Love never dies, it just transforms.
Two men. They flirt. They dance. They fall in love.
House. Dog. Coffee machine. Joint bank accounts.
Work. Routine. Drift. Crisis.
Intimate, poetic and de-centering, Unconditional weaves a compelling tapestry of a queer relationship between a man who identifies as gay and a person whose identity evolves during their marriage… starting as “he”, but now transitioning to “she”, which destablises their union, their belief systems, and their politics.
Each playwright writes for one character in subjective monologue, duelling monologue and dialogue. Told with humour, insight and absolute honesty, Unconditional re-examines and re-defines the nature of love and what we tell ourselves we would accept. Is love really unconditional? Or does it have conditions like everything else?
RESOURCES
We understand the themes and subjects in this play may be difficult. If you or someone you know needs information or support, these organisations are here to help:
Q Life: 1800 184 527
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636
Lifeline: 13 11 14
You can also contact the following support organisations online:
More Information
SEASON DATES
Wed 30 Aug - Sat 9 Sept
PREVIEW DATES
Wed 30 Aug - Thur 31 Aug
POST SHOW Q&A
Fri 1 Sep
VENUE
Underground Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse
DURATION
90 minutes, no interval
AGES
18+.
WARNINGS
Contains adult themes, nudity, coarse language, sexual references, conversations around transitioning/gender dysphoria, and mentions of suicide.
PLAYWRIGHTS
Seán Dowling
Cameron Hurry
DIRECTOR
Brian Lucas
DRAMATURG
Ian Lawson
DESIGNER
Bill Haycock
LIGHTING DESIGNER
David Walters
SOUND DESIGNER
Brady Watkins
STAGE MANAGER
Makayla Purdy
CAST
Seán Dowling
Cameron Hurry
Seán Dowling & Cameron Hurry
Seán Dowling was one of Playlab Theatre’s 2020 Alpha Processing participants with her new work Quarehawk. She was one of the 2019 La Boite Theatre Company 21 Artists Development, where she wrote and produced the short 21 Dates. As a Graphic Designer and Illustrator who specialises arts organisations, Seán was a key creative in the development of Counterpilot’s transmedia projects Spectate, Crunch Time, Truthmachine and Avoidable Perils. She served as Assistant Director, Graphical User Interface Designer, Polygraph Guinea Pig, and Illustrator, respectively. She has a background in writing for screen, having received Screen Queensland grants to develop the short films Skip to the End and The Beer Line. Seán was one of the founding members, writers and performers of The Sexy Detective Show, a nationally touring sketch comedy troupe. In 2006 Seán’s short film, Copy, swept both major awards for Best Film and Audience Choice in Brisbane International Film Festival Fast Film Competition, the Best Film in the Queensland Short Film Festival and Judge’s Choice in The Melbourne Comedy Film Festival and went on to be nominated and feature in international film festivals such as San Francisco Independent Film Festival, New Jersey Independent Film Festival, and the Salento International Film Festival.
Cameron Hurry is a Brisbane-based actor and writer. He was trained as an actor through the University of Southern Queensland. His theatre credits include King Lear: Monster Show (The Curators), The Woman In Black (HOTA/White Rabbit), The Lonesome West (Troop Productions), Frankenstein (Fractal Theatre), Macbeth (JUTE Theatre), and The Lieutenant Of Inishmore (Astheatre). Film and television includes Young Rock (NBC), The Bureau of Magical Things (Eleven), Dolls (Flickerfest), Avulsion (Screamfest), Wanted (Matchbox, Channel 7), and The Alpha (ABC2). Cameron co-created the original clown show Suckers for Harvest Rain’s Independents Program.
Additional writing includes the short horror film Night Fill, which won the Jury Award at the Australian Independent Film Festival, as well as Best Horror, Best Producer, and Best Actor at the Sanctuary Cove International Film Festival, and was one of twelve best films of the year at the Stellar Short Film Festival. His second film, the comedy Christian In The Closet, took home People’s Choice at the Muskoka Queer Film Festival. In 2019 Cameron was a part of Playlab’s Incubator Program where he penned his first full length comedy. He is currently co-writing his first feature-length comedy set for production later this year.
Acknowledgements
Unconditional is a Playlab Theatre Production. Playlab Theatre and this project are supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland. This project has also been supported by the Creative Sparks Fund which is a partnership between the Queensland Government and Brisbane City Council to support local arts and culture in Brisbane.