Skip to main content

Article: Big Scary Animal on Stage! - Queensland Theatre Door 3 Program

A blistering legal drama that exposes our insatiable appetite for high profile assault case leads Queensland Theatre’s 2024 DOOR 3 program.

 

The Norman Mailer Anecdote, written by local BAFTA and EMMY award-winning screenwriter, Anthony Mullins, is set amongst Brisbane’s upper middle class and spins on questions of reimagined realities and the lies we convince ourselves are true.

 

Helen is poised to finally make equity partner at her law firm — that is, until her husband Marshall, a career novelist, drops a bombshell. He has been accused of an historical sexual assault. Over one night of heavy drinking, they will claw at one another, love hard and hate hard, as they attempt to make sense of their uncertain future.

 

The Norman Mailer Anecdote is directed by Julian Curtis – returning from Hollywood for his stage directorial debut. Julian was a lead in the EMMY nominated cast of Are You Afraid of the Dark - Outstanding Children’s Series (2024) and nominated at the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards.

 

The cast includes well known Brisbane actors Christopher Somers (Elvis, The Water Diviner, The Bureau of Magical Things and Sweet Tooth) and Zoe Houghton (Upright, Joe v Carole, Wanted) and fresh NIDA graduate Hattie Clegg Robinson making her professional stage debut.

 

Anthony Mullins was the award-winning writer behind Safe Harbor (SBS) and Paramount +’s Five Bedrooms. The Norman Mailer Anecdote will be his stage debut. The play is produced by local company Big Scary Animal and supported by well-known local arts identity, Philip Bacon.

 

It opens at the Diane Cilento Studio at Queensland Theatre TODAY! Performances start at 6pm Wednesday to Saturday. Tickets available from: https://queenslandtheatre.com.au/plays/the-norman-mailer-anecdote

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Hair - Gold Coast Little Theatre

 Written by Mark Rickell   “Back in the late 1960s, the artists of off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway had been complaining that the professional theatre was dead, and even worse, that it was boring. Hair was the revolution they had been waiting for. With very little plot, a unit set, plenty of four-letter words, explicit sexual content, rituals, drugs, lyrics that didn’t rhyme, music that didn’t follow the rules, and the sound of genuine rock and roll on the Broadway stage for the first time, this musical knocked Broadway on its collective ass.” - Scott Miller, Rebels with Applause: Broadway's Ground-Breaking Musicals   Gold Coast Little Theatre has faithfully continued the tradition of knocking theatre on its ass. With themes and topics that remain just as relevant today as they did in 1967 at the show’s original release, GCLT has absolutely smashed this Broadway classic. At a time when theatres across South East Queensland seem to be falling back o...

Review: 35mm: A Musical Exhibition - Passion Productions & Allentertainment

Written by Jake Goodall Pictures tell 1,000 stories, and in Passion Production's newest revival, 35mm: A Musical Exhibition, does just that, through energetic ensemble numbers and heart-wrenching ballads. Housed within the beautiful Pip Theatre, this production is set to wow audiences left right, and centre.  In 35mm, each photo creates a unique song, moments frozen in time; a glimmer of a life unfolding, a glimpse of something happening. This intricately woven collection of stories told through song re-imagines what the modern musical can be.  Directed by Harrison Allen, the interpretation of the different songs were inspiring and quite different from the usual. For example the changing to a Female Gay 'Seraph' rather than Male was a delightful change that, whilst keeping the meaning of the song, provided us with a different perspective. Additionally the use of a wedding in 'Hemming & Hawing' was jaw dropping and heart wrenching again providing an unusual but ...

‘The Little Mermaid’ // Queensland Musical Theatre

  The lights dimmed, and the beat of the overture played as the audience immersed themselves under the sea in Queensland Musical Theatre’s (QMT) production of ‘The Little Mermaid’. This timeless story was brought to life at the beautiful Twelfth Night Theatre on the edge of Brisbane. Boasting a massive cast, this production was not our average community theatre show! Based on the famous Disney animated film (which was based on a Hans Christian Anderson Story) ‘The Little Mermaid’ follows Ariel as she yearns to leave her life under the sea to live on land. Add in a nasty sea witch, an overbearing father, and a handsome prince, and you have Disney’s recipe for an award-winning and top-hit show! Music by Alan Menken boasts an impressive 30 musical numbers, not to take into account the amount of musical underscore that has the band non-stop playing throughout the entire performance. There is something about Menken’s music that makes many Disney fans fall in love with their musicals. ‘T...