Whatever you had planned for next Tuesday evening, cancel it, because Queensland Theatre has just announced the star-studded line-up for the next PLAY CLUB, and you are going to want to be there!
Spoiler Alert – Bluey’s Mum is involved!!
The latest in Queensland Theatre’s free online series PLAY CLUB is the live reading of After Dinner by Andrew Bovell (Things I Know To Be True, The Secret River, When The Rain Stops Falling, ANTHEM), with Daniel Evans – (Oedipus Doesn’t Live Here Anymore) returning as director. Straight from the ’80s, this hilarious comedy also serves up a tender-hearted account of relationships and behaviour.
And the famous five performing the parts are ….. drumroll please …. Ray Chong Nee (Emerald City) as Stephen, Cameron Hurry (Night Fill) as Gordon, Amy Ingram (I Want to Know What Love Is) as Monika, Hsiao-Ling Tang (Rice) as Dympie, and Melanie Zanetti (L’Appartement). For those in the know, Melanie Zanetti voices the mum of Bluey, the most famous cartoon dog in the world right now!
With a commitment from Queensland Theatre Artistic Director Lee Lewis to focus on Australian playwrights and local actors, PLAY CLUB has been a major hit since theatres were shutdown, drawing audiences from across Australia and internationally.
“We believe that theatre should be open, even when it’s closed. Through our PLAY CLUB program, supporters can join us for play readings with some of their favourite actors. Together, we can share our love of theatre by shifting our conversations from crowded foyers into our homes… until the stages are filled again,” said Lewis.
About After Dinner: In a suburban pub bistro on a Friday night, three office workers – Dympie, Paula and Monika – are desperately seeking a good night out. At an adjoining table are Gordon, recently abandoned by his wife, and Stephen, looking for something more than the usual one-night stand. As the night proceeds, inhibitions and social restraint disappear, exposing the foibles, pain and humour of the characters’ inner lives.
PLAY CLUB: AFTER DINNER by Andrew Bovell
Tuesday 14 July, 7.30pm
Directed by Daniel Evans
Cast:
Ray Chong Nee (Emerald City)
Cameron Hurry (Night Fill)
Amy Ingram (I Want to Know What Love Is)
Hsiao-Ling Tang (Rice)
Melanie Zanetti (L’Appartement).
Via Zoom webinar
Free, bookings essential: https://queenslandtheatre.com.au/qualitytime
ABOUT ANDREW BOVELL
Recent works for the stage include ANTHEM, co-written with Patricia Cornelius, Melissa Reeves, Christos Tsiolkas and Irine Vela. It premiered at the Melbourne International Arts Festival in 2019 before touring to the Sydney and Perth Festivals in 2020. EL JARDÍN premiered at Teatro Principal in Zaragoza, Spain in 2019 in collaboration with the Numero Cero collective in Madrid, with director Julián Fuentes Reta.
THINGS I KNOW TO BE TRUE premiered in Adelaide in May 2016 in a co-production between The State Theatre Company and the UK’s Frantic Assembly. The production opened in London at the Lyric Hammersmith in September before touring the UK. It returned to the Lyric Hammersmith and an extensive UK tour in 2017/2018. A new production opened at Belvoir St Theatre in 2019. The American premiere also opened in 2019 at the Milwaukee Rep Theatre and toured to Tucson and Phoenix. It opened in Madrid in November, 2019 and is currently on tour in Spain.
THE SECRET RIVER premiered at the Roslyn Packer Theatre in the 2013 Sydney Festival. The acclaimed STC production won six Helpmann Awards including Best Play, as well as Best New Work at the Sydney Theatre Awards, the AWGIE Award, the David Williamson Prize and the NSW Premier’s Literary Award for Community Relations. It returned to the Roslyn Packer Theatre in Feb 2016 before touring to Brisbane and Melbourne. It was revived again for the 2017 Adelaide Festival of the Arts where it was performed in the Anstey Quarry. It opened at the Edinburgh International Festival and the National Theatre in London in August 2019.
WHEN THE RAIN STOPS FALLING premiered at the 2008 Adelaide Festival, produced by Brink Productions, before touring nationally and going on to win numerous awards. The play has been produced in London at the Almeida Theatre (2009) and in New York at The Lincoln Centre (2010) where it won five Lucille Lortell Awards and was named best new play of the year by Time Magazine. The play premiered in Spain in 2015 as Cuando Deje De Llover where it won four prestigious Max Awards. It opened in Rome at the Teatro Argentine in February, 2019 and returns to an Italian tour in 2020.
Earlier works for the stage include FEVER, HOLY DAY, WHO’S AFRAID OF THE WORKING CLASS, SPEAKING IN TONGUES, SCENES FROM A SEPARATION SHADES OF BLUE, SHIP OF FOOLS, AFTER DINNER, THE BALLAD OF LOIS RYAN AND STATE OF DEFENSE. The Sydney Theatre Company revived his early play, AFTER DINNER, for a sellout season at the Wharf Theatre in Sydney in 2015 and the State Theatre Company produced the play in 2018.
For film he has recently completed the adaption of the American novel STONER, by John Williams. Other films include the French language IN THE SHADOW OF IRIS, directed by Jalil Lespert (2017). A MOST WANTED MAN is an adaptation of the John Le Carre’ novel directed by Anton Corbijn and staring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Robyn Wright and Willem Defoe. The film premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Other films include EDGE OF DARKNESS, which stared Mel Gibson, BLESSED (Winner best screenplay at the San Sebastian Film Festival), THE BOOK OF REVELATION, HEAD ON, STRICTLY BALLROOM and the multi-award winning LANTANA, which was based on his play SPEAKING IN TONGUES.
Andrew was awarded the Patrick White Fellowship by the Sydney Theatre Company in 2017 and an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by Flinders University in 2018. In September 2018 Andrew delivered the Wal Cherry Lecture at Flinders University. In 2015, he delivered the BAFTA and BFI International Screenwriting Lecture –the first Australian to be invited to do so. He delivered the landmark 2013 keynote address at the National Play Festival in Sydney and the 2011 Foxtel Address on Screenwriting. Andrew has served on the international jury for Sydney Film Festival, as a board member of Playwriting Australia, the Literature Board of the Australia Council, and the boards of the Adelaide Film Festival and Australian Writers’ Guild. He is a recipient of the Australian Centenary Medal for his services to the Arts and Society. He has served as a screenwriting consultant and mentor in Australia and Europe and has delivered numerous master classes on screenwriting and playwriting both in Australia and abroad.
