The multi award winning Shake & Stir theatre co will celebrate their 10th Anniversary year with a stellar line up at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) in 2016. Taking on three works including a brand new production of Samuel Beckett’s Endgame along with return seasons of the critically-acclaimed works Tequila Mockingbird and Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights.
The celebratory season kicks off in June with the return of the critically acclaimed Wuthering Heights from 12 to 19 June 2016. Brontë’s gothic masterpiece storms back into the Cremorne Theatre, featuring brand new cast members including Tim Dashwood, Gemma Willing and Australian film, television and theatre star Linden Wilkinson taking on the role of Nelly Dean.
From 9 August 2016 the company take on Samuel Beckett’s absurdist icon Endgame. Endgame paints a tragically comic portrait of lives lived, loathed and lost; hoping for answers in a world without hope. This brand new adaptation by the company stars veterans of the stage Robert Coleby and Jennifer Flowers. This is a production not to be missed.
The return season of Tequila Mockingbird rounds off the company’s main stage season from 5 to 15 October 2016. Directed by Michael Futcher and featuring a cast of some of Queensland’s finest actors, Tequila Mockingbird visits themes of racial prejudice, the perversion of justice and the consequences of alcohol abuse, all in a uniquely Australian context. Nominated for six Matilda Awards in 2014 and winner of Best Mainstage Production this is a bold, brave work examining a darker side of Australian culture lurking just below the surface.
Shake & Stir’s 2016 season brings with it their award winning team of Michael Futcher (Director), Josh McIntosh (Designer), Jason Glenwright (Lighting Designer), Guy Webster (Sound Design) and optikal bloc (Production Designers). Shake & Stir’s Artistic Directors, Ross Balbuziente, Nelle Lee and Nick Skubij said their 10th Anniversary year was about reflecting on their successes and looking forward to new opportunities.
“We love the bonds we have formed with our audiences over the last decade and our three 2016 productions have been chosen as a way to thank them, reflect on our past and to pave future relationships.”
“Wuthering Heights has been one of our most successful past productions and we are thrilled it will return to QPAC following a 4-month national tour. Endgame is chance for shake & stir to celebrate experience and to showcase some of QLD’s most established artists, the artists that inspired us to create theatre in the first place”.
“Tequila Mockingbird has been a cherished production for shake & stir since 2013, it commenced a dialogue with our audiences about important racial issues and we want it to be seen by more Australians,” says Balbuziente.
The year has already kicked off with the company’s resounding success of Roald Dahl’s George’s Marvellous Medicine breaking Shake & Stir audience records with over 12 000 people seeing the production at QPAC.
“A large portion of the audience at George’s Marvellous Medicine were children experiencing live theatre for the first time and that’s pretty special. George’s was the perfect platform to launch into our next three shows,” Balbuziente adds.
QPAC’s relationship with shake & stir theatre co as co-presenting partners for six years, showcases the Centre’s support of home grown performing arts and has resulted in shake & stir delivering artistic experiences over the years to a growing audience.
SHAKE & STIR 2016 PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
Wuthering Heights
Sunday June 12 to Sunday June 19
Endgame
Saturday August 9 to TBC
Tequila Mockingbird
Wednesday October 5 to Saturday October 15