT
By Samuel Beckett
12 November – 7 December 2013, Sydney Theatre
Sydney Theatre Company presents
MACHINAL
By Sophie Treadwell
21 – 30 November 2013, Wharf 2
