To ‘think again’ means re-thinking the classics, with the season kicking off with postmodern diva Meow Meow subverting Hans Christian Anderson as she returns to Malthouse with Meow Meow’s Little Mermaid. The consciously un-Disney cabaret is the third instalment of the Little trilogy, which began with 2011’s Meow Meow’s Little Match Girl.
Continuing with the theme, Joan Lindsay’s classic Australian novel Picnic at Hanging Rock will be adapted by Tom Wright for its first ever professional staging in what is described as ‘Malthouse’s 2016 vision of Lindsay’s nightmare’. New life will be breathed into Edward II, with a radical staging that forgoes the Elizabethan language for a contemporary world of narcissism, addiction and uprising.
Eamon Flack’s Helpmann Award winning production of Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie will make its Melbourne debut after a sell-out Sydney run, starring Pamela Rabe (Wentworth) as Amanda Wingfeld. Nakkiah Lui (Blak Cabaret, ABC’s Black Comedy) brings wit and provocative politics in her satire of ’90s dance films in Blaque Showgirls, telling the story of a white-skinned ‘blaque’ girl who dreams of becoming the best Aboriginal dancer in Brisvegas.
Making an international partnership with Berlin’s Gob Squad, a new production takes on Tolstoy’s 19th century epic, breaking through the fourth wall and taking theatre to the streets in the international premiere of War and Peace (Around a Kitchen Table).
Elsewhere in the program, collaborations continue with local communities in a Malthouse partnership with Belvoir in the Australian premiere of The Events from celebrated playwright David Greig, alongside a collaboration with St Martin’s in Gonzo – a new work that explores the relationship between teenage boys and internet porn.
Rounding out the collaborations is Come Away with Me to the End of the World from local independent outfit Ranters Theatre. Capping off the program comes The Fiery Maze that brings together the music of Tim Finn with the late poet Dorothy Porter, a one man show from UK comedian Jonny Donahoe in his internationally acclaimed Every Brilliant Thing and a series of Artist Curated Events.
