Theatre Works 2020 Launch

This Bitter Earth. Image credit: Matthew Predny

Theatre Works has launched its 2020 program and it looks set to be an impressive year of theatre. For forty years, Theatre Works has consistently supported and cultivated emerging artists and theatre companies while being particularly encouraging of new Australian works, something it has once again accomplished. "Theatre Work’s history is steeped in hard work, built by the aspirations of countless artists and passionate creators as they continue to deliver what can only be recognised as powerful, relevant and vital performances," General Manager, Dianne Toulson says. "In 2020, we celebrate and uphold the values that Theatre Works is built on with a provoking, playful and proud program." While all 20 productions can be seen on the Theatre Works website, we have a look at a number of the offerings that are on the table.

PUFFS review | Alex Theatre

I am not a Harry Potter fan, and I say that having never read the books or watched the movies, but the story of a boy wizard and magic spells have never interested me. That is, until I saw PUFFS or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic. Set during Harry and friends' time at said school of magic, PUFFS focuses on another student who was around at the time of Harry's reign, Wayne, and his friends who had been assigned house Puff, the house that no one really wants to be assigned.

Written by Matt Cox, PUFFS is littered of Harry Potter references and in-jokes, and while some of them went over my head, if you are at all familiar with the tropes of such stories, then you will still find yourself laughing along. Cox isn't just making cardboard cutouts of fantasy stories in his play, but creating fully fleshed out characters with motivations and desires that you find yourself supporting wholeheartedly. This is done so carefully and considered, that you don't realise how emotionally attached you are to the characters until the final genuinely suspenseful scenes.