PLAYLAB'S QLD SYLLABUS SUGGESTIONS 2022

UNIT 1: SHARE (NON-LINEAR)

The following list of plays has been curated by Playlab Theatre’s staff in order to provide an extended list of plays suitable for study in Unit 1: Share. The following titles include a wide-range of works that explore and share understandings of the human experience in a range of cultures including; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, those from the Asia-Pacific region, and refugees and asylum seekers.

The following titles also explore a hybridity of conventions and forms in storytelling practices. For convenience, we have separated the plays that uses non-linear dramatic forms and linear dramatic forms.


Black Cockatoo

by Geoffrey Atherden

THEMES: Johnny Mullagh and Australian XI, Racism, Colonial Power
LENGTH: 90 Minutes
CAST SIZE6
SUITABLE FOR: Middle & Senior Years


Inspired by the true story of legendary First Nations cricketer Jonny Mullagh and Australia's first ever international sporting team, this is not just about cricket. This is a story of ... Read more


The Campaign

by Campion Decent

THEMES: LGBTQIA Rights, Australian Politics
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CHARACTER AGES: Adult
CAST SIZE: 5-6
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years

In 1988 more than one hundred arrests were made at Salamanca Market when the Tasmanian Gay Law Reform Group defied a ban on a stall that featured petitions to decriminalise sexual ... Read more


Blue Bones

by Merlynn Tong

LANGUAGE: English, Mandarin, Malay and Hokkien
THEMES:
Domestic Violence, Relationships, Self Empowerment
CHARACTER AGES: Young Adult
LENGTH: 90 Minutes
CAST SIZE: 1 – 2 Cast Members
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years & Adults


When a woman finds scars left by her ex-boyfriend of many years etched into her bones, she begins a turbulent journey to unpack her past and discover how he got ... Read more


Brutal Utopias

by Stephen Carleton

THEMES: Idealism, Communism & Capitalism
LENGTH: 90 Minutes
CHARACTER AGES: 30s, 40s & 50s
NO. OF CHARACTERS: 10, Large Cast
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years & Adults


Stephen Carleton's Brutal Utopias (A Fugue for the Twenty First Century) examines the intersection between ... Read more


Oedipus Doesn’t Live Here Anymore

by Daniel Evans

THEMES: Family, Community, Tragedy, Loss
CHARACTER AGES: 18-40
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: 5 – 6 Cast Members
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years & Adult

What if Oedipus lived next door? What if the whole street knew what he’d been up to with his own mother, because of the word daubed in fluorescent letters ... Read more


Magpie

by Elise Greig

LANGUAGE: English and Romani
THEMES:
Cultural heritage, Intergenerational trauma, Immigration
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: 4
SUITABLE FOR:
Senior Years & Adults

Elise Greig's Magpie is a coming-of-age story that charts its way through generations of sorrow and blame, to ultimately reconnect with the past and embrace cultural upbringing and ... Read more


Driving Into Walls

by Suzie Miller

THEMES: Youth, Drugs, Sex, Self-representation
CHARACTER AGES: 18-21
LENGTH: 1 Hour
CAST SIZE: 5 – 6 Cast Members
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years

Making out, fighting, laughing, dancing and confessing … Drawn from over 500 starkly honest and highly confidential interviews with West Australian teenagers, this intimate and confronting play draws back the curtain on ... Read more


Prize Fighter

by Future D. Fidel

THEMES: War, Loss, Refugees, Trauma
CHARACTER AGES: 10 – 60
LENGTH: 1 Hour
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years & Adult
CAST SIZE: 5 – 6 Cast Members

A talented young boxer, Isa, is preparing for the biggest fight of his career. On the line is the national title and the promise of fame and riches beyond his ... Read more


The Longest Minute

by Robert Kronk and Nadine McDonald-Dowd

THEMES: Family, Identity, Sport
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CHARACTER AGES: 18–55
CAST SIZE: 5-6
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years


The Longest Minute by Robert Kronk and <... Read more


Return to the Dirt

by Steve Pirie

THEMES: Death, grief, identity
LENGTH: 90 Minutes
CHARACTER AGES: 20s – 40s
CAST SIZE: 4
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years & Adults


Winner of the 2020-21 Queensland Premier's Drama Award, Steve Pirie's autobiographical Return ... Read more

PLAYLAB'S QLD SYLLABUS SUGGESTIONS 2022

UNIT 1: SHARE (LINEAR)


Face to Face

by Emily Wells

THEMES: Indigenous Culture & Community, Loss & Disconnection, Family & Relationship
LENGTH: 90 Minutes
CHARACTER AGES: 20s – 40s
CAST SIZE: 2
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years & Adults

Emily WellsFace to Face is an intimate drama about two ... Read more


The Holidays

by David Megarrity

THEMES: Family, Memory, Intergenerational Relationships
LENGTH: 80 minutes
CAST SIZE: 3

CHARACTER AGES: 10–40s+
SUITABLE FOR:
Middle Years

David Megarrity's The Holidays is a touching portrait of memory and connection.
SYNOPSIS
The Holidays are on holiday: 12-year-old Oliver has been pulled out of school ... Read more


Lights in the Park

by Alexander Lee-Rekers

THEMES: Coming of Age, Bullying, Friendship and Revenge
LENGTH: 80 Minutes
CAST SIZE: 13, Large Cast
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years & Adults


Winner of the 2018 Senior ATYP Foundation Commission, Lights in the Park by Alexander Lee-RekersRead more


Rising

by Hannah Belanszky, Madeleine Border, Emily Burton, Lauren Sherritt and Sarah Wilson

THEMES: Climate Change, Extinction, Politics and Governance
LENGTH: 90 Minutes
CHARACTER AGES: 20s–40s
CAST SIZE: 3
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years


Rising by Hannah Belanszky, Read more


Reagan Kelly

by Lewis Treston

THIS IS A DIGITAL PUBLICATION


THEMES: Social Pressures, Identity, Rebellion
LENGTH: 120 Minutes
CHARACTER AGES: 18–50+
CAST SIZE: 7
SUITABLE FOR: Adults

Lewis Treston's Reagan Kelly is an irreverent comedy about rebellion, self-sabotage and ... Read more


The Pineapple War

by Lachlan Philpott

THEMES: Oppression, Revolution, Influence
CHARACTER AGES: 16 – 23
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: Large Cast Without Doubling
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years


It’s 2022 and Queensland is now part of China to resolve a civil war. The rest of Australia has become Nation One, with a conservative government and a return to ... Read more


Sugarland

by Rachael Coopes and Wayne Blair

THEMES: Indigenous Themes, Regional Australia, Displacement, Growing up
CHARACTER AGES: 16 – 18, Adult
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years

Sugarland provides a glimpse into a teenage Australia that feels like a foreign country. This haunting new play will make you pause, make you smile, make you wonder how much ... Read more


Rice

by Michele Lee

THEMES: Globalisation, Power, Politics and Migration
CHARACTER AGES: Adult
LENGTH:1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: 1 – 2 Cast Members
SUITABLE FOR: Adult

Everyone has problems to deal with – in the boardroom or the basement, global or local, business or personal. Two multicultural women making their way in modern Australia forge a powerful, ... Read more