Queensland’s performing arts continue to deliver and the team at SheSociety has reviewed what is coming up in the next six months from Queensland Theatre, Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Opera Queensland. Make sure you book as no doubt we are all hungry to get back and enjoy the Arts.
Queensland Theatre
Edward Albee’s – Who’s Afraid of Veronica Woolf?
12-26 February
Nick and his wife Honey are new in town and accept an invitation to an intimate afterparty at the home of George and Martha. As the spirits flow and the conversation grows ominous, the four find themselves locked in a cruel sparring match with a hidden agenda. In the small hours of the night, this boozy gathering becomes a frenzy of savage insults, spiteful mind games and wicked humiliations.
By the time the sun rises. all secrets will be laid bare, and none of them will ever be the same again.
Edward Albee’s electrifying masterpiece veers between reality and illusion, between hatred and desire. This play shouldn’t be funny, but it is — caustic, spectacularly petty and brutal. Is this a portrait of a marriage in crisis, or the most sophisticated game of torture you’ve ever witnessed?
Director Margaret Harvey delivers a fresh and unique vision of this classic in a captivating new production from State Theatre Company South Australia.
First Casualty By Christopher Johnston
Directed by Lee Lewis
12 March – 9 April
Welcome to the remote Combat Outpost Mirage, home to eight Aussie Diggers mired in our longest war. From this tiny fortification overlooking a beautiful valley in the forbidding mountains of Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province, Captain Trent Kelly and his men have a lot to deal with. When they aren’t mentoring a platoon from the Afghan National Army, they’re patrolling for Taliban insurgents, negotiating with a powerful local warlord, or simply making it through another day a long way from home.
Written by a serving soldier and veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, First Casualty is a debut play like no other. It’s an authentic account of the real lives of Australian troops at war — the triumphs and the tragedies, the strains and the sacrifices, the pressure and the release. There’s tension, occasional explosions of violence, and humour, but at its heart First Casualty is about the friendship of the soldiers who have given up so much for their country.
This is not an anti-war story. This is not a pro-war story. This is a story of soldiers — the sons, the husbands, the fathers, the people we love.
Don’t Ask What the Bird Look Like – By Hannah Belanzky
Directed by Isaac Drandic
30 April – 14 May
Joan needs her father. She hasn’t seen him since he left her and her Mum when she was just a little girl. She wants answers. she wants history, she wants to know more about who she is. She travels a long way into country as remote as it is strange to this city girl. She finds Mick; a man who doesn’t speak much, and who bears little resemblance to the man who taught her to play Scrabble all those years ago.
But amid the flies. the heat. the dust and the stillness of this small river town, lurk many ghosts and mysteries. Over cups of tea and Scrabble in Mick’s weather-beaten old house, Joan is about to discover some family secrets that have been hidden below the surface for decades.
With a light touch of humour and a philosophical undercurrent, don’t ask what the bird look like is an intimate work from an exciting new First Nations voice — a heart-warming meditation on the search for identity and belonging, directed by Queensland Theatre’s Associate Artist, Isaac Drandic.
FINALIST: Queensland Premier’s Drama Award 2018-19
Bernhardt/Hamlet
28 May – 18 June
It’s Paris in 1899, and star of the stage Sarah Bernhardt has set her sights on playing Hamlet. Too old to play the ingenue and too bored to play the stale roles written for women, the diva needs a genuine crowd-pleaser to save her debt-ridden theatre. What better work than Shakespeare’s finest play? And who better to take on the greatest part ever written than the greatest actress of the century?
Traditionalists are horrified — a woman playing the sacred role of the Prince of Denmark? It’s at best a gimmick, and at worst an unnatural upending of the status quo. As Sarah and her players delve into what makes Hamlet tick, the whole city is watching and waiting to see whether this bold plan will be her legacy. or her folly.
A vivid real-life backstage story by American playwright Theresa Rebeck, Bernhardt/Hamlet is a fast-moving, audacious comedy about a 19th century woman issuing a challenge to the system that still resonates today.
Opera Queensland
Recital 
Romantic Heroes – Rosario La Spina & John Woods
25 & 26 February
From the Classical era onwards, heroes and romantic leads in opera have tended to be sung by tenors.
Tradition has long considered a suave and silky tenor to be the voice of Romance. We imagine them singing plangently and passionately, essaying many of the opera’s most poetic and loving lines.
Starting in the early Baroque era with ‘Ombra Mai fu’ from Handel’s Xerxes and working through time to feature some of the best loved arias and songs, this recital is a marvellous celebration of one of Australia’s great tenors.
Kawai is a proud supporter of the Opera Queensland Studio Series.
Performance
The Sopranos
29 March – 2 April
Celebrating bold and rebellious women
Season 2022 opens with The Sopranos, a new commission by writer Sarah Holland-Batt, celebrating the bold and rebellious roles women have played throughout the history of opera.
In this rich and exciting terrain, women dare to be different, love more intensely than is considered proper, refuse to play the roles they were supposedly born to play – and often face shockingly violent ends. Yet even as they meet madness or murder, sopranos command the stage with voices so virtuosic and emotionally powerful audiences are enthralled century after century.
Shining a light on some of the greatest dramatic moments in the repertoire, The Sopranos challenges our assumptions, inviting us to experience these unforgettable women anew.
Queensland Symphony Orchestra
An Evening with Anthony Warlow
28 & 29 January
Take a glimpse behind the curtain with this star whose name is synonymous with The Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, The Secret Garden and Annie (to name but a few) as he shares personal stories, highlights from his time on the stages of some of the world’s most remarkable theatres and reflects on lifelong friendships made over the years.
Anthony will draw on his extensive repertoire performing his most loved songs alongside treasured material never performed live in concert.
Accompanied by Queensland Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vanessa Scammell, this one-night only concert will see Anthony salute his time on Broadway with songs from the hit musicals including Sweeney Todd, Jekyll and Hyde and The Phantom of the Opera as well as songs from the era of Nelson Riddle classic swing.
Anthony will be joined by special guest Amanda Lea La Vergne, a Broadway star in her own right known for her performances in Annie, The People in the Picture, Grease and Bring it On.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in Concert
5 March
CineConcerts presents Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix™ like it’s never been seen before. Let the wizarding world enchant you all over again as the film is projected onto a giant screen and a live symphonic orchestra performs the score.
Laugh, cry, and cheer at your favourite scenes in this once-in-a-lifetime event.
Cinematic – The John Williams Birthday Party
29 & 30 April
Cinematic is our flagship concert for loves or movie soundtracks.
Created by film music fans for film music fans, it brings to life the soundtracks you know and love from your favourite movies (plus some new surprises you may not have heard before) in a spectacular sound and light spectacle. For Cinematic in 2022, we celebrate the 90th birthday of the master of movie music: John Williams.
In this special all-Williams concert the full force of Queensland Symphony Orchestra will bring you his signature tunes that have endeared him to millions of filmgoers over the years: the epic fanfares of Star Wars, the swirling magic of Harry Potter, the adventure of Indiana Jones, the poignancy of Schindler’s List and much, much more. You’ll hear all the Williams you love plus some hand-picked gems that have rarely been performed live.
BOOK YOUR TICKETS NOW!
https://queenslandtheatre.com.au/
SheSociety is a site for the women of Australia to share our stories, our experiences, shared learnings and opportunities to connect.
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