From the Artistic Director

Star Gazing

It’s a wonderful way to spend an evening, being dazzled by a staggering collective beauty, using stars as a map for navigating, looking at an inky black night sky and experiencing the wonderment of infinity, of endless possibilities, of the profoundly sacred joy of staring into a night sky and imagining what if...

At Black Swan we value and celebrate the possibilities of collective dreaming, of reaching for the stars and sometimes, as if by magic, catching them. Eighteen months ago on a balmy Christmas evening, Hannie Rayson and I went for a swim under the stars and talked about my dreams for Black Swan State Theatre Company. It was a beautiful night, and Hannie, fresh from a trip to Greece, told me about a play she wanted to write. The play would revolve around a group of people from around the globe who become friends at the beginning of their adult lives, over one idyllic summer in Greece, and return thirty years later to reclaim their friendships and revisit their ideals. I was intrigued by the ideas of the play, the exploration of how our ideals shift and change, and I immediately commissioned Hannie to write the script.

That summer night, I told Hannie of my hopes to build a company that embraced and celebrated Australian writers and great narrative. Thanks to the generosity of Rio Tinto we have created Rio Tinto Black Swan Commissions, the commissioning program which has enabled us to commission and develop plays by and about Western Australians. You will see its first fruits in 2010.

Our last season in the Playhouse Theatre is full of star gazing as we open with The Sapphires in a dazzling production that will feature Christine Anu, Casey Donovan and Kylie Farmer. Then we sail on to The Swimming Club whose cast will include Igor Sas and John Waters, then onto The Clean House with Pia Miranda and Sarah McNeill that promises a night of magical realism, American style, and through much laughter, some dance and a few tears, celebrates reconciliation with a good joke.

Nineteen years ago Black Swan launched as a brave new company with big ideas and a production of Twelfth Night starring an actor called Geoff Kelso. So as we prepare to close the chapter on our time at the Playhouse, it seems only fitting that we revisit that play, full of delight and whimsy and that Perth audiences should have the opportunity to see Geoff Kelso again, this time in the brilliantly funny role of Malvolio.

We wrap up the season with a fascinating mystery - Madagascar, a shimmering, ephemeral play that unravels to reveal an extraordinary secret. We are delighted to welcome Amanda Muggleton back to grace the stage with Rebecca Davis. At Black Swan, we aim to delight and intrigue by challenging cliché and telling stories that are joyful and emotionally daring. I hope you will join us in gazing at the stars.

Kate Cherry
Artistic Director