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PLAYLAB 2022 SHOWS

PLAYLAB 2022 SHOWS

17 Nov, 2021 | Playlab 2022, Uncategorized

Presented in partnership with Playlab Theatre

We’re excited to partner with Playlab Theatre to present three shows here at Metro Arts as part of their 2022 season.
Join us for a season of connection, resilience, and guts.

 

PLAYLAB 2022 SHOWS

PLAYLAB 2022 SHOWS

6 – 8 MAY
Metro Arts and Mad Dance House present Mad Dance Festival; a celebration of Queensland’s street dance scene.

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BLUE BONES

BLUE BONES

2 – 12 FEB | THEATRE
When a woman finds scars left by her ex-boyfriend of many years ago etched into her bones, she is compelled to unpack her past and discover how he got under her skin.

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FACE TO FACE

FACE TO FACE

16 – 26 MAR | THEATRE
An intimate drama about two women, a generation apart, navigating the complex effects of disconnecting from Country.

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PLAYLAB 2022 SEASON PASS

PLAYLAB 2022 SEASON PASS

15 Nov, 2021 | Playlab 2022, Uncategorized

PLAYLAB THEATRE 2022 SEASON

Presented in partnership with Metro Arts

Purchase a season pass to all three Playlab Theatre productions at Metro Arts;
Blue Bones by Merlynn Tong, Face to Face by Emily Wells and Brutal Utopias by Stephen Carleton.

All season passes include a ticket to each show, a copy of each show’s publication, and a complimentary drink (choose from house wine, Bricklane Brewery Beer & Softdrink) at the Metro Arts Bar.

 

THE DETAILS

 

PRICES
General Three Play Season Pass: $129.50 + booking fee
Concession Three Play Season Pass: $112.50 + booking fee

LOCATION
New Benner Theatre
Metro Arts, 97 Boundary Street, West End QLD 4101

Please see individual show pages for detailed accessibility and warning information.

PLEASE NOTE

Preview and opening night performances are not available for a season pass.

 

HOW TO BOOK

  • Click “BOOK A SEASON PASS” button

  • Select your ticket type

  • Select your preferred date for each show

  • Fill out your details to complete your booking

  • Your publication will be available for collection at the Box Office before each performance. The drink voucher will be given to you when you attend your first show, and can be used at any Playlab season performance

 

For School bookings: please email info@metroarts.com.au or click here

BOOK A SEASON PASS

BLUE BONES
2 – 12 FEB 

“I saw my insides today. I found Tom, my first love, in my bones.”  When a woman finds scars left by her ex-boyfriend of many years ago etched into her bones, she is compelled to unpack her past and discover how he got under her skin.

TIMES
7.30pm, 5 – 12 February 2022

Approximately 90 minutes. No interval. 

FACE TO FACE
16 – 26 MAR

“Are you seriously going to sass me in my own apartment?” An intimate drama about two women navigating the complex effects of disconnecting from Country, and criticism from your community, your family, and above all, yourself.

TIMES
7.30pm, 19 – 26 March 2022

Approximately 80 minutes. No interval. 

BRUTAL UTOPIAS
18 – 28 MAY

“I’m not abandoning my principles; I’m coming here to apply them.”  The lofty political ideals of three architects are put to the test as their projects intersect with some of the greatest challenges that the world has ever faced.

TIMES
7.30pm, 21 – 28 May 2022

Approximately 120 minutes, including interval. 

BOOK A SEASON PASS

VISITING US 

We take the safety of our patrons, staff and artists seriously. Metro Arts is operating in line with current Queensland Government guidelines and restrictions. If you are unwell, please refrain from attending events at Metro Arts. Maintaining physical distancing requirements is expected and is the individual’s responsibility. Click here for more information. 

BLUE BONES

BLUE BONES

3 Jun, 2021 | 2021 Program Highlights, Playlab 2022, Premiere Performances

BLUE BONES

by Merlynn Tong

A Playlab Theatre production, presented in partnership with Metro Arts

I saw my insides today. I found Tom, my first love, in my bones.

When a woman finds scars left by her ex-boyfriend of many years ago etched into her bones, she is compelled to unpack her past and discover how he got under her skin.

Based on the true story of two teenagers’ romance as it blossoms then warps in the heat of bustling Singapore, Blue Bones is a one-woman show told with incredible honesty by Merlynn Tong. Combining multiple characters, Kung Fu and arcade games; Blue Bones is a whirlwind of love and naivety, violence and courage, with the wreckage felt across the years.

Against the backdrop of Singapore with all its beauty, rigidity and insistent chaos, Blue Bones will enchant and disturb, and perhaps even wake the stories dormant in your bones.

 

This is one of three plays in Playlab Theatre’s 2022 season, presented in partnership with Metro Arts.

Click here for information on the rest of the season, and season passes.

BOOK NOW
Please note: In line with Queensland Health regulations, as of 17 December all patrons and visitors at Metro Arts will be required to be fully vaccinated. Find out more.

DATES

Wed 2 Feb – Sat 12 Feb

TIMES

2 – 3 Feb 7:30pm Previews

4 – 12 Feb 7:30pm

VENUE

New Benner Theatre
Metro Arts, West End

TICKETS

General Admission $45 + booking fee
Concession $39 + booking fee
Groups 6+ $39 per ticket + booking fee
Preview $39 + booking fee

Booking fee $0.50 per ticket purchased

For School Group Bookings, please contact info@metroarts.com.au or CLICK HERE

AGES + WARNINGS

Suitable for 16+. Explores topics of domestic violence, depression, and suicide. Contains low-level coarse language, a complete blackout and haze.

THE ARTISTS

MERLYNN TONG

Merlynn Tong is an Actor and Playwright. Some of her playwriting credits include Antigone (adaptation, Queensland Theatre), Good Grief (Queensland Theatre), Golden Blood (development, Melbourne Theatre Company), SITE (co-writer, development, Kate Wild, Ellen van Neerven & Sarah Winter), The Big Mac (co-writer, development, Black Swan Theatre Company), Cocky Jerry Jah (co-librettist, development), Ma Ma Ma Mad (Wax Lyrical) and Blue Bones (Playlab Theatre Productions). She is also the prize recipient of Screen Queensland’s Screen to Stage pitch, The First 10 Pages 2.0. Her works are published by Playlab Theatre.

Some of her recent performances include White Pearl (Sydney Theatre Company & National Theatre of Parramatta), The Shot (Queensland Theatre, The Scene Project), Harrow 2 (ABC), Reef Break (ABC/M6), Top of the Lake: China Girl (BBC & Sundance Films, Jane Campion), What I’m Here For (Elbow Room & Flowstate), The Mathematics of Longing (La Boite Theatre), The Lost Lending Library (Punchdrunk & Imaginary Theatre), Hotelling (Bleached Arts), Bitch: Origin of the Female Species (Brisbane Festival), Blue Bones (Playlab Theatre & Brisbane Powerhouse), Viral (Shock Therapy Productions, Gold Coast Arts Centre), Straight White Men (La Boite Theatre), Ma Ma Ma Mad (Brisbane Powerhouse), The Theory of Everything (Brisbane Festival), The Wizards from Oz (Taiwan, Taoyuan International Children’s Festival) and Hot Brown Honey (Judith Wright Centre).

AWARDS

2017 Matilda Awards – Best Mainstage Production

The Lord Mayor’s Award for Best New Australian Work

2017 Matilda Awards – Best Director – Ian Lawson

2017 Matilda Awards – Best Female Actor in a leading role – Merlynn Tong

2017 Matilda Awards – Best Lighting Design – David Walters

2017 Matilda Awards – Best Audio Visual Design – Nathan Sibthorpe

CAST AND CREATIVES

Playwright/Performer Merlynn Tong

Director/Dramaturg Ian Lawson

Lighting Designer David Walters

Sound Designer Guy Webster

AV Designer Nathan Sibthorpe

Choreographer Neridah Waters

Fight Choreography Paul Malgapo

Voice Over Koh Boon Pin

EDUCATION NOTES

Education notes are available through Playlab Theatre’s website here

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Playlab Theatre is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.

VISITING US

We take the safety of our patrons, staff and artists seriously.  Metro Arts is operating in line with current Queensland Government guidelines and restrictions. If you are unwell, please refrain from attending events at Metro Arts. Maintaining physical distancing requirements is expected and is the individual’s responsibility. Click here for more information. 

FACE TO FACE

FACE TO FACE

3 Jun, 2021 | Playlab 2022, Premiere Performances, Uncategorized

FACE TO FACE

by Emily Wells

A Playlab Theatre production, presented in partnership with Metro Arts

Are you seriously going to sass me in my own apartment?

Moxie, passion, drive; whatever you want to call it, Leila’s got it and it compelled her hundreds of kilometres from the remote country town she grew up in to the big city. It’s been a hard six years, but she’s so close to the success she craves, so close to her dreams of representing her community, so close to being an inspiration to the other girls back home just like her.

However, one girl just like her, her niece Maddie, has just shown up on her doorstep in the middle of the night, disillusioned and far away from the same community that Leila left behind, and she’s about to make her understand just how far she’s strayed from home.

Face to Face is an intimate drama about two women navigating the complex effects of disconnecting from Country, and criticism from your community, your family, and above all, yourself.

 

This is one of three plays in Playlab Theatre’s 2022 season, presented in partnership with Metro Arts.

Click here for information on the rest of the season, and season passes.

BOOK NOW
Please note: In line with Queensland Health regulations, as of 17 December all patrons and visitors at Metro Arts will be required to be fully vaccinated. Find out more.

DATES

Wed 16 Mar – Sat 26 Mar

TIMES

16 – 17 Mar 7:30pm Previews

18 – 26 Mar 7:30pm

VENUE

New Benner Theatre
Metro Arts, West End

TICKETS

General Admission $45 + booking fee
Concession $39 + booking fee
Groups 6+  $39 per ticket + booking fee
Preview $39 + booking fee

Booking fee $0.50 per ticket purchased

For School Group Bookings, please contact info@metroarts.com.au or CLICK HERE

AGES + WARNINGS

Suitable for 15+. Contains low-level course language, death, illness, and descriptions of police violence that may be upsetting to some audience members.

Should you feel any anxiety or discomfort that requires you to step away from the theatre we encourage you to step outside and take a breath. If you decide to leave the venue entirely we ask that you advise friends, family or venue staff before you do so.

THE ARTISTS

Emily Wells

Emily Wells is a proud Kamilaroi woman, based in Meeanjin (Brisbane). Emily is a keen producer and playwright whose creative practice spans theatre, contemporary dance, festivals, and non-for-profit arts organisations. As a Playwright, Emily is one of three playwrights selected for Playlab Theatre’s year-long development program Alpha Processing, and one of six First Nations playwrights selected for the inaugural Sparks program delivered by QPAC, Playlab Theatre and Moogahlin Performing Arts.

Emily was awarded the Emerging Female Arts Leader Award through the Matilda Awards and was a Finalist for the Aboriginal Achievement Award in QLD’s Young Achiever Awards. Emily studied at the Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts and obtained a Bachelor of Entertainment Industries (Distinction) from QUT. Emily held the role of Creative Producer with youth arts organisation Digi Youth Arts, and has worked closely with leading First Nations independents and companies such as Karul Projects, Katina Olsen, Marilyn Miller, Jasmin Sheppard, Isaac Drandic and Steven Oliver.

KEY CREATIVES

Playwright Emily Wells

Cultural Advisor Colleen Wall

Cultural Dramaturgs Sueanne Hooper, Annette Wells, Jackie Jones, Coral Jones,  Merle Hurley, 

Co-Directors Nadine McDonald-Dowd and Roxanne McDonald

Dramaturg Alex Bayliss

Designer Bill Haycock

Lighting Designer David Walters

Sound Designer Wil Hughes

Stage Managers Sophie Watkins and Elise Baker

CAST

Lorinda Merrypor

Hannah Belanszky

EDUCATION NOTES

Education notes are available through Playlab Theatre’s website here.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Playlab Theatre and this project are supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland. Face to Face is also supported by the Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Fund – an Australian Government initiative.

VISITING US

We take the safety of our patrons, staff and artists seriously.  Metro Arts is operating in line with current Queensland Government guidelines and restrictions. If you are unwell, please refrain from attending events at Metro Arts. Maintaining physical distancing requirements is expected and is the individual’s responsibility. Click here for more information. 

BRUTAL UTOPIAS

BRUTAL UTOPIAS

3 Jun, 2021 | Playlab 2022, Premiere Performances, Uncategorized

BRUTAL UTOPIAS

by Stephen Carleton

A Playlab Theatre production, presented in partnership with Metro Arts

I’m not abandoning my principles; I’m coming here to apply them.

1971. The height of the Cold War. The Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia is opening up to Western tourism after breaking away from the Soviet Bloc. Branislav and Valentina Radovic have been compelled to design a hotel complex for the government after forging a reputation for designing ultra-modern concrete structures, triggering their lofty utopian political and architectural ideals.

Present-day. New York City. A talented Australian environmental architect, Natalia Silverman, has been asked to join the team designing New York’s ‘Big U’ – the sea wall mitigation project that will cradle Manhattan’s financial district from rising sea levels. But building a sea wall around the world’s iconic home of big business, is forcing her to ask herself; is she really saving New York, or just working for the bad guys?

Brutal Utopias examines the intersection between lofty ideals and realpolitik, and the search for perfection in a world that is tilting imminently toward chaos.

 

This is one of three plays in Playlab Theatre’s 2022 season, presented in partnership with Metro Arts.

Click here for information on the rest of the season, and season passes.

BOOK NOW
Please note: In line with Queensland Health regulations, as of 17 December all patrons and visitors at Metro Arts will be required to be fully vaccinated. Find out more.

DATES

Wed 18 May – Sat 28 May

TIMES

18 – 19 May 7:30pm Previews
20 – 28 May 7:30pm

DURATION

120 minutes total, including 20 minute Interval

VENUE

New Benner Theatre
Metro Arts, West End

TICKETS

General Admission $45 + booking fee
Concession $39 + booking fee
Groups 6+  $39 per ticket + booking fee
Preview $39 + booking fee

Booking fee $0.50 per ticket purchased

For School Group Bookings, please contact info@metroarts.com.au or CLICK HERE

AGES + WARNINGS

Suitable for 15+. Contains low-level coarse language, references to war and conflict, and some adult themes.

CREATIVES 

Stephen Carleton

Stephen Carleton is one of Australia’s leading and award-winning playwrights. Based in Brisbane, where he teaches drama and playwriting at the University of Queensland, he also maintains close ties to his hometown, Darwin, and to Cairns and Far North Queensland, where he was born. Stephen’s work is frequently anchored in northern landscape, imagery and politics, and is often lauded for the black humour that runs throughout. He is co-artistic director of Knock-em-Down Theatre with Mary Anne Butler and Gail Evans.

Stephen is one of only three playwrights nationally to win both major theatre industry awards for new writing: the Patrick White Playwrights’ Award in 2004/5 (Sydney Theatre Company) and the Griffin Award for Best New Australian Play in 2015 (Griffin Theatre Company).

He was Chair of the National Playwrights Committee for the Australian Writers’ Guild in 2015/16 (with Mary Anne Butler), and his company Knock-em-Down Theatre has received a Sidney Myer capacity building grant to promote his work in the US.

His major plays include: Constance Drinkwater and the Final Days of Somerset (2006), The Narcissist (2007), Bastard Territory (2014), all published by Playlab Theatre, The Turquoise Elephant (2016), New Babylon (2021), and the musical with Paul Hodge, Joh for PM (2017).

His plays have been produced by companies including Queensland Theatre Company, Sydney Theatre Company, La Boite Theatre Company, Griffin Theatre Company, JUTE Theatre Company, Brown’s Mart in Darwin, La Mama, and the Brisbane Powerhouse.

KEY CREATIVES

Playwright Stephen Carleton

Dramaturg Saffron Benner

Director Matt Scholten

Designer Bill Haycock

Sound Designer Guy Webster

 

CAST

Kate Wilson

Ashlee Lollback

Michael Mandalios

Nikhil Singh

Anthony Standish

EDUCATION NOTES

Education notes are available through Playlab Theatre’s website here

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Playlab Theatre is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland. Brutal Utopias is also supported by the Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Fund – an Australian Government initiative.

VISITING US

We take the safety of our patrons, staff and artists seriously.  Metro Arts is operating in line with current Queensland Government guidelines and restrictions. If you are unwell, please refrain from attending events at Metro Arts. Maintaining physical distancing requirements is expected and is the individual’s responsibility. Click here for more information.