PLAYLAB'S QLD SYLLABUS SUGGESTIONS 2022

UNIT 4: TRANSFORM (CONTEMPORARY ADAPTATION)

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 4: Transform. Each of the following titles is a re-imaging, adaptation, or transformation of a classical piece of theatre that has been re-contextualised for a contemporary audience. The following titles have been adapted from a range of theatrical traditions and challenge meaning by reshaping the work though different modern performance styles and practices.

Awakening

by Daniel Lammin

THIS IS A DIGITAL PUBLICATION

THEMES: Youth, Mental Illness, LGBTQIA+, Sexuality, Violence
LENGTH: 90 Minutes
CHARACTER AGES: 13–50s
CAST SIZE: 6–10
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years and Adults

Daniel Lammin's Awakening honours the legacy of Frank Wedekind’s masterpiece Spring ... Read more

Antigone

by Merlynn Tong after Sophocles

THEMES: Power, Family, Activism 
LENGTH: 70 minutes
CAST SIZE: 5
CHARACTER AGES: 16–50
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years & Adults

Merlynn Tong's Antigone is a lyrical adaptation of Sophocles' timeless tragedy, with a modern twist.
SYNOPSIS
... Read more

The Fledglings

by Maxine Mellor

THEMES: Dreams and Desires, Disappointment, Generational Battles
LENGTH: 1 Hour
CAST SIZE: Large cast without doubling
CHARACTER AGES: ≤50
SUITABLE FOR: Middle & Senior Years

The Fledglings by Maxine Mellor is published alongside Good Grief by Merlynn Tong in a collection. SYNOPSIS: The Fledglings ... 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

A Doll’s House

by Henrik Ibsen in a new version by Lally Katz

THEMES: Women’s Liberation, Misogyny, Freedom
CHARACTER AGES: 18+
LENGTH: 150 Minutes
CAST SIZE: 5 – 6 Cast Members
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years

Lally Katz' new version of A Doll's House rises to the occasion to tell a story that's still ... Read more

Cinderella

by Matthew Whittet

THIS IS A DIGITAL PUBLICATION

THEMES: Love, Identity, Comedy
LENGTH: 90 Minutes
CHARACTER AGES: 30s
CAST SIZE: 2
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years & Adults

Matthew Whittet's Cinderella is a heartfelt fairy tale for adults about ... Read more

Medea

by Kate Mulvany and Anne-Louise Sarks after Euripides

THEMES: Childhood, Innocence, Motherhood
CHARACTER AGES: 10 – 13 & 30+
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
SUITABLE FOR: Adult
CAST SIZE: 3 – 4 Cast Members

SYNOPSIS: Two young children play games to distract themselves whilst their parents have a very famous showdown. As the dispute escalates the children are drawn away from their ... Read more

Medea

by Suzie Miller

THEMES: Love, Passion and Revenge
LENGTH: 120 Minutes
CHARACTER AGES: 18+
CAST SIZE: 4
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years & Adult

Suzie Miller's Medea takes on Euripides infamous tale of a woman ... Read more

Lysa and the Freeborn Dames

by Claire Christian

THIS IS A DIGITAL PUBLICATION

THEMES: Feminism, Politics, Activism
LENGTH: 90 Minutes
CHARACTER AGES: 18+
CAST SIZE: 10
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years & Adults

Claire Christian's Lysa and the Freeborn Dames addresses ideas of legacy, ... Read more

A Re-imagining of Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler

by Melissa Bubnic

THIS IS A DIGITAL PUBLICATION

THEMES: Love, Passion and Revenge
LENGTH: 90 Minutes
CHARACTER AGES: 30s
CAST SIZE: 7
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years

Hedda Gabler is railing against her life. She didn’t marry bogan drug slinger George Tesman so she could play housewife in a monstrous Gold Coast mansion ... Read more

The Tempest

by William Shakespeare Adapted by Lynne Bradley

THIS IS A DIGITAL PUBLICATION

THEMES: Magic, Freedom, Outcasts
CHARACTER AGES: 18+
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: Large Cast Without Doubling
TARGET AUDIENCE: Middle & Senior Years, Adult

Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre present a visually, physically and aurally stunning adaption of Shakespeare's last play, The Tempest. Directed by Zen Zen Zo Artistic Director Lynne Bradley, ... Read more
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