Darlinghurst Theatre Company Announces 2020 Season

Darlinghurst Theatre Company has announced its 2020 season. As we enter a new decade, our extraordinary line-up includes two world premieres and one Australian premiere, two musicals and festivals created by some of Australia's most talented theatre makers.

Opening with the return of the hugely successful queer comedy festival Comedy Kiki, featuring Geraldine Hickey and Nath Valvo, the 2020 season also includes the world premiere of Fluid, a brand-new pop-cabaret from Courtney Act, star of Australian Idol, RuPaul's Drag Race, winner of Celebrity Big Brother UK, and runner-up of Dancing with The Stars Australia. This will be followed by director and choreographer Amy Campbell's production of the legendary Broadway musical A Chorus Line. "Blood, sweat and tears don't date," says Campbell. "The intimate nature of the space will make 19 dancers feel like 100. You'll feel their sweat, pain and joy in every row. You'll be up close and intimate with these characters who, by their very nature, expose all their vulnerabilities and talent for the chance to be seen and heard. The physical energy is going to be electric."

Following the success of 2019's The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Shaun Rennie returns to direct the Australian premiere of the hit musical Amélie, which has already cast its spell over America, Europe and Japan, as well as taking the UK by storm. The BAFTA, César and European Film Award-winning movie has been transformed into a musical by Dan Messé, Nathan Tysen and two-time TONY award nominee Craig Lucas, who also wrote the book for The Light in the Piazza and the international smash hit An American in Paris. Shaun Rennie relishes the opportunity to direct another piece with a dreamer at its centre. "The musical takes all of the charm and imagination of the film and stirs in the tangible magic of live theatre. Amélie is a show that encourages us all to dream about a better, brighter world," he says. Featuring 11 onstage actor-musicians, this magical night at the theatre is for anyone who loved ONCE.

Alexander Berlage makes his Darlinghurst Theatre Company debut directing the Sydney premiere of the vampire thriller Let the Right One In by Jack Thorne, who wrote Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Berlage says, "It promises to be an incredibly thrilling, haunting and deeply moving, in-ya-face night in the theatre. Yes there are vampires, and yes there will be blood, but at the core of the work is a complex exploration of the fear and trauma we impose on others and experience ourselves and the ways in which we find solace. Let the Right One In is an extraordinarily captivating work and I can't wait to bring it to Darlinghurst Theatre Company in 2020. It is bold, it is frightening, it is gripping and at its core it is deeply human."

We are proud to once again collaborate with Moogahlin Performing Arts to bring The Weekend back to Sydney, following its successful Sydney Festival premiere earlier this year. Darlinghurst Theatre Company is also producing Donna Abela's heart-warming comedy, Jump for Jordan, which took out the 2013 Griffin Award wowing the judges for its 'vitality and ambition' and will be directed by Rachel Chant. In association with Critical Stages Touring, we present the crowdsourced letter of love and loss I Want to Know What Love Is, by acclaimed Queensland Art Collective The Good Room, which finally arrives in Sydney following a sell-out season at the 2018 Brisbane Festival, as well as an 18-city tour around Australia in 2019.

Award-winning cabaret performer, multi-instrumentalist, musical director and composer, Victoria Falconer returns as Festival Director of R.O.A.R. This inaugural feminist cabaret festival will feature a program of handpicked provocateurs including the globe-storming drag phenomenon Gingzilla and New Zealand's highly acclaimed performance artist Julia Croft. And finally, our Next In Line program will showcase the work of Sydney's upcoming, fresh and boundary-pushing playwrights with a series of developments culminating in public readings.

2020 is the year of the spectacle that invites our audiences to dive into exhilarating new worlds and experience edge-of-your-seat entertainment. As Artistic Director Glenn Terry says, "It must be live, immersive, impactful and visceral. It must be an experience you won't get sitting on the couch watching on-demand TV or your Facebook feed."

Tickets to all shows go on sale at 7pm on Monday 14 October. We also invite you to 'Join the Pack' with our reimagined subscriptions, including the aptly named 'Musical Pack' or the 'Thriller Double Feature'. Details can be found on our website at www.darlinghursttheatre.com

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