Theatre Travels To Present Australian Premiere of BRIGHT HALF LIFE By Tanya Barfield

Sydney based theatre company, Theatre Travels (The Sweet Science of Bruising, 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche, The Laramie Project) will present the Australian premiere of Bright Half Life by Tanya Barfield. A female driven look at love through the ages, Bright Half Life will take residency at the newly opened Meraki Arts Bar from February 2nd, finishing its run as a Pride Amplified, part of World Pride, registered production.

What if life came with a rewind button? Pulitzer Prize finalist Tanya Barfield brings the world a kaleidoscopic new play about love, heartbreak, skydiving and the infinite moments that make a relationship. Bright Half Life shares the four-and-a-half-decade story of Vicky and Erica, who meet, fall in love, and go through all the trials and tribulations of marriage and building a family. Pause. Rewind. Fast forward. And hold on to "A Well-Written, Engaging Portrayal Of Smart Women Finding Themselves And Each Other" (The New Yorker).

Barfield's non-linear love story skydives and reascends through the beautiful mess of Vicky and Erica - an interracial, Lesbian couple - as they fall in love, start a family, change at their core and prepare for the inevitable end.

From the Creative Team that brought you the sell out, hilarious and critically acclaimed hit 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche to Mardi Gras 2021 and 2022, Bright Half Life asks you to question, If your entire love story was laid out in front of you, and you could see it from start to finish, all the darkness and the light, would you still go out on that first date? When the doors of the plane open and you're strapped into your parachute, would you still jump? Would you dare to fall in love?

For Director Rosie Niven (5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche, Bleach), representation was at the core of her interest in bringing this show to the stage. "After directing Quiche two years in a row, the feedback I got from the audience was that there had been nothing like this for them and that stories that celebrate what it means to be a woman that loves women were few and far between. For many people in our community, they found that there were no stories that truly reflected or represented them. So with world pride for 2023, I knew that I needed to find another story that uplifted queer women narratives for both our Australian audience and those who are coming from across the world to celebrate pride with us in Sydney."

In bringing to life this script, originally written as a 2 hander, Niven has reimagined the piece to best represent the longevity, transience, pain, joy and ultimately love in Vicky and Erica's relationship.

Loretta Kung (Irreverent, The Family Law) and Genevieve Craig (Tough Titties, Home and Away) take to the stage as Vicky Now and Then (respectively). Lisa Hanssens (Parramatta Girls, Simple Souls) and Samantha Lambert (Romeo and Julien, Push Me Away, Pull Me Closer) bring Erica Now and Then (respectively) to life.

"I'd like to say that I stumbled across this play, but there are so few plays in existence that tell the stories of queer women in a positive light, that it took an incredible amount of hunting to even know that this play existed, but when I found it, I was absolutely blown away. I felt like I had struck gold, but not only did I find that positive representation of women loving women, I found an achingly beautiful and raw story about love - one which I've never seen anything like before. It is the kind of real love many of us have experienced in real life and that is something I cannot wait to share with our audience," says Niven.

With original Sound Design by Akesiu Poitaha, Lighting Design by Capri Harris and Stage Management by James Ong. Carly Fisher produces.

Don't miss this powerful female driven story as you get ready for World Pride!

Bright Half Life

Venue: Meraki Arts Bar, 231 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst 2010
Season: 2nd - 19th February
Show Time: 7:30pm, 2pm on 18th February, 5pm on 19th February
Prices: From $30
Bookings: https://events.humanitix.com/bright-half-life

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