Incredible actor. Incredible play. Incredible jaw line. Pumped to announce Sam Reid as Father Flynn in John Patrick Shanley’s DOUBT: A PARABLE at @sydneytheatreco We are excited to announce Sam Reid (The Newsreader; Interview with the Vampire) will be making his Sydney Theatre Company debut. Reid will be joining Pamela Rabe, Zindzi Okenyo and Shannen Alyce Quan in a brand-new production of John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning play, DOUBT: A PARABLE, at STC’s Roslyn Packer Theatre this July.
Set in The Bronx, 1960s New York, Doubt follows Sister Aloysius (Rabe), the iron-fisted headmistress of St. Nicholas Church School, who suspects a progressive priest of inappropriate behaviour with the school’s sole Black student, Donald Muller. The charismatic Father Flynn (Reid) denies the allegations entirely.
STC Artistic Director, Mitchell Butel says: “Sam is an actor of such incredible depth and charisma and is a stunning addition to an already magnificent cast. I am so excited to also see the return of Marion Potts – one of this country’s most ingenious directors - to Sydney Theatre Company.” Pic by @hollywardstudio
⛪Season begins 30 June - tickets on sale now.
I loved seeing Jez Butterworth’s THE RIVER at STC one more time this weekend. This suspensefully slippery look at love and regret and the patterns of our relationships directed by Margaret Thanos thrills me each time and it provides a vehichle for the acting masterclass being given by Miranda Otto, Ewen Leslie, Andrea Demetriades and Matilda Ridgway. The play explores a quest to recapture a great love and reminds me of a quote from Albert Camus who said: “A person’s work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence their heart first opened.” Reviews have been stellar. Catch it before May 16.
Meantime, the juggernaut and 5-star wonder that is the musical MY BRILLIANT CAREER by Frankin, Harbridge, Bryant and Frank and directed by Anne-Louise Sarks finishes its triumphant Sydney run THIS SUNDAY!! Do not miss this heart-filling show and the sensation that is Kala Gare. Last minute discounted tix are on Today Tix or if you want to bring some mates and save $30 on every ticket, book 4 or more Adult or Under 30 tickets, and you’ll unlock $30 off every single ticket. Use promo code BESTIESNIGHT before adding tickets to the cart.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for AN ILIAD starring David Wenham at @sydneytheatreco .au/culture/theatre/one-man-100-minutes-five-stars-we-ll-be-talking-about-this-play-for-years-to-come-20260418-p5zp0a.html
Whoa. A review and a half for David Wenham and co in AN ILIAD at @sydneytheatreco and record breaking sales for the Wharf 1 Theatre over the weekend. Do not miss this extraordinary production.
“The richest theatre is often made from the barest essentials and that’s the case here. Director Damien Ryan conjures his enthralling production from one protean actor, one onstage musician (the mind-blowing Helen Svoboda) and a pile of stuff crammed on to a hand-pulled cart...
In the blink of an eye Wenham can be the suffering Andromache, beloved wife of doomed Trojan prince Hector. A spear is to hand for the heat of combat. A pair of sparkly shoes instantly calls up Hermes, Zeus’s fleet messenger. Wenham is old Trojan king Priam and shining Hector too, cradling his baby son Astyanax, no less affecting for being a puppet.
The range is extraordinary as Wenham constantly shifts temporal and moral ground.
Here he’s a poet, there one of us, then one of Homer’s heroes.
....At every point Helen Svoboda (also the show’s composer) is Wenham’s shadow and intriguing support. Her double bass is almost a third actor so varied are its sounds and uses, her vocals add an unearthly beauty to the soundscape and, like an ancient goddess, she gives a little help when needed. The choreography of it is superb – unobtrusive yet expressive.
This stupendous tour de force is completed in just 100 uninterrupted, intoxicating minutes. It takes somewhat longer to read the Robert Fagles translation of The Iliad used by An Iliad’s authors but it’s beyond thrilling too. Experience both if you can.”
I was lucky enough to see The Sydney Theatre Company production of The River last week which was absolutely amazing.
After the show was a q & a as part.of what is called an eveing with the artists what a wonderful idea.
Directed by Margaret Thanos it was amazing to hear her speak about directing the play and her vision.
I also managed to catch up with Miranda Otto and we spoke about film premieres in the 90s at the cinema in Pitt St which isnt there anymore and opening nights at The Belvoir and her dad who was always at the openings.
So I had to dig out an old school autograph I got in my first autograph book in 1997 I may have a look around for the pictures at some point.
@margaret.thanos@sydneytheatreco@sydneyoperahouse@miranda.otto@mitchellbutel #mirandaotto #sydneytheatreco #theriver
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review for AN ILIAD at @sydneytheatreco by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare and directed by Damien Ryan in the SMH. “ We go to theatre in the hope of a night like this, where the words flare like fireworks, and insights become revelations; where suddenly the stage seems as limitless as life, and you watch and listen in wonderment. An Iliad is that good. Twenty-seven years after he last performed in Sydney, David Wenham floors us with his breadth of range and command of the stage. It’s a colossal role. For 100 minutes he’s only silent sometimes, when the gifted Helen Svoboda is singing and/or playing the double bass…. This is a formidable work of art. Peterson and O’Hare have hammered their text until they’ve compressed the birth song of the Western canon into its very essence: the insatiable rage of Achilles. He’s enraged into inaction in the Trojan War when his nominal king, Agamemnon, commandeers his “prize”, the beautiful Briseis, with whom he’s fallen in love, and then he’s enraged into action when Troy’s mighty Hector kills Patroclus, his other love. Wenham’s character, the Poet, lives in our own times and therefore comments on rage and warfare from Troy to Iran. But the piece is not didactic, other than to say to us, “Such rage has never solved a problem before. Why should it solve one now?”
AN ILIAD starring David Wenham, directed by Damien Ryan and written by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare after Homer opens tonight at Sydney Theatre Company. It has been an honour and education to watch this incredible show and performance throughout its previews. The fact that a story about what motivates rage and war that is so old is still so timely at this current awful moment is both sad and shocking. But the way in which this show investigates those impulses in and how they might be quelled (and in an ingenious classical and contemporary mix) feels very useful to be sharing right now. @sydneytheatreco
LORD OF THE RINGS fans activate! As of tonight, both Eowyn and Faramir will be bringing a bit of Middle Earth to Sydney Theatre Company. Miranda Otto is weaving magic and mystery in Jez Butterworth’s THE RIVER at the Drama Theatre and David Wenham will step onto the Wharf 1 stage for his first preview tonight in Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare’s ingenious and dazzling Homeric reinvention in AN ILIAD. You shall not pass, unless you get tickets immediately. Links below. @sydneytheatreco pics by @hollywardstudio #lordoftherings
Some gorgeous shots of Jez Butterworth’s THE RIVER now playing at the Drama Theatre for @sydneytheatreco Immaculately directed by @margaret.thanos and starring the equally brilliant @miranda.otto Ewen Leslie and @andrea_demetriades with stunning designs from @annatregloan@dcld and @samchengx I’ve seen this show 6 times now and love it each time. And discover new pearls in each viewing. I recommend a dive in. The beautiful pics are by @daniel.boud
The wonderful @margaret.thanos in the April edition of @vogueaustralia Margaret is directing Jez Butterworth’s THE RIVER for @sydneytheatreco and has done such a brilliant job. The show is mysterious, sexy, funny, sad and haunting. And starring Miranda Otto, Ewen Leslie and @andrea_demetriades Opens this Tuesday night. Get in there. Link to article in comments.
Love letter reviews for the Sydney season of the @melbtheatreco production MY BRILLIANT CAREER, now playing at the Roslyn Packer Theatre for @sydneytheatreco Scroll through! Selling fast. Get in there. Playing till May 3.
Loved, loved, loved seeing @caseydonovan88 absolutely slay her THIS IS ME show tonight which is now touring Oz. Other dates below. I am in awe of this woman’s talent and power and heart and soul. Surely one of the greatest voices that ever made music. Great stories and wisdom in there. And thank you for the shoutout to #kimberlyakimbo - a very special show for all of us. Do not miss this legend. Coming to a city near you soon!
