Brendan Cowell directs the ferociously funny first play from one of the UK's most exciting young playwrights, Nina Raine. With Romy Bartz, Alison Bell, Ryan Johnson, Geoff Morrell, Kate Mulvany, Toby Schmitz. Season extended!

Distilled down to eight hours of theatre in two parts, the eight plays that span the turbulent years of The War of the Roses are presented in a unique cycle as part of the 2009 Sydney Festival. 

Distilled down to eight hours of theatre in two parts, the eight plays that span the turbulent years of The War of the Roses are presented in a unique cycle as part of the 2009 Sydney Festival. 

A stunning examination of the violence – actual and implied – that underpins authority, The Removalists created a sensation when it was first produced. Thirty-seven years on, David Williamson’s classic play maintains its startling power.

Shakespeare’s Venus & Adonis is a subversive re-working of Ovid’s original love story. Unlike its model, it celebrates the most human aspects of seduction: it is vulgar, funny, sexy and whole-hearted.
 

In this classic comedy, Tom Stoppard juxtaposes the ridiculous pomposity of the brilliantly unremarkable Henry Carr against the exuberance and wit of some of the greatest talents of the last century. This is Stoppard at his best: a medley of debates pertaining to literature, philosophy, history and politics, spun from dialogue that glistens with language games, puns and wit.

Somewhere in a busy city, a Man wakes to discover he has forgotten his life. He has no memory of the past and no clear sense of the present. A comedy with attitude, Ross Mueller’s Concussion was developed through the 2008 National Play Festival.

This dazzling play by Anthony Neilson was commissioned by the Edinburgh International Festival and revived by the National Theatre of Scotland in 2007, delighting audiences and winning critical acclaim. We welcome back Marion Potts to direct what promises to be a boisterous and moving evening of theatre.

Deeply theatrical, witty and absurd, Kafka’s Monkey places a profound and startling mirror in front of a modern-day audience and reveals a world in which humans appear apish and apes the more humane.

Kafka’s terrifying but bizarrely comic story bursts on to the stage in a theatrically explosive new version by Artistic Director David Farr and actor/director Gísli Örn Gardarsson of Iceland’s acclaimed Vesturport Theatre.

In this astounding modern classic, Arthur Miller chronicles the horrors and corruption of the Salem witch-trials of 1692. A powerful allegory for what Miller considered to be a witch-hunt in his own time – the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings – the play examines justice, injustice, honour and courage.

The first new play from Andrew Bovell (Lantana, Holy Day) in five years, When The Rain Stops Falling was acclaimed as the theatrical hit of the 2008 Adelaide Festival, bewitching audiences with its intelligence and multi-layered brilliance.

Based on the cult Norwegian film of the same name, Simon Bent’s adaptation of Elling was first performed at London’s Bush Theatre in 2007 and, due to its huge success, went on to transfer to Trafalgar Studios in the West End. Pamela Rabe, who made her directorial debut with us in 2008, will direct this charming comedy.

In 1880 Dostoevsky wrote his final novel - The Brothers Karamazov. The Duel forensically examines a single chapter from The Brothers Karamazov, digging deep into Zosima’s journey and the mysterious visitor who challenges him with a dark secret.

The City – a mesmerising new play from the groundbreaking British playwright Martin Crimp (Attempts On Her Life, The Country) – takes us on a theatrical adventure from the naturalistic to the surreal; from dreamy discombobulation to nightmarish anxiety.

Poor Boy asks big questions about humanity and our place in the universe. What is a soul and if we have one, who owns it? What do we believe in?  What is faith and how do we know when it is misplaced? The resulting family drama is at once incandescently comic and radiantly uplifting.

David Berthold’s snappy, sexy production was first staged as part of our Wharf 2LOUD Season in 2008. Now he and his team will rejoin us in Wharf 1. Perhaps you’ll recognise yourself in Saturn’s Return.

A Streetcar Named Desire is a compelling and sensuous play which features some of the most memorable characters in theatrical history. The battle between Blanche and Stanley comes to embody nothing less than the battle between tradition and progress itself.

Drawing heavily on elements of Commedia Dell’Arte, Stefo Nantsou’s (ZEAL THEATRE) production of Dario Fo’s brilliant political play will be a swirling, thunderous theatrical mayhem.

Yasmina Reza, the author of Art and Life x 3, has hit the nail on the head again. In this explosive satire she dares the audience to look beyond individual conflicts to the source of our constant embattlement.

As a tribute to the magic and originality of this enduring adventure, Windmill’s The Wizard of Oz will be a daring, flamboyant and exhilarating theatrical journey for the whole family. Full of imagination, and invigorated with some surprising twists, this is a celebration of the yellow brick road we all travel to find out just what we’re made of.

In 2009, Sydney’s most popular annual dose of razor-sharp satire, The Wharf Revue, returns for its tenth year.

Creation out of chaos, chaos out of paradise, grace within chaos, pride, confusion, and a simple offering of hope. Not the full cycle of Mystery plays; just a beginning…

Watch this space.