Two great plays about power and change.

Wayside Bride by Alana Valentine, and Light Shining in Buckinghamshire by Caryl Churchill

We were delighted to offer production support for Belvoir’s first ever “Repertory Season” – that’s to say, the same cast, on the same set, in alternating performances of two different plays, by two legendary women writers.

They’re each very different works – a new Australian play by one of our finest writers about a very Sydney institution. And a classic by perhaps our language’s greatest living dramatist, a play bursting with energy and provocation. Together “in rep” they present a big picture and a local picture of the age-old struggle for a fairer society.

What a thrill to support something a bit different. Belvoir has always been a place to celebrate the skill of Australian actors, to come and see their idiosyncracies, their sheer range. These two plays are both beautiful, intelligent pieces – and the conversation between twentieth century Kings Cross and seventeenth century Civil War England promises to fascinate. And perhaps give us a better grasp on the twenty first century.