BLONDE POISON Returns to the Sydney Opera House, April 28

Given the choice, would you save your family and yourself from persecution or condemn others to certain death? Blonde Poison is a remarkable one-woman play about beauty, treachery and the high price of survival, starring Best Actress Nominee at the 2015 Sydney Theatre Awards, Belinda Giblin. Back by popular demand for a strictly limited season, see one of Australia's leading actresses like you've never seen her before at the Sydney Opera House from 28 April. Tickets are on sale from 22 February.

What is the price of survival? Stella Goldschlag was living illegally in war torn Berlin when she was betrayed and tortured. When offered the chance of saving herself and her parents from the death camps, she agreed to be a "greifer" or catcher for the Gestapo and inform on other Jews in hiding. She was extraordinarily successful in this and is "credited" with finding and capturing 3000 Jews. She continued working for the Gestapo even after her parents had been sent to their death. What would you have done to survive?

The vast dimensions of Stella's character range from tortured victim to cruel killer, from loving daughter and mother to betrayer of friends, from gentle lover to depraved promiscuity. She was given the name 'Blonde Poison' by the Gestapo who revelled in her treachery. Decades after the war Stella agrees to be interviewed by a childhood friend, now a respected journalist -her last chance at redemption. Can she ever be released from her past?

Critically acclaimed as a "90-minute tour de force" the Australian premiere of Blonde Poisonenjoyed a sold-out season at The Old Fitz Theatre last year and garnered Belinda Giblin a Sydney Theatre Award nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role in an Independent Production.

The producer of Freud's Last Session (winner, Best Off Broadway Play 2011) and co-producer ofHowie the Rookie (winner, Best Actor in an Independent Production, 2014 Sydney Theatre Awards) is thrilled to bring this award-winning drama back to Sydney for a return season. "The response to the premiere of Blonde Poison was overwhelming," said producer Adam Liberman. "It had Australian audiences and critics gripped from beginning to end and was a career-defining role for one of Australia's most talented actresses. Don't miss your chance to see one of the finest solo performances you're likely to see."

Gail Louw is an internationally acclaimed playwright/writer, whose Jewish background and maternal influence has informed much of her writing, including this production. Blonde Poison has found great success internationally winning an Argus Award for Artistic Excellence at the Brighton Festival and Fringe in 2012 and receiving excellent reviews both in the UK and in Los Angeles, where it was staged in January 2015.

'One of the 'Wow' performances of 2015' - Sydney Morning Herald

'It was an academy award winning performance of a brilliant play...' - Radio National

'A 90-minute tour de force' - Kevin Jackson's Theatre Diary

'Giblin gives one of the performances of her career with an emotionally layered portrayal that is full of nuance and complexity. (She)...makes the play soar, keeping us gripped, fascinated, appalled and moved as we contemplate what we would have done in her place' - Scene and Heard

www.blondepoison.com.au

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BLONDE POISON

By Gail Louw

Starring Belinda Giblin

Directed by Jennifer Hagan

Produced by Adam Liberman

Venue: Sydney Opera House, The Studio

Season: 28 April - 12 May

Tickets: $49.90 - $74.90

Times: Tuesday - Saturday 7pm, Wednesday and Saturday matinee, 1.30pm

Bookings: sydneyoperahouse.com or 9250 7777, or www.ticketmaster.com.au or 1300 723 038

TICKETS ON SALE FROM 22 FEBRUARY

*An additional transaction fee and/or a credit/debit payment processing fee may apply

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