Backstage

Review of JULIA at Sydney Theatre Company

Regina Botros reviews Julia at the Sydney theatre Company at the Sydney Opera House.

 

 

JULIA

By Joanna Murray-Smith
Directed by Sarah Goodes

Not now, not ever

In 2012, Australia's first female prime minister, Julia Gillard, gave a speech that sent shockwaves around the world. 

Now, ten years later, one of Australia’s most esteemed and celebrated playwrights, Joanna Murray-Smith, brings the human story behind that speech to the stage.

Julia is an extraordinary new play that will see the glorious Justine Clarke (Children of the Sun) embody the life and career that led to the ‘misogyny speech’, in a phenomenal performance directed by Helpmann Award-winner Sarah Goodes (The Children). 

This is both an intimate and compelling insight into the person behind the public mask, and a reflection on the experience of women in contemporary politics. Combining genuine excerpts from Gillard’s speech with Murray-Smith’s incredible dramatic imagination this play is also a thrilling coming together of history and art.

Around the world, we are seeing the most profound rollbacks to women’s rights legislation in two generations. At the same time, there have been encouraging strides forward in the representation of women in positions of power, both at home and abroad. In this climate, Julia is a rousing and energising reminder of where we’ve come from and an empowering imagining of the challenges we’ve yet to face.

Julia is the proud recipient of the Blake Beckett Trust Female Playwrights' and Female Directors' Award.

Metropolis with Julia Robertson and Zara Stanton

Two directors from this new musical Metropolis - wow - join Regina Botros to talk theatre.

Julia Robertson is an actor, director, and musician. She is the current Artistic Director of the award winning devising group, the Little Eggs Collective.

Acting credits include Jess and Joe Forever (25A Belvoir, 2019 dir. Shaun Rennie), The Astral Plane (25A Belvoir, 2019 dir. Charlie Garber), The Real Thing (STC, 2019 dir. Simon Phillips), The Oyster (Critical Stages, 2021 dir. Scarlet McGlynn) and Wherever She Wanders (Griffin, 2021 dir. Tessa Leong). Julia also stars in the film Hot Mess (Emerald Productions) that is currently airing on Netflix Aus/NZ and voiced the audiobook Don’t Fall by Sophie Smith (Amazon). Julia has studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute (Method Acting Intensive, New York 2017) and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Acting Shakespeare Intensive, London 2022).

 

Zara Stanton is an accomplished Music Director, Composer, Performer, Arranger, Vocal Coach and Music Educator. She holds a Bachelor of Music from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where she studied classical voice and music education, and has her A.Mus.A. qualification in both voice and piano.

Zara's recent credits as Music Director include Bonnie & Clyde (Joshua Robson Productions) at the Hayes Theatre, Every Musical Ever (One Eyed Man Productions) at Adelaide Cabaret Festival & Wyong Art House, The Deb (Australian Theatre for Young People) and The Boomkak Panto (Belvoir St Theatre). Zara was also Associate Music Director for A Chorus Line (Darlinghurst Theatre Company), playing at the Sydney Opera House and Riverside Theatres.

Zoe Hollyoak

Zoe joins Regina Botros to talk about her life in the arts and in particular, Collapsible, playing at the Old Fitz.

Zoë Hollyoak is a director and creative producer with nearly 10 years of experience working across a range of organisations including Belvoir, Performing Lines, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA) and Black Swan State Theatre Company of WA.

Zoë is currently the Program Producer for Performance Space,

SHE has worked across theatre, film and mixed media projects for PICA, triple J Unearthed, Belvoir, The Blue Room Theatre and the State Theatre Centre of WA. When she’s not working at Performance Space, Zoë runs essential workers – a Sydney based theatre company that present and produce new works.

https://www.redlineproductions.com.au/collapsible

 

Justin Smith

Justin Smith joins Regina Botros to talk all things theatrical. His life in the theatre and how he's come to be thrilling audiences in the role of the Baker in Into the Woods, with music by mastermind Stephen Sondheim.

Justin has starred in numerous stage productions, most recently Hayes Theatre’s Dubbo Championship Wrestling and Bangarra’s, Wudjang: Not The Past, with some of his other theatre credits including Billy Elliot The Musical, and National Theatre of Parramatta’s Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam.

Tom Dawson and Meg Hyeronimus in Cherry Smoke

Tom Dawson and Meg Hyeronimus join Regina Botros to talk Cherry Smoke and theatre!

Cherry Smoke follows four young kids trying to grow in to the adults that the society that neglected them will accept. We can try to build the dream, but at what cost? When you're not taught to use your words but your fists can you ever truly change, or are you destined to repeat the past? 

Nicholas Brown

Nick joins Regina to talk Sex Magick his new work to hit the Griffin Stage.

Nicholas Brown has forged an international career as an actor, singer, writer, and Bollywood leading man since graduating from NIDA. Brown recently featured in Belvoir St Theatre’s Counting and Cracking, which won the Helpmann Award for Best Play, and The Long Forgotten Dream and Still Point Turning for Sydney Theatre Company. His writing credits include Lighten Up for Griffin, The Unlisted for Aquarius Films and Tantra 2 for Playwriting Australia.

Daniel Clarke

Sydney Pride Festival director Daniel Clarke joins Regina Botros to get the insight into the festival colours.

Listen up - listen proud!

Daniel has worked as an Artistic Director, Creative Producer, Executive Producer, Director, Programmer and CEO across Australia and the UK. He is a respected arts leader with a commitment to inclusivity, bold voices, independent artists, new works and artistic development. He has championed the works of many visionary LGBTIQA+ artists throughout his career from independent producing to within large cultural institutions.

Annalouise Paul

Annalousie Paul joins Regina Botros in this episode to talk about her experiences as a flamenco dancer; how she came to it, the stories she tells and the new @Salon Flamenco series she is curating for Sydney World Pride.

 

Tickets and general info for

https://prideamplified.au/events/salon-flamenco/

Facebook event page with full program details

https://www.facebook.com/events/654379352729685

 

Photo credit: Binu Photography

 

Lewis Treston

Lewis talks with Regina Botros about his play Hubris and Humiliation - on at Sydney Theatre Company at the moment.

Lewis is an AWARD Winning playwright and

In this Sydney world pride (and prejudice ) production…think

Jane Austen’s drawing rooms and country estates are switched out for the dizzying dancefloors and leafy avenues of post-plebiscite Sydney---is what it says online

Lewis is a former STC Patrick white award winner.

This production is

Presented in association with Sydney WorldPride and directed by Dean Bryant (Fun Home), this modern homage to the celebrated, nineteenth century English novelist – which had a development at STC as part of the Rough Draft program (2021) and won the 2021 Australian Theatre Festival New Play Award in New York – is a high-camp exploration of love, family and commitment topped off with a twist of Regency period charm.

Blair Cutting and David Hooley - In A Little Room

Actors Blair and David talk to Regina about the life and times Queen Elizabeth I's reign in 1593. Double agent, spy and famous playwright, Christopher Marlowe has been called to a lodging house in Deptford on the Thames to answer to his secret double dealings...In a Little Room written by David Allen.

A deep dive into the much speculated happenings on that fateful night and a knife fight. Listen in to a very informative chat about the times of this play's history and what may have happened...