Article: Horizon makes its way to Brisbane Powerhouse!

‘Nothing like hitting the road to leave your troubles behind.’

Playlab Theatre’s, Horizon returns to the stage July 31, 2024, at the Brisbane Powerhouse.

Commissioned by Playlab Theatre and written by award-winning playwright Maxine Mellor, Horizon is an AWGIE award-winning script exploring the current political and social climate of Australia, and where we are headed as a nation — who is driving and to where?

With the horizon ahead of them, Cole and Sky drive into the guts of the country in search of freedom. Cole’s dad is sick, Sky is bored of the corporate ladder, and so they’re excited to hit the road and leave their problems behind. Their newfound freedom is underscored by a long-forgotten mix tape buried deep in the glovebox, but out of the static emerges the past. When secrets start to leak from the car, dingoes begin to stalk them, and the bush seems more haunting than before. The road trip games aren’t fun anymore.

“Cole and Sky are driving to the heart of the country that lies exposed in open cut mines. Along the way, they are cutting deep into their hearts to discover their own abuses, fault lines and desires,” says playwright Maxine Mellor. “For Cole, returning home, the sparse and stark landscape offers little protection to hide his past shame. For Sky, this landscape is new and at times terrifying, and so is her inner terrain — she is feeling lost and alien in her own skin.”

Horizon by Maxine Mellor is once again directed by Ian Lawson and stars new cast members Ashlee Lollback and Julian Curtis. The season runs July 31 – August 10 2024, tickets are on sale via playlabtheatre.com.au.

The playwright, director, and actors are available for interviews. Reviewers are invited to contact Playlab Theatre to organise complimentary tickets.

Horizon by Maxine Mellor is an AWGIE Award winning work for Best Stage Original Script and the 2022 winner of the Australian Writers’ Guild’s David Williamson Prize for Excellence in Writing for Australian Theatre, made possible by the generous donation of David and Kristin Williamson and
Shane and Cathryn Brennan.

More information can be found at playlabtheatre.com.au.

Comments

Review: Freshblood Festival - Vena Cava

Written By Thor Morrison Upcoming creatives need a place to experiment, to prosper, to explore, and even to sometimes miss the mark. It is essential that spaces that allow this to happen exist, especially in a world obsessed with perfectionism. The Freshblood Festival is an annual event run by QUT Student Theatre Company Vena Cava, focused on young writers and performers, and it does just that. It provides a space for the new and upcoming creatives of Brisbane and surrounds to experiment, have fun, and create really exciting performances. Held at BackDock Arts in Fortitude Valley, and running over two consecutive weekends, it is a massive endeavour Vena Cava have given themselves. 14 independent shows, two play readings, and 8 music acts ensure that Freshblood has something for everyone to enjoy, and shows the variety and scale of the Festival itself. Drama Dispatch was able to attend most of the second weekend, seeing a total of seven shows and a play reading, and was greatly impresse...

Interview: Deborah Conway AM // Book of Life

Australian music legend, Deborah Conway AM returns to the Queensland Performing Arts Centre this April as a part of her national tour of Australia. We got the chance to sit down with Deborah to have a brief chat about her new show and the music industry! Can you share a little about your book 'Book of Life'? Book of Life is a memoir detailing stories of growing up in an idiosyncratic household, of becoming a musician, the sordid adventures of youth, the at odds relationships musicians have with the music industry, of love, of becoming a mother, of work, of creativity, through to the full flowering maturity of all facets of growing into an adult in the most complete way. What was the approach to bring the book to stage in this show? I started writing in November 2019, sitting on my couch in Melbourne. March 2020 brought the cancellation of everything. I was very fortunate to have begun a project that I was finding so absorbing. As the lockdowns stretched on in Vi...

Review: Dogfight - Spotlight Theatrical Company

Written by Jake Goodall Get ready for a night of vocal excellence in Spotlight Theatrical Company's latest production of Dogfight! Located in the central Gold Coast, their latest production is sure to shock and delight all theatre lovers. It's 1963, and a group of young marines have gathered in San Fransisco the night before they ship off to Vietnam. They decide to celebrate their last night of freedom with a cruel game they call a “dogfight” where every man sets out to find the ugliest girl he can and brings her to a party. Everyone puts in money, and the man with the ugliest date wins the pot. This harrowing and horrific story showcases the toxic masculinity of the US Marines in the 60s but also provides an insight into PTSD and the terrors of war. One uplifting event in this musical is that it isn't about women changing themselves for men, it is about the power of becoming confident in oneself and not bowing to a man's wishes just because he says so which is the tro...

Drama Dispatch

Search This Blog