Monsters, ballerinas, Todd McKenney and a former Playschool host will all be adding to Wollongong’s cultural presence next year.
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Merrigong Theatre Company officially launched their 2016 program Tuesday evening, with a raft of exciting locally and nationally produced shows hitting the stage.
“Theatre has an amazing power in our community,” said Artistic Director and CEO Simon Hinton. “It can draw attention to new ideas, give a voice to the voiceless, present a magnifying glass with which to examine an important issue, shout out loud about some injustice, or simply give a yell of joy in celebration of something wonderful in our world.”
One of the most notable productions will be Letters to Lindy, a locally commissioned play exploring the public’s relationship with one of Australia’s most iconic figures Lindy Chamberlain. It gives voice to more than 20,000 Australian’s who wrote letters to her over the last 20 years.
A bunch of local physical performers will interpret the post-industrial scenes of the Illawarra with a new bold circus work, Landscape with Monsters.
Worth name dropping is everyone’s favourite song and dance man Todd McKenny who will star in Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks this February. Iconic singer/songwriter Paul Kelly stars in an evocative musical theatre piece Ancient Rain, inspired by the works of W.B.Yeats and other great Irish poets.
Noni Hazelhurst will take centre stage in a new play, Mother, by Australian playwright Daniel Keene. While classics of Shakespeare and Mozart will also transform the stage.
Next year will also see plenty to infuse culture into the lives of littlies with a number of children’s shows also on the lineup. Mr Hinton said targeting theatre to kids helped expose them to new ideas, build their confidence and spark their imaginations.
The Australian Ballet perform the children’s tale of Sleeping Beauty during the January school holidays, while the May Gibb’s classic Snugglepot and Cuddlepie will also captivate young minds.
“A number of studies over the years have shown exposure to the arts is really important to the development of children,” said Mr Hinton.