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

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

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.

FACE TO FACE

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

BRUTAL UTOPIAS

18 – 28 MAY | THEATRE
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.

BLUE BONES

3 Jun, 2021 | Past Performance Premieres 2022, Playlab 2022

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.

BOOK NOW

Please note: In line with Queensland Health regulations, all patrons and visitors at Metro Arts will be required to be fully vaccinated until 14 April 2022. Proof must be presented on entry to venue staff. Find out more here.

DATES

Wed 2 Feb – Sat 12 Feb

TIMES

2 – 3 Feb 7:30pm Previews

4 – 12 Feb 7:30pm

DURATION

Approximately 90 minutes. No 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 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

3 Jun, 2021 | Past Performance Premieres 2022, Past Performances, Playlab 2022, 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.

BOOK NOW

Please note: In line with Queensland Health regulations, all patrons and visitors at Metro Arts will be required to be fully vaccinated. Proof must be presented on entry to venue staff. Find out more.