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| 48 SHADES OF BROWN [Philip Dean] Dan is on a steep learning curve. It is not just that he is in his final year of school. When his parents go to Europe he moves in with his 22-year-old, bass-playing aunt Jacq and her friend Naomi. He should be concentrating on calculus and the fish-tank scene in Romeo and Juliet, but in a desperate bid to impress Naomi, Dan secretly starts memorising some more obscure information. Adapted from Nick Earls' award-winning novel, this is a gently comic tale of intimacy, ornithology and fresh pesto (2 male; 2 female). { 120pp, 155x230mm, February 2002; PB, £7.99, 0868196525:9780868196527 , Currency Press } |
| ACTOR'S AUDITION MANUAL, VOLUME 1 : The Australian Handbook for Every Actor Fully Revised with 150 New Speeches [Dean Carey] The first edition of The Actor's Audition Manual quickly became known as the 'red audition manual', denoting its status as the essential guide. Now revised and extended, it once more brings together a wealth of practical advice and a fresh, diverse range of speeches for both men and women that will help to make your audition powerful and effective. { 254pp, 135x210mm, July 1998; PB, £11.99, 0868195162:9780868195162 , Currency Press } |
| AFTER DINNER [Andrew Bovell] A black comedy set in a suburban pub-bistro on a Friday night. 5 single people set out in pursuit of a good time, determined to forget their 9--5 routine (2 acts, 2 men, 3 women). { July 1997; PB, £9.50, 0868195189:9780868195186 , Currency Press } |
| AFTER JANUARY [Philip Dean] Alex has eighteen days until he finds out if he got into Arts Law, a week in Caloundra to sleep, swim and watch the cricket, and a mother with a keen interest in his sex life. Fortuna keeps bees, has a nose-ring, and a father who likes to do pottery in the nude. When this unlikely pair meet, the results are both hilarious and heart-warming. And for both of them it means that things will never be the same after January. Adapted by Philip Dean from Nick Earls' award-winning novel, After January is a play for people of all ages about what happens when someone stops waiting for life to happen and begins instead to live it. (1 act: 2 women, 2 men) REVIEW: "A play for all ages about what happens when someone stops waiting for life to happen and begins to live it..." -- DAWN (Journal of the Drama Association of Wales), Autumn 2001. { 114pp, 135x210mm, March 2001; PB, £7.99, 0868196363:9780868196367 , Currency Press } |
| AFTER THE BALL [David Williamson] Stephen and Judy live on opposite sides of the world. Their lifestyles and outlooks could not be further apart. But they are brother and sister and when they are reunited at the bedside of their dying mother, family memories painfully and mercilessly return. David Williamson has created a family scenario that is frighteningly recognisable. At times hilarious, at times tortuous, this is a frank, critical look at Australian suburban life from the 1960s to the 1990s (2 acts, 3 men, 6 women). { January 1997; PB, £9.50, 0868195375:9780868195377 , Currency Press } |
| AFTERSHOCKS [Paul Brown] This play documents the cataclysmic Newcastle earthquake and its aftermath. Based entirely on taped interviews, this is the dramatic presentation of real oral history, as told by the staff and friends of the Newcastle Workers Club. In unvarnished tones, sometimes funny, sometimes terrified, they show the after-effects of the tragedy on the lives of ordinary people. (7 male, 9 female). { 60pp, 140x210mm, September 2001; PB, £8.50, 0868196509:9780868196503 , Currency Press } |
| ALIWA! [Dallas Winmar] Based upon the Davis family, this is the incredible story of three Aboriginal sisters, who held together by their mother's love and determination, battle ignorance, prejudice, ad patronising interference. Both playful and tender, 'Aliwa!' is an inspirational tale of a family's struggle to stay together while the fingers of the Australian Government tried to reach in and prise them apart (3 women). { 86pp, 105x160mm, October 2002; PB, £5.99, 0868196886:9780868196886 , Currency Press } |
| ALL IN GOOD TIMING [Henri Szeps] Henri Szep's passion for acting is infectious. Here Henri, who is well known for his role as Robert in Mother and Son, lays before the reader thirty years of acting experience and divulges his personal view on what good acting is all about. { 163pp, 150x230mm, January 1996; PB, £10.99, 0868194840:9780868194844 , Currency Press } |
| ALL SOULS [Daniel Keene] All Souls, or the Day of the Dead, is when the dead return to the world of the living. All Souls evokes a vision of our dreams and nightmares. The writing is poetic, without compromise and a truly remarkable work (2 acts, 2 men, 5 women). { December 1995; PB, £8.50, 086819431X:9780868194318 , Currency Press } |
| ALMOST A DINOSAUR [Jill Morris] Story about Rosi, her search for self-discovery and adventures along the way (6 men, 1 woman). { December 1988; PB, £5.99, 0868192090:9780868192093 , Currency Press } |
| AMIGOS [David Williamson] In a moment of glory at the 1968 Olympics, the four Amigos, an Australian rowing team, won a bronze medal. It was lifetime bond material. But 35 years later, only two of the four Amigos keep in touch. Jim is a banker, with money, an expensive house, and a young and beautiful wife. It seems he has it all, but his friend Dick, a heart surgeon, has something that Jim wants: a sterling reputation. The two mates, and their wives, meet up in Port Douglas with competing personal agendas. And then a Steven, the third amigo, turns up, ready to expose all about their past. And so the games begin... 'Amigos' is a savagely funny play that exposes the subtle violence and unacknowledged dependencies of male friendship -- and the angst and irritation it causes their wives. Here David Williamson, Australia's most popular and successful playwright, looks at what happens when mateship and mating collide. (2 acts, 3 male, 2 female). { 65pp, 135x210mm, June 2004; PB, £9.50, 0868197467:9780868197463 , Currency Press } |
| ANGEL BABY [Michael Rymer] An international critical and film festival hit., Angel Baby is a tragi-comic love story set at the border of psychosis and sanity. When Harry meets Kate at a drop-in centre for the mentally ill, love blossoms. Guided by Astral the oracle, who speaks through the Wheel of Fortune, they strike out defiantly to create a home and a family in the outside world. { 97pp, 140x210mm, January 1996; PB, £9.50, 0868194573:9780868194578 , Currency Press } |
| ANNA BISHOP : Adventures of an Intrepid Prima Donna [Richard Davis] Anna Bishop, the rebellious wife of the English Mozart, Henry Bishop, eloped in 1839 with the dissolute French harpist Nicholas Bochsa and began an adventure lasting forty years. She and her lover survived snow and jungle, shipwreck and impassable mountains, bandits, cholera outbreaks and civil wars. She sang in the great opera houses and in makeshift venues in the outposts of civilisation. Hers was a life that cannot even be imagined today. Extensively researched and generously illustrated the book is introduced by Richard Boynge. { July 1997; HB, £12.99, 0868194859:9780868194851 , Currency Press } |
| ARTS, MINISTER? : Government Policy and the Arts [Justin MacDonnell] Using the public statements and private records of eight ministers, from Gorton to Cohen, MacDonnell untangles the mystery and draws some radical conclusions from the experience of the nineties. Written with a clear reading of the sub-text, this is an entertaining insight into the private life of the political process. { 436pp, October 1992; HB, £12.99, 0868192961:9780868192963 , Currency Press } |
| AUDITIONING FOR MUSICALS [Peter Mapleson] Advice for actors, singers and dancers planning to audition for any musical. { 170pp, 135x210mm, May 1994; PB, £11.99, 0868193828:9780868193823 , Currency Press } |
| AUSTRALIAN CINEMA : The First 80 Years [Brian Adams] Chronological coverage of the making of a film industry which only achieved international recognition in the 1980s. { 325pp, 140x215mm, June 1989; PB, £11.99, 0868192325:9780868192321 , Currency Press } |
| AUSTRALIAN GAY AND LESBIAN PLAYS [Bruce Parr, Editor] This collection of Australian plays is a first: it is a celebration of homosexuality and its diversity in Australian theatre. It provokes a rethinking of the nature of gay and lesbian drama, and ranges from established works in the Australian repertoire to plays first seen in Mardi Gras festivals (various cast). { 384pp, 135x210mm, February 1997; PB, £14.50, 0868194557:9780868194554 , Currency Press } |
| AUSTRALIAN PIANO MUSIC, VOLUME 1 [Sally Mays, Editor] Contains 41 short compositions and presents a range of pieces suitable for levels equivalent to grade three in standard. { 51pp, 230x305mm, July 1990; PB, £9.50, 0868192716:9780868192710 , Currency Press } |
| AUSTRALIAN PIANO MUSIC, VOLUME 2 [Sally Mays, Editor] This is the second volume of an exciting and innovative series on Australian piano music for young pianists, teachers or performers wishing to expand their repertoire and knowledge of Australian composers and their piano music. All the pieces included are of minimal difficulty and explore a wide range of styles, techniques and the colourful sounds possible on the piano. This volume contains works by Barry Anderson, Edwin Carr, Ann Carr-Boyd, Ross Edwards, Michael Hannan, Wendy Hiscocks, Don Kay, Sally Mays, Rosalind Page, Peter Sculthorpe, Larry Sitsky, and Lawrence Whiffin. { 60pp, 225x305mm, April 1995; PB, £14.50, 0868193186:9780868193182 , Currency Press } |
| AUSTRALIAN PIANO MUSIC, VOLUME 3 [Sally Mays, Editor] This is the third volume of an exciting and innovative series on Australian piano music for young pianists, teachers or performers wishing to expand their repertoire and knowledge of Australian composers and their piano music. { 60pp, 230x305mm, July 1997; PB, £14.50, 0868194875:9780868194875 , Currency Press } |
| AUSTRALIAN PIANO MUSIC, VOLUME 4 [Sally Mays, Editor] This is the fourth volume of an exciting and innovative series of books on Australian piano music for young pianists, teachers and performers wishing to expand their repertoire and knowledge of Australian composers and their piano music. The pieces are at grades five and six AMEB levels, and full of humour, stylistic variation, pathos and expression. They can be played in any performance concert and are a wonderful window into the pianist's musicianship. This volume consolidates the lessons and technical topics introduced in the first three volumes. { 72pp, 225x310mm, August 2000; PB, £14.50, 0868195545:9780868195544 , Currency Press } |
| AUSTRALIAN VIOLIN MUSIC : Concert Pieces [Philippa Paige, Editor] Provides an excellent collection of concert pieces for the professional, student or amateur violinist. A much needed book, the colourful works published here represent a wide range of styles from a broad cross-section of Australian composers. The editor has selected music which can be played by the intermediate and advanced violin student. At the same time the professional or accomplished musician will find that this book is a valuable resource of Australian compositions suitable for any recital. For the teacher, this collection provides a useful and enjoyable means to introduce various modern violin techniques which may not have been encountered elsewhere in the teaching repertoire. Careful editing and detailed performance notes will facilitate preparation. { 80pp, 225x310mm, April 1998; PB, £21.99, 0868195243:9780868195247 , Currency Press } |
| AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S DRAMA : Text and Feminisms [Peta Tait and Elizabeth Schafer, Editors] For nearly three decades women playwrights have been making a significant contribution to the repertoire of Australian drama. This book is the first representative collection of this work and features some of Australia's most widely performed and well respected women dramatists (various cast). { 286pp, 150x240mm, July 1997; PB, £14.50, 0868194972:9780868194974 , Currency Press } |
| AWAY [Michael Gow] Three Australian families set out separately but are driven together by a storm (5 acts, 6 men, 4 women). { December 1988; PB, £9.50, 0868192112:9780868192116 , Currency Press } |
| BABES IN THE WOOD [Tom Wright] A splendid and terrible tale of two innocents who wander too far from home. In a desperate attempt to escape the evil intentions of Aunty Avaricia and her two not so faithful sidekicks Flapgherkin and Boingle, these pure young Australians find themselves accosted by an amazing and colourful array of characters, including a foreigner in a fez, a convict ghost, and a suave genie. This pantomimic tale of the birth of a nation is a triumph of rhyme over reason: part salute to a lost tradition, part banner to the future. (2 acts, 2 male, 5 female). { 50pp, 140x215mm, February 2004; PB, £8.50, 0868197092:9780868197098 , Currency Press } |
| BAD BOY BUDDY [Rolf de Heer] A powerful and disturbing story, the film follows Buddy's escape from the subterranean depths of a brutalising and hermetic childhood into a world that at times seems more brutal and damaged than the hell hole from which he has emerged. Despite encountering persecution in equal measure to guardianship and encouragement, Buddy the fool -- the idiot savant -- eventually finds his way to redemptive love, encountering along the way many of the joys and ills of the modern day human condition. { 93pp, 140x210mm, June 1996; PB, £9.50, 0868194263:9780868194264 , Currency Press } |
| BALI ADAT [Graham Sheil] Deals with the universal themes of: honour, conflicting values of Hinduism and Christianity, materialism and diplomacy (2 acts, 7 men, 1 woman). { January 1991; PB, £9.50, 0868192406:9780868192406 , Currency Press } |
| BAND IN A WAISTCOAT POCKET : The Story of the Harmonica in Australia [Ray Grieve] Grieve spent 10 years researching this book. It took him around Australia interviewing players, collecting records, searching archives and conducting an extensive correspondence. He has made a complete collection of all known commercial recordings made in Australia from 1908--1941 and field recordings of champion players over this period. { 124pp, 183x248mm, October 1995; PB, £9.50, 0868194476:9780868194479 , Currency Press } |
| BARRY MCKENZIE MOVIES [Tony Moore] When "The Adventures of Barry McKenzie" burst onto the Australian screen in 1972 it created a furore. With 'Bazza' (Barry Crocker), the chundering, Fosters-sucking innocent abroad, Barry Humphries and Bruce Beresford created a foil for the poms and an Australian hero despised by film snobs but loved by audiences. The movie triggered a riotous sequel, "Barry McKenzie Holds His Own", and a wave of comedies that celebrate and critique the Australian national character. With irrepressible humour and sharp-witted insight Tony Moore explores the subversive satire of the films, their influence on his generation, and what they have to say about who we are today. Included is a glossary of Bazza-isms written by Barry Humphries. { 86pp, 135x190mm, December 2005; PB, £7.50, 0868197483:9780868197487 , Currency Press } |
| BARUNGIN (SMELL THE WIND) [Jack Davis] A powerful culmination of the dramatic history of Aboriginal life from the arrival of the white man 200 years ago (2 acts, 6 men, 4 women). { October 1989; PB, £9.50, 0868192481:9780868192482 , Currency Press } |
| BEAUTIFUL LIFE [Michael Futcher and Helen Howard] Brisbane 1992: A boy, Amir, sees his parents on the news, under arrest for protesting at the Iranian Embassy in Canberra against atrocities in their homeland. Amir forces Hamid and Jhila to tell their story, believing that a hostile Australian pubic will understand their 'terrorist' actions which shows the bigger picture of their past. Revitalising memories of his wrongful imprisonment and torture in a Tehran jail, Hamid confronts an oppressive secret which has blighted his beautiful new life in Australia. As his lengthy trial continues, it is clear he has exchanged one nightmare world for another. Yet even in the face of another jail term, Hamid praises the Australian justice system... This play explores the often unforgettable histories of refugees. It is a haunting account of prejudice, injustice and brutality, tempered by a celebration of human kindness and indomitable hope. (2 acts: 6 men, 2 women) { 128pp, 135x210mm, November 2000; PB, £9.50, 0868196053:9780868196053 , Currency Press } |
| BEHIND THE BEAT [Darrelyn Gunzberg] The Cold Courage band has two great gigs lined up but their new drummer is drinking his way through rehearsals (7 men, 6 women aged 14-20). { December 1992; PB, £7.99, 0868193321:9780868193328 , Currency Press } |
| BENEATH THE SEQUINED SURFACE : An Insight into Sydney Drag [Carol Langley] Drag is an integral part of Australian culture, and Sydney drag -- which is highly creative and immensely professional -- is said to be the best in the world. This book captures the colour and vibrancy of this art and gives a rare insight into the reality of this often-stereotyped scene. { 156pp, 290x200mm, April 2006; PB, £30.50, 086819767X:9780868197678 , Currency Press } |
| BETWEEN EARTH AND AIR : Guitar Prelude No.1 [Richard Vella] This is the first of three preludes for guitar by Richard Vella. It was commissioned by Ken Burns for the 1991 Australian Guitar Competition with financial support from the Australia Council. Since its premiere it has been widely performed and recorded. Between Earth and Air was originally edited by Ken Burns and it has been revised for publication by Timothy Kain in collaboration with the composer. The work is structured in sections, the exciting finale combining and developing rhythmic and melodic thematic material from earlier sections. Between Earth and Air can also be played in an abridged version as A-C-B and A-B-C-D. { 22pp, 210x295mm, November 2000; PB, £9.50, 0868195405:9780868195407 , Currency Press } |
| BIG PICTURE [Jennifer Compton] 'Seriously funny' is how Jennifer Compton describes the lives of her three heroines. 'If you don't laugh you gonna cry.' Fran, Mandy and Joy, single mothers living at the end of the road in some neglected country town, support each other with jokes about Tupperware and faithless men, fighting with hope the realisation that they are trapped in a cycle of poverty and despair. Compton writes these women with the love and familiarity of lifelong friends, sometimes mocking, sometimes heartbroken, weaving comedy from tragedy. { 82pp, 135x210mm, August 1999; PB, £9.50, 0868195944:9780868195940 , Currency Press } |
| BIRTHRIGHTS / SOULMATES : Two Plays [David Williamson] 'Birthrights' tells the story of two sisters who compete for their child's love. At 29 years of age, Helen has a vital operation that stops her from having what she desperately wants, a child. Her younger sister Claudia gives her a wonderful gift and bears a child for her. However years later when Claudia finds out that she and her husband Martin can't conceive she realises that the only baby she will ever bear is Kelly, the child she had for her sister. (2 male, 4 female). In 'Soulmates' David turns the tables on his own kind and applies his merciless humour to the literary world in a play about the slippery business of books, authors, their work, and the readers who love them. When Katie Best, ex-pat Australian and Chick Lit Queen, receives an acerbic review from Danny, a Melbourne critic, she vows to take her revenge. (4 male, 3 female). { 154pp, 135x210mm, August 2003; PB, £10.99, 0868196983:9780868196985 , Currency Press } |
| BLABBERMOUTH [Mary Morris] Rowena Batts has no voice, but she is the world's biggest blabbermouth. She's just started at a new school so life's a bit of a challenge, her new friend Amanda is Pretty cool, but that Darryn Peck is a total pest. Rowena's dad is an apple farmer and aspiring country and western singer, but he just can't seem to pull his head in when he needs to. Her new teacher, Ms Dunning, seems to be taking a shine to him, maybe love is in the air. On the other hand, maybe love sucks, could it turn out to be the worst day of her life (2 acts, 2 men, 3 women). { December 1996; PB, £7.99, 0868194212:9780868194219 , Currency Press } |
| BLACKROCK [Nick Enright] It's Toby Ackland's birthday party down near the surf club -- and that means heaps of grog, drugs and good clean fun. But by the morning, a young girl is dead -- she's been raped and bashed with a rock. Who is responsible? The boys? The girl? Or the whole town? (2 acts, 6 men, 5 women). { December 1996; PB, £9.50, 0868194778:9780868194776 , Currency Press } |
| BLAK INSIDE : 6 Indigenois Plays From Victoria Contains six plays. ENUFF by John Harding is a frightening and funny play about an Australian future where black patience has run out. A violent uprising is planned for Reconciliation Day -- will retribution or forgiveness prevail? I DON'T WANNA PLAY HOUSE by Tammy Anderson is the moving story of her childhood. A truly remarkable account of the triumph of the human spirit. BELONGING by Tracey Rigney recounts the taunts and temptations of a school girl, and her personal struggle to remain true to her culture, and herself. CASTING DOUBTS by Maryanne Sam is a funny, and at times heart-wrenching, play about an actors' casting agency with more colour charts than a paint shop, and the problems that Indigenous actors face. CROWFIRE by Jadah Milroy is the story of a young, urban Indigenous Australian woman, and a man from a desert community lured into the city. The moving story of a search for identity and the need for reconciliation. CONVERSATIONS WITH THE DEAD by Richard J Frankland is a poetic and savage play that takes you into the aching sorrow of deaths in custody. { 287pp, 155x230mm, May 2002; PB, £10.99, 0868196622:9780868196626 , Currency Press } |
| BLIND GIANT IS DANCING [Stephen Sewell] Allen, a social economist, is a man of idealistic and principled origins and a committed worker for the left -- but he has familial poison running in his veins. As his struggle with the leader of his party's dominant right faction drifts helplessly from the political to the personal, Allen becomes increasingly controlled by the cold and unyielding anger passed on to him by his steelworker father. This is distinctive Sewell territory, where individual lives are equally at the mercy of powerful external forces as they are of scarcely understood drives within (3 acts, 10 men, 6 women). { July 1997; PB, £9.50, 0868194921:9780868194929 , Currency Press } |
| BLUE MURDER : The Screenplay [Ian David] Set in Sydney in the 1970s and 1980s, 'Blue Murder' is the story of the friendship between drug dealer and robber Arthur Stanley 'Neddy' Smith and Detective Sergeant Roger 'The Dodger' Rogerson -- and the pot of gold and broken lives that friendship produced. Ian David, the writer of 'Police Crop', 'Joh's Jury' and other TV dramas, researched the story extensively. He met with Neddy Smith and conducted hundreds of interviews as well as consulting published works such as 'Darren Goodsir's Line of Fire' and Neddy Smith's own autobiography 'Neddy'. The result is a powerful and frightening story about police corruption and Sydney's underworld. REVIEW: "The story of the friendship betwenn drug dealer, robber and detective, and the pot of gold and broken lives that friendship produced" -- Dawn, Spring 2005. { 114pp, 170x240mm, January 2003; PB, £10.99, 0868196304:9780868196305 , Currency Press } |
| BODY AND SOUL : A Musical Play [Richard Tulloch] A group of exceptional young athletes from all over the country have been selected for training at Challenge Camp Australia. Who will make the final cut to win a Scholarship to the Australian Sport Academy and maybe a shot at Olympic gold in Sydney in 2000? All have potential, but now their physical and mental capacities are to be tested to the max. Stakes are high, competition is fierce and relationships are tested as tensions surface within the group. And the tasks set by their eccentric coach, Rasputin, are becoming increasingly bizarre. Body and Soul is fast-paced and funny with a punchy musical score. It can adapted to suit the special talents of young performers in both secondary school and community-based drama groups. { 104pp, 135x210mm, December 1998; PB, £7.99, 0868195588:9780868195582 , Currency Press } |
| BOYS [Gordon Graham] An important play which raises many issues which need discussion in the 1990's. It paints a powerful picture of a family without moral, material, aesthetic or imaginative resource, each of them victims of a cycle of deprivation from which they can see relief only through money and physical power. The vicious murder of a woman is the culmination of the frustrated expression of anger by the men, who are, nonetheless, loved and cared for by their own women. This is a disturbing piece of writing which seems to reflect the fears of many: that society is failing its citizens -- both victims and perpetrators (2 acts, 3 men, 4 women). { December 1994; PB, £9.50, 086819381X:9780868193816 , Currency Press } |
| BOYS : Screenplay [Stephen Sewell] A frightening and unflinching analysis of the violence that lurks in the heart of Australian society. Unemployed, without hope and prospects, Brett's inner resources are drawn from a different well. Returning home from prison, he sets about re-establishing control over his wayward brothers. { 96pp, 135x210mm, September 1998; PB, £9.50, 0868195693:9780868195698 , Currency Press } |
| BRAN NUE DAE [Jimmy Chi] Willy and Old Uncle Tadpole flee the city to embark on a journey of personal discovery and outrageous adventures back to their Aboriginal homeland (2 acts, 5 men, 3 women, + ensemble). { May 1991; PB, £10.99, 0868192937:9780868192932 , Currency Press } |
| BRILLIANT LIES [David Williamson] To survive the 90s you've got to be lucky, rich or able to tell Brilliant Lies (2 acts, 4 men, 3 women). { October 1993; PB, £9.50, 0868193712:9780868193717 , Currency Press } |
| BRUMBY INNES / BID ME TO LOVE [Katharine Susannah Prichard] Two plays of 1927. Brumby Innes deals with the turbulent relations between the sexes and the races in NW Australia (3 acts, 9 men, 6 women), and Bid Me to Love with 'advanced' ideas on marriage (3 acts, 4 men, 4 women, children). { December 1983; PB, £10.50, 0868190861:9780868190860 , Currency Press } |
| BURNING TIME [Nicholas Flanagan] A compelling portrait of a talented, affluent Melbourne family and their friends. Beneath the glittering fun is a heartfelt cry that urges us to confront the forces which threaten what is left of the Australian family in the 1990s (2 acts, 6 men, 6 women). { May 1996; PB, £8.50, 0868194646:9780868194646 , Currency Press } |
| CALL [Martin Flanagan; Adapted by Bruce Myles] Tom Wills grew up in Western Victoria in the 1840's, where his childhood friends were local aborigines. He played their games and learnt their language. Sent to an exclusive English school, where he made a name for himself playing cricket for Cambridge, he returned in 1856 with a rallying cry that revolutionised sport in Australia: 'Let’s have a game of our own!’ It was Tom Wills who opened the door to an indigenous code of football with its own rules, humour and history. Sport became Australia's second language. His crowded life found him in the middle of a land war, surviving a massacre of his family and coaching an Aboriginal cricket team for Australia’ s first tour of England. Snubbed by the big end of town, this driven and passionate man was dead at 44. What killed Tom Wills? The answers add a revealing chapter to our hidden history. Don Watson said that Martin Flanagan could describe a heart-beat and this spirited collaboration (with Bruce Myles) fulfils that promise. (1 Act, 3 male, 2 female). { 56pp, 135x210mm, November 2004; PB, £8.50, 0868197386:9780868197388 , Currency Press } |
| CAPRICORNIA [Louis Nowra] Xavier Herbert's classic novel of racial conflict during the 1930s (3 acts, 15 men, 13 women). { January 1992; PB, £9.50, 0868193135:9780868193137 , Currency Press } |
| CARER [Alan Hopgood] George Parker's wife has recently died with Alzheimer's. He took early retirement to care for her, and is now adjusting to his new life without her. This story celebrates George's love for his wife and his struggle to overcome adversity with warmth, integrity, and an infectious sense of humour. (2 acts, 1 male). { 54pp, 105x160mm, May 2004; PB, £5.99, 0868197424:9780868197425 , Currency Press } |
| CHAPEL PERILOUS (1971) [Dorothy Hewett] Sally Banner tries through schooldays, lovers, marriage and politics to extract a meaning from the environment into which she has been born (2 acts, 3 men, 2 women, chorus and musicians). { December 1981; PB, £8.99, 0868190888:9780868190884 , Currency Press } |
| CHILDREN OF THE BLACK SKIRT [Angela Betzien] Three lost children discover an abandoned orphanage in the bush. They become trapped in this timeless world, haunted by spirits of the past and perpetually tormented by the ominous Black Skirt, the cruel governess who floats up and down the orphanage corridors wielding her enormous scissors. Soon, the children begin to listen to the stories of these restless spirits and by doing so, they find a light that will lead all lost children home. This new gothic fairytale for young people tells a history of Australia through the eyes of children, from convict times, to early white occupation to the vast era of the Stolen Generation to World War Two and beyond. A visually and aurally evocative play exploring themes of history, reconciliation and the cathartic power of storytelling. This is Roald Dahl meets Charles Dickens under the harsh Australian sun. (1 act, 7 male, 15 female). { 61pp, 135x190mm, April 2005; PB, £6.99, 0868197602:9780868197609 , Currency Press } |
| CHILLING AND KILLING MY ANNABEL LEE [Aidan Fennessy] When a body is found in a disused ice-works and a man confesses to killing his lover, two detectives are caught in a labyrinth of clues starting with the phrase: 'my beautiful Annabel Lee'. Set in a seedy nether-world, Chilling and Killing My Annabel Lee explores the nature of crime and guilt, both real and figurative. This ingenious play of mystery and murder is inspired by classic film noir and the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe. Spun around the confessions of a writer and his muse fatale, this is a world of seductive and compelling stories of betrayal, loss and lust. The author puts a humorous and contemporary spin on a highly intriguing plot that will have you guessing right to the last page (2 acts, 4 men, 4 women, 1 body). { May 1999; PB, £8.50, 0868195847:9780868195841 , Currency Press } |
| CHOPPER : The Screenplay [Andrew Dominik] Chopper is inspired by the books of Mark Brandon 'Chopper' Read, arguably Australia's most infamous former criminal. An original screenplay, Chopper draws on police records, court transcripts, news coverage and interviews with prisoners, police and prison workers who knew Chopper Read. It is not a bio-pic, but a multi-sided examination of the pathology of a complex and violent man who has become a cult figure. This controversial film has earned the director criticism and praise in its dispassionate account of Chopper's life -- his time in the infamous H-Division of Pentridge Gaol and, on the outside, his idiosyncratic relationship with both police and criminals. As well as stills from the film the publication includes many illuminating scenes that did not make the final cut. { 88pp, 135x210mm, July 2001; PB, £9.50, 0868196428:9780868196428 , Currency Press } |
| CIVILISING THE COLONIES : Pioneering Opera in Australia [Alison Gyger] The history of opera in Australia is often considered to date from the arrival of the impresario W. S. Lyster in 1861 yet, as Alison Gyger shows in this book, regular opera performances in Australia began much earlier. Starting in the 1830s, Gyger takes us through the full range of performances showing how each of the early decades had its own distinctive character. In the 1830s, English operas predominated, while the following decade saw the arrival of some Italian operas which were performed in English. It was not until the 1850s that, with the arrival of overseas stars, Italian operas were sung in Italian in Australian theatres. In the second half of the book, Gyger also looks in detail at the period from Lyster's arrival in 1861 through to the 1880s. The detailed wealth of information which the author has assembled from the major newspapers of the day, challenges the conventional picture of the beginnings of opera in Australia. { 285pp, 160x240mm, March 2001; HB, £23.99, 0949697397:9780949697394 , Currency Press } |
| CLASSIC SAX : For Soprano or Tenor Saxophone and Piano [Mark Walton] A collection of carefully selected pieces for classical saxophonists seeking music to develop their lyrical playing. The book has been designed for the serious recitalist, students taking grade exams and for the general teaching of the instrument by a performer and teacher with long experience in the field. { 72pp, 220x305, November 1996; PB, £14.50, 0868194905:9780868194905 , Currency Press } |
| CLASSIC SAX : For Alto Saxophone and Piano [Mark Walton] A collection of carefully selected pieces for classical saxophonists seeking music to develop their lyrical playing. The book has been designed for the serious recitalist, students taking grade exams and for the general teaching of the instrument by a performer and teacher with long experience in the field. { 72pp, 220x305, November 1996; PB, £14.50, 0868194891:9780868194899 , Currency Press } |
| CLOSE TO THE BONE [Ned Manning] Deals with the forced adoptions of Aboriginal children taken from their families to live as white children. In the 1960s before the referendum on full citizenship rights for Aboriginal people in 1967, a little girl is taken from her mother. In the 1990s as a young woman, she discovers by chance that she is adopted and Aboriginal. The play relates to one aspect of Aboriginal history in a moving and sympathetic way, using humour to highlight the story (2 acts, 1 man, 9 women). { January 1996; PB, £9.50, 0868193895:9780868193892 , Currency Press } |
| CLOUDSTREET [Adapted by Nick Enright and Justin Monjo] A sprawling stage adaptation of Tim Winton's enormously successful novel of the same name. A huge success at the 1998 Sydney and Perth festival, the story follows the fluctuating fortune of two families who inhabit a rambling old house in Perth. Both the novel and stage adaptation have proven to be major works and have each left an indelible mark on the Australian arts scene (3 acts, 20 men, 13 women, extras). { July 2001; PB, £8.50, 0868195898:9780868195896 , Currency Press } |
| CLUB [David Williamson] About the hangers-on, the end of loyalty, the coming of professionalism... about each and every club in the League and about soccer, rugby and baseball too (2 acts, 6 men). { December 1978; PB, £9.50, 0868190136:9780868190136 , Currency Press } |
| COLLECTED PLAYS, VOLUME 1 [Dorothy Hewett] This Old Man Comes Rolling Home (9 men 9 women), Mrs Porter and the Angel (7 men 6 women), The Chapel Perilous (3 men 2 women, chorus, musicians), and The Tatty Hollow Story (6 men 2 women). { October 1992; PB, £14.50, 0868191663:9780868191669 , Currency Press } |
| COLLECTED PLAYS, VOLUME 1 [Patrick White] Ham Funeral (6 men 4 women), Season at Sarsaparilla (9 men 7 women), A Cheery Soul (10 men 18 women), Night on Bald Mountain (5 men 4 women). { February 2003; PB, £14.50, 0868191248:9780868191249 , Currency Press } |
| COLLECTED PLAYS, VOLUME 2 [Jim McNeil] How Does Your Garden Grow (7 men 2 women), Jack (4 men), The Chocolate Frog (3 men) and The Old Familiar Juice (3 men). { December 1987; PB, £14.50, 0868191477:9780868191478 , Currency Press } |
| COLLECTED PLAYS, VOLUME 2 [Patrick White] Shepherd on the Rocks (8 men 6 women), Big Toys (2 men 1 woman), Netherwood (6 men 6 women), and Signal Driver (2 men 2 women). { August 1994; HB, £14.50, 0868193054:9780868193052 , Currency Press } |
| COLLECTED PLAYS, VOLUME 2 [David Williamson] A Handful of Friends (2 men 3 women), The Club (6 men), The Perfectionist (3 men 2 women), and Travelling North (3 men 4 women). { January 1993; PB, £14.50, 0868192872:9780868192871 , Currency Press } |
| COLLITS' INN [T Stuart Gurr] Collits' Inn really did (and does) exist in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, though it is doubtful it is has ever had a landlord's daughter who could sing as well as Mary Collits, or a handyman as comically outrageous as Dandy Dick. With Gladys Moncrieff and George Wallace Snr in the leads, not even the financial depression of the 1930s could stop Collits' Inn from smashing box office records in Melbourne -- and even doing quite nicely in Sydney as well. A charming musical romance, this is one of the forgotten triumphs of Australian theatre and is published her for the first time with the songs and music included, and with its remarkable stage history remembered in an introduction by John West. (3 acts, 8 men, 3 women, extras). { 66pp, 150x220mm, January 1996; PB, £9.50, 0868192678:9780868192673 , Currency Press } |
| COLONIAL EXPERIENCE [Walter Cooper] A conspiracy involving an heiress, a braggart fortune hunter, a new chum and a pragmatic jackeroo makes a vigorous and stylish comedy (3 acts, 9 men, 2 women). { December 1979; PB, £9.50, 0868190241:9780868190242 , Currency Press } |
| COLOSSEUM [Ross Mueller] Ben and Liam are importers who accidentally receive a shipment of religious statues, unaware of what is hidden inside. Rich works at the docks and is tied up in too many deals. Sonia, his flatmate, is an usher at the cinema, cleaning up after people like Samantha, a final year medical student who spends more time at the movies than at her books. Samantha studies mechanics with Belinda, a cleaner who believes in self-improvement and dreams of becoming a pop star. She cleans houses with Peta, who smokes Cuban cigars and yearns for the revolution. Between talk of engines and ecstasy, between fantasies of New York and the Virgin Mary, fifteen lives intersect as this multi-layered story explores life's infinite possibilities. (5 male, 10 female). { 113pp, 140x215mm, August 2003; PB, £7.99, 0868196932:9780868196930 , Currency Press } |
| COMMUNITY MUSIC HANDBOOK [Anne Cahill] For those who want to help build the musical life of their community, this practical and accessible guide, will tell you how. Using the hard-earned knowledge of experienced local practitioners, this book is a mine of information on how to build bands, choirs, orchestras, music schools and a lot more; whether it's something small scale, a one-off project, or a more comprehensive development plan. The author has had a long career in arts funding agencies and as a cultural development officer in local government. She is president of the Orchestral Network of Australia and is building it as a national service network for community, youth and professional orchestras. { 208pp, 150x210mm, July 1998; PB, £10.99, 0868195677:9780868195674 , Currency Press } |
| COMMUNITY THEATRE IN AUSTRALIA [Richard Fotheringham] Documents professional theatre activity, now known as community theatre. { 200pp, 140x210mm, March 1993; PB, £9.50, 086819333X:9780868193335 , Currency Press } |
| COMPANION TO THEATRE IN AUSTRALIA [Philip Parsons with Victoria Chance] This authoritative alphabetical reference work covers every major development and significant figure in the history of Australian theatre, from the earliest colonial times to the present day. { January 1994; PB, £21.99, 0868193577:9780868193571 , Currency Press } |
| COMPANY WE KEEP : An Intimate Celebration of Opera Australia [Annarosa Berman] Writer Annarosa Berman and photographer Bridget Elliot invite readers to join them on a fascinating exploration behind the scenes as they follow a selection of Opera Australia's productions in Sydney and Melbourne and go on tour with OzOpera in Tasmania. This book presents a lively and informative account of everything that goes into bringing an opera production to the stage, from concept to final dress rehearsal. The text is complemented by intimate black-and-white photographs that evoke a frenetic creative world, showcasing the working lives of musicians and principal artists, chorus members and vocal coaches. We also meet the designers and directors responsible for creating distinctive productions and the talented team that puts them together -- including costumiers, wig makers and mechanists -- as well as those who drive the business of opera. Published in celebration of Opera Australia's 50th-anniversary, "The Company We Keep" is a compelling account of the people, and the range of expertise and talent they contribute to the company's success; and also serves as a reminder of some of the challenges that confront the arts in Australia and as a tribute to those who provide the support required to ensure opera's survival in the next 50 years. { 246pp, 230x260mm, July 2006; PB, £21.99, 0868197866:9780868197869 , Currency Press } |
| COMPETITIVE TENDERNESS [Hannie Rayson] Dawn Snow has a fierce reputation, she reformed the prison system in Uganda. Now, with local government reform high on the political agenda, she is called upon to perform a similar task within the city of Greater Burke. Competitive Tenderness is a topical, satirical and even a little anarchic, but most of all it is very, very, funny (2 acts, 4 men, 4 women). { January 1997; PB, £8.50, 0868194603:9780868194608 , Currency Press } |
| COMPOSING VENUS [Elaine Acworth] Set in Charaters Towers, a faded gold mining town and home to the ore-crushing Venus Battery, in 1957 on the day that Sputnik was launched. Like a latter day comet, the man-made satellite acts as a catalyst for a host of transformations. This play spans three decades, in flights of fantasy, poetic phrasing and sombre soliloquy, to tell the story of three generations of women living in outback North Queensland (2 acts, 2 men, 5 women). { January 1995; PB, £9.50, 0868194077:9780868194073 , Currency Press } |
| CONCISE COMPANION TO THEATRE IN AUSTRALIA [Philip Parsons] The huge research into the history of Australian theatre assembled in Currency's authoritative Companion to Theatre in Australia has here been concentrated into a handy reference guide for the theatre lover and student. Every aspect of theatre is still covered: old traditions and new forms; major performers, directors and playwrights and designers; theatre buildings, management, stage effects, industrial relations, criticism; drama, musicals, circus, puppetry and vaudeville. Forty new artists have been added and new material to provide an up-to-date reference to the end of the 1990s. { 320pp, 140x200mm, May 1997; PB, £14.50, 0868194999:9780868194998 , Currency Press } |
| CONJURERS [Alana Valentine] A hauntingly evocative play about two magicians touring their show along the Great Ocean Road of south-western Victoria. The further down the coast they travel, the more they are drawn into a mystical world of self-realisation and discovery; about one another and the nature of the country around them (2 acts, 1 man, 2 women). { April 1997; PB, £8.50, 0868195103:9780868195100 , Currency Press } |
| CONTEMPORARY AUSTRALIAN FLUTE, VOLUME 1 [Mardi McSullea, Editor] These two volumes, present 8 twentieth century Australian flute and piano compositions. The pieces demonstrate a wide diversity of styles and techniques from the quasi modal harmonies of Dorian Le Gallienne's Sonata to the sparkling intertwining lines of Julian Yu's Scintillations III; from the simple but beautiful little Haiku pieces of Meta Overman to the spontaneous freshness of the three movement Fantasy by Helen Gifford; from the brilliant Scherzo waltz for piccolo by William Lovelock to the finely wrought Six Scenes by Allan Walker; and from the aggressive melodic interplay of Phyllis Batchelor's Sonata to the wild arabesques of Brenton Broadstock's Aureole. Technically the pieces vary in difficulty so that while flute teachers will find material suitable for students at intermediate to advanced levels, seasoned performers will discover a number of show pieces for concert performance. { 46pp, 225x310mm, January 1998; PB, £14.50, 086819526X:9780868195261 , Currency Press } |
| CONTEMPORARY AUSTRALIAN FLUTE, VOLUME 2 [Mardi McSullea, Editor] These two volumes, present 8 twentieth century Australian flute and piano compositions. The pieces demonstrate a wide diversity of styles and techniques from the quasi modal harmonies of Dorian Le Gallienne's Sonata to the sparkling intertwining lines of Julian Yu's Scintillations III; from the simple but beautiful little Haiku pieces of Meta Overman to the spontaneous freshness of the three movement Fantasy by Helen Gifford; from the brilliant Scherzo waltz for piccolo by William Lovelock to the finely wrought Six Scenes by Allan Walker; and from the aggressive melodic interplay of Phyllis Batchelor's Sonata to the wild arabesques of Brenton Broadstock's Aureole. Technically the pieces vary in difficulty so that while flute teachers will find material suitable for students at intermediate to advanced levels, seasoned performers will discover a number of show pieces for concert performance. { 46pp, 225x310mm, January 1998; PB, £14.50, 0868195278:9780868195278 , Currency Press } |
| CONVERGING REALITIES : Feminism in Australian Theatre [Peta Tait] Looks at the work of women theatre practitioners who express feminist ideas through their use of form. Peta Tait identifies how women's work in comic and physical styles, performed in unusual spaces, necessitates a redefinition of feminist theatres. Addressing both theoretical and practical issues, this volume contains contributions from Venetia Gillot, Julie Holledge, Anna Messariti, Lydia Miller and Mary Moore. { 276pp, 135x210mm, August 1994; PB, £10.99, 0868193763:9780868193762 , Currency Press } |
| COSI : Filmscript [Louis Nowra] Lewis, a young, first-time director, is hired to direct a variety show as part of a therapeutic programme at a state-run psychiatric institution. Whilst he's not exactly equipped for the job he's willing to give it a go -- Lewis is drifting and needs some direction in his own life. { 116pp, 140x210mm, June 1996; PB, £9.50, 0868194751:9780868194752 , Currency Press } |
| CRAZY BRAVE [Michael Gurr] It is Melbourne, it is now. A desperate group, with no faith in mainstream politics, has embarked on a program of urban disruption. Their guerilla tactics create havoc within the well-oiled machine of the city. Now they face the prospect of taking their actions to a new level of danger. Ever brave, do they have what it takes to become Crazy Brave? This is a fiercely passionate story about the collision between great ideals and human frailty. It is told with dizzying momentum and piercing wit by the winner of four major literary awards. (2 women, 4 men.) { 58pp, 135x210mm, July 2001; PB, £8.50, 0868196150:9780868196152 , Currency Press } |
| CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES : Eight Award-Winning Arts Critics [Katharine Brisbane] Reviewing art, says Joanna Mendelssohn, is like taking apart a clock -- the pieces don't always fit back together. For film critic Sandra Hall you start by stumbling in the dark. In these frank confessions by eight art journalists, all of whom have won the Pascall Prize for Criticism, we gain a unique insight, not only into their way of thinking but into how contrary are the worlds they inhabit. Other writers reflect on reviewing food (Alan Saunders), music -- both classical and pop -- (Roger Covell and Bruce Elder), recordings (Cyrus Meher-Homji), literature (Marion Halligan) and theatre (John McCallum). { 208pp, 140x210mm, December 1997; PB, £12.99, 0868195022:9780868195025 , Currency Press } |
| CROSSFIRE : Role of Women [Jennifer Compton] Family life in the 1910s is compared with the 1970s. Raises sensitive questions about women's imprisonment by and liberation from domestic structures (1 act, 2 men, 4 women). { December 1976; PB, £9.50, 0869370510:9780869370513 , Currency Press } |
| CURRENCY COMPANION TO MUSIC AND DANCE IN AUSTRALIA [John Whiteoak and Aline Scott-Maxwell, Editors] This book is unique in its comprehensiveness and its recognition of cultural diversity and community. In Dr Whiteoak's words: "Instead of taking a 'Who's Who' approach it will emphasise the what, when and how of music and dance in Australia as a more effective way of revealing the breadth, complexity and rich variegation of these related performance cultures. In creating a contents list that expresses this breadth and diversity, we considered the fact that all forms of music and dance activity in Australia have cultural significance or commonly appreciated meanings for one group or another." The book not only covers the history of concert music, opera and ballet in Australia; of music teaching, composition, instruments, venues, union activity; of Aboriginal music and dance and its appropriation, and all forms of popular and folk music and dance, but embraces the wide variety of immigrant influences from Europe, America and particularly the Pacific; sound art, computer music and electroacoustics; belly dance, debutante balls, subcultures, music videos -- and much more. Over 200 researchers contribute to each volume -- academics, practitioners and private researchers from all parts of Australia and beyond. The general editors are respected Melbourne musicologists. Dr Whiteoak's field is the history of popular music-making; and Dr Scott-Maxwell's doctoral thesis was in Asian and Pacific musical influences. { 736pp, 180x260mm, August 2003; HB, £52.50, 0958121311:9780958121316 , Currency Press (Currency House) } |
| DAGS [Debra Oswald] A delightful and compassionate look at adolescence and all that it entails (4 men, 6 women). { December 1987; PB, £7.99, 0868191809:9780868191805 , Currency Press } |
| DANCE HALL AND PICTURE PALACE : Sydney's Romance with Modernity [Jill Julius Matthews] This book paints Sydney between the depressions of the 1890s and the 1930s as a prosperous city riding an international wave of modernism. In the pub, parlour and pulpit, people clashed over the significance of moving pictures, jazz, new dance crazes, the radio, gramophone records and cheap magazines. Conventional accounts of the Australian film industry at the beginning of the twentieth century focus on the impact of Hollywood on local production. But in this vibrant history, the author shows how moving pictures captured the imagination of Sydney’s people and transformed how they thought about the world. Jill Julius Matthews describes how in Sydney, as elsewhere, young flappers came to embody both glamour and decadence in modern city life. She uncovers entrepreneurs bribing politicians as they aggressively pursued profits for their American patrons and reveals the innovative marketing techniques that provoked cultural elites to deplore commercialisation. { 342pp, 150x230mm, February 2005; PB, £15.50, 0868197556:9780868197555 , Currency Press } |
| DAVID WILLIAMSON : A Writer's Career [Brian Kiernan] Playwright and screenwriter David Williamson is Australia's best known and most popular dramatist. This authoritative account of Williamson's phenomenal career, draws on his early writings, unpublished drafts, letters and journal entries; as well as recollections off friends and colleagues. { December 1996; PB, £8.99, 0868194824:9780868194820 , Currency Press } |
| DAVID WILLIAMSON'S JACK MANNING TRILOGY : A Study Guide [David Moore] This guide has been prepared specifically to help teachers to use David Williamson's community conferencing plays featured in 'The Jack Manning Trilogy' more effectively in the classroom, whether it be from a literary, theatrical or counselling perspective. The plays in the trilogy are: A Conversation; Charitable Intent; and Face to Face. They all focus on the process of bringing together the victims and perpetrators of a crime to attempt some kind of reconciliation. The guide is written by a founding director of Transformative Justice Australia, the Sydney-based company that inspired Williamson's trilogy. { 96pp, 105x160mm, December 2003; PB, £6.50, 0868196975:9780868196978 , Currency Press } |
| DAYLIGHT SAVING [Nick Enright] Felicity and Tom both have busy lives and demanding careers. Tom is travelling when Felicity receives a call from an American boyfriend from her past (2 acts, 3 men, 3 women). { March 1991; PB, £9.50, 0868192651:9780868192659 , Currency Press } |
| DEAD HEART : Screenplay [Nick Parsons] The screenplay adaptation of Nick Parsons' successful stage playa bout the clash between white law and tribal lore on an Aboriginal reserve. An all star cast includes Bryan Brown and Ernie Dingo. { January 1996; PB, £9.50, 086819459X:9780868194592 , Currency Press } |
| DEAD WHITE MALES [David Williamson] Postmodernism versus Liberal Humanism (2 acts, 4 men, 7 women). { December 1995; PB, £9.50, 0868194433:9780868194431 , Currency Press } |
| DEPARTMENT [David Williamson] A staff meeting in a College of Advanced Education dissects the workings of bureaucracy and the absurd politicking needed to support it (2 acts, 8 men, 2 women). { December 1988; PB, £9.50, 0868190225:9780868190228 , Currency Press } |
| DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND [Christos Tsiolkas] Fred Schepisi's film, 'The Devil's Playground' is an intimate portrait of Tom, a thirteen-year-old struggling in spirit and body with the constraints of living in a Catholic seminary. It is also the story of the Brothers and how they cope with the demands of their faith. Made in 1976, this semi-autobiographical films established Schepisi as one of Australia's most talented directors and was one of the first Australian films to be selected for Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. Christos Tsiolkas invites you into his twenty-five year journey of viewing, reviewing and re-imaging the film. He remembers his first illicit experience of the film at the age of thirteen and describes how his views of it changed in later years. As he chronicles the impact of 'The Devil's Playground' on the development of his sense of self and of his love of cinema, he also explores the film in terms of sexuality, politics, history and aesthetics. Tsiolkas' account of what 'The Devil's Playground' said and didn't say to him is a passionate tribute to the power and possibilities of cinema. { 82pp, 135x190mm, November 2002; PB, £7.50, 0868196711:9780868196718 , Currency Press } |
| DINKUM ASSORTED [Linda Aronson] Comedy, full of laughter, tension, comradeship, and 7 highly singable songs (2 acts, 15 women). { November 1989; PB, £9.50, 086819249X:9780868192499 , Currency Press } |
| DIRTY DEEDS : The Screenplay [David Caesar] Sydney -- 1969. Crime is cool, cops are crooked and 20 bucks buys you a whole night out. For Barry life is sweet. He runs the girls, the clubs and the illegal casinos, and not even crooked Detective Ray dares to stand in his way. Barry's wife wears the pants, his mistress Margaret wears him out and his wide-eyed nephew Darcy is learning just how cosy business can be. When the Mafia dispatch two Chicago hoods to muscle in on his action, Barry's life takes a dramatic turn. His mistress starts making eyes at Darcy, his wife becomes suspicious and the yanks won't take no for an answer -- BIG MISTAKE. Barry decides to give the yanks a lesson in outback hospitality. 7 male, 3 female. { 92pp, 140x215mm, June 2002; PB, £9.50, 0868196835:9780868196831 , Currency Press } |
| DIVING FOR PEARLS [Katherine Thomson] A glossy resort grown in place of the old community of steel workers and two ordinary people make some incongruous attempts to adjust to the new world (2 men, 2 women). { December 1992; PB, £9.50, 0868193232:9780868193236 , Currency Press } |
| DOGS PLAY / A FEW ROOS LOOSE IN THE TOP PADDOCK [Tee O'Neill] Presented together, the vigorous contrasts of these two short plays create an innovative evening of comic, anarchic, physical theatre. Dogs are unleashed in all their loving, libidinous energy upon Jenna, a woman with an uncertain past and a dangerous future. Kangaroos are the sentinels, guardians of the land upon which Suzy and Pete build their dream lives. Both stories focus upon the desires of contemporary women -- one urban, the other suburban. As actual onstage characters, the dogs and roos are both feral and spiritual -- vaudevillian troupers providing comfort, laughter and inspiring passions in their human companions. { 100pp, 135x210mm, August 1999; PB, £8.50, 0868195871:9780868195872 , Currency Press } |
| DOLL TRILOGY, REVISED EDITION : Kid Stakes, Other Times, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll [Ray Lawler] A special edition published to coincide with the Sydney Theatre Company's 1985 production, which commemorated the 30th anniversary of Summer of the Seventeenth Doll; this Trilogy tells the full story of the seventeen-year romance which ended in tragic disillusion. Plays featured: Kid Stakes, Other Times and Summer Of The Seventeenth Doll. (Kid Stakes: 3 women, 3 men; Other Times: 4 women, 3 men; Summer Of The Seventeenth Doll: 4 women, 3 men.) { 300pp, 150x230mm, July 2001; PB, £13.50, 0868196495:9780868196497 , Currency Press } |
| DON'S PARTY [David Williamson] Since its first burst on the Australian stage in 1971, Don's Party has become widely recognised as one of David Williamson's finest comedies. Set during an election night party, Don's guests pursue the rituals of courtship and sexual competitiveness as a means of coping with the insecurities of their own empty lives. Williamson's brilliant satire examines a society on the threshold of emerging from a generation of comfortable, conservative political and social values (2 acts, 6 men, 5 women). { January 1997; PB, £9.50, 0868195308:9780868195308 , Currency Press } |
| DON'T TELL ME, SHOW ME : Directors Talk About Acting [Adam Macaulay] This is a collection of 'informal' interviews with Australian directors of stage, film and TV, talking about actors and acting. The author poses two basic questions: "from your point of view (as a director) what makes a good actor good?" and "what skills and attitudes make a good actor good to work with?". The result is an intelligent and enlightening commentary on acting in Australia today. This is not a 'how to act' book nor a series of profiles on the personal and/or professional life of the directors interviewed. The book is primarily aimed at aspiring actors and students of acting to help them to develop their craft, undertake training and revise ideas/ideals as required. Hopefully this book will also be part of the ongoing dialogue in the performing arts on 'how we do what we do and how we might do it better'. { 224pp, 155x230mm, June 2003; PB, £13.50, 086819669X:9780868196695 , Currency Press } |
| DOROTHY HEWETT : The Feminine as Subversion [Margaret Williams] Williams gives a critical perspective on a highly individual and varied body of playwriting by one of Australia's leading writers. { 161pp, 140x210mm, October 1992; PB, £9.50, 0868193208:9780868193205 , Currency Press } |
| DRAMA JOURNEYS : Inside Drama Learning [Mary Mooney and Jennifer Nichollas, Editors] This is a practical and invaluable reference book for primary school teachers, and offers a range of approaches to be used in the teaching of drama. The book explores the artistic and teaching conventions of various drama forms inspiring a hands-on approach to facilitating vibrant and innovative drama experiences in the primary school classroom. The authors are experienced teachers, practitioners and academics, and each author discusses their own journey inside drama learning by featuring the drama forms most accessible to young people: improvisation, movement, mime, storytelling, puppetry, screen drama and playbuilding. Other chapters explore: working in role, Indigenous perspectives in drama, using texts in drama, incorporating technology in the drama classroom, appreciating drama and programming for drama across the curriculum. { 204pp, 170x245mm, August 2004; PB, £13.50, 0868196967:9780868196961 , Currency Press } |
| DRAMA SKILLS FOR LIFE [Lesley Christen] A handbook for secondary school teachers that presents a practical synthesis of creative drama techniques. The series of lessons combine creative play and improvisation with mime, the study of myths, literature and language. { 134pp, 200x280mm, October 1992; PB, £11.99, 0868193283:9780868193281 , Currency Press } |
| DREAMERS [Jack Davis] This is a story of a country town family and old Uncle Worru, who, in his dying days, recedes from urban hopelessness to the life and language of the Nyoongah spirit which in him has survived 'civilisation' (2 acts, 5 men, 2 boys, 1 woman, 1 girl, 1 male dancer). { January 1982; PB, £9.50, 0868194549:9780868194547 , Currency Press } |
| DREAMERS AND VISIONARIES : Adelaide's Little Theatres from the 1920s to the Early 1940s [Thelma Afford] From the 1920s to the 1940s, there was a diverse flowering of amateur theatres in Adelaide which were experimental, creatively inventive and ahead of their times. Other Australian capital cities had their own Little Theatres during this period, but some of the Adelaide theatres were unique in anticipating later creative theatre movements, including overseas ones. These Little Theatres helped to form the basis of Adelaide's reputation as 'the city of culture' and also laid the groundwork for the later development of the Adelaide Festival of Arts. Certainly the subsequent landscapes of the Australian theatre scene would have been very different without Adelaide's Little Theatres of the 1920s to 1940s. { 240pp, 140x215mm, November 2004; PB, £13.50, 0868197505:9780868197500 , Currency Press } |
| DROWNING BRIDE [Michael Futcher and Helen Howard] In the wake of her grandmother’s death, young Brisbane artist, Ellen Burton, discovers tantalising threads of a hidden story from her family’s past. Consumed with grief and guilt, Ellen’s only solace is to uncover the truth. She must travel to the US to meet with the man her family abhors, her grandfather Valdis. This man abandoned Ellen’s grandmother in war-torn Latvia, collaborated with the SS to round up Jews and escaped the penalties of Nuremburg. She expects to hate him, but in Grandad Valdis there is a seductive amalgam of charisma and cruelty which blurs the border of hate and love for Ellen. Grandma is dead. Which of them is to blame? Ellen and Valdis take their first tentative steps in a dance to the death. Helen Howard and Michael Futcher’s latest play is inspired by the true experiences of their friend, Elise Parups. (2 acts, 2 male, 2 female). { 91pp, 140x215mm, May 2005; PB, £9.50, 0868197734:9780868197739 , Currency Press } |
| DUST [Stephen Sewell] Interspersed with scenes from a staged historical drama of savage conquest, a tense family drama is played out in a setting of modern desolation. Actor, Doug, on stage playing warrior leader Avenal, who seeks to build a Christian world away from the battlefield, 'off-stage' seeks his estranged and distraught daughter, Julie. Fighting mental disorder, Julie is also seeking security and solace in faith, sometimes helped by her bewildered but devoted husband's dead brother, Joe. As Sewell draws the audience into this investigation of human nature and the intimate environment of these personal relationships, the edges blur between the theatrical and the real, and big questions confront us (3 acts, 11 men, 9 women). { February 1997; PB, £9.50, 0868194964:9780868194967 , Currency Press } |
| ELOCUTION OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN / WHEN THEY SEND ME THREE AND FOURPENCE [Steve J Spears] The author is at his best in these two comedies, with the tragi-comic heroes, gallantly fighting to keep reality at bay. Elocution of Benjamin Franklin (2 acts, 1 man); When They Send Me Three And Fourpence (2 acts, 4 men, 2 women). { September 1989; PB, £10.99, 0868192171:9780868192178 , Currency Press } |
| EMERALD CITY [David Williamson] A commentary on contemporary urban mores and morals, and rivalries and passions encountered on the road to success (2 acts, 3 men, 3 women). { December 1987; PB, £9.50, 0868191701:9780868191706 , Currency Press } |
| ESSINGTON LEWIS : I AM WORK (1981) [John O'Donoghue] A dramatic reconstruction of the life of the legendary mastermind behind the building of the steel empire BHP (2 acts, 6 men, 2 women, musicians). { December 1987; PB, £9.50, 0868191647:9780868191645 , Currency Press } |
| EUROPE / ON TOP OF THE WORLD [Michael Gow] Europe: A young Australian travels in pursuit of a middle-European actress (2 acts, 1 man, 1 woman). On Top of the World: an elderly man, isolated by his daughter, is visited by his son and an old woman (2 acts, 2 men, 2 women). { December 1987; PB, £10.99, 0868191582:9780868191584 , Currency Press } |
| FALLING FROM GRACE [Hannie Rayson] A play about women in medicine, in the media and in the office -- power and authority in female hands. They are 40 and their friendship is about to be tested (2 acts, 2 men, 5 women). { December 1994; PB, £8.50, 0868193879:9780868193878 , Currency Press } |
| FALLING PETALS [Ben Ellis] Something strange in the country town of Hollow: a syndrome that seems to strike only at the young. The town is quarantined, schools are closed and fences go up. With guards at new borders, denial runs deep. Three vulnerable school-leavers are caught in this changing world. Success in their final exams may be their passport out of a country town with no future. As the mysterious outbreak reaches epidemic proportions, friendship and alliances are stretched to breaking point. Part sci-fi, part satire, this is a darkly humorous fable about the consequences of a culture of disposable youth. (2 male, 3 female). { 92pp, 135x210mm, August 2003; PB, £8.50, 0868197068:9780868197067 , Currency Press } |
| FAMILY [Jill Shearer] Sarah, newly appointed to Internal Investigations, is an intelligent and principled graduate policewoman. She uncovers a long-buried case that implicates her police officer father as an accessory to police corruption. Thirty five years of denial and guilt have left heavy scars beneath the skin of the family and she has to decide whether to pursue an investigation that will bring disgrace upon her father and possibly destroy her mother (2 acts, 3 men, 4 women). { January 1995; PB, £9.50, 0868194484:9780868194486 , Currency Press } |
| FAT BOY [Tony Ayres] Trevor's just a lonely boy looking for love. But love's made a detour around him. Is it because he's fat, gay and squeals like a girl? Whatever the reason, everything he touches turns to crap. However, throughout it all, Trevor bumbles on. (2 acts, 3 male, 3 female) { 74pp, 140x210mm, May 2003; PB, £8.50, 0868197041:9780868197043 , Currency Press } |
| FIRST AUDITION : How to Get Into Drama School [Frank McKone] This book explains the concepts, skills and techniques you will need to audition for tertiary training schools, and advises on how to prepare with a clear-minded commitment that will help you to succeed. While the book is a must-have for aspiring actors, it also helps other theatre workers such as lighting and sound operators or directors to understand how the actor works. Features an extensive list of tertiary drama, theatre and performing arts courses and other handy references. { 150pp, 105x160mm, October 2002; PB, £6.50, 0868196630:9780868196633 , Currency Press } |
| FLATFOOT [David Williamson] Flatfoot (aka Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus) pops up in the 21st century, enraged to find his ideas have been plundered through the ages by everyone from Shakespeare to sitcom writers. To prove his point, he takes us back to Ancient Rome, where he must convince his producer, Crassus Dives, that his new play will be a hit, won't offend the Roman Censor, and won't give servants ideas above their station. The trouble is the play hasn't been written, so Plautus must act it out before the cynical producer, making it up as he goes along. Pandemonium lurks just around the corner as, with a little help from Cleostrata, his Greek wife, ex-dancer and seductress extraordinaire, they tackle all ten roles between them. This is a boisterous comedy for all ages from Australia's best-loved playwright. (2 acts, 2 male, 1 female). { 50pp, 135x190mm, June 2004; PB, £8.50, 0868197351:9780868197357 , Currency Press } |
| FLOATING WORLD [John Romeril] Investigates the ambivalent feelings behind the camaraderie of international trade relations. A rich, ironic study of Australian xenophobia (1 act, 6 men, 1 woman). { December 1982; PB, £9.50, 0868190640:9780868190648 , Currency Press } |
| FLORENCE AUSTRAL : One of the Wonder Voices of the World [James Moffat] Florence Ausral was one of the world's greatest Wagnerian sopranos. Her debut at Covent Garden as Brunnhilde in Die Walküre -- a role which remained her most famous -- was described by one historian as a 'feat unparalleled in operatic history'. Her overwhelming voice, in the great Scandinavian tradition was captured on many HMV recordings. Tragically, she was struck by multiple sclerosis at the height of her career and finally forced to abandon the operatic stage for the concert hall. Her marriage to the Australian flautist John Amadio was fraught with fire and controversy and this biography reveals a woman passionate and yet capable of great self-control. She died in 1968. { 278pp, 185x255mm, January 1995; HB, £12.99, 0868194220:9780868194226 , Currency Press } |
| FORTUNE [Hilary Bell] Set in the Australian goldfields of the 1860s -- a world of travelling freak shows, grave robbing, convicts, angels of retribution and Chinese opera -- Fortune tells the story of Chang the 'Tartar Monster'. Eleven years old, 7 feet tall and alone in the world, Chang is enslaved to the cruel Reinhardt, who sells his appearance, at fourpence a time, for souvenir snapshots. Into his life comes Kathleen, Irish, newly free, determined and a passionate survivor. Finally treated as a human being, Chang begins to turn the tables. Showing how readily society's oppressed embrace the role of oppressor. Through richly wrought prose and controlled flights into non-naturalistic realms, Bell probes the complexities of racial prejudice and cultural difference, whilst unsentimentally scrutinising the universal surge for survival (2 acts, 2 men, 3 women). { October 1995; PB, £9.50, 086819400X:9780868194004 , Currency Press } |
| FORTUNES OF RICHARD MAHONY [Michael Gow] This is an adaptation of Ethel Florence Lindesay Robertson's three-part novel of the same name. Born and educated in Melbourne, Ethel Robertson was one of Australia's first woman novelists, writing as Henry Handel Richardson. She tells of a nation's turbulent adolescence by drawing deeply on her father's struggles with survival, identity and sanity. With one foot in the old country and a toe-hold in the new, Richard Mahoney's life gallops alongside the great events of the 19th century. A family saga of fortunes won and lost, it is a story of great social reach and enormous emotional power. This great sprawling story has been superbly adapted by Michael Gow (1 act, 6 men, 4 women, extras). { 66pp, 140x210mm, October 2002; PB, £8.50, 0868196789:9780868196787 , Currency Press } |
| FOSSILS! [Manuel Aston] Homo parentithicus. Found in most urban parts of Australia. Usually roams in pairs. Over-protective to off-spring. Parents. Fossils takes a look at the relationship between parents and teenagers (1 act, 1 man, 2 women). { January 1995; PB, £7.99, 0868193992:9780868193991 , Currency Press } |
| FRAIL MAN [Anthony Crowley] Steven Saken made his first million at the age of eighteen. Now, on the cusp of the biggest business merger of his career, he is struck down with an inexplicable illness. On the night he became sick, a Muslim woman was savagely murdered outside his house, and logic dictates he was a witness to the crime. Meanwhile, two ghosts of Australia's convict past set out to stake a claim on the land, and a mysterious donation of seven million dollars is made to a Catholic priest. Is Saken's illness real, or is he merely a symptom carrier for a frightened nation? (2 acts, 5 male, 3 female). { 104pp, 135x210mm, April 2004; PB, £8.50, 0868197327:9780868197326 , Currency Press } |
| FUNERALS AND CIRCUSES [Roger Bennett] In a small town in South Australia the white policeman's daughter marries an Aboriginal artist. From the starting point, this play takes a searing look at black-white relations. Roger Bennett has created a piece of promenade-style theatre which begins in the foyer, confronting the audience as they arrive with the day-to-day ugliness of racism. Through the performance the audience moves both physically and emotionally through the rites of a country town where racial tension is rife (2 acts, 7 men, 5 women). { January 1995; PB, £9.50, 0868193801:9780868193809 , Currency Press } |
| FURIOUS [Michael Gow] Roland is summoned to an old people's home to collect a box left for him by a stranger. It is full of newspaper clippings about him and his career as a writer (19 characters -- can be played by 3 men and 2 women). { April 1994; PB, £8.50, 0868193623:9780868193625 , Currency Press } |
| GAP [Anna Broinowski] Broinowski's succinct funny and elegantly told story... is also a quietly moving exploration of the mind-sets that separate two cultures (1 act, 2 women). { January 1995; PB, £9.50, 0868194123:9780868194127 , Currency Press } |
| GARDEN OF GRANDDAUGHTERS [Stephen Sewell] A comedy about the cut and thrust of life in this Jewish family (2 acts, 7 men, 2 women). { July 1993; PB, £8.50, 0868193461:9780868193465 , Currency Press } |
| GARY'S HOUSE [Debra Oswald] Gary has failed in everything he has attempted. But when he inherits a block of land, he gets an urge to build a nest with Sue-Ann, his angry and pregnant girlfriend... This is a story about Aussie battlers -- battling with each other, the elements and the world in their quest to turn a dream into reality. What begins as satire becomes a moving drama told with humour, compassion and loving detail by a highly original and insightful playwright. (3 male, 2 female). { 86pp, 135x210mm, January 2000; PB, £9.50, 086819607X:9780868196077 , Currency Press } |
| GEORGIA [Jill Shearer] The great American artist Georgia O'Keeffe is physically, emotionally and artistically debilitated by her failing eyesight. Living amidst the Navajo spiritual landscape in her desert home in New Mexico, she becomes prey to the ghosts of her past. Her solitude is broken by Juan, a young potter, whose curious influence on her life remains until her death at 98. It is through this intriguing relationship that the conflicts that lie at the heart of Georgia's life are explored: the sexual tensions that survive her physical deterioration and the fear and frustration of failing artistic powers. (2 acts: 2 men, 3 women) { 96pp, 140x210mm, June 2000; PB, £9.50, 0868196061:9780868196060 , Currency Press } |
| GHOSTS TRILOGY [Janis Balodis] Drawing on his Latvian heritage, Balodis explores the relationships and experiences, over a period of 45 years, of a group of young Latvians who emigrate to North Queensland. While they come to terms with a harsh new life; recognise, some 20 years later, the impossibility of returning to the old; and in the 1990s observe their offspring exploring their origins, there is a parallel story of struggle in an unknown land. The plays in this trilogy are -- Too Young for Ghosts (2 acts, 6 man, 3 women); No Going Back (2 acts, 6 men, 4 women); My Father's Father (2 acts, 6 men, 4 women). { January 1997; PB, £14.50, 0868195049:9780868195049 , Currency Press } |
| GIRL WHO SAW EVERYTHING [Alma de Groen] Liz retreats to the mountains away from the furore created by her latest book. Her husband is shaken when a woman runs into the path of his car (2 acts, 2 men, 4 women). { July 1993; PB, £9.50, 0868193453:9780868193458 , Currency Press } |
| GLASS MERMAID [Tobsha Learner] A powerful story about grieving. It is about suicide and those whose lives are shattered as a result (2 acts, 2 men, 3 women). { December 1994; PB, £8.50, 0868193941:9780868193946 , Currency Press } |
| GOD'S LAST ACRE [Vivienne Walshe] It is a fragile thing that binds a family. It's footsteps on the verandah -- keys in the front door -- laughter in the kitchen. A mother and her three children have made a pact to stick together no matter what. But poverty keeps moving them on. From home to home, bundling together, fleeing in the night. Their last chance for a roof over their heads is to live with the mother of the man who abandoned them. With vivid characterisation, empathy and invention, Walshe weaves a moving story about a floating population living on the fringes of Melbourne's suburbia, battling the consequences of a changing Australia. Thrown back on their own resources, this family is 'making the best of it' in a world that keeps handing them the worst. This is an affectionate story about love, courage and resilience; written with a tender sympathy for how fragile families are. And how the children are always the first to know when their time together is up. (1 male, 4 female). { 64pp, 140x215mm, April 2003; PB, £8.50, 0868197033:9780868197036 , Currency Press } |
| GOING HOME / VOCATIONS [Alma de Groen] Two plays which sharply and wittily examine the female domestic dilemma. Going Home (2 acts, 2 men, 3 women, 7 extras); Vocations (3 acts, 3 men, 2 women). { December 1983; PB, £10.99, 0868190837:9780868190839 , Currency Press } |
| GOLDBERG VARIATIONS [Ron Elisha] This wise and witty play observes how honesty, objectivity and affection can survive the most tangled of relationships. (2 Acts: 4 men, women) { 78pp, 135x210mm, November 2000; PB, £8.50, 0868196223:9780868196220 , Currency Press } |
| GOLDEN AGE [Louis Nowra] Inspired by the true story of a group of people who were discovered in the wilds of Tasmania in 1939 (2 acts, 10 men, 6 women). { October 1989; PB, £9.50, 0868192341:9780868192345 , Currency Press } |
| GOLDEN AGE OF AUSTRALIAN OPERA : W S Lyster and His Companies 1861-1880 [Harold Love] Musical life in Melbourne during the era of the first resident opera company. { 310pp, 165x245mm, December 1981; HB, £12.99, 0868190519:9780868190518 , Currency Press } |
| GOLDEN OLDIES / SUSANNAH'S DREAMING [Dorothy Hewett] A relish for life pitted against mortality is the impulse behind The Golden Oldies, a satirical play about death and filial duty and one of Hewett's most densely written works (2 acts, 2 women, effigies). The second, written for radio, centres on Susannah's love for an abalone fisherman (1 act, 6 men, 2 women). { December 1981; PB, £10.99, 0868190314:9780868190310 , Currency Press } |
| GOLDEN VALLEY / SONG OF THE SEALS [Dorothy Hewett] In Golden Valley Marigold is brought up by two aunts and uncles who are transformed at night (2 acts, 4 men, 4 women). Song of the Seals is a similar imaginative journey (2 acts, 4 men, 4 women). { December 1985; PB, £10.99, 086819106X:9780868191065 , Currency Press } |
| GOOD WORKS [Nick Enright] Provides us with a window into the lives of two Irish Catholic families, the Donovans and the Kennedys, spanning several decades and three generations (2 acts, 8 men, 6 women). { December 1995; PB, £8.50, 0868194336:9780868194332 , Currency Press } |
| GOODBYE MRS BLORE [Robert Hewett] This is a heartwarming and insightful journey of two very mismatched women -- the dedicated, educated Dr Julia Lewis and rough diamond Kathleen 'Kelly' Blore. From the moment Mrs Blore erupts into Julia's life and doctor's surgery, the stage is set for a battle of wits. A relationship born out of necessity grows into a very special friendship based on trust, respect, and love. The play examines friendships' demands, joys, responsibilities, frustrations and disappointments. It looks at the nature of dependence in human relationships -- how much we depend on companionship and understanding and as the two women discover, these qualities can come in very unlikely packages. (2 acts: 2 women) REVIEW: "The play examines friendships, demands, joys, frustrations and disappointment..." -- DAWN (Journal of the Drama Association of Wales), Winter 2001. { 70pp, 135x210mm, December 2000; PB, £8.50, 0868196266:9780868196268 , Currency Press } |
| GRANITE PEAK / THE TOUCH OF SILK [Betty Roland] Granite Peak deals with the conflict between the generations on an outback cattle station and the prejudices against an Aboriginal entering white society (3 acts, 7 men, 6 women). Published with the author's radically revised Touch of Silk, a tragic story of a homesick French war bride exposed to the ignorant cruelty of a drought-stricken mallee town (3 acts, 7 men, 5 women). { December 1988; PB, £10.99, 0868191434:9780868191430 , Currency Press } |
| GRASS ROOTS : Series 1 [Geoffrey Atherden, et al] This collection of eight scripts from Series One, first broadcast on ABC television in 2000 are a hugely entertaining read, characterised by concise and witty dialogue, with the added bonus of the hilarious stage directions which have up until now been known only to a select few. Much of the comedy centres on the minutiae of council business and the power plays so rife in politics. By looking at how local government works, we get a glimpse of how Australia is run at every level, and it's scary. Over each of the eight scripts -- six written by series creator Geoffrey Atherden and the others by Katherine Thomson and Michael Brindley -- the world of local politics is compellingly realised through memorable characters and masterful plotting. Included is a preface from Leichhardt's former mayor Larry Hand and an introduction from Geoffrey Atherden. { 338pp, 170x240mm, January 2003; PB, £13.50, 0868196894:9780868196893 , Currency Press } |
| GREAT MAN / SANCTUARY : Two Plays [David Williamson] Two plays that investigate the divergence of self-interest and truth in public life. The Great Man (1 act: 4 men, 3 women) -- Jack Barclay, great man of the Australian Labour Party, is dead. And with him has died the last remaining connection to the social reforms of 1970s Labour governments. New Labour is thriving in its place, proudly parading economic reform as the defining agenda for the new century. At his funeral, family, friends and party faithful will gather to celebrate his life. Or will they? In the grand tradition of Australian public life, each stake an individual claim to Jack's greatness and put a personal spin on his life and contribution to the nation. Sanctuary (2 acts: 2 men) -- Robert 'Bob' King, an internationally renowned investigative journalist, has returned to his native Australia to retire to the relative isolation of Queensland. But the sanctuary he thought he had found himself is breached by a student about to publish King's biography. Conflict erupts between the young idealist and the pragmatic realist as each challenges the other's true values and motivations. A gripping story that builds in suspense to a thrilling climax, Sanctuary is published here in a revised edition. { 136pp, 135x210mm, October 2000; PB, £10.99, 0868196339:9780868196336 , Currency Press } |
| GULLS [Robert Hewett] A compassionate play about a brain-damaged man cared for by his sister (2 acts, 2 men, 2 women). { December 1984; PB, £9.50, 0868190853:9780868190853 , Currency Press } |
| HALF AND HALF [Daniel Keene] Charts the relationship between two brothers, from the beautiful but ambiguous memories of childhood, through years of estrangement to a tentative reunion. As their kitchen garden flourishes the two brothers acknowledge the bond between them created by their mother and their mutual longing for emotional connection. At times absurd, comic and theatrical, this play cracks the code of male communication -- a compelling rhythm of skipped heartbeats and sudden torrents of yearning. This play explores subterranean depths before suddenly surfacing with the transforming power of love (3 acts, 2 men). REVIEW: "At times absurd, comic and theatrical, this play cracks the code of male communication - a compelling rhythm of skipped heartbeats and sudden torrents of yearning" -- Dawn, Spring 2005. { 60pp, 140x215mm, June 2002; PB, £8.50, 0868196762:9780868196763 , Currency Press } |
| HAMLET DIARY : Shakespeare's Play From Conception to Opening Night [Mark Kilmurry] When Mark Kilmurry co-founded the Studio Company with Patrick McIntyre, he had the opportunity to play the part he had always ached to perform: Hamlet. But preparing for the production he begins to wonder if it is foolhardy. Can he take on such a mammoth role and also direct? In this diary, Mark shares his thoughts from the inception of the idea through to opening night. He explains the rationale behind Studio Company’s acclaimed 2004 production, the how and why of the cuts to the script and describes the rehearsal techniques and exercises that bring it all to life. Includes the performance text. { 148pp, 135x210mm, April 2006; PB, £12.99, 0868197858:9780868197852 , Currency Press } |
| HANDS ON : A Practical Guide to Production and Technology in Films, TV and New Media [Marcus Gillezeau] This book is written specifically for the Australian industry. It is an essential tool that will empower film-makers to understand the latest technology and save them time and money throughout the production cycle. From choosing equipment, to deciding on a screen ratio, to delivering a project on the web, TV and at the cinema, "Hands On" will help emerging and established practitioners make informed decisions during the production of film, program and new media projects. The book features over 100 illustrations and charts and a comprehensive glossary, as well as a list of websites and contact details for government bodies and service providers. { 340pp, 135x210mm, February 2004; PB, £13.50, 0868196827:9780868196824 , Currency Press } |
| HAPPY AND HOLY OCCASION [John O'Donoghue] An extraordinary comedy overcast with the knowledge of predestined tragedy (2 acts, 5 men, 3 women). { December 1987; PB, £9.50, 0868191930:9780868191935 , Currency Press } |
| HARBOUR [Katherine Thomson] On the Wednesday before Easter, 1998, a few hundred metres away from the site of the new Sydney Theatre, one of the most dramatic events in recent Australian history took place. It was the culmination of a tightly planned scheme between the Federal Government and a stevedoring company to smash the Maritime Union of Australia -- the wharfies. Katherine Thomson's gripping new drama is set against the backdrop of this explosive industrial dispute. Sandy, a retired wharfie, comes home after six year’s absence to find his family divided. His kids have moved on and up. They're on opposite sides of the political divide. His wife doesn't want to be in the same room as him. The world has changed, and it seems he no longer has a place in it. But he's a battler, with a burning desire to unite his family and set the past to rights. 'Harbour' was the winner of the 2005 NSW Premier's Literary Award award. (2 acts, 6 male, 4 female). { 72pp, 140x215mm, September 2005; PB, £9.50, 0868197564:9780868197562 , Currency Press } |
| HARD GOD [Peter Kenna] A study of the emotional weight of time on the life of the Cassidy brothers and their wives. Touches the heart of Irish consciousness in Australia (2 acts, 5 men, 2 women). { December 1984; PB, £9.50, 0868190802:9780868190808 , Currency Press } |
| HEAD OF MARY [Tanaka Chikao] Nagasaki, obliterated by an atomic bomb in 1945, was the most Christian city in Japan.. How could God have allowed the faithful to experience such pain and suffering? The playwright now an elder statesman of Japan, was born in Nagasaki and his emphasis on language and style has had a major influence on contemporary Japanese theatre (4 acts, 10 men, 4 women). { July 1995; PB, £8.50, 0868194352:9780868194356 , Currency Press } |
| HEARTBREAK KID [Richard Barrett] Explores the relationships of youth, the migrant experience in school and assumptions about teaching and learning (10 men, 5 women). { December 1988; PB, £7.99, 0868191884:9780868191881 , Currency Press } |
| HEDDA GABLER [Henrik Ibsen; Adapted by Andrew Upton] Andrew Upton has unravelled the mystery of Ibsen's masterpiece and constructed a psychological thriller of cinematic intensity and power. His superb adaptation gives Australian readers a fresh and exciting insight into one of the great dramatic works of modern literature. (4 acts, 4 male, 3 female). { 112pp, 135x190mm, September 2004; PB, £6.50, 0868197521:9780868197524 , Currency Press } |
| HISTORY OF WATER [Noëlle Janaczewska] Kate, an Australian with an English background, is a photographer who only photographs water; Ha is a Vietnamese translator who has migrated to Australia and feels that language has drained from her. Together these two women shift between dream and memory, past and present, English and Vietnamese, as they struggle to come to terms with the duality of their lives and their histories. Linking the two women is the mysterious disappearance from a ferry of a mutual acquaintance -- all that remained was a suitcase of neatly packed clothes (1 act, 2 women). { January 1995; PB, £9.50, 086819395X:9780868193953 , Currency Press } |
| HIT AND RUN [Kate Herbert] Anita has a terrible secret, one she can't even share with her husband, Adam. One that she won't even face herself. And it is tearing her apart inside. Then along comes an anonymous and slightly mysterious stranger and her life is set to change forever. This moving, thoughtful and engrossing play engages the emotions and the senses as well as the mind. Its disturbing theme touches one of our deepest fears. (1 act: 2 men, 2 women) { 46pp, 135x210mm, July 2001; PB, £8.50, 0868196541:9780868196541 , Currency Press } |
| HOLY DAY [Andrew Bovell] This is a disquieting story of trust and truth, innocence and faith, set in the mid-nineteenth century on the white frontier. When a white woman arrives at an isolated traveller's rest with a chilling story of a murdered husband and stolen baby, the tenuous peace is disturbed and retribution sought. The only witness to the crime is a native woman who neither protests her innocence nor implicates others of guilt. From the award-winning playwright Andrew Bovell comes this chilling story of suspense in which truth has the power to both illuminate and destroy innocence. (4 male, 4 female). { 66pp, 140x210mm, November 2001; PB, £8.50, 0868196460:9780868196466 , Currency Press } |
| HONEY SPOT [Jack Davis] Deals with the issues of race relations and conservation of our environment (1 man, 1 woman, 2 boys, 1 girl). { December 2003; HB, £6.50, 0868191639:9780868191638 , Currency Press } |
| HOTEL SORRENTO [Hannie Rayson] Three sisters reunited after ten years in different worlds, again feel the constraints of family life. “Hotel Sorrento” looks at conflicting concepts of national identity and family loyalty. (2 acts, 4 male, 4 female). { 93pp, 135x210mm, April 2004; PB, £9.50, 0868196819:9780868196817 , Currency Press } |
| HOW TO PLAY THE GUMLEAF : A Combined Book and CD [Herb Patten] In this book and CD set, champion gumleaf player Herb Patten takes you step-by-step through the ancient Aboriginal art of playing the gumleaf, from selecting a suitable leaf and making your first sound and playing simple tunes through to how to produce special effects. The forty tracks of the accompanying CD include Herb Patten explaining the steps in playing the gumleaf, reproducing Australian bird calls and playing a variety of tunes, including 'Waltzing Matilda', 'Danny Boy' and 'Birth of the Blues'. { 32pp, 140x125mm, January 2000; PB, £10.99, 0868195928 , Currency Press } |
| I BAGS THE BASS, VOLUME 1 [Chris Belshaw, Editor] A ground-breaking collection created by well known double-bass teacher, Chris Belshaw, who presents for teachers and students a lively and practical tutor. All 3 volumes are listed on the AMEB and offer a wide range of well-known tunes. { 55pp, 220x305mm, July 1997; PB, £9.50, 0868195065:9780868195063 , Currency Press } |
| I BAGS THE BASS, VOLUME 2 [Chris Belshaw, Editor] A ground-breaking collection created by well known double-bass teacher, Chris Belshaw, who presents for teachers and students a lively and practical tutor. All 3 volumes are listed on the AMEB and offer a wide range of well-known tunes. { 55pp, 220x305mm, May 1998; PB, £9.50, 0868195227:9780868195223 , Currency Press } |
| I BAGS THE BASS, VOLUME 3 [Chris Belshaw, Editor] A ground-breaking collection created by well known double-bass teacher, Chris Belshaw, who presents for teachers and students a lively and practical tutor. All 3 volumes are listed on the AMEB and offer a wide range of well-known tunes. { 55pp, 220x305mm, January 1997; PB, £9.50, 0868195235:9780868195230 , Currency Press } |
| IN GOOD COMPANY : A Manual for Producing Independent Theatre [Lyn Wallis] Not since the early days of La Mama, the Pram Factory and the Nimrod Theatre, has fringe/independent theatre had such a vibrant profile as an energetic and progressive alternative to the mainstream. A growing number of young theatre practitioners, eager to make their mark, are staging shows in venues such as The Darlinghurst Theatre and The Old Fitzroy in Sydney, The Street Theatre in Canberra, Red Stitch Theatre in Melbourne and the Blue Room in Perth; and now they have the definitive 'rough guide' to help them make great theatre. "In Good Company" is a 'nuts and bolts' manual for theatre makers of small-scale professional, fringe and amateur theatre, but also includes loads of professional advice for more experienced independent and community-based companies who wish to enhance their artistic planning, marketing and development drives. Covering everything from company formation, finding the right venue, scheduling, marketing, publicity, bankrolling your production, planning the bump in/out, previews, opening nights, running a season, contracts, copyright and how to find people and scripts, "In Good Company" outlines how to take an idea and make it fly. { 210pp, 135x190mm, October 2005; PB, £14.50, 086819753X:9780868197531 , Currency Press } |
| IN OUR TOWN [Jack Davis] Racism flares when David, a war hero, falls in love with Sue, a white woman (6 men, 3 women). { October 1992; HB, £9.50, 0868192945:9780868192949 , Currency Press } |
| INAUDIBLE MUSIC : Jazz, Gender and Australian Modernity [Bruce Johnson] This impressive new study by Australia's most distinguished jazz historian revises the place of modern music in Australian society and places jazz at the centre of the twentieth century cultural shift. Bruce Johnson shows how African-American popular music was the primary musical vehicle for Australian modernity and the advancement of women; how the culture was shaped by such innovations as the microphone, recordings and the film industry. His hidden history also reveals the extraordinary impact achieved internationally by Australian jazz musicians since the earliest days. Dispersed among the chapters are interludes from Johnson's life as a 'common soldier in the trenches' of jazz -- engaging and timely reminders to the reader of the jazz community and camaraderie that shares a common language around the world. { 244pp, 155x240mm, June 2000; PB, £19.50, 0868196010:9780868196015 , Currency Press } |
| INCORRUPTIBLE [Louis Nowra] A sex scandal that threatens to bring down the government, a looming by-election and some fast-talking deal-making. Nowra sets the scene for a political expose that takes us from a plush Brisbane hotel suite to the burning fields of northern Queensland and a crusade all the way to Canberra (2 acts, 4 men, 1 woman). { January 1995; PB, £8.50, 0868194344:9780868194349 , Currency Press } |
| INFLUENCE/ OPERATOR : Two Plays [David Williamson] INFLUENCE -- Ziggi Blasko knows how to turn fear into hate. A talkback radio host with 'commonsense' answers, he likes to push buttons. His diatribes against political correctness, feminism, multiculturalism, immigration and bleeding hearts flood the airwaves and the scary part is that people listen. At home, however, his influence isn't quite so great -- his wife Carmela is too narcissistic to listen much, his daughter Vivienne is a manic depressive, his father Marko is a Croatian refugee with a secret that could destroy Ziggi's career, and his sister Connie is as strong-minded as Ziggi, but with opinions and solutions worlds apart. When Zehra, a Turkish housekeeper with a moral core diametrically opposed to Ziggi, enters the fray, the simplistic contradictions of Ziggi's world view look set to implode in this latest satire from Australia's most popular playwright. (2 acts, 3 male, 4 female). OPERATOR -- What would a Machiavellian do if he found himself the melpoyee of medium-scale manufacturer of gym equipment? He would use his charm, wit and general ingenuity to manipulate those around him to further his career, of course. Enter Jake. He is the Operator, ready to exploit everyone on his way to the top, from the kindly and competent Melissa to the smug CEO Douglas. In this chillingly funny play David Williamson turns his scathing wit on the darker side of corporate behaviour. (2 acts, 3 male, 3 female). { 150pp, 140x215mm, June 2005; PB, £10.99, 0868197599:9780868197593 , Currency Press } |
| INHERITANCE [Hannie Rayson] The Myrtle twins, Dibs Hamilton and Girlie Delaney, are turning 80. As the family gathers to celebrate, speculation grows as to who will be the one to inherit the family property, Allandale, when the ageing Farley Hamilton is gone. From award-winning playwright Hannie Rayson, comes a powerful new family drama, where duty contends with freedom, and the differences of race, gender and generation must be reconciled before the claims on Allandale, and its families, may be settled. (6 male, 6 female). { 98pp, 140x215mm, August 2003; PB, £9.50, 0868197203:9780868197203 , Currency Press } |
| INNER VOICES / ALBERT NAMES EDWARD [Louis Nowra] These two plays first brought Louis Nowra to public attention as a playwright, and now published together in a revised edition, vividly demonstrate his early preoccupation with isolation and the exercise of power through the imagination. Both plays' central characters are held prisoner by men whose ignorance is matched only by their ambition. In Inner Voices the son of Catherine the Great, locked away since childhood, is set upon the throne of Russia knowing only his name (1 act, 10 men, 3 women, extras). In Albert Names Edward, a black comedy about an amnesiac who takes shelter with an urban hermit, the world they enter is that of Mickey Spillane (1 act, 2 men). { December 1983; PB, £10.99, 0868190780:9780868190785 , Currency Press } |
| INSIDE 01 [Margaret Cameron et al] 'Bang! A Critical Fiction' by Margaret Cameron is a quirky journey through the private musings of a cowboy (1 act, 1 man, 1 woman). 'Public Dancing' by Peter Webb is a darkly comic look at group house mentality, unemployment and rave culture (1 act, 2 men, 2 women). 'Svetlana in Slingbacks' by Valentina Levkowicz is a haunting comedy of Russian migrants in Australian suburbia (1 act, 2 men, 3 women, doubling). 'Seven Days of Silence' by Angus Cerini maps seven mysterious meetings over seven days, between two men, one old and one young (1 act, 2 men). 'Knowledge and Melancholy' by Margaret Cameron is a richly textured and ironic piece exploring presence and absence (1 act, 1 woman). 'Ancient Enmity' by David Hayhow is a passionate portrait of the brilliant German artist, Paula Modersohn-Becker (2 acts, 3 men, 2 women). { 300pp, 135x210mm, June 2001; PB, £8.50, 0868196452:9780868196459 , Currency Press } |
| INSIDE 2000 Five new plays. Elegy (by Jodi Gallagher): Two sisters, unalike, yet sharing a lust for life. When one dies, the other finds herself in a void that can only be created by the loss of a loved one. A tender but frank account of a family tragedy. So Wet (by Samantha Bews): Silv, a twenty-something, is a professional woman on the move and determined to make every post a winner -- and that's just her social life. A witty tale of longing, laced with a touch of the erotic. Like a Metaphor (by Gabrielle MacDonald): A language journey, in four and a half monologues, through a series of refractions, turning points and tiny visceral moments. A woman's sensual examination of bodily experiences. Baby X (by Campion Decent): Georgie and Evelyn are a lesbian couple in search of a sperm donor. A madcap comedy that takes a recipe for family life, throws it in a blender with a generous dollop of queer consciousness, and celebrates the result. Violet Inc. (by Pam Leversha): Violet Fahrenheit: brilliant, savage, inspiring -- her spirit radiates the lovers and acolytes who surround her. Thirty years later, they are still struggling to exorcise her legacy. A vibrant journey through social and personal change. { 235pp, 135x210mm, October 2000; PB, £8.50, 0868196215:9780868196213 , Currency Press } |
| INSOUCIANCE / THE PRODIGAL SON : Two Plays [Barry Dickins and Jack Hibberd] “Insouciance” is a family saga about the love that binds a maniacal mother, her anxiety-ridden husband and their long-suffering son. This is a powerful play, both comedic and compassionate, written in Dickins' distinctive style. (2 male, 1 female). “The Prodigal Son” is about the homecoming of an adult son, and the strange affections that survive the more difficult family histories. (2 male, 1 female). { 67pp, 155x230mm, January 2001; PB, £8.50, 0868196444:9780868196442 , Currency Press } |
| ISHMAEL CLUB [Bill Garner and Sue Gore] The famous friendship between two of Australia's most talented artists Bill Dyson and Norman Lindsay is brought to life. An intense story of love, hate, mateship and artistic rivalry in a time of grand visions and radical convictions. (2 Acts, 2 men, 2 women) { 44pp, 135x210mm, April 2004; PB, £8.50, 0868197297:9780868197296 , Currency Press } |
| JACK MANNING TRILOGY : A Conversation / Face to Face / Charitable Intent [David Williamson] Australia's most popular playwright explores community conferencing -- a process bringing together the victims and perpetrators of a crime to attempt some kind of reconciliation. When same come 'Face to Face' with the employee who rammed his Mercedes, he must acknowledge responsibility for a series of incidents which helped to provoke the crime. In 'A Conversation', the family of a rapist and murderer are confronted by the family of his victim. 'Charitable Intent' focuses on the pressures and contradictions that erupt as workplace values change. This trilogy revels that courage and forgiveness run deeper in the human psyche than many cynics would have us believe. { 152pp, 135x210mm, April 2002; PB, £10.99, 0868196576:9780868196572 , Currency Press } |
| JERUSALEM [Michael Gurr] Jerusalem is about building a better world. Vivien Rickman convenes a volunteer group of prison visitors. Cameron Rickman is a member of the parliamentary Labour Party. Each strives to create a new and better society. Oliver Rickman is their son. He travels. They each begin to question their ideals and by looking inwardly to discover that perhaps the new world needs to be created from within the self. A searching play, by one of our more forward thinking and socially astute playwrights, Jerusalem generates a deep sense of questioning about the world in which we find ourselves and the power within each of us to change it (2 acts, 3 men, 3 women). { December 1996; PB, £8.50, 0868194638:9780868194639 , Currency Press } |
| JULIA 3 [Michael Gurr] Julia is the enigmatic and elegant widow of an international financier. In her role as benefactor of a foundation established by her husband, she has the power to choose who shall benefit financially from his generosity. Acutely aware of human suffering and the frailty of morality, she selects her beneficiaries carefully. Among her chosen are a detective of art forgery, a medical scientist and a writer. But on what grounds were they selected and why exactly has she invited these three to her husband’s funeral? Written with Gurr’s characteristic sensuality and political passion, 'Julia 3' explores the individual’s responsibilities to society and the ambiguities of co-dependency. (1 act, 3 male, 2 female). { 44pp, 135x210mm, November 2004; PB, £8.50, 0868197378:9780868197371 , Currency Press } |
| JUNGFRAU [Dymphna Cusack] Jonathan Hardy's adaptation of Dymphna Cusack's acclaimed novel, first published in 1935, celebrates a love of language and literature. Set within Australia's 'Bloomsbury' set of free thinking liberals in the years between the wars, Jungfrau is a richly poetic portrayal of three single women striving to maintain the delicate balance between friendship, professional ethics, social responsibility and their progressive philosophies (2 acts, 3 men, 5 women). { May 1998; PB, £8.50, 0868195111:9780868195117 , Currency Press } |
| KAFKA DANCES [Timothy Daly] Inspired by his reading of the letters of Franz Kafka to his fiancee Felice Bauer, Timothy Daly has created a brilliant, lively, insightful play (2 acts, 2 men, 3 women). { August 1994; PB, £9.50, 0868193887:9780868193885 , Currency Press } |
| KAMIKAZE KATE [John Summons] Ideally suited to ESL students and students with reading difficulties, this a lively anti-war romp in which schoolgirl Kate finds the ghost of a Japanese soldier hiding under her bed (1 act, 2 men, 4 women). { January 1996; PB, £5.99, 0868192430:9780868192437 , Currency Press } |
| KINGAROY / MILO [Martin Buzacott / Ned Mannin] Kingaroy is a fast-paced, light-hearted drama of identity, centred on a rodeo. Religion, Aboriginal mythology and a mechanical bull, all play a role in unravelling the complex relationships of the play's character (2 acts, 3 men, 4 women). Milo is a play that conveys the harsh realities and mystical qualities of our relationship with the land. It is about a pipe-dreaming hobby farmer and his high-flying civil servant wife confronted with the reality if a friend's loss of a family property (2 acts, 2 men, 2 women). { June 1996; PB, £10.50, 0868194581:9780868194585 , Currency Press } |
| LANGUAGE OF THE GODS [Louis Nowra] Sulawesi, 1946. As the people's movement rolls inexorably towards the establishment of an Indonesian republic, Dutch colonial rule is on the brink of collapse. The Braak family faces the inevitable, but not before confronting the truth about their own lives and the legacy they will leave behind. The Language of the Gods is a remarkable insight into turbulent times and a powerful human drama about people whose lives are set to change forever. { 112pp, 135x210mm, September 1999; PB, £8.50, 086819588X:9780868195889 , Currency Press } |
| LANTANA : Screenplay [Andrew Bovell] The lantana is an impenetrable vine covered in exquisite flowers. Try and pick one and your hand is cut by hundreds of tiny thorns. In 'Lantana' the lives of four married couples criss-cross to reveal a tangled skein of interdependent lives. Everyone in this beguiling drama has something to hide, and an emotional life marked by yearning. ' Lantana' is about our overwhelming need for trust in modern life, and the consequences of living without it. (6 male, 5 female). { 107pp, 140x215mm, February 2003; PB, £9.50, 0868197149:9780868197142 , Currency Press } |
| LARRY SITSKY'S RHYTHMS, CHORDS AND ELBOWS : Piano Compositions From His Century Collection [Ben Thorn, Editor] This is the second volume of delightful piano pieces by composer Larry Sitsky. The volume introduced a wide variety of styles with each work focusing on a particular aspect of musicianship necessary for the modern pianist. The editor has grouped the works around basic fundamentals such as rhythmic studies, colourful pianistic effects, alternative notations, exciting new harmonies and stylistic character pieces. With copious performance notes and editorial suggestions, this book provides the teacher, student and lover of the piano with a comprehensive introduction to contemporary piano playing styles and techniques. { 48pp, 225x310mm, April 1997; PB, £11.99, 0868195014:9780868195018 , Currency Press } |
| LAST CHANCE GAS [Steve Taylor and Kevin Densley] The less than amiable Priata operates a petrol station somewhere out along the highway. Whether or not he gives precious fuel to passers-by is based solely on how well they can amuse him -- juggling, singing, magic tricks, sexual favours -- and if they fail, they are condemned to 'the 'post heap' with the rest of the also-rans. With its own highly theatrical language, this play is set in a post-apocalyptic world, where grunge meets cabaret in a morbidly entertaining mix. (5 male, 2 female). { 54pp, 105x160mm, August 2003; PB, £5.99, 086819719X:9780868197197 , Currency Press } |
| LAVENDER BUS : How a Hit Movie was Made and Sold [Al Clark] It's one thing to make a hit movie, another to orchestrate its release. Al Clark describes in hilarious detail how the outrageous The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, became an international success. In this updated edition, The Lavender Bus chronicles the follies of the film business as it outlines the preparation, production and marketing of Priscilla, reinforced by box office figures and soundtrack sales. { 180pp, 135x210mm, June 1999; PB, £9.50, 0868195758:9780868195759 , Currency Press } |
| LEARNING FROM LIFE : Five Plays for Young People [John Lonie] If Only We Had a Cat; Wolf Boy; Until Ya Say Ya Love Me and Hey Mum (3 men 3 women). I Own a Factory (5 men 4 women); Wasting Away (5 men 5 women). { December 1985; PB, £10.99, 0868191205:9780868191201 , Currency Press } |
| LOCAL MAN : A Play About Ben Chifley [Bob Ellis and Robin McLachlan] An intimate portrait of a great Australian statesman. Ben Chifley has been called Australia's best-loved prime minister, His life story, from engine driver to prime minister, with his steadfast loyalty to his humble origins throughout his political career, has become one of Australia's iconic legends. Late in the afternoon of 9 June 1951 in his modest home in Bathurst, Ben returns to write a key speech he is to deliver the following day at the ALP conference in Sydney. Having recently led his party to its second defeat at the polls, it is a time of challenge for the Labour leader. The dreams Ben Chifley had for post-war Australia lie shattered and his health is failing. His life now seems but an epilogue to earlier times of aspiration and power. It is a time for decisions. It is equally a time for reflection by Chifley on his life as a national political leaders and as a man -- a local man. He died in Canberra on 13 June 1951. { 63pp, 105x160mm, September 2005; PB, £6.50, 0868197769:9780868197760 , Currency Press } |
| LOCKIE LEONARD, HUMAN TORPEDO [Paige Gibbs] Lockie Leonard, the human torpedo, has arrived in town. He gives teachers a tough time, and surfs like there is no tomorrow. But no one wants to know the city kid whose Dad is a cop and who doesn't believe in violence. That is, until Lockie becomes the president of the new surfers club and the boyfriend of the most popular girl in the school. (4 male, 2 female). { 78pp, 140x215mm, April 1996; PB, £7.99, 0868194786:9780868194783 , Currency Press } |
| LOCKIRE LEONARD SCUMBUSTER [Garry Fry] Lockie Leonard is back and this time he is on a mission. In between befriending a head banger and falling in love with Mr East (the Beast's) niece (who is still in primary school ... how embarrassing!), he becomes the official Scumbuster and, with a little help from his friends, launches Operation Constipation to make it safe to surf once more! Orright! Adapted from the award-winning novel by Tim Winston, Lockie Leonard Scumbuster is a comedy for all ages with seriously funny characters that you will be loathe to leave. { 77pp, 135x210mm, June 2000; PB, £7.99, 0868196088:9780868196084 , Currency Press } |
| LONG GONE LONESOME COWGIRLS [Philip Dean] A wisecracking two-hander in which two deserted wives in outback Queensland group their way through the confusions of the 1960s on dreams of Hank Williams and Patsy Kline (2 acts, 2 women). { November 1996; PB, £9.50, 0868195006:9780868195001 , Currency Press } |
| LOOK AT EVERYTHING TWICE, FOR ME [Craig Sherborne] Heather has been the recipient of a heart transplant and now she has a fierce desire to know the identity of the organ donor. Just when it appears that her quest may be over, an intensely confronting and disturbing scenario presents itself. The play identifies the complex moral and emotional issues of organ transplant in a dramatic, yet compassionate text from a writer capable of merging the poetic with the theatrical. { 52pp, 140x210mm, July 1999; PB, £8.50, 0868196002:9780868196008 , Currency Press } |
| LOOKING FOR ALIBRANDI [Melina Marchetta] This play chronicles a year in the life of Josie Alibrandi, a third generation Italian-Australian on the brink of adulthood. In her last year of school Josie grapples with the awkwardness of first love, the grief of unexpected death and discovers the secrets of her family history. It's a turbulent year for Josie as she seeks to define her place in the world. Brimming with warmth, humour and vitality, Looking for Alibrandi puts the desire to be independent against the need to belong in a story that will appeal to all ages. The full screenplay and stills from the film are published here with an overview from Anna Maria Dell'oso and an essay from author Melina Marchetta about adapting her award-winning novel for the screen. { 96pp, 135x210mm, April 2000; PB, £9.50, 0868196231:9780868196237 , Currency Press } |
| LOVE [Patricia Cornelius] Winner of the 2006 AWGlE for Best Stage Play and the 2003 Wal Cherry Award for best Australian play, "Love" is a powerful and poetic drama that draws its audience into a world where love can make you feel human even as it destroys you. Set in a world of dimly lit backstreets and dingy squats, "Love" is a searing meditation on the nature of that most powerful human emotion and the forces it unleashes. { 90pp, 115x160mm, December 2006; PB, £5.99, 0868197947:9780868197944 , Currency Press } |
| LOVE CHILD [Joanna Murray-Smith] A reconciliation between a mother and the daughter she gave away at birth. Anna is a successful film editor in her 40s who has defined herself through her political conscience. Living alone in a cold, stylish apartment she believes she has come to terms with her history, until a young woman called Billie arrives at her door. Billie acts in soap operas, doesn't believe in political action and wants a mother. Together these two fractured women confront the implications of distance; between then and now, between generations and between the one who gave away and the one who was let go. { 44pp, 140x210mm, June 2000; PB, £9.50, 0868195464:9780868195469 , Currency Press } |
| LOVE SERENADE : Screenplay [Shirley Barrett] Won the 1996 Camera D'Or at Cannes. Set in the forlorn Riverina town of Sunray, Love Serenade is the story of Vicki-Ann and Dimity Hurley, twenty-something sisters beset by the notion that somehow the world is passing them by. Idealistic Vicki-Ann in particular feels sharply the lamentable lack of decent boyfriend material in sleepy Sunray. Dimity has apparently given up on romance completely and shifted attention to her chief interest in life -- fish. So when Ken Sherry -- mid 40s, thrice divorced, ex-drivetime king of Brisbane radio -- arrives in town to take over the running of the tiny local radio station, the sisters respond by abandoning all sibling loyalty and launching into a stormy battle for his reptilian affections. { 94pp, 135x210mm, January 1997; PB, £9.50, 0868195294:9780868195292 , Currency Press } |
| LOVE SUICIDES [John Romeril] Romeril's homage to the 18th century Japanese playwright, Chikamatsu Monzaemon, is a daring blend of cultures, involving the destiny of two lovers -- one from Osaka, the other from Perth. The result is an epic story for our times: audacious in its conception, breathtaking in its vision, passionate in its realisation. Love Suicides is an important new play from a highly original and provocative playwright (3 acts, 3 men, 2 women). { December 1999; PB, £8.50, 0868195154:9780868195155 , Currency Press } |
| LUCK OF THE DRAW [Ned Manning] This play traces one family's plight when enforce separation crosses generations and challenges its survival. Reconciliation might be a recent issue in the minds of politicians and white Australia in general, but it has been a life-long struggle for those directly affected. In a play which explores the disastrous attempt at social engineering directed at Australia's indigenous people, writer Ned Manning searches for a way of living with the past so that black and white Australians can travel together into the future. { 89pp, 135x210mm, December 2000; PB, £8.50, 0868196355:9780868196350 , Currency Press } |
| MABO : Life of an Island Man [Trevor Graham] Almost single-handedly Eddie Koiki Mabo overturned a 200 year legal fiction: that Australia was uninhabited prior to European settlement. In doing so he won for Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders the right to claim for themselves all remaining crown land in Australia, providing they could prove an unbroken chain of traditional ownership. This book contains the complete shooting script of this remarkable documentary, plus the post-production script: an exact record, cut by cut of the finished film. { 96pp, 135x210mm, July 1999; PB, £9.50, 0868195804:9780868195803 , Currency Press } |
| MACQUARIE [Alex Buzo] Traces the decline of the Governor Lachlan Macquarie's authority in the infant colony of NSW (7 men, 3 women). { July 1993; PB, £9.50, 0868193569:9780868193564 , Currency Press } |
| MAD MAX MOVIES [Adrian Martin] Max Max roared onto cinema screens around the world in 1979 and became an instant cult classic as well as establishing Mel Gibson as one of the most watchable stars of the new Australian cinema. "No other Australian films have influenced world cinema and popular culture as widely and lastingly as George Miller's Mad Max movies..." So writes leading film writer Adrian Martin in this sparkling, new appreciation of the movies that rudely shook up Australian cinema. He believes that Mad Max is an exploitation movie, Mad Max 2 is an attempt at classicism, and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is unquestionably George Miller's one and only art film. Martin compares the three Mad Max movies and shares his views on which works best and why. In a chapter dedicated to each film, he looks at their critical reception and their themes, examines Miller's shooting techniques and provides a shot-by-shot analysis of integral scenes. Contains stills from all three films, complete notes and film credits. { 87pp, 135x190mm, May 2003; PB, £7.50, 0868196703:9780868196701 , Currency Press } |
| MAN FROM MUKINUPIN [Dorothy Hewett] This comic and touching musical play is a celebration of life in a country town at the time of the Great War (2 acts, 4 men, 5 women). { December 1980; PB, £9.50, 0868191566:9780868191560 , Currency Press } |
| MAN WITH FIVE CHILDREN [Nick Enright] Gerry is a documentary filmmaker who, one day each year, follows five children around with a camera. He shows the results annually on television. Yet for the children who grow up under Gerry's (and the nation's) watchful eye, the experience creates its own dynamic. Are the participants his subjects, his children, or his creations? What responsibility does a storyteller have, to his subjects, his audience, and himself? How much does Gerry take? Does the presence of the camera distort the lives it is supposed to be capturing? Spanning more than twenty years, this play invites you into a world of fractured celebrity and distorted vision. (5 male, 4 female). { 78pp, 135x210mm, August 2003; PB, £9.50, 0868196916:9780868196916 , Currency Press } |
| MARK WALTON CLARINET ALBUM : For Clarinet and Piano [Merk Walton, Editor] A diverse and rewarding collection of carefully chosen pieces for the clarinet for students taking Grade exams and for the general teaching of the instrument. Contains a number of recital pieces, transcriptions of some of the most enchanting music ever composed, a couple of Australian gems of the 1990s and some unaccompanied Bach. The music ranges from approximately 4th Grade to A. Mus standard; and includes works by Bach, Beethoven, Rossini, Bellini and Aubert, and music composed in the 1990s by George Pikler. { 67pp, 220x305mm, November 1996; PB, £14.50, 0868194913:9780868194912 , Currency Press } |
| MAVIS GOES TO TIMOR [Katherine Thomson et al] Stung into action by the suffering of the East Timorese, an 86 year old retired haberdasher from regional Victoria decides that 'Yes, you can make a difference'. Along with her daughter, Mavis took her sewing machines to Timor and set about making a practical contribution. Amid the destruction and buoyed by the people's overwhelming faith and positivism, Mavis struggles on, tackling the deprivation, the bureaucratic red tape and her own doubts that she is up to the job. Twenty three sewing centres later, over 119 tonnes of donated household goods have made their way from Mavis's place in Yarrawonga to the newly independent nation to our North. And the sewing co-operatives continue today. This is the true story of the power of one -- and a timely reminder that compassion in action can still change lives. (3 female). { 50pp, 140x215mm, February 2003; PB, £8.50, 0868197025:9780868197029 , Currency Press } |
| MEAT PARTY [Duong Le Quy] This play follows an Australian woman's search for the truth behind her father's disappearance during the war in Vietnam. Hoping to find a nation reconciled with the past and living for the future, she finds the scars of war still run deep across the ravaged landscape of the White Sand Desert and through the lives of the survivors and the generations that have followed. This award-winning play makes profound connections between two nations once at war and now dealing with the cost of that past hostility. { 44pp, 140x210mm, December 2000; PB, £8.50, 0868196177:9780868196176 , Currency Press } |
| MELBOURNE STORIES : Three Plays [Andrew Bovell et al] Melbourne at the end of the century... modern economic miracle or a society imploding with savage politics and despair? This collection presents a gritty portrayal of real life in an urban wasteland. Who's Afraid of the Working Class? is the story of fringe-dwellers, living at an age of social, economic and moral deprivation. Mostly without work, and politically uninterested, they work at survival. A bathrobe, a table, a bed, a clothes line. Amongst the floral dresses and underpants hangs George dead. Polly Blue is a peep-show into suburbia, in which Belinda Bradley probes the apparent intimacy of a shared environment. In Features of Blown Youth, Raimondo Cortese explores the frustrations and the demons facing young people living in the inner city -- scarce employment, drugs, loneliness, depression, sexual obsession, exploitation, hopelessness. { 248pp, 150x230mm, March 2001; PB, £14.50, 0868196290:9780868196299 , Currency Press } |
| MERCY THIEVES [Mark Kilmurry] This is a furiously dark physical comedy of death, loyalty and friendship. Mike and DJ, hired killers by trade, bludgeon, stab and shoot their way across Western Australia in search of the elusive Harry, gangland associate and target. Part homage to the British gangster movie, part Shakespearean tragedy, the blunt and blackly funny 'Mercy Thieves' melds cinematic and theatrical traditions in this wild road trip tale. (3 male, 1 female). { 74pp, 105x160mm, August 2003; PB, £5.99, 0868197181:9780868197180 , Currency Press } |
| MERRY-GO-ROUND IN THE SEA : The Play [Adaptation by Dickon Oxenburgh and Andrew Ross] Randolph Stow is acknowledged as one of Australia's finest writers and his fifth novel, "The Merry-Go-Round in the Sea", first published in 1965, remains his most popular in Australia. It's a semi-autobiographical account of Rob Coram's growth from the age of six to fourteen, in the West Australian coastal town of Geraldton, and its surrounding pastoral districts, in the 1930s and 1940s. { 95pp, 135x210mm, December 2006; PB, £9.50, 0868197882:9780868197883 , Currency Press } |
| MILO'S WAKE [Margery Forde and Michael Forde] Milo's wake will be the perfect opportunity for Milo's loved ones to remember him fondly, sing his praises and enjoy a pint or five of Guinness. Not wanting to miss such a good party, Milo O'Connor decides to hold his wake while he is alive and well. And so, in an Australian Irish pub, Milo gathers with his family, friends, and a few uninvited ghosts, for an evening of food, drink and rousing tribute. Brimming with the irrepressible spirit of the Irish, the wake promises a riotous night of emotion, song and laughter. 4 male, 2 female. { 64pp, 140x215mm, July 2002; PB, £8.50, 0868196754:9780868196756 , Currency Press } |
| MINEFIELDS AND MINISKIRTS : Australian Women and the Vietnam War [Terence O'Connell] If history is told by the victors, the story of war is usually told by the blokes. Now it's the ‘sheilas' turn. Nearly a thousand Australian women had a part in the Vietnam War as entertainers, typists, consular staff and army nurses. Their experiences were extraordinary and they have now been brought to life in this collage of true stories. The one thing these women have in common is that their lives were changed forever by Vietnam. And for many of them it was the most vital and alive they had ever felt. These are the voices of those who were actually there; ordinary woman revealing how they survived a war and discovered what they believed in. (1 act, 5 female). { 28pp, 140x215mm, July 2004; PB, £8.50, 086819736X:9780868197364 , Currency Press } |
| MIRACLES [Tobsha Learner] Immaculata, a lonely migrant, works at the local supermarket. One evening God speaks from the cash register and appoints her as the chosen modern mystic. A delightful urban fable which takes the everyday and illuminates it with a touch of magic (3 acts, 6 men, 6 women). { April 1998; PB, £8.50, 086819557X:9780868195575 , Currency Press } |
| MISS TANAKA [John Romeril] Miss Tanaka is the beautiful and enigmatic niece of Broome's former Number One pearl diver. Newly arrived from Japan, she captures the hearts of the town's menfolk, but is promised in marriage to two brawling pearl divers. Who will uncover this mysterious young woman's true identity? Based on a story by Xavier Herbert, John Romeril's new play is a magical portrayal of 1930s Broome, weaving an astonishing blend of folk tale, magic and spectacle as it races to its wild conclusion. { 58pp, 135x210mm, July 2001; PB, £8.50, 0868196398:9780868196398 , Currency Press } |
| MONEY AND FRIENDS [David Williamson] Peter is in financial trouble because of his brother's bankruptcy. His neighbour Margaret, decides that he needs help from his friends, who are all wealthy.. (2 acts, 5 men, 4 women). { January 1992; PB, £9.50, 0868193143:9780868193144 , Currency Press } |
| MONGRELS [Nick Enright] A violent prison playwright, searches for tenderness in his work. Another writer, tender at heart but icily self--pitying, searches for energy in his (2 acts, 5 men, 4 women). { August 1994; PB, £9.50, 0868193631:9780868193632 , Currency Press } |
| MOON BABIES / DIRTY LAUNDRY : Two Plays [Patrick Van Der Werf and Kate Herbert] In 'Moon Babies' one night a Man, seeking shelter for the night, comes upon two brothers, Tic and Grub, in an abandoned house. Tic is uneasy about the Man's appearance in their lives, but not so Grub. A power struggle follows. (2 acts, 3 men). 'Dirty Laundry' is the story of a young Vietnamese man trying to make a fresh start after being imprisoned on drug charges. In between seeking reconciliation with his mother and doing battle with the ghosts of his past, Hung works in a commercial laundry as part of a rehabilitation programme. (3 acts, 3 men, 2 women). { 120pp, 140x210mm, April 2003; PB, £8.50, 0868197165:9780868197166 , Currency Press } |
| MOORLI AND THE LEPRECHAUN [Jack Davis] A play in which the mythic Aboriginal character Moorli and his counterpart the Irish leprechaun enjoy making mischief for humans in a good cause (5 men, 1 woman, 1 boy, 1 girl). { August 1994; HB, £6.50, 0868192902:9780868192901 , Currency Press } |
| MORETON BAY : Currency Press Music Flexi-Kit Arrangements for Any Ensemble Combination [Russell Gimour] Currency Music's Flexi-kit arrangements of the traditional melodies are quick and easy-to-use. Whereas other flexible arrangements require fixed melodies, rhythms and bass lines, these arrangements can be used to suit any context. If there is no rhythm section, then don't use it; if you have only bass instruments, then combine the optional counter-melodies to produce a mixed ensemble for low instruments; if you have eight reorders, create a recorder consort -- the combinations are endless. Flexi-kit arrangements provide the instrumental teacher and conductor with a choice of up to thirteen melodies for treble and bass instruments. Each arrangement contains a core melody part and several optional countermelody and bass parts. The melody part may be used in combination with any one or more of the optional parts, or alone with the optional guitar accompaniment. The bass parts are also optional. The conductor's score is used as a reference. The average player ability for each part and melody varies slightly. Most of the optional parts would present a modest challenge to 2nd or 3rd grade (AMEB) standard players (depending on their instrument). Supplementary easy parts are also provided. { 150pp, 215x280mm, August 2001; SM, £28.99, 0868195839:9780868195834 , Currency Press } |
| MORPH [Brendan Cowell] Looking at the intertwined lives of a young couple, 'Morph' explores the shifting dynamics of fear and desire. Be it damaged goods. Bullish. Solitary. A one-time roughneck from the Manila oil-fields. Grace is a swan. Supple. Dedicated. A dancer at the very height of her powers. A misalliance in motion. And as the world outside continues to advance at breakneck speed, can they hope to rebuild their shattered defences in time to protect themselves from each other? (1 Act, 1 male, 1 female). { 64pp, 135x190mm, August 2004; PB, £6.50, 0868197432:9780868197432 , Currency Press } |
| MOURNING AFTER [Verity Laughton] Best remembered in the long running radio serial ‘Berenice Beleagured', Belle Doyle also trod the boards in many of the major musicals to thrill Australian audiences in the years after the war. Now all that remains of her career are snatches of songs and a string of memories. In 'The Mourning After' Verity Laughton guides us through the tangle of Belle's reminiscences. Often humourous and always engaging, there remains, however, an underlying sadness, a regret for what might have been. (1 woman). { 45pp, 140x210mm, January 1997; PB, £8.50, 0868194611:9780868194615 , Currency Press } |
| MOVEMENT THEORY AND PRACTICE [Jarmila Kröschlová] This is a definitive text for use by teachers and students of dance, gymnastics, mime or any activity that benefits from an understanding of movement principles. The author was a dancer, choreographer and one of Europe's great teachers and unique in her holistic approach to her art. Here she formulates her rules for correct body posture, identifies the basic movements for every part of the body and develops them step by step into composite movements through meticulous exercises. Every step emphasises expression and harmony and defines the anatomical causes of stress and injury. Movement Theory and Practice was first published in Prague in 1975 and is here translated into English for the first time. The translators have revised and expanded the anatomy sections and have added a valuable appendix from the author's daughter Eva Kröschlová, herself a renowned teacher of movement. REVIEW: "An excellent publication giving clear correct detailed information... a book to invest in..." -- Dance Teacher, September 2001. { 328pp, 155x240mm, September 2000; PB, £21.99, 0868195774:9780868195773 , Currency Press } |
| MR BAILEY'S MINDER [Debra Oswald] Abusive, cantankerous and burned out by booze, Leo Bailey is one of Australia's national treasures. A gifted painter and chronic alcoholic, he can no longer take care of himself. His resentful daughter has been through a succession of minders, until Therese comes along, fresh out of jail and determined to make a go of her limited options. This is a tough, funny and big-hearted play. It's about shame and judgement, about who deserves to be loved and forgiven. It looks at how people exploit each other and where they find the beauty; and the qualities of transcendence, letting go and forgiveness. (2 acts, 2 male, 2 female). { 76pp, 140x210mm, September 2005; PB, £9.50, 0868197610:9780868197616 , Currency Press } |
| MUSIC OF MARGARET SUTHERLAND [David Symons] Generally regarded as one of the most important Australian composers of her era, Margaret Sutherland, in the words of Roger Covell, 'naturalised the twentieth century in Australian music'. David Symons, senior lecturer in music at the University of WA, examines Sutherland's music and its stylistic development in the context of Australian composition. From a wide variety of sources he has unearthed both published and unpublished compositions through which he shows Sutherland's pioneering role as the first native born composer working in Australia to write in an idiom comparable to her European contemporaries. { 209pp, 135x210mm, February 1998; PB, £13.50, 0868195340:9780868195346 , Currency Press } |
| MY BODY, MY BLOOD [Margaret Kirby] Themes of gender, power, salvation and the individual spirit are all tackled in this informed and passionate play about the struggle for the ordination of women. Margaret Kirby writes with an original voice which reflects both the contemporary and the universal (1 act, 3 men, 4 women). { June 1996; PB, £9.50, 0868194514:9780868194516 , Currency Press } |
| MY NAME IS SUCH AND SUCH : And Other Plays [Bogdan Koca] An actor, writer, director, teacher, designer and composer, Bogdan Koca holds a unique position in Australian theatre. As founder of the halia Theatre Company and more recently as Artistic Director of the Sydney Art Theatre, his highly creative and committed approach to the art of theatre has thrown up a number of provocative and exciting works. This first collection includes My Name is Such and Such; Sparring Partner; Annette and Annette and Gunter's Wife. { November 1999; PB, £10.99, 0868195561:9780868195568 , Currency Press } |
| MYTH AND MEANING : Australian Film Directors in Their Own Words [Peter Malone] Is there an Australian Vision? Do film directors make the same film over and over again? What distinguishes Australian films from those of Hollywood? Peter Malone seeks answers to these questions as he explores the spiritual and moral values that underlie the work of film-makers Gillian Armstrong, Bruce Beresford, Tim Burstall, Donald Crombie, Rolf de Heer, Scott Hicks, George Miller, Phillip Noyce, John Ruane, Fred Schepisi, Esben Storm, Nadia Tass, Michael Thornhill, Stephen Wallace and Simon Wincer. Father Peter Malone is President of the Organisation Catholique Internationale du Cinéma, based in London. He began studying cinema while pursuing theological studies in Rome in the 1960s and has since taught a variety of cinema courses and written widely on film as a critic and a commentator. Culled from almost a hundred taped interviews, this book is the voice of Australian directors. ‘Rather than someone commenting on, assessing, speculating, interpreting their films, their artistry, their impact and their meanings', notes Peter Malone, ‘the directors are speaking for themselves. This is a collection of conversations.' { 216pp, 150x230mm, July 2001; PB, £13.50, 0868196096:9780868196091 , Currency Press } |
| MYTH, PROPAGANDA AND DISASTERS IN NAZI GERMANY AND CONTEMPORARY AMERICA : A Drama in 30 Scenes [Stephen Sewell] A play that reverberates with the aftershocks of September 11. With compelling drive and theatrical daring, we are swept from cocktails at the Guggenheim to the hungry vacuum of Ground Zero. Sewell demands answers to some of the most urgent questions of our times like where is the line between patriotism and nationalism? (2 acts, 5 male, 4 female) { 96pp, 140x215mm, January 2003; PB, £9.50, 0868197750:9780868197753 , Currency Press } |
| NATURAL LIFE [Humphrey Bower] Natural Life is an adaptation of Marcus Clarke's classic 19th century novel, For the Term of his Natural Life, which tells of the life of the convict Rufus Dawes, condemned to suffer endlessly at the hands of the brutal ruling elite of Australia's early penal colonies. It is a raw, passionate and moving account of how the spirit of humanity can endure in the face of seemingly insurmountable inhumanity (1 act, 6 men, 1 women, extras). { March 1998; PB, £8.50, 0868195553:9780868195551 , Currency Press } |
| NAVIGATING [Katherine Thomson] In Navigating we meet Bea, an embattled woman who finds herself in possession of damaging documentary evidence. The seaside town in which she and her sister live is riddled with corruption and buried secrets, as the forces once responsible for a holiday tragedy now conspire to win the contract for a private prison. Unwilling to recognise the fear and deceit around her Bea confides in one hollow friend after another. Her small world crumbles. Silence, she discovers, is as damaging as speech. A dense, powerful, witty human drama which goes to the heart of small-town politics and finds sources of unexpected wisdom. (3 men, 4 women). { 96pp, 135x210mm, December 1999; PB, £9.50, 086819574X:9780868195742 , Currency Press } |
| NED KELLY : The Screenplay [John Michael McDonagh] The screenplay (based on Robert Drewe's novel 'Our Sunshine') of the movie directed by Gregor Jordan. An Australian legend, Ned Kelly has captured our imaginations for over 100 years. Cast variously as a hero, villain, revolutionary, gentleman and murderous thug, he and his gang cut a trail through the outback with the police in hot pursuit. Ned was imprisoned at the age of 16 on a trumped up charge of horse stealing. On his release Ned vows to go 'straight'. But the system is prejudiced against the first-generation Irish immigrants and after being wrongfully charged with attempted murder while trying to defend his sister, Ned goes on the run with his younger brother Dan and two friends Steve Hart and Joe Byrne. While a folk hero to the masses, to the establishment he's the most wanted man in Australia. The final showdown at the Inn at Glenrowan will cement Ned's status as the legendary revolutionary hero of the Australian underclass forever. { 96pp, 140x210mm, April 2003; PB, £9.50, 0868197157:9780868197159 , Currency Press } |
| NIGHT LETTERS [Susan Rogers] Centre stage is the twentieth century Australian writer Robert whose life changing diagnosis triggers an odyssey of body and mind ? a yearning for answers to unanswerable questions. He lands in Venice, where every night he writes a letter to the lover he has left behind. We cross three time zones and meet an exotic mosaic of characters. Barriers of time and space dissolve in a truly magical tale. Robert shares the stage with his friends and fellow travellers: a 16th century Venetian courtesan and her patrons and a 19th century Russian Baroness and her entourage. When, like Peer Gynt before him, Robert finally turns for home leaving the decaying splendour of Europe for a bush block in Australia, we are uplifted, embraced and transformed. (3 acts, 5 male, 5 female). { 106pp, 135x210mm, April 2004; PB, £8.50, 0868197319:9780868197319 , Currency Press } |
| NIGHT ON BALD MOUNTAIN [Patrick White] White set out to write what he believed to be the first Australian tragedy. Along the way he happily strayed into other genres. The result is the wild and curious tale of a hermit goatkeeper, gatekeeper to a lonely mountain top; a disaffected academic and his equally disaffected, alcoholic wife; and a lost soul retreating from her own life by attempting to fulfil the lives of others. The play is as irreverent and entertaining as it is intellectually challenging (3 acts, 5 men, 4 women). { February 1965; PB, £8.50, 0868194697:9780868194691 , Currency Press } |
| NIGHTFALL [Joanna Murray-Smith] The doorbell rings. They open the door. On the porch stands a young woman. Emily and Edward Kingsly have dreamt of this night for seven years. At the same time, however, they have shared the dread that their dream may turn into a nightmare. But nothing could have prepared them for the decision they must face which will change the nature of their relationship forever. Murray-Smith closely examines family, love and commitment with her characteristically sharp insight in this taut and compelling new drama. { 48pp, 135x210mm, December 1999; PB, £8.50, 086819591X:9780868195919 , Currency Press } |
| NO SUGAR [Jack Davis] The family problems of Western Australian Aborigines in the 1930s (4 acts, 12 men, 8 women). { December 1986; PB, £9.50, 0868191469:9780868191461 , Currency Press } |
| NO WORRIES : Three Plays for Children [David Holman] The Small Poppies (7 men 6 women), No Worries (12 men 6 women), and Beauty and the Beast (4 men 3 women). { September 1989; PB, £10.99, 0868191817:9780868191812 , Currency Press } |
| NOT WRONG, JUST DIFFERENT : Observations on the Rise of Contemporary Australian Theatre [Katharine Brisbane; Foreword by Robert Drewe] A collection of writings and commentary from Australia’s foremost theatre writer and Currency Press founder. 'Not Wrong Just Different' traces the development of theatre in Australia from the time that Katharine Brisbane joined the staff of the fledgling Australian in mid-1967 as its national theatre critic. The book is divided into easily navigable sections, which consist of her columns from the Australian, Theatre Australia and The National Times. From Brecht to Barry Humphries, from Chekhov to Patrick White, Katharine Brisbane’s lucid account of Australian theatre is comprehensively presented in this original collection. A dedicated observer and chronicler of the arts in Australia, Katharine Brisbane is a compelling voice for our times and her book highlights the force of the arts, and especially the theatre, in civil society; demonstrating the capacity of theatre to show us who we are. Equally importantly the book is about journalism and the influence of a larrikin national newspaper in providing a forum for a national conversation at a time of turbulence and change. { 370pp, 160x240mm, October 2005; HB, £25.99, 0868197645:9780868197647 / PB, £15.50, 0868197777:9780868197777 , Currency Press } |
| NOWHERE [Dorothy Hewett] Josh, self-professed vagrant and ex-communist, lives in a hut on the edge of the Showground in Dry Torrent, a town whose affluence dried up when the river did. He shares his days with Blue, a Vietnam veteran whose car broke down at that spot and saw no reason to keep moving. When Vonnie, a young Aboriginal woman fleeing the city, her abusive pimp and a drug habit arrives, the quiet lives of Josh and Blue are now changed forever. The fate of these three unlikely friends is written with compassion and humour by that 'genial dragon-lady of Australian writing', Dorothy Hewett. (2 acts, 3 male, 2 female). REVIEW: "The 'genial Dragon Lady' of Australian writing, Dorothy Hewitt writes with compassion and humour..." -- DAWN (Journal of the Drama Association of Wales), Autumn 2003. { 54pp, 135x210mm, November 2001; PB, £8.50, 0868196479:9780868196473 , Currency Press } |
| O BRAVE NEW WORLD : Two Centuries of Shakespeare on the Australian Stage [John Golder and Richard Madelaine, Editors] This ground-breaking cultural history of Shakespearean production in Australia gives an overview of his part in the cultural evolution of Australia during the past 200 years. From early, improvised performances to the Bell Shakespeare Company today, the book traces how practitioners and audiences have clung to, exploited and finally discarded ties with Britain. From the 1850s the gold boom promised fortunes to the great British and American tragedians and produced some of the first home-grown stars. The twentieth century brought new opportunities for localisation: while companies brought out by Oscar Asche, the Old Vic and the RSC continued to demonstrate British styles, Australian companies led by Allan Wilkie and John Alden began to supplant local amateur interpretations. Nationalism intensified in the 1960s: Australian accents, open-air performances, exotic locations, eccentric adaptations and scholarly experimental productions; while post-colonial interpretations introduced Aboriginal actors. Two hundred years on, Australia's appropriation of Shakespeare is being exported back to Stratford and the world in the work of directors like Baz Luhrmann. Illustrated with over 60 archival photographs, many not previously published. { 306pp, 150x230mm, August 2001; PB, £17.50, 0868196134:9780868196138 , Currency Press } |
| ON OUR SELECTION [Bert Bailey and Steele Rudd] This adaptation of Arthur Hoey Davis' famous sketches became possibly the greatest stage success Australia has known and was adapted into a silent and a sound movie. Edited by Helen Musa and published with extensive historical notes including a film note by Andrew Pike (4 acts, 11 men, 5 women). { December 1984; PB, £9.50, 0868190233:9780868190235 , Currency Press } |
| ONE SMALL STEP / WITCHPLAY [Heather Nimmo] One Small Step -- Regina, a young married woman, working in a Perth shoe factory, has a dilemma. She's just been offered the supervisor's job -- should she take it? Everyone seems to be pulling Regina in a different direction. Will she be able to make a decision that pleases them all or should she follow her own head and heart (2 acts, 1 woman)? Published with Tobsha Learner's Witchplay, a many-voiced monologue of black humour and stylistic agility. Batcha is a medium in search of the spirit of Narelle's mother, who has electrocuted herself with a hairdryer. Along the way she encounters a number of happy spirits eager to be heard (1 act, 1 woman). { January 1995; PB, £10.99, 0868194182:9780868194189 , Currency Press } |
| ONLY HEAVEN KNOWS [Alex Harding] An ebullient and allegorical musical set in the 1940s and 50s. Tim, a teenage playwright, leaves an unsupportive family in Melbourne and arrives amidst the bohemian by-ways of Kings Cross in the summer of 1944 -- after five years of war, women and gay men are enjoying unparalleled freedoms. Tim soon finds love and a new family: Chris his lover, Guinea the tough but big-hearted night-club songstress and proud, effeminate Lana, a poor-man's Robert Helpmann. But the Sydney bacchanal fades as the cold winds of intolerance bring in the Menzies era and Tim and his friends must learn to survive hostility in a time before a visible gay community existed (2 acts, 4 men, 1 women). { July 1997; PB, £9.50, 0868194530:9780868194530 , Currency Press } |
| ONLY THE END / SHAKESPEARE AND THE DARK LADY OF THE SONNETS : Two Plays [Robyn Bishop / Enzo Condello] 'Only the End' is a play about the process of dying and the celebration of life. Through flashback and fantasy, memory and magic, the drama centres on the inner conflict of a cancer patient unwilling to accept her own death. (2 male, 3 female)’. 'Shakespeare and the Dark Lady of the Sonnets' dramatises the tense love triangle between Shakespeare, his wife Anne Hathaway and his lover, the unattainable poetess Emilia Bassano. The play is an imaginative dramatisation of Shakespeare’s time, with great insight into the universal themes of unrequited desire and love. (3 male, 4 female). { 124pp, 140x210mm, June 2005; PB, £8.50, 0868197718:9780868197715 , Currency Press } |
| OPENING A FUZZWOLLOP'S FRAME OF MIND [Daniel Evans] In a closed room a group of people trapped by their surroundings accept their predicament. The Eyre, a naïve young stranger, poses the question of life outside the room and the claustrophobic existence of this strange group is challenged. This is a delightfully funny absurdist play that explores the nature of humanity and our fear of the unknown (1 act, 2 male; 5 female). { 50pp, 105x160mm, October 2002; PB, £5.99, 086819686X:9780868196862 , Currency Press } |
| OPERA FOR THE ANTIPODES [Alsion Gyger] Covers Australia's operatic fare during the 60 years from the death of impressario Lyster to the beginning of World War II. { 364pp, 160x245mm, March 1991; HB, £19.50, 0868192686:9780868192680 , Currency Press } |
| PACIFIC UNION [Elaine Acworth] This is the story of the United Nations Conference on International Organisation which first met on the stage of the San Francisco Opera house on 25 April 1945. While the big powers attempted to dominate the agenda of a Conference expected to last only three weeks, Australia's Foreign Minister H V Evatt battled for the rights of the smaller nations. The 'San Francisco Forty-Fivers' struggled for nine weeks before the UN Charter was finally signed. Exposing the political manoeuvrings and idiosyncratic personalities of the birth of the United Nations and acknowledges the importance of the Conference in establishing the framework for lasting peace (1 act, 5 men, 1 woman). { January 1995; PB, £8.50, 0868194379:9780868194370 , Currency Press } |
| PASSION [Ros Horin] Short plays by Australian women. The Night of the Missing Bridegroom (Wilkinson); The Gun in History (Learner); Escape (Kittson); Flame (Murray-Smith); Love Seen in the Laundromat (Benyon); and Barefoot (Compton) -- various cast. { December 1994; PB, £10.99, 0868194239:9780868194233 , Currency Press } |
| PERFECT SKIN [Adapted by Janis Balodis] A major best seller (the novel) in Australia, Perfect Skin is a touching, frank and laugh-out-loud look at commitment and what it is to be thirty-something in a post-Duran Duran age. Ten years have passed sinceJon Marshall's footloose bachelor days, and he's come a long way. He's a partner in his own practice, owns a nice house in a nice suburb and cruises town in a Beemer. But life hasn't taken the path ]on guessed it would back in his twenties. His wife died six months ago leaving him in grief and the single father of a six-month-old baby. Over the next few weeks ]on is forced to confront and overcome the challenges of back hair, dating etiquette, clumsiness with domestic pets, and more importantly the guilt he feels about his wife's death. But his daughter and the mysterious Ash are going to teach him something infinitely more important, how to love. { 72pp, 135x210mm, December 2006; PB, £9.50, 0868197890:9780868197890 , Currency Press } |
| PERFECTIONIST [David Williamson] An examination of marriage which follows a pair of academics from Denmark to Sydney as they blunder along the rival paths of career and parenthood (2 acts, 3 men, 2 women). { September 2001; PB, £9.50, 0868190691:9780868190693 , Currency Press } |
| PERFORMANCE MAKING : A Manual for Music Workshops [Graeme Leak] Graeme Leak takes a fresh approach to musical learning by using the body as a performance instrument. It's a technique that defies the constraints of more conventional ways of learning music which focus on a particular instrument or style. Based on extensive experience as a musician and teacher, Leak's unique ‘performance-making' process builds musical skills and imagination, transforming students into composer-performers. This book shows how to run a ‘performance-making' workshop (everything from setting up a workspace to managing group dynamics), and provides a wide range of warm-up techniques and challenging exercises on pulse, metre, rhythm, tone, timbre, texture and more. Performance-making workshops encourage participants to: explore the building blocks of music; experience the physical and theatrical possibilities of music; and create exciting group performance pieces. Featuring illustrations, course plans and a handy glossary, Performance Making is an inspiring guide to teaching musical performance skills. { 146pp, 140x210mm, May 2003; PB, £10.99, 0868196738:9780868196732 , Currency Press } |
| PERFORMING THE UNNAMEABLE : An Anthology of Australian Performance Texts [Richard James Allen and Karen Pearlman, Editor] This anthology of Australian performance texts -- the first to be assembled -- sheds light on a range of practices in the groundbreaking area of contemporary performance. The texts, together with statements from the creating artists, illustrate, by practical example and theoretical explanation, seventeen different relationships of writing and text to other performing media. { 190pp, 215x275mm, September 1999; PB, £17.50, 0868194204:9780868194202 , Currency Press } |
| PETER DAWSON : The World's Most Popular Baritone [Russell Smith and Peter Burgis] Peter Dawson, the Australian bass baritone who became the most widely recorded singer in history, is remembered today by some as the voice of British imperialism, of Kipling's ‘Boots' and ‘The Road to Mandalay'; and by others as the man who made ‘Waltzing Matilda' the anthem it is today. In his record-breaking career from 1904 to 1958 he made nearly 2000 recordings, from cylinders to LPs, in a more diverse repertoire than any other artist in history. But his recording career with HMV and EMI was only a tenth of his career as a touring concert artist and entertainer to metropolitan centres and outposts of the British empire. In this, Dawson's first and definitive biography, the basso Russell Smith and sound archivist Peter Burgis, have revealed a tough-minded, dedicated artist who was also a bon viveur and practical joker whose personality, as much as his voice, contributed to his universal popularity. { 334pp, 175x250mm, January 2002; PB, £17.99, 0868196037:9780868196039 , Currency Press } |
| PICCADILLY BUSHMAN [Ray Lawler] An expatriate actor, Alec Ritchie, hoping to save his marriage, returns to Australia for the making of a British film about his country. Questions of divided loyalty arise that force Alec to confront both his regard for his family and his attitude to the homeland he left ten years before. A major work, even more relevant now than at its premiere in 1959, confirming Lawler's reputation as the visionary father of modern Australian theatre. (2 acts, 5 men, 3 women). { 120pp, 140x210mm, October 1998; PB, £8.50, 086819560X:9780868195605 , Currency Press } |
| PLAYING AD LIB : Improvisatory Music in Australia 1836-1970 [John Whiteoak] In this ground breaking history of music-making in Australia, Dr John Whiteoak explores for the first time the importance of improvisatory musical practices in a country famous for its ingenuity and self reliance. Starting from the 1830s, the book explores the improvised performances of musicians in concert and in the circus, theatre and dancehall, in the cinema and the Church. It charts the influences both direct and indirect of African American music from the blackface minstrel show through ragtime to new forms of jazz. This provocative study, a heroic work of original research, is enhanced by a wealth of musical examples and contemporary illustrations. { 368pp, 155x240mm, July 1999; PB, £19.50, 086819543X:9780868195438 , Currency Press } |
| PLAYING THE PAST : Three Plays by Australian Women [Steve Sherman] Introduces three plays, until now lost or forgotten, which still resonate deeply within Australian society: Delphiniums (1 act, 2 men, 3 women); Lighthouse Keeper's Wife (1 act, 1 man, 1 woman); Feet of Clay (1 act, 2 men, 2 women). { January 1995; PB, £8.50, 0868194492:9780868194493 , Currency Press } |
| PLAYING WITH IDEAS : Australian Women Playwrights from the Suffragettes to the Sixties [Susan Pfisterer and Carolyn Pickett] Until now, the extraordinary contribution of Australian women to the development of early feminist theatre has never been fully recognised. In Playing with Ideas Susan Pfisterer and Carolyn Pickett reveal a dynamic female tradition of Australian women's playwriting from the suffrage era to the 1960s. Through its distinctive analysis of the range of strongly-held views of Australian women dramatists, the book offers a fresh insight into both Australian cultural history and international feminist theatre history. It uncovers a wealth of plays motivated by social and political issues affecting women, plays which through their subversion of professional, political and personal hegemonies highlight women's struggles to become modern world citizens. { 268pp, 135x210mm, September 1999; PB, £13.50, 0868195650:9780868195650 , Currency Press } |
| PLAYS FROM BLACK AUSTRALIA [Jack Davis et al] The Dreamers (Jack Davis) (5 men 1 woman 1 girl 1 male dancer); Murras (Eva Johnson) (2 men 4 women); Coordah (Richard Walley) (11 men 3 women); and The Keepers (Bob Maza) (8 men 4 women). { September 1989; PB, £14.50, 0868192260:9780868192260 , Currency Press } |
| PLAYS OF THE 50S, VOLUME 2 [Katherine Brisbane, Editor] The exhilaration caused by the success in 1955 of Ray Lawler's 'Summer of the Seventeenth Doll' galvanised a host of new playwrights. Among them was Barbara Vernon, whose 'The Multi-Coloured Umbrella' (1957), a drama of the racetrack, exploits the novelty of an irredeemably Australian way of life. Peter Kenna in his comedy-drama 'The Slaughter of Saint Teresa's Day' (1959), introduces the first of his Irish-Australian matriarchs, Oola Maguire. In 'Image in the Clay' (1960) David Ireland blends realism and poetry in his stark portrait of a rural Aboriginal family. And, most radically, Ray Matthew in 'The Life of the Party' (1960) draws a desperate portrait of post-war sophisticates trapped in the shadow of the Cold War. Exploring a new theatre distances from European realism, these plays mark a journey towards a recognisably Australian rhythmic form and a more poetic, visceral drama characteristic of the theatre later in the century. { 240pp, 135x190mm, February 2005; PB, £14.50, 0868196959:9780868196954 , Currency Press } |
| PLAYS OF THE 60S [Katharine Brisbane, Editor] The late 1960s were among the most tumultuous years in recent history. Student revolution spread like wildfire around the world as the past-war generation came to adulthood. In Australia protests against the Vietnam War were mixed with rebellious new political awareness. The plays in this volume reflect the radicalism in public and private life which that period has come to represent. Each of these works played a significant part in advancing the horizons of the Australian stage. Included in this volume are: Rodney Milgate's A Refined Look at Existence, an ironical comedy drama set in a NSW country town, which reworks Euripides' 'The Bacchae' (3 acts, 9 men, 3 women); Bill Reed's Burke's Company, a study of the explorer Robert O'Hara Burke and his life and death struggle with the Central Australian desert (2 acts, 9 men); Alex Buzo's The Front Room Boys, a seasonal satire set in a government office (1 act, 7 men, 2 women); and Chicago Chicago by John Romeril, a surreal attack on political exploration set against the 1968 Chicago Democrat Convention (1 act, 19 men, 5 women -- doubling possible). { May 1998; PB, £14.50, 0868195626:9780868195629 , Currency Press } |
| PLAYS OF THE 60S, VOLUME 1 [Katharine Brisbane, Editor] This collection includes: The Well (1960) by Jack McKinney, a rustic comedy in the Steele Rudd tradition set in Queensland; Burst of Summer (1960) by Oriel Gray is a realist play dealing with racial prejudice and is based on the brief success of the Aboriginal actress Ngarla Kunoth, who played Jedda in the Chauvel film; The Season at Sarsaparilla (1962), Patrick White's poetic satire examining the inevitable cycle of birth, copulation and death; White called it a 'charade of suburbia'; and The Promised Woman by Theodore Patrikareas which had its first stage production in Sydney in 1963 and is possibly the first play by a post-war immigrant staged in Australia. The play portrays migrants adapting to their new country and finding new identities and was adapted for the screen in 1974. (1 act, 2 women) { 288pp, 150x240mm, July 2000; PB, £14.50, 0868195456:9780868195452 , Currency Press } |
| PLAYS OF THE 60S, VOLUME 2 [Katharine Brisbane, Editor] These plays portray a society at the cusp of reform. The writing reflects a deep sense of the need for change, and awareness of the ground beginning to give way beneath the feet. The plays are: Alan Hopgood's Private Yuk Objects, a rich portrait of Australia in the mid-60s centred around Australia's participation in the Vietnam war; and This Old Man Comes Rolling Home, Dorothy Hewett's celebration of working-class life and politics in an inner-suburban Sydney during the cold war. The Lucky Streak by James Searle, a comedy about two young men who share a room in a boarding house, the play is an exploration of the rhythms of the inarticulate and the aggression, rooted in frustration, present in the simplest of domestic conversations; and Norm and Ahmed, Alex Buzo's classic examination of racism and alienation, and the subject of a controversial censorship debate. { 272pp, 150x240mm, July 1999; PB, £14.50, 0868195502:9780868195506 , Currency Press } |
| PLAYS OF THE 70S, VOLUME 1 [Katharine Brisbane, Editor] The plays in this volume were landmarks in the development of a rough new all Australian theatre which celebrated the rude colour of Australian language and more. It was a period of comedy and satire; but as these plays show, beneath the larrikinism was a sharp social criticism at work which saw ordinary people living alienated, exploitative and largely unexamined lives. Included are: The Legend of King O'Malley, by Michael Boody and Bob Ellis, which burst upon the unsuspecting theatre in 1970 and launched it in a new direction; The Joss Adams Show by Alma De Groen examines the ordeal of post-natal depression; Mrs Thally F by John Romeril is based on the true story of a Melbourne housewife convicted of murdering her two husbands; A Stretch of the Imagination by Jack Hibberd, was a turning point in the movement against naturalism in its triumphant use of poetry, vaudeville and myth; and The Removalists, David Williamson's first internationally performed play, has built a classic reputation as a statement on authoritarianism. { 216pp, 150x240mm, August 1998; PB, £14.50, 0868195480:9780868195483 , Currency Press } |
| PLAYS OF THE 70S, VOLUME 2 [Katharine Brisbane, Editor] This volume covers the period 1973--75 and marks a consolidation of form, and the recognition of a sense of direction. While public and social issues were the preoccupation of the earlier plays, these plays display a strong move towards the domestic as expressive of community. The plays in this volume are: A Hard God, Peter Kenna's classic study of youth and age in an Irish-Catholic working class family as it suffers the pangs of love, death and adolescence; How Does Your Garden Grow, Jim McNeil's gentle plea from within the prison system that the need for kindness and affection is not confined to those outside; Coralie Lansdowne Says No, Alex Buzo's famous critique of the new, liberated woman; and The Cake Man by Robert J Merritt, a simple and moving story of life on a mission in Western NSW which was the first Aboriginal play to enter the repertoire of the white theatre. { 243pp, 150x240mm, July 1999; PB, £14.50, 0868195529:9780868195520 , Currency Press } |
| PLAYS OF THE 70S, VOLUME 3 [Katharine Brisbane, Editor] In this volume, covering 1975--1977, years of consolidation for some, disappointment for others, the authors take stock of the progress of reform. In 'Crossfires', a critique of feminism; in 'The Christian Brothers' a satire of Catholic education; in 'A Happy and Holy Occasion', a portrait of Irish obsequiousness and superstition; and 'Inner Voices', allegory of the ignorant in power, the plays express their writers' disillusion with the past and impatience for reconsideration. { 211pp, 155x240mm, October 2001; PB, £14.50, 0868195995:9780868195995 , Currency Press } |
| POPULAR SHORT PLAYS FOR THE AUSTRALIAN STAGE, VOLUME 1 [Ron Blair] The Accidental Poke (1 man 1 woman), Family Lore (1 man 2 women), Place in the Present (3 men 2 women), The Centenarians (2 men 2 women), The Don's Last Innings (4 men 3 women). { December 1985; PB, £9.99, 0868191051:9780868191058 / PB, £9.99, 0868191213:9780868191218 , Currency Press } |
| PROPERTY OF THE CLAN [Nick Enright] Originally intended for 5 women and 2 men, the play can be performed by as little as 4 actors (1 man 3 women). { April 1994; PB, £7.99, 0868193607:9780868193601 , Currency Press } |
| PUBERTY BLUES [Nell Schofield] ‘Fish-faced moll’, ‘rooting machine’, ‘melting our tits off’: with its raw, in-your-face dialogue, Bruce Beresford’s film 'Puberty Blues' has become a cult classic. Based on the autobiographical novel by the outrageous Salami Sisters Kathy Lette and Gabrielle Carey, 'Puberty Blues' is a coming-of-age chick-flick with bite. Set in the 1970s, it follows the misadventures of Debbie and Sue, two Cronulla girls angling to break out of ‘dickheadland’ into the coolest surfie gang. But when they finally muscle their way in, Debbie and Sue come to realise the whole scene sucks: who are they to say, ‘Chicks don’t surf!’? In this lively and honest account, writer and broadcaster Nell Schofield recalls how she won the role of Debbie and what it was like on the set. She looks at the parallels between the film, the book and her own surfside teenage years, and at the extraordinary responses to the film, both on its release and since. It’s a story as idiosyncratically Australian as the film that showed everyone who ever had any doubt that chicks can surf. { 86pp, 135x190mm, November 2004; PB, £7.50, 0868197491:9780868197494 , Currency Press } |
| RABBIT-PROOF FENCE : The Screenplay [Christine Olsen] In 1931 the authorities seized 14-year-old Molly Craig from her desert home in Jigalong, western Australia, with her younger sister Daisy and cousin Gracie. Official policy decreed that the three girls be taken to the Moore River Native Settlement, where they were to be trained as domestic servants. Their trauma was intensified by Moore River's harsh regime and Molly soon decided it was time to go home, to their mothers. And the only way home was to walk. The true story of the girls' 1600 kilometre journey back to Jigalong is now a major film directed by Phillip Noyce. (3 male, 6 female). { 90pp, 140x215mm, February 2004; PB, £9.50, 086819655X:9780868196558 , Currency Press } |
| RADIANCE [Louis Nowra] Cressy, Mae and Nona are half sisters with little in common bar the ghosts from their childhood. They come together for their mother's funeral with the tropical Queensland landscape a spectacular backdrop for their turbulent and often humourous reunion. As the sisters struggle to find common ground they discover a bond that is stronger that the pain of their history. This edition includes the stageplay and the screenplay, as well as an introduction by the author detailing the transition between the two. Also included are stills from the play and the AFI-award-winning film. Told with passion, humour and warmth, this bittersweet story burns a colourful and mysterious imprint on the mind's eye. (2 acts, 3 women). { 160pp, 140x210mm, April 2000; PB, £9.50, 086819624X:9780868196244 , Currency Press } |
| RAPTURE [Joanna Murray-Smith] A group of friends gather to celebrate the homecoming of two of their group, who went overseas after an unfortunate fire wiped out their home and possessions. When the pair arrive, however, their friends learn the truth: they never left to go overseas. Instead, they had relocated to the Hyatt, discovered themselves (and an inward light) and undergone a spiritual epiphany. This is a thoughtful and entertaining play about what happens when cynicism is confronted by faith. (3 male, 3 female). REVIEW: "A thoughtful and entertaining play, about what happens when cynicism is confronted by faith..." -- DAWN (Journal of the Drama Association of Wales), Summer 2003. { 56pp, 140x215mm, November 2002; PB, £8.50, 0868196797:9780868196794 , Currency Press } |
| RATBAGS AND RABBLEROUSERS : A Century of Political Protest, Song and Satire [Warren Fahey] In this book Warren Fahey celebrates Australia's legacy of protest songs, lampoons, anthems and anecdotes from a hundred years of conflict between Parliament and the people, capital and labour. From the Father of Federation, Henry Parkes, to the Depression hero big Jack Lang, 'Pig Iron' Bob Menzies, Arthur ('Two Wongs don't make a White') Calwell, Job Bjelke-Petersen and Pauline Hanson, Alan Bond and Christopher Skase, Whitlam, Fraser, Hawke, Keating and Howard, the great and the eccentric are immortalised in rousing, and often scurrilous, verse. Here are tales of union warfare and political splits, strikes and blacklegs, judges and felons, racial conflict, anti-war marches, conservation, abortion and anti-uranium protests; and the eternal story of rural struggle, of the swaggie, the drover's wife and the 'broken-down squatter'. The songs are headed by a brief account of their context, recalling for the reader the long struggles for power and survival that has made up history. { 389pp, 135x215mm, February 2001; PB, £14.50, 0868196347:9780868196343 , Currency Press } |
| REAL MEALS SET MEALS : Food in Film and Theatre [Gaye Poole] Food has always been essential to the theatre and the cinema. A catalyst which brings people together it can be used for dramatic confrontation, as a comic device or even a metaphor for the meaning of life. Preparing, presenting and consuming food can evoke a mood that is sumptuous, homely, seductive, disgusting or just plain funny. Eloquent in conveying complex messages, food is a perfect vehicle for expressing the subtext in drama and comedy and for revealing intricate aspects about class, emotional states or gender. Sometime, as in the movies Babette's Feast and Tampopo, it is the real star. In this original study of the social and symbolic meaning of food, Gaye Poole unravels all these possibilities. The book begins with a fascinating overview demonstrating how food has been used in plays through the ages and how quickly early film makers learnt to exploit its potential; it then goes on to explore contemporary works in a way which will make you see your favourite play or film in an entirely different light. { 300pp, 135x210mm, January 2000; PB, £13.50, 0868195782:9780868195780 , Currency Press } |
| RECORDERS AT LARGE, VOLUME 2 [Benjamin Thorn] Includes a range of music designed for performance, ranging from the Middle Ages through to contemporary Australian works. The level of difficulty has a considerable overlap with the first volume, with some quite simple pieces through to solos requiring a fairly advanced technique and/or musicality. Many of the works can be played on other instruments. { 88pp, 225x310mm, December 1995; PB, £10.99, 0868194395:9780868194394 / PB, £10.99, 0868193003:9780868193007 , Currency Press } |
| REEDY RIVER [Dick Diamond] The Australian Bush Musical 'as warm as a handshake', Reedy River is the story of the shearers' strike in the 1890s and has romance, melodrama and lots of traditional bush music (2 acts, 15 men, 3 women). { December 1970; PB, £9.50, 0868192163:9780868192161 , Currency Press } |
| REFLECTIONS : An Autobiographical Journey [Paul Cox] A moving and inspiring journey that takes us from Cox's childhood in war-torn Holland, to his unlikely migration to Australia at the age of twenty-two; to his growing obsession with cinema and finally international success. An absorbing book which in its painful and often humorous exploration of his life, reveals the sources of his extraordinary films, deepening our understanding of a complex, generous and irascible film maker. { 224pp, 135x210mm, December 1997; PB, £10.99, 0868195499:9780868195490 , Currency Press } |
| REMEMBER RONALD RYAN [Barry Dickins] Introduces us to the last felon to be executed on Australian soil (2 acts, 25 men, 8 women, extras). { January 1994; PB, £8.50, 0868193925:9780868193922 , Currency Press } |
| REMOVALISTS [David Williamson] A young policeman's first day on duty becomes a violent initiation into the nastier aspects of law enforcement (2 acts, 4 men, 2 women). { December 1980; PB, £9.50, 0868190381:9780868190389 , Currency Press } |
| RETRO ROCK CD : Styles from the 1960s to the 1990s [Andrew R Brown and Steve C Dillon] This CD is designed as part of a flexible music education resource. The focus of the CD is upon performing and listening to music. It includes ten pieces which have been written in 'the style of' the original rock forms. They are glam, jazz rock, zydeco, ska, rockability, art rock, hip-hop, Latin, psychedelic and disco. The CD is an invaluable aid in helping to understand questions such as what is style in music? And what makes one style different from another? It is suitable for primary and secondary school music performance and appreciation classes. { January 2002; CD, £8.99, 0868196673:9780868196671 , Currency Press } |
| RETRO ROCK CHARTS : Styles From the 1960s to the 1990s Suitable for Primary and Secondary Schools [Andrew R Brown and Steve C Dillon] The 'Retro Rock Charts' are a fun-to-play resource for ensembles of variable instrumentation or the standard rock 'n' roll band format. The Charts contain master scores and parts in the styles explored in the Style Guide and allow for a wide range of abilities. The styles referred to are glam rock, jazz rock, rockabilly, disco, psychedelic rock, art rock, ska, zydeco, hip-hop and Latin rock. Arranged for instruments in C, B-flat, E-flat and keyboard, the tuned instrumental parts can be used by junior secondary students or even novice elective students. The untuned percussion parts are of varied levels of difficulty and are particularly suitable for upper primary music classes. The concert-pitch charts work well with xylophones and Orff-style tuned percussion. Parts are available in C, B-flat, E-flat and for percussion. When played with the CD these parts can support a wide range of instrumentation and abilities. The percussion parts in particular will suit upper primary music classes, and the concert-pitch charts also work well with xylophones and Orff-style tuned percussion. The tuned instrumental parts can be used by junior secondary students or even novice elective students. { 70pp, 215x295mm, March 2002; SM, £30.50, 0868196649:9780868196640 , Currency Press } |
| RETRO ROCK STYLE GUIDE : Styles From the 1960s to the 1990s [Andrew R Brown and Steve C Dillon] This guide explores the styles that shaped the direction of popular music in the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s. For teachers, students, band directors, potential arrangers and composers, this is an essential tool for understanding glam rock, jazz rock, rockabilly, disco, psychedelic rock, art rock, ska, sydeco, hip-hop and Latin rock. The guide features an overview of the pop music world at the time each style first became popular, as well as an analysis, discography and listening quiz. Composition and improvisation exercises further enhance the students' ability to critically listen to the music, as well as contributing to their musical performance. { 40pp, 210x295mm, March 2002; PB, £8.99, 0868196614:9780868196619 , Currency Press } |
| RETURN [Reg Cribb] A career thug and his junior partner in crime take a late night train from Perth to Fremantle, menacing passengers along the way. For an hour they own the train. Riding the uneasy line between comedy and terror, THE RETURN is an incisive, edgy and at times funny look at the cultural divides in Australian society. It is a tautly written study in peer pressure, anxiety and suppressed violence in a class most people assume has no voice. (3 male, 2 female). { 64pp, 135x210mm, June 2003; PB, £9.50, 0868196924:9780868196923 , Currency Press } |
| RETURN TO THE BRINK [Rodney Hall] This play examines both personal courage and the political drama behind the 1838 court case which investigated the notorious Myall Creek massacre. A powerful and evocative work from the pen of one of Australia's most celebrated writers, the play resonates strongly with a nation debating the truth behind its historical legacies and the ever-pressing issue of reconciliation with its indigenous peoples. { 88pp, 135x210mm, December 1999; PB, £8.50, 0868195901:9780868195902 , Currency Press } |
| RIVERS OF CHINA [Alma de Groen] In 1923 Katherine Mansfield visits a guru. In the 1980s a young man wakes in hospital to find a world dominated by women. As each struggles to discover their true identity, their separate stories intriguingly interweave (2 acts, 4 men, 3 women). { December 1988; PB, £9.50, 086819171X:9780868191713 , Currency Press } |
| ROAD TO NHILL : Screenplay [Alison Tilson] Nhill is a tiny Victorian town with an ageing population looking forward to a future of peaceful decline. Life in Nhill is as stable and predictable as it can be. Until a carload of lady bowlers overturns near the ten-mile. The red herrings and comic blunders which follow are the stuff from which Alison. Tilson weaves this gentle and ultimately profound rumination on life, death and what goes on in between. { 100pp, 135x210mm, October 1998; PB, £9.50, 0868195685:9780868195681 , Currency Press } |
| ROBBERY UNDER ARMS [Alfred Dampier] This adaptation of Rolf Boldrewood's famous novel is a lively melodrama (5 acts, 18 men, 7 women, extras). { December 1985; PB, £9.50, 086819137X:9780868191379 , Currency Press } |
| ROULETTE : 12 Dialogues [Raimondo Cortese] These twelve plays, set in twelve different locations, are based on themes drawn from an ancient Chinese cosmology called the 12 Branches of Life. The plays focus on the chance meetings of two people in varying situations and provide a revealing mosaic of human interaction across a range of emotional landscapes. From a chance meeting between a man and a woman in a café to the aggression of the prodigal son returning home to enslave a helpless older man, Cortese's fiercely intelligent writing illuminates the moments of cruelty or beauty that are inherent in any encounter between two people. { 275pp, 135x210mm, June 2005; PB, £13.50, 0868197653:9780868197654 , Currency Press } |
| RUBY MOON, REVISED [Matt Cameron] In Flaming Tree Grove, life appears to be picture perfect. Security and privacy are precious virtues and seclusion its own reward. Until the day when little Ruby sets off to visit her grandmother at the end of the cul-de-sac and is never seen again. The neighbourhood fractures into grief and suspicion in the search for answers to a terrible absence. And then a parcel arrives on her parents' doorstep... (1 Act, 1 male, 1 female). { 52pp, 140x215mm, September 2005; PB, £8.50, 0868197742:9780868197746 , Currency Press } |
| RUN RABBIT RUN [Alana Valentine] When the National Rugby League thought they could jettison the Rabbitohs to streamline their competition they were in for a shock. South Sydney, a proud club that had won more premierships than any other, wouldn't lie down. This play is a verbatim piece about the battle to overturn the decision. Based on extensive interviews with both public faces of the campaign and grassroots supporters. This is a story of passion and politics that goes beyond football. For when South Sydney came out fighting they showed the importance of community and the power of momentum. Their battle through the courts, and in the streets of Sydney, captured the imagination of the wider population as they successfully fought to regain the right to play league football at the top level. (3 Acts, 6 male, 4 female). { 66pp, 135x210mm, August 2004; PB, £9.50, 0868197475:9780868197470 , Currency Press } |
| RUSTY BUGLES [Sumner Locke Elliott] A compassionate comedy about Australian soldiers pitted against futile boredom and heartbreak in an isolated ordinance depot. Introduced by Doris Fitton and published with a hull history of its turbulent stage career (2 acts, 17 men). { December 1980; PB, £9.50, 0868190306:9780868190303 , Currency Press } |
| SALT [Peta Murray] Salt is a sensual and aromatic mix of spiced words, time and simmering emotions, served in five delicious courses. When Meg the gourmet and Laurel, her glamorous mother and the world's worst cook, find themselves sharing a kitchen, the battle for control is over more than bench space and who gets to lick the bowl. Kitchen lore and kitchen wars are amongst the ingredients in this exquisite exploration of a mother/daughter relationship. { 84pp, 135x210mm, July 2001; PB, £8.50, 0868196401:9780868196404 , Currency Press } |
| SCENES FOR YOUNG ACTORS : A Scene Study Resource Book [Tony Woollams] Containing over fifty scenes from Australian and New Zealand plays, Scenes for Young Actors is an invaluable resource book for the school classroom as well as for practising actors and acting students, both male and female. In his extensive introduction the author takes you step-by-step through choosing a scene, preparing for performance and interpreting a scene. He outlines different methods of training and practice and provides a wealth of practical exercises aimed at producing a successful presentation. { 251pp, 135x210mm, December 1999; PB, £11.99, 0868195073:9780868195070 , Currency Press } |
| SCENES FROM A SEPARTION [Andrew Bovell and Hannie Rayson] A fascinating collaboration between two of Australia's most talented writers which presents the male and female perspective on a marriage. { 94pp, 135x210mm, January 1996; PB, £9.50, 086819476X:9780868194769 , Currency Press } |
| SCREEN TEST HANDBOOK [Shauna Crowley] Outlines the TV audition process and provides practice pieces and exercises. { 282pp, 135x210mm, March 1991; PB, £10.99, 0868192279:9780868192277 , Currency Press } |
| SECRET BRIDESMAIDS' BUSINESS / IT'S MY PARTY (AND I'LL DIE IF I WANT TO) [Elizabeth Coleman] In SECRET BRIDESMAIDS' BUSINESS it's the night before Meg's wedding. She and her friends are planning to kick up their heels. However, not everything goes according to plan. (1 male, 5 females). In IT'S MY PARTY (AND I'LL DIE IF I WANT TO) Ron Patterson has 111 minutes to live, so he decides to invite the children around for a bit of quality time. As he attempts to tie up the loose ends of his life, all the juicy neuroses of this very dysfunctional family come out of the closet. (3 male, 3 female). { 166pp, 140x215mm, February 2003; PB, £10.99, 0868197017:9780868197012 , Currency Press } |
| SEE HOW IT RUNS : Nimrod and the New Wave [Julian Meyrick] When it burst onto the Sydney theatre scene in 1970, Nimrod was the place to be. As author Julian Meyrick observes, it had élan, pace and style. Its language was blue (on and off stage), its personnel young and good-looking, and it vibrated colour and energy. It was upbeat. It was hot. For the rest of the decade, Nimrod continued to be in the right place at the right time. It moved to a bigger building in 1974 and its output, its structure and even its funding seemed set to grow forever. This book tells the story of Nimrod from its genesis as a small company full of ideas and energy to its third bankruptcy in 1985 and the departure of its longest-serving director, John Bell. In a story told from many angles, Meyrick analyses: the theatre's repertoire and the ethos which informed it; the public face of the company and the tensions behind the scenes; the changing role of government subvention over the period; why the theatre became overburdened by its own administration; the contrasting approaches of different generations of theatre professionals; the effect of Nimrod's competitors -- especially the demise of the Old Tote and the rise of the Sydney Theatre Company -- on its own position; and the company's revenue and expenditure profile. { 312pp, 155x230mm, June 2002; PB, £17.50, 0868196517:9780868196510 , Currency Press } |
| SELECTED PLAYS [Jack Hibberd] Hibberd has been called the most innovative Australian playwright of his generation. His early plays have endured the test of time and continue to be performed, studied and read for pleasure. White with Wire Wheels (1967) satirises a culture of masculinity expressed in cars, booze and work. Women are marginalised, trivialised and ultimately disposable. This provocative and unconventional comic play throws a spotlight on human and material values and a society that can tolerate the intolerable. Dimboola (1969) is expressively vulgar, bawdy and boisterous, it plays out the wedding reception from hell, with the audience active participants as guests. A Stretch of the Imagination (1972) introduces us to the painfully lonely world of Monk O'Neill, one of the great comic creations of Australian dramatic literature. Monk's colourful, rambling monologue cuts to the quick of what Australia one was and what one day it could become. The resilient ironies of the play will not be lost on today's generation. { 148pp, 150x230mm, November 2000; PB, £13.50, 0868196320:9780868196329 , Currency Press } |
| SHIMADA [Jill Shearer] About the cultural conflict between the old world of military dominance and the new world of economic pragmatism (2 acts, 4 men, 3 women). { October 1989; PB, £9.50, 0868192333:9780868192338 , Currency Press } |
| SHOE-HORN SONATA [John Misto] In 1945 Sheila and Bridie were freed from a Japanese POW camp. Now after a half-century separation, the filming of a TV documentary forces them to relive the past. Woven into their fifty years of separation are a shoe-horn and the threads of loyalty and love which form their 'uncommon bond' (2 acts, 2 women). { December 1996; PB, £9.50, 0868194816:9780868194813 , Currency Press } |
| SICK ROOM [Stephen Sewell] High in the Australian mountains, within the security and comfort of their ancestral home, a family waits. Three generations have come together to care for their terminal ill daughter. This powerful new drama from one of Australia's most important dramatist, is an evocative portrait of a family forced to accept that their world is about to change forever. Sewell reveals, through a heart-breaking crisis, the impact of the political upon the personal. The Sick Room is a wise and timely work, which takes us inside the private world of our nation's leaders, to reflect the nation itself. (2 acts: 4 men, 3 women -- doubling possible) { 124pp, 135x210mm, June 1999; PB, £8.50, 0868195855:9780868195858 , Currency Press } |
| SIMPLE TRUTH [Michael Gurr] In this play, Gurr has allowed his imagination to go deep into new territory -- with an eye on the fine line between truth and fiction, innocence and guilt. A woman arrives a police station at night. She tells the detective she has a confession to make. From the deceptively simple premise emerges a surprising and erotic excursion into the minds and hearts of two extraordinary people. What is her crime? Has she come seeking punishment and absolution? On the surface this is a search for the guilty, but as the clues build up and the truth unfolds, one thing is clear: neither of them will ever be the same again. Written with great authority and illuminated with flashes of startling humour. (1 act, 1 man, 1 woman). REVIEW: "An ambiguous and haunting collection of memories and yearnings" - Dawn, Autumn 2004. { 56pp, 140x215mm, September 2002; PB, £8.50, 0868196770:9780868196770 , Currency Press } |
| SIREN [David Williamson] Siren is a love story with a difference -- a situation comedy for the 1990s (2 acts, 5 men, 2 women). { December 1991; PB, £9.50, 0868192821:9780868192826 , Currency Press } |
| SKATE [Debra Oswald] A fictional play inspired by true events that occurred in a south western NSW town. A group of kids battle with their local council to get a skatepark built in their home town of Narragindi. In the midst of this struggle they are forced to deal with the sudden death of one of their friends. Ultimately, after being galvanised into making one last effort, they meet with success. The skatepark is built and the local youth find a renewed sense of pride and self esteem. (1 Act, 9 men, 5 women) { 78pp, 135x210mm, April 2004; PB, £7.99, 0868197270:9780868197272 , Currency Press } |
| SLAM DUNK [Jack Hibberd] Chuck and Beefy -- Aussie clones of the American teenager sporting baggy shorts, reversed baseball caps and huge Nike boots -- meet Jock the sensitive Australian teenager who recites poetry and enjoys nature. The result is a tension-filled hour culminating in a chilling climax (1 act, 3 men). { December 1996; PB, £7.99, 0868194832:9780868194837 , Currency Press } |
| SOLO : A Guidebook for Individual Performance [Michael Anderson] Contains invaluable advice on how to create a powerful and effective performance. It covers how to choose the right script and has a series of exercises that will develop the skills needed to be successful and includes a fresh, diverse range of Australian pieces that suit the format for the assessment. { 180pp, 135x210mm, April 2006; PB, £12.99, 0868197572:9780868197579 , Currency Press } |
| SOME MOTHER'S SON [Jill O'Callaghan] Two Australian women travellers settle in at Mrs Kelly's bed and breakfast in the charming village of Ballymalone in Northern Ireland. Here they discover secrets of a past tragedy and a current connection with some of the IRA's more aggressive activities. But is their choice of holiday lodgings coincidental or is there a darker intent at work. A provocative and disturbing story, Some Mother's Son gives a human face to the complex issues of 'the troubles'. (2 acts: 2 men, 3 women) { 52pp, 140x210mm, January 2000; PB, £8.50, 0868195731:9780868195735 , Currency Press } |
| SONATA FOR CLARINET OR VIOLA AND PIANO [Margaret Sutherland] From one of Australia's most influential composers and teachers, this recently rediscovered 1949 Sonata is one of the most significant works written for these instruments by an Australian of that era. It presents a break from the pervading English influence towards a conscious Australian expression. { 24pp, 230x310mm, April 1995; PB, £12.99, 0868193305:9780868193304 , Currency Press } |
| SONGS BY HENRY HANDEL RICHARDSON FOR VOICE AND PIANO [Bruce Steele and Richard Divall, Editors] This is the first publication of a collection of songs composed by Henry Handel Richardson, a leading Australian writer from the early twentieth century. This haunting selection of songs for voice and piano from the late 1890s to 1943 features songs in English, as well as songs in German and Danish. The publication of this book is long overdue and will delight performers and audiences alike. { 63pp, 210x295mm, November 2000; PB, £15.50, 0868196045:9780868196046 , Currency Press } |
| SONS OF CAIN [David Williamson] The story of a fighting newspaper editor who with three investigative journalists takes on the 'Mr Bigs' of the drug trade (2 acts, 6 men, 3 women). { December 1988; PB, £9.50, 0868191795:9780868191799 , Currency Press } |
| SOUND BEGINNINGS : The Early Record Industry in Australia [Ross Laird] The decade 1924--34 was a tumultuous one which moved from prosperity to bankruptcy with dizzying speed. It was also the most significant decade in the history of the Australian recording industry. The legacy of these years is still felt in musical culture today. This book gives a rare insight into the culture, ethics and business interests of the time as it charts the pioneers of this industry, who, be they British, American or Independent Australian, were characterised by ingenuity, enterprise and self-interest. From the beginning, the record industry was a world-wide phenomenon, creating global fashions and international board minutes, press releases, reviews and frank, often self-serving, correspondence of many of the major players gives a significant insight into the naïve beginnings of one of the biggest industries in the world. { 368pp, 150x240mm, April 2000; PB, £19.50, 0868195790:9780868195797 , Currency Press } |
| SPACE BETWEEN : The Art of Puppetry and Visual Theatre in Australia [Peter J Wilson and Geoffrey Milne] This book offers a passionate overview of how puppetry came out of its box and took to the streets, arts centres, classrooms and comedy circuits. It shows how the form developed fresh styles of work for younger people and beguiled a whole new audience of adults by offering them an imaginative exploration of the space between illusion and reality. { 134pp, 215x270mm, August 2004; PB, £21.99, 0868197122:9780868197128 , Currency Press } |
| SPACE DEMONS [Richard Tulloch] Andrew and his friends try to solve the computer game Space Demons while coping with the real problem in their lives. The game forces them to face the dark side of their own nature (1 act, 2 men, 1 woman, 4 boys, 2 girls, extras). { January 1995; PB, £7.99, 0868193291:9780868193298 , Currency Press } |
| SPEAKING AMERICAN [Bruce Shapiro] Book and CD. Dialect is not simply a verbal costume worn by an actor -- it is fundamental to speech and therefore acting, in that it helps to locate the historical, biographical and social identity of a character. Meryl Streep described dialect as "a way of finding the essential truth of the character". Speaking American is a simple and accurate guide to speaking in a General American dialect. This is the preferred dialect for performance in a wide range of American stage, film and television works, and it can operate as a foundation dialect for other regional or ethnic American dialects. The book covers pronunciation, intonation, American lingo, phonetics, tongue placement, lip formation and practical exercises, as well as words and phrases useful for improvisation work. The accompanying CD complements the various lessons and exercises. { 140pp, 140x270mm, February 2001; PB, £14.50, 0868196126:9780868196121 , Currency Press } |
| SPEAKING IN TONGUES [Andrew Bovell] A complex mystery of infidelity and deceit, told through a series of interlinked stories which draw strangers together and reveal the yawning chasms in their intimate relationships. (2 male, 2 female). REVIEW: "Bovell has crafted an intriguing, thrilling and engaging drama..." -- DAWN (Journal of the Drama Association of Wales), Winter 2003. Included again in DAWN, Autumn 2004. { 70pp, 140x215mm, February 2003; PB, £8.50, 0868197114:9780868197111 , Currency Press } |
| SPITTING CHIPS [Peta Murray] Syblil, aka Spud, lives with her father who won't discuss Sybil's dead mother. Her reluctant friendship with an old woman helps both of them addres their loneliness and deal with the future (1 act, 2 men, 2 women). { January 1995; PB, £7.99, 0868194069:9780868194066 , Currency Press } |
| SPOOK [Melissa Reeves] It's 1965 and the South Bendigo branch of the Communist Party is in a rut. The Tribune isn't selling, membership is down and the Maoists are gaining ground. So young Martin Porter is a welcome new recruit. His mother doesn’t understand why he has thrown his values out the window and grown his hair. But all is not what it seems. Martin is an ASIO mole about to discover that spying on communists isn’t all dark glasses, sexy Cossack dancing and vodka shots. When his new-found friends draw him into their family he finds that doing his bit for his country is more complicated than he'd imagined. Inspired by a true story from country Victoria, Melissa Reeves exposes the Australian political obsessions of the 1960s with much humour and an astuteness that gives the play contemporary bite. The play includes an introduction by Stuart Macintyre, Ernest Scott Professor of History at the University of Melbourne. 2 acts, 6 males, 6 female. { 87pp, 135x210mm, December 2005; PB, £9.50, 0868197688:9780868197685 , Currency Press } |
| SPOTSWOOD [Max Dann and Andrew Knight] Starring Anthony Hopkins and Ben Mendelsohn and nominated for 9 AFI awards. { 82pp, 150x230mm, October 1992; PB, £8.99, 0868193151:9780868193151 , Currency Press } |
| SPURBOARD [Nick Enright] This is a large play for a large cast centring around a group of young people in their late teens growing up in a country town. It covers the next couple of years in their lives as each endeavours to make their own way in the world. Some manage to follow their dreams, others fall by the wayside, but the play never loses its sense of optimism and life affirmation. The world of the play moves from the dustbowl of the rodeo circuit to the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and incorporates a number of issues important in young lives: being true to oneself; exploring one's sexuality; dealing with parental pressures; sibling rivalry; competitive pressures of success and failure; staying in a country town or going 'where the money is'. { 120pp, 135x210mm, July 2001; PB, £7.99, 0868196436:9780868196435 , Currency Press } |
| ST JAMES INFIRMARY [Nick Enright] As protestors march against the war in Vietnam, boys in a Catholic school prepare for their final exams (4 men, 2 women). { July 1993; PB, £9.50, 0868193445:9780868193441 , Currency Press } |
| ST KILDA TALES [Raimondo Cortese] This play chronicles the subculture that is St Kilda. Its numerous stories cross like tramlines, building a many-faceted picture of city life. Yuppies and sex workers live shoulder to shoulder, tourists descend in droves. And there's that buzz you only find when a potent urban mix draws everyone just a little closer to the edge. Cortese's epic theatre, at once monstrous and exquisite, teems with lifeforce. (5 male, 5 women). { 81pp, 135x210mm, May 2001; PB, £8.50, 086819641X:9780868196411 , Currency Press } |
| STATE OF OUR ART : NSW Perspectives in Educational Drama [Christine Hatton and Michael Anderson, Editors] The 'State of the Arts' series has showcased current thinking, research practices and historical perspectives in drama education in NSW and beyond for well over a decade. This book continues the journey by providing chapters on issues that are of interest to drama educators. In this publication the Educational Drama Association of New South Wales celebrates the wealth of research and practice emanating from NSW in particular. The contributors, who are some of Australia's leading voices in educational drama, discuss a diverse range of issues including: developing pretexts using computer-based technology; applications of process drama in children's television; using stories to develop authentic texts; multiliteracies in drama; making and understanding texts in drama; drama as embodied learning; video drama and transcodification; drama diversity and risk; historical perspectives on drama education in NSW. { 129pp, 155x230mm, December 2004; PB, £10.99, 0868197459:9780868197456 , Currency Press } |
| STATE OF SHOCK [Tony Strachan] Based on the true story of Alwyn Peter, a Queensland Aboriginal charged with murder in 1979; his case created legal precedent when he was released on parole after his lawyers argued that men, like Peter, were shaped and destroyed by their artificially created environments on Queensland reserves (2 acts, 3 men, 2 women). { December 1986; PB, £9.50, 0868196193:9780868196190 , Currency Press } |
| STEPHEN SEWELL : The Playwright as Revolutionary [Peter Fitzpatrick] An interpretative and critical analysis of the work of Stephen Sewell, an Australian playwright. The book is aimed primarily at students but should also be of value to those in the theatrical profession. { 168pp, 140x210mm, December 1991; PB, £9.50, 0868192856:9780868192857 , Currency Press } |
| STILL ANGELA [Jenny Kemp] This is an unpredictable portrait of a contemporary Australian woman at three ages. On the cusp of her birthday, Angela goes on a real and unimagined journey through time: up the garden path of her childhood; into the kitchen with her lover; and onto a train that travels into the Simpson Desert. It is here that deep change can occur and she relocates herself within the wider landscape. The possibility and inevitability of change is recognised, and Angela realises and celebrates her life. This evocative and innovative play may be read as a modern fairytale, exploring the linear and cyclical nature of a woman's life. (1 act, 2 men, 5 women). { 56pp, 135x210mm, May 2002; PB, £7.50, 086819672X:9780868196725 , Currency Press } |
| STRANGERS IN BETWEEN / HOLDING THE MAN (ADAPTATION) [Tommy Murphy and Timothy Conigrave] "Strangers in Between" -- There's a climate of fear in friendly Goulbourn and Shane is forced from his family, and flees to Kings Cross. A lost boy in a loopy neighbourhood, Shane is unsure of his sexuality, more unsure of how to find intimacy and completely thrown by having to choose between laundry liquid and powder. He meets two strangers -- the very-Sydney Will, who offers brotherhood, sex and something unexpected; and the beguiling Peter, a 50-year-old gay man whose mother is dying in a nursing home. After Shane's brother Ben makes a baffling appearance, a surprising relationship is forged. A relationship that will cleanse and heal. This is a warm, insightful and funny coming-of-age story with endearing characters and very well-observed dialogue from one of Australia's most talented emerging playwrights. "Holding the Man" - "Holding the Man" is breathtakingly honest, achingly funny and a completely heart-wrenching account of a fifteen year relationship that weathered disapproval, separation, temptation and, ultimately, death. It's a story, and a celebration, that speaks across generations, sexual preference and cultures. { 192pp, 140x210mm, December 2006; PB, £10.99, 0868197963:9780868197968 , Currency Press } |
| STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT [Abe Pogos] A young writer researches in New York's red light district. Chance encounters and a growing fascination draw him ever deeper along the mean streets into the stark realities of the city that never sleeps. On his descent into hell, he discovers the darkness that lurks in the hearts of all men; and in his own. A disturbing, contemporary thriller, winner of the 1996 Samuel Weisberg Award for Playwriting (2 acts, 4 men, 3 women). { November 1996; PB, £8.50, 086819462X:9780868194622 , Currency Press } |
| STRICTLY BALLROOM [Baz Luhrmann] The screenplay of the film that took the world by storm. { 86pp, 150x230mm, December 1992; PB, £9.50, 0868193593:9780868193595 , Currency Press } |
| SUM OF US : Film Script [David Stevens] Starring Jack Thompson and Russell Crowe, The Sum of Us won an AFI award for the best screenplay adapted from another source. Jeff is a pretty regular guy. A plumber in Sydney, he shares a house with his widowed dad. Harry likes a few beers and is actively looking for a permanent mate. But in this warm comedy, the extraordinary is contained in the relationship between father and son: Jeff is gay and Harry accepts and encourages his son's lifestyle with an enthusiasm that borders on meddlesome. For once, tolerance rather than intolerance, is the focus in a play about gay people. { 79pp, 150x230mm, January 1995; PB, £9.50, 0868194417:9780868194417 , Currency Press } |
| SUMMER OF THE ALIENS [Louis Nowra] Takes an affectionate look at madness and mayhem (3 acts, 5 men, 4 women, 2 boys, 3 girls). { October 1992; PB, £9.50, 0868193259:9780868193250 , Currency Press } |
| SUMMER OF THE SEVENTEENTH DOLL [Ray Lawler] The awakening to middle-age of two larrikin canecutters and their women (3 acts, 3 men, 4 women). { December 1978; PB, £9.50, 086819011X:9780868190112 , Currency Press } |
| SUMMER RAIN [Nick Enright and Terence Clarke] Turnaround Creek, outback Australia, Boxing Day, 1945. The dust and inertia settle on the town as Harold Slocum of Slocum's Travelling Tent Show becomes stranded in the town, emotions run high and the sedentary life of the town is distributed into wakefulness by the remembrance of an illicit affair. In this bittersweet musical, new life is breathed into the town with both humour and sensitivity. This is a lyrical story of rejuvenation and self-acceptance by acclaimed authors Nick Enright and Terence Clarke. (5 male, 7 female). { 78pp, 140x210mm, November 2001; PB, £9.50, 0868195634:9780868195636 , Currency Press } |
| SVETLANA IN SLINGBACKS / POST FELICITY [Valentina Levkowicz and Ben Ellis] Two plays. 'Svetlana in Slingbacks' is a vivid look back to the Cold War Sixties, when the gleam of the Sputnik was the only link with home for a ebullient family of Russian immigrants. It is a splendid tragic comedy that shows the effects of huge cultural change upon hope and expectations. (6 male, 3 female, 1 alien). 'Post Felicity' is a bitingly funny portrait of a self-obsessed couple, a fiendish employer, and their bizarre reactions to a tragic event. It is a savage satire of three baby-boomers fighting in a mire of their own waking. (2 male, 1 female). { 100pp, 135x210mm, May 2002; PB, £8.50, 0868196746:9780868196749 , Currency Press } |
| SWEET PHOEBE [Michael Gow] A superb dark comedy in which sensible priorities are forgotten, marriage is laid bare and a well adjusted suburban lifestyle lurches out of control (1 man, 1 woman). { March 1995; PB, £8.50, 0868194301:9780868194301 , Currency Press } |
| SWEET ROAD [Debra Oswald] Sweet Road or just another motorway? Jo is on the road. So too are Carla, Andy, Blake, Nicole and Browndog. Along with Yasmin, Michael, Frank and Curtis, each has a plan on where they are going and a determination to get there. But as their lives interweave and disperse and plans go awry, each of them discovers that the road they are travelling may not always take them where they expected, and if they are lucky, the destination may be more wonderful than any of them could ever have dreamed. Full of vitality and good humour, here is a play which explores the aspirations and idiosyncrasies of seemingly ordinary people as they cross the vast and far from ordinary Australian landscape. { 84pp, 135x215mm, August 2000; PB, £8.50, 0868196169:9780868196169 , Currency Press } |
| SWEETHEARTS OF RHYTHM : The Story of Australia's All-Girl Bands and Orchestras to the End of the Second World War [Kay Dreyfus] This book is about the all-girl dance bands and orchestras in Australia in the 1920-40s. Working on the margins of a profession dominated by men, women musicians have long played together, turning novelty and sex-appeal to advantage. Over a century has passed since the first all-woman orchestras made their mark on public consciousness and Kay Dreyfus' book pays homage to the often forgotten women of these bands, and orchestras, and their influence on popular culture in Australia. Sweethearts of Rhythms started life as an exhibition in 1995 at the Performing Arts Museum, Melbourne, put together by Kay Dreyfus using a number of oral history interviews and a selection of photographs from the era. Illustrated with over 200 photographs. { 128pp, 165x250mm, August 1999; PB, £12.99, 0868194522:9780868194523 , Currency Press } |
| SWIMMING THE GLOBE [Alana Valentine] Sydney has become the prime destination for the world's athletes as the 2000 Olympic Games approach. Teenage Stace Lukovic has been identified as a potential Australian swimming medalist. With some of the best training and coaching facilities in the world her chances of success are good. And she knows it. Swimming has become her life and her ambition to succeed is undeniable. Meanwhile, in the middle of war-torn Europe, Igorina Renford does not have the same privileges; but her will to win in Sydney is just as strong. Her chances of getting there, however, are slim until a meeting with journalist Mark Monroe gives her new hope. As he contrives to bring the two athletes together, their lives are set to change forever. This uplifting play questions the value of putting athletic development ahead of personal development. (1 act: 1 man, 2 women) { 78pp, 135x210mm, December 1999; PB, £7.99, 0868195952:9780868195957 , Currency Press } |
| TABLE FOR ONE [Claire Haywood] A hilarious comedy about sexual politics (2 men, 2 women). { March 1995; PB, £8.50, 0868194271:9780868194271 , Currency Press } |
| TEARS FROM A GLASS EYE [Matt Cameron] In this absurdist tale of random fate, a man called Titus is found unconscious and sunburnt in the dessert. He has lost his memory. A burned woman waits at a beach for a plane to explode overhead and fall into the sea. Titus is listed as a passenger on the flight. Intriguing and highly original, Tear from a Glass Eye is a comic allegory of a man who seeks to defy passion in favour of indifference (2 acts, 3 men, 2 women). { May 1998; PB, £8.50, 0868195596:9780868195599 , Currency Press } |
| THEATRE OF LOUIS NOWRA [Veronica Kelly] Veronica Kelly is Associate Professor in Drama in the English Department at the University of Queensland, is theatre critic for the Australian newspaper; and has written widely on Australian drama, notably about the work of Louis Nowra. This study presents a comparative interpretation of the cultural thematics of Nowra's theatre, with supportive reference where required to his prose, screen-writing or radio work. { 224pp, 140x215mm, December 1998; PB, £13.50, 0868195723:9780868195728 , Currency Press } |
| THEME FROM SAINT SAËNS' SYMPHONY NO3, THIRD MOVEMENT : Classic Tunes for Any Occasion No.1 [Russell Gilmour] The Theme from the Third Movement of Saint Saëns' Symphony No. 3 has been arranged by composer Russell Gilmour for virtually any mix of instruments. Ideal for any ensemble combination, the parts can be played by single or mixed instrumental ensembles and consorts such as string, guitar or brass families. An added feature is that some of the parts have been arranged for school string orchestras. Not only is there a choice of instrumentation but also of parts. If the ensemble doesn't have a bass instrument, then simply choose the parts suitable for the instruments available. Even the melody doesn't need to be played, as one of the many elegant countermelodies can be used instead. Classroom music teachers, community music ensembles, windbands and orchestras will find this Flexi-kit Arrangement totally adaptable. The parts range from very easy to moderate in ability, making them suitable for ensembles consisting of mixed levels of performance. Teachers and students using this Flexi-kit Arrangement are encouraged to experiment with different combinations to discover the virtually unlimited possibilities for instrumental colour and variety. { 160pp, 210x295mm, April 2001; PB, £36.99, 086819638X:9780868196381 , Currency Press } |
| THESE PEOPLE [Ben Ellis] ‘The whole country needs its stomach stapled. Too many people. It's bursting with struggles and languages and obesity. That's what border protection is about. A national diet. We were unhappy... maybe we still are -- but thanks to border protection we are more confident. Smaller.' So declares Mother in Ben Ellis's provocative play which explores Australia's border protection policies with inventive style. How do Australians deal with the cultural discomfort engendered by the country's treatment of refugees? In These People, the lives of a privileged nuclear family are juxtaposed against those of a family living behind the razor wire. And then there are the penguins... (1 Act, 2 male, 2 female). { 54pp, 135x190mm, August 2004; PB, £6.50, 0868197440:9780868197449 , Currency Press } |
| THIRD WORLD BLUES [Nick Enright] Graham, a conscript just back from the Vietnam War, is awaiting a reunion with his wife Keren when her lover Neville appears instead. Their confrontation is interrupted by the arrival of Neville's pregnant wife Elizabeth and then by Keren herself. The domestic comedy is dramatically overlaid by Graham's reverberating question: 'What have you done to stop the war?', but the ethics of protest are further complicated by the arrival of Dennis, Graham's army mate, who having discovered his own wife with another man, kidnapped their child and robbed a service station (2 acts, 5 men, 2 women). { January 1997; PB, £9.50, 0868195200:9780868195209 , Currency Press } |
| THIS WAY UP [Elizabeth Coleman] Melanie has had enough. Her journalist boyfriend Nick refers to trot around the globe visiting the world's hotspots rather than stay at home and help with the housework. There is only so much a girl can take! She's leaving! Unfortunately Nick arrives home unexpectedly and catches her packing. And now old friend Damien is suddenly showing dangerous signs of infatuation with her. Kris, her sister, is more interested in psychoanalysing the situation than being of any practical help. Just when things couldn't appear to get any more complicated a crisis arises next door and the foursome find themselves trapped in the house for the night. What unfolds is a very funny play about love gone wrong. (2 men, 3 women). REVIEW: "A very funny play about love gone wrong..." -- Dawn (Journal of the Drama Association of Wales), Autumn 2003. { 97pp, 135x210mm, November 2001; PB, £8.50, 0868196487:9780868196480 , Currency Press } |
| THREE DOLLARS : The Screenplay [Robert Connolly and Elliot Perlman] Eddie Harnovey is an intelligent and honest man who finds himself, at the age of 38, with a wife, a young child and three dollars. As Eddie struggles to retain his integrity and compassion, the human cost of economic rationalism is exposed in this riveting and suspenseful tale of living and loving in changing times. Adapted by Elliot Perlman (from his celebrated novel) and the film's director Robert Connelly (writer/director The Bank) the published screenplay includes an essay by Elliot Perlman, 'The Human Cost of Economic Rationalism', a foreword by Bob Ellis, colour stills from the film and full film credits. (1 act, 3 male, 4 female). { 108pp, 135x210mm, April 2005; PB, £9.50, 0868197696:9780868197692 , Currency Press } |
| THREE SCREENPLAYS : Lonely Hearts / My First Wife / A Woman's Tale [Paul Cox] Co-written with John Clark, Bob Ellis and Barry Dickins respectively, these three screenplays make a trilogy of love and death, the two great themes of Paul Cox's work. Lonely Hearts is a story of first love; My First Wife, the story of the disintegration of a mature relationship; and A Woman's Tale, is about the surviving partner of a wartime marriage who is succumbing to cancer. In all three films death is a constant presence and religion a broken need. Only love, made more precious by the prospect of its 'imminent, final interruption' gives meaning to life. { 188pp, 135x210mm, December 1998; PB, £13.50, 0868195472:9780868195476 , Currency Press } |
| TIME IS NOT YET RIPE [Louis Esson] A political comedy in the Shavian style (4 acts, 13 men, 5 women). { December 1977; PB, £9.50, 086819008X:9780868190082 , Currency Press } |
| TOBY [Abe Pogos] Toby is the social outcast in a nineteenth-century European village. Robbed by his best friend, hounded by the authorities and branded a gypsy, Toby's life is somewhat dysfunctional. In desperation he hatches a plan designed to enhance his chances with the beautiful Joan and his standing in the village generally. But he uncovers more about honesty and power than he anticipated. A timely and darkly comic fable, Toby explores racism, genocide and the politics of power. (2 Acts; 4 men; 2 women). { 64pp, 135x210mm, June 2004; PB, £8.50, 0868197335:9780868197333 , Currency Press } |
| TOO YOUNG FOR GHOSTS [Janis Balodis] The first Australian play to deal with the experience of post-war immigration (2 acts, 6 men, 3 women). { December 1991; HB, £9.50, 0868192813:9780868192819 , Currency Press } |
| TOP SHELF 1 : Reading and Writing the Best in Australian TV Drama [Greg Haddrick] Accomplished television writer Greg Haddrick presents a unique insight into the specialised format of television series and serials. More than just a manual on writing for television, this book critically assesses the best of Home and Away, Breakers, Good Guys, Bad Guys, Blue Heelers and Wildside in the light of the special conditions under which television drama is produced. { 146pp, 150x230mm, July 2001; PB, £13.50, 086819610X:9780868196107 , Currency Press } |
| TOP SHELF 2 : Five Outstanding Television Screenplays [Greg Haddrick, Editor] In both TV series and serials, the best screenplays are excellent, yet largely unrecognised -- because television screenplays are rarely published or critically assessed in terms of the restriction and conventions under which they are written. Consequently, the most popular and possibly the most influential art form in the Western world is the least studied. This book features five outstanding screenplays chosen by acclaimed television writer Greg Haddrick: Home and Away, Breakers, Good Guys, Bad Guys, Blue Heelers and Wildside. { 312pp, 150x230mm, July 2001; PB, £14.50, 0868196118:9780868196114 , Currency Press } |
| TOP SILK [David Williamson] A legal aid solicitor and a prominent barrister battle over their individual careers and the future of their teenage son (2 acts, 7 men, 3 women). { March 1990; PB, £9.50, 0868192635:9780868192635 , Currency Press } |
| TORRENTS [Oriel Gray] When J G Milford arrives in the goldfields town of Koolgalla in the 1890s to take up the position of assistant editor on the Argus newspaper, no one is prepared for the consequences. The paper's newest employee challenges not only the company structure, but its ethical base and even the family that runs it. The Torrents was highly acclaimed when named joint winner of the prestigious Playwrights' Advisory Board Competition in 1955. The play's comic style belies an underlying contempt for patriarchal chauvinism, irresponsible journalism and political and business opportunism. It could easily be set in the 1990s (2 acts, 11 men, 2 women). { October 1996; PB, £8.50, 0868194719:9780868194714 , Currency Press } |
| TORREZ [Ian Wilding] Torrez knows how to kick a football. But at thirty something he's on the wrong side of his playing career. His frazzled manager Foxy believes a media career beckons, but there may be one too many skeletons in the Torrez closet to get this sporting legend on primetime in the way they'd like. And then there's the terrible possibility that one of the skeletons is out of the closet and waiting at the front door for an autograph. Torrez is a raucously funny exposé of the world of celebrity and the longings at the heart of Australian masculinity, featuring two of the worst-behaved men seen on the Australian stage for a long time. (1 act, 3 males) { 56pp, 135x210mm, April 2004; PB, £8.50, 0868197343:9780868197340 , Currency Press } |
| TOUCH OF SILK [Betty Roland] Deals with the clash of cultures when a World War I veteran brings home a Parisian bride to the Victorian mallee country (3 acts, 7 men, 6 women). { December 1986; PB, £9.50, 086819154X:9780868191546 , Currency Press } |
| TRADE SECRETS : Australian Actors and their Craft [Terence Crawford] Australian actors are now taking their place on the international stage, becoming regulars among the nominees and winners of major international acting awards. They are famously indifferent to the honing of their skills outside of the actual workplace... ‘this book is a response to a nagging feeling I’ve had for many years that Australian actors are making it up as they go along...’ (Terence Crawford). So what is it about the approach, technique and focus of the Australian actor that has the entertainment world’s favour and respect? How do our best actors do what they do? 'Trade Secrets' is a fascinating examination of the acting processes of fourteen of Australia’s finest actors and will feature interviews with: Paula Arundell, Bille Brown, Helen Buday, Joel Edgerton, Judi Farr, John Gaden, Paul Goddard, Robert Grubb, Wendy Hughes, Heather Mitchell, Sean O'Shea, Pamela Rabe, Geoffrey Rush and Charles 'Bud' Tingwell. Each chapter gives an overview of the actors’ life, training, inspiration and reputation followed by an extensive interview with them about their craft and how they approach it. { 228pp, 150x230mm, June 2005; PB, £15.50, 0868197637:9780868197630 , Currency Press } |
| TRAITORS [Stephen Sewell] Set in Russia, 10 years after the Bolshevik Revolution. Examines the correspondence between cuelty and love, and conflicts of the personal and political (3 acts, 4 men, 4 women, extras). { March 1995; PB, £9.50, 0868194131:9780868194134 , Currency Press } |
| TREMENDOUS WORLDS : Australian Women's Drama 1890-1960 [Susan Pfidterer] Tremendous Worlds is a companion volume to Playing with Ideas and has a play corresponding to each of the book's seven chapters. The anthology makes accessible, for the first time, a selection of Australian women's plays from the first half of the twentieth century, plays that celebrate the diversity of female identities. Australian women, who won the vote decades ahead of those in England and the United States, have long had something to say that reflects their unique experiences. Some fascinating debates and musings are captured here, reminding us how revealing theatre can be of a society's beliefs and cultures. { 376pp, 135x210mm, July 1999; PB, £14.50, 0868195766:9780868195766 , Currency Press } |
| TUBAPHONICS [Raffaelle Marcellino, Editor] A collection of works for the tuba written or arranged by Australian composers including Jon Drummond, Kent Farbach, Russell Gilmour, Eric Gross, Raffaele Marcellino, Rosalind Page, Steven Rosse, Paul Sarcich, Caroline Szeto and Steve Wood. Tubaphonics is a celebration of music for the tuba with works chosen to represent various styles that the tuba player will encounter in a playing career, either amateur or professional. { 96pp, 225x305mm, August 1994; PB, £13.50, 0868193380:9780868193380 , Currency Press } |
| TWO BROTHERS [Hannie Rayson] The Benedict brothers are on opposite sides of the political divide. Eggs is the Minister for Home Security and prime minister-in-waiting. Tom is a refugee advocate and the head of a charitable foundation. The brothers have a relationship based on affection and respect. And in the jumble of family life they have managed to accommodate their ideological differences. But then, an Indonesian fishing boat, packed with refugees, goes down in the Indian Ocean on Christmas Day. Two hundred and fifty people drown, but one man survives. "Two Brothers" is a story about what happens when one family produces two powerful, passionate, socially-committed sons whose rival senses of duty bring them into deadly conflict. Most of all, it is a story about the struggle between compassion and security in an age of terror. Part political thriller, part family drama, "Two Brothers" is written with Hannie Rayson’s characteristic insight and humanity. Includes introductions by Katharine Brisbane and Tony Kevin. 2 Acts, 7 male, 2 female. { 82pp, 155x230mm, December 2005; PB, £9.50, 0868197815:9780868197814 , Currency Press } |
| UNDERWEAR, PERFUME AND CRASH HELMET [Michael Gurr] Robert is an MP with a slim majority. His wife, Caroline is a reformed hippy. Into their lives comes Lionel, a right-wing philosopher (2 acts, 3 men, 3 women). { December 1994; PB, £8.50, 0868193860:9780868193861 , Currency Press } |
| UNSPOKEN [Rebecca Clarke] "Unspoken" is a 50 minute one-woman show about family, disability, love and loss, written and performed by Rebecca Clarke. When Clarke was a teenager her only brother was born severely handicapped and this play explores that unique relationship. Beautifully crafted and rich in poetic imagery, this honest and deeply poignant piece of theatre takes the audience on a heart warming journey inside a young woman's soul, mind and heart. "Unspoken" is a refreshingly honest coming of age tale that combines poetic language and music and film to express a brave heart's tender voice. { 43pp, 115x160mm, December 2006; PB, £6.50, 0868197904:9780868197906 , Currency Press } |
| UP THE ROAD [John Harding] First produced in Melbourne by the Ilbijerri Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Theatre Co-operative in 1991. It was then work-shopped at the 1995 Australian National Playwrights' Conference. Neil Armfield has assembled a first rate team for a co-production between Playbox and Belvoir Street Theatre. John Harding's play is set in the remote Aboriginal community of Flat Creek, where life is pretty uncomplicated -- that is until Ian Sampson, Canberra bureaucrat, returns home. High spirited, irreverent and moving, Up the Road is a celebration of life, love and family (2 acts, 4 men, 3 women). { May 1998; PB, £8.50, 0868195081:9780868195087 , Currency Press } |
| UPSTAGED : Australian Women Dramatists in the Limelight at Last [Michelle Arrow] This book tells the stories of some of Australia's largely forgotten playwrights -- women who wrote drama that was performed on the nation's stages and broadcast across the airwaves from the late 1920s to the late 1960s. These women wrote a wide range of dramatic material that addressed the social and political concerns of their era as well as more commercial fare for a mainstream audience. Their work included morally-driven dramas for the stage, people radio series as well as musicals and agitprop sketches performed outside factory gates. The book incorporates personal narratives within a broader social and cultural history which shaped the writing lives of these authors. It focuses on the prevailing industrial and professional conditions and tells how authors survived them, illuminates the battle between art and commerce intrinsic to their identity as writers and investigates the perceptions that has meant much of this work has been forgotten. By concentrating on the working lives of these authors, the book overturns received ideas of the play, and scriptwriting of the period, showing it was both more substantial and significant than has previously been recognised. { 264pp, 150x230mm, November 2002; PB, £13.50, 0868196908:9780868196909 , Currency Press } |
| VENETIAN TWINS [Nick Enright] This comedy of love and errors set on a single day, somewhere between Verona and jindyworobak, has entranced audiences for twenty years. This entertaining romp put an Australian spin on Goldoni's classic Italian farce (2 acts, 7 men, 3 women). { February 1997; PB, £8.50, 0868194743:9780868194745 , Currency Press } |
| VERTIGO AND THE VIRGINIA / ROAD TO THE SHE-DEVIL'S SALON [Sven Swenson] Memory is at the heart of 'Vertigo and the Virginia', as Caylam attempts to understand his mother's past, hoping it may hold clues to his difficult relationship with her. At Caylam's bidding, Ruth re-visits her childhood in Adaminaby, a small town flooded in 1957 as the site for a new dam. When Ruth's mother, Frances, befriends Voya, a refugee, the consequences are painful. But as the late twentieth century and the 1950s collide to expose the secrets submerged with the town, each of the characters discover that memory is the only path to redemption. (2 male, 2 female). The Farrows and the Broadfoots rub elbows over more than half a century, laughing as much as they cry, trying to make sense of a tangled heritage and their long association with the idiosyncratic world of the Brisbane Markets. This epic tale charts their loves and losses with great humour and sensitivity. Winner of the inaugural Queensland Premier's Drama Award, 'Road to the She-Devil's Salon' is a saga of three generations of two families living much of their private lives in a public place. (4 male, 4 female). { 226pp, 140x215mm, August 2003; PB, £10.99, 0868197130:9780868197135 , Currency Press } |
| VIOLIN SONATA : Margaret Sutherland [Marina Marsden (violin) and Robert Chamberlain (piano), Editors] Written shortly after her return from Europe, this violin sonata is a strongly expressive and very personal work. The sonata has three movements showing expressionistic influences that explore a fleeting lyricism and constantly shifting harmonies. It is considered one of Sutherland's best works, highly distinctive and definitely a classic from the Australian violin repertoire. { 41pp, 210x295mm, September 1998; PB, £14.50, 0868195251:9780868195254 , Currency Press } |
| WAKING EVE [Robert Hewett] Eve's husband was having an affair, died prematurely of a heart attack and left her with a young child. Her life is falling apart. It must be. She's not so sure, but her friends remain convinced. She needs to find another man to fit into her life. Or so everyone else seems to think (2 acts, 3 men, 3 women). { December 1997; PB, £8.50, 086819509X:9780868195094 , Currency Press } |
| WALKABOUT [Louis Nowra] Nicolas Roeg's 'Walkabout' opened world-wide in 1971. It is the story of two white children lost in the Australian Outback. They survive only through the help of an Aboriginal boy who is on walkabout during his initiation into manhood. The film earned itself a unique place in cinematic history and was re-released in 1998. In this illuminating reflection, Louis Nowra, one of Australia's leading dramatists and screenwriters, discusses Australia's iconic sense of the outback; and the peculiar resonance that the story of the lost child has in the Australian psyche. He tells how the film came to be made and how its preoccupations fit into the oeuvre of both its director and cinematographer Nicolas Roeg, and its screenwriter Edward Bond. Nowra identifies the film's distinctive take on a familiar story and its fable-like qualities, while also exploring the film's relationship to Australia and its implications for the English society of its day. He recognises how relevant the film is to the contemporary struggle to try and find common ground between blacks and white. { 86pp, 135x190mm, June 2003; PB, £7.50, 0868197009:9780868197005 , Currency Press } |
| WALLFLOWERING [Peta Murray] A passion for ballroom dancing keeps Peg and Cliff going despite life's little disappointments (2 acts, 1 man, 1 woman, 2 dancers). { October 1992; PB, £9.50, 0868192988:9780868192987 , Currency Press } |
| WET AND DRY [Janis Balodis] The wit and use of surprise with which the play is propelled, keep at bay the more painful aspects of the situation (2 acts, 2 men, 2 women). { December 1991; PB, £9.50, 0868191671:9780868191676 , Currency Press } |
| WHAT'S RIGHT FOR ME [Joanne Hempel] Erica is a teenager whose parents divorce. She confides in her friend Sarah but oddly enough it is a stranger who provides the most comfort. Joanna Hempel explores the conflicting desires and needs felt by contemporary women and how these affect their relationships with their men and their children (1 act, 5 women). { December 1992; PB, £7.99, 0868193216:9780868193212 , Currency Press } |
| WHITE SPORTS COAT AND OTHER PLAYS [Tes Lyssiotis] Tes Lyssiotis' plays deal with the experience of migrant women grappling with life in foreign cultures. This outstanding collection includes: A White Sports Coat (1 act, 1 woman); The Forty Lounge Cafe (2 acts, 9 women); Blood Moon (1 act, 4 women). { February 1997; PB, £12.99, 0868194565:9780868194561 , Currency Press } |
| WICKED SISTERS [Alma De Groen] A humorous and acutely observed story of the friendship between four middle-aged women, refracted through their relationship to the late husband (Alec - a renowned intellectual and scientific genius) of one of them, Meridee. The once- university pals meet in the Blue Mountains at the house of Meridee after Alec's death. As the evening progresses, long buried secrets surface and events take a somewhat wicked turn. A blackly comic play that deals with issues related to women, careers, ageing, grief and relationships. (2 Acts, 4 female). { 80pp, 135x210mm, December 2003; PB, £8.50, 086819722X:9780868197227 , Currency Press } |
| WILD RICE [Huong Nguyen et al] This is a moving account of a Vietnamese family's adaptation to the social and cultural patterns of Australia. The story of the family's perilous journey from Vietnam eleven years earlier runs parallel with Sonny's struggle to appease his strict, traditional father and realise his own dreams (4 male; 5 female). { 48pp, 105x160mm, October 2002; PB, £5.99, 0868196878:9780868196879 , Currency Press } |
| WOLF [Tobsha Learner] An adult version of Little Red Riding Hood (2 men, 3 women). { October 1992; PB, £7.50, 0868193356:9780868193359 , Currency Press } |
| WOLF LULLABY : Revised Edition [Hilary Bell] In a bleak, remote town, a small child is murdered. Suspicion falls on nine-year-old Lizzie. Angela, Lizzie's young mother, is convinced her daughter is guilty. She must make the torturous choice between ignoring what her intuition tells her, and presenting Lizzie to the police with painfully extracted information. Lizzie is constantly haunted by a 'Wolf', which seems to overwhelm her and, in her own words, 'swallow' her. It is not only Lizzie who is changed forever by the act. Her father Warren, bewildered and full of denial, and the local policeman, Ray, find their accepted beliefs crumbling around them. And Angela, at the end of the play, does not know how she will go on. (2 male; 2 female). { 64pp, 135x210mm, March 2002; PB, £9.50, 0868196681:9780868196688 , Currency Press } |
| WOMAN IN THE WINDOW [Alma de Groen] In Stalin's Russia, the great poet Anna Ahkmatova is forbidden to write. In a future, denatured world, a young woman, Rachel, searches for what is missing in her life and the sterile world she inhabits. De Groen uses the lessons of a repressive, torturous chapter in history to illuminate an imagined sterile, artless future where the muses and gods of literature and science have virtually sunk without trace. In a world where a 'poet' means a man who researches poetry in the archives, where there is no nature or wildlife and the moon and stars are seen only in a virtual room created by accessing the science archives, Rachel becomes a dispossessed Akhmatova. When the literary archives, which are seldom accessed any more, are about to be switched off and the 'poets' de-listed, Rachel risks her life to save the poetry archives for future generations. (2 acts: 2 men, 5 women) { 80pp, 135x210mm, July 1999; PB, £9.50, 0868195936:9780868195933 , Currency Press } |
| WOMEN OF THE SUN [Hyllus Maris] The hero in each drama is a woman and their resilience in the face of despair and destruction gives a fresh insight into the history of race relations in Australia. { 234pp, 150x225mm, December 1983; PB, £9.50, 0868190810:9780868190815 , Currency Press } |
| WONDERLANDS [Katherine Thomson] In 1931, Alice, a white station owner, goes riding with her Aboriginal head stockman and friend, Jim. During the course of the afternoon, they come to an agreement about the running of the property, Ambertrue, and its ownership. Many years later, in an environment of white paranoia fed by misinformation, Alice's great nephew Lon is running Ambertrue. When Lon receives a letter announcing a native title claim in the area, he is terrified that his dream of passing the family property on to his son-in-law will be shattered. (2 acts, 3 male, 3 female). { 66pp, 135x210mm, July 2004; PB, £9.50, 0868197289:9780868197289 , Currency Press } |
| WORKERS' PLAYTIME : Theatre and the Labour Movement Since 1970 [Alan Filewod and David Watt] In the late 1960s and early 1970s, protest theatre exploded throughout the western world as young theatre-workers sought alliances with the labour movement. But with the erosion of trade union power and class-based politics, most of these partnerships, and the assumptions underpinning them, broke down. The politically-engaged theatre workers who endured were forced into new, more flexible ways of operating; forming what authors Alan Filewod and David Watt describe as 'strategic ventures'. This book concentrates on four strategic ventures in three countries, each with a distinctive story: the entrepreneurial focus of Ground Zero Productions in Canada, the 'Actuality' technique developed by Britain's Banner Theatre and, in Australia, the early shop floor work of Melbourne Workers Theatre and the broad community participation in Darwin's union-sponsored May Day parades. The book analyses why these ventures succeeded and what they learnt along the way. The authors conclude by drawing these experiences together to sketch the broad trajectory of an influential movement often overlooked by theatre scholars. The book provides a fascinating window into how socially engaged theatre artists can meet the challenges of survival and resistance in an increasingly corporatised world. { 278pp, 150x230mm, August 2001; PB, £17.50, 0868196312:9780868196312 , Currency Press } |
| YANAGAI! YANAGAI! [Andrea James] Munarra is a black woman, thrown from the skies into the Dreaming so that she may heal her land, the mighty river Dhungula and her people. In the present day, the Yorta Yorta people are in court, fighting for a right to their land. Yanagai! Yanagai! Is a war cry, the first recorded Yorta Yorta words spoken to the white men who went onto their land uninvited. As a piece of theatre it is a celebration of Yorta Yorta stories and song. Some of the stories are told so that they may be remembered; others are told in the hope that they never occur again. (3 male, 2 female). { 54pp, 140x215mm, September 2003; PB, £8.50, 0868197084:9780868197081 , Currency Press } |
| YOU'RE ON AIR [Graham J Andrews] A timely and practical handbook for volunteer community radio presenters covering all aspects of radio production and presentation from scriptwriting, news gathering, interviewing techniques, timing, presenting and legal considerations, to advances in broadcast technology. { 160pp, 180x240mm, November 1995; PB, £9.99, 0868194042:9780868194042 , Currency Press } |
| ZIGZAG STREET [Philip Dean] Richard Derrington is twenty-eight and single. More single than he'd like to be. More single than he'd expected to be, and he's not coping terribly well. Since Anna trashed him six months ago and moved to Melbourne, he's been trying to find his life again. This play adaptation of Nick Earl's award-winning novel covers six weeks of Richard's life in the house his grandparents built; six weeks of rumination, chaos, poor judgement, interpersonal clumsiness and, eventually, hope as he stumbles from one incident to another. (2 Acts, 2 men, 3 women) { 110pp, 135x210mm, April 2004; PB, £8.50, 0868197300:9780868197302 , Currency Press } |