Throughout 2017, Black Swan State Theatre Company has delivered a range of performances that have truly inspired, moved and often challenged us here at Isolated Nation, and continue to do so. I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse into next year’s season at the 2018 Season Launch for the company- one which promises to be dynamic, challenging and altogether as exciting and explosive as this year, with the arrival of Clare Watson as full-time artistic director.

Clare’s selection and organisation of plays is a stroke of genius; the eight works selected (all of which, interestingly, have been written by playwrights who are still alive) have been paired up to form four ‘conversations’, with both plays (as the name suggests) forming a dialogue with one another upon a theme. Unlike in previous seasons, the run of each of the shows within a conversational pair roughly coincide, so that there will almost always be two plays being performed during a run.

The first of the conversations, ‘The Boys are Back in Town’ (May), brings to the stage a beloved Australian classic, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, in addition to a sumptuous new comedy, Hir. The second conversation, entitled ‘Hit Me With Your Best Shot’ (June to July) features the multi-Tony Award winning musical Assassins, a comedic exploration into assassination throughout history, and The Events—a touching exploration of healing and forgiveness in a shattered community. You Know We Belong Together promises to be a theatre experience full of love and inspiration (playing in March) as part of the conversation 'Together in Electric Dreams' with Skylab (August to September), which tells the story of a quirky Indigenous family whose lives are changed by the crash landing of NASA’s Skylab in the late 70s, sure to rivet and touch spectators. The final conversation point is titled 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' (October to November), and by the looks of the works, that’s just what the audience is in for. The Next Room, or The Vibrator Play, has a title that is rather self explanatory, and sure to be a fascinating and entertaining watch. Xenides will be the final production for the year, a musical portrayal of the life of Adriana Xenides (best known as the long-running hostess of gameshow Wheel of Fortune).

(The posters for each play are arranged in order of performance.)

Next season will have by far the most modern line-up of plays yet, with many thought-provoking discussions to be prompted by the ‘conversation’ sets of plays. Clare Watson notes, in addition to this amazing program, that for the first time at Black Swan, gender parity will be achieved in the production and running of next year’s season, as well as an increase in Indigenous positions in the company. Keep your eye out for the 2018 Season brochures—if the season launch was anything to go by, next year is sure to be a killer for Black Swan.