Riverside Theatres 2018 Season

In 2018, Riverside Theatres will celebrate 30 years of sharing stories on the stage and screen. To coincide with this significant year, Riverside has compiled a diverse anniversary program to reflect the broad interests of its audiences and the community.

In the New Year, Riverside will present two international productions including the thoughtful solo storytelling show, Taha, based on the life of Palestine poet Taha Muhammad Ali, and the family production direct from London, Wilde Creatures, inspired by Oscar Wilde’s fairy tales.

Riverside will once again welcome major Australian theatre companies and their productions to Parramatta including Sydney Theatre Company’s political satire The Wharf Revue, Opera Australia’s romantic tragedy Madame Butterfly, Hayes Theatre Co’s hit musical Calamity Jane, and Packemin Productions’ Shrek - the Musical, starring Playschool’s Jay Laga'aia as Shrek.

Quintessentially Australian stories will include Merrigong Theatre Company’s Letters to Lindy by award-winning playwright Alana Valentine, The Climbing Tree based on the experiences of generations of teenagers in rural NSW, HIT Productions’ Hotel Sorrento by Hannie Rayson and ATYP’s A Town Named War Boy based on the State Library of NSW’s jaw-dropping collection of First World War diaries, photographs and letters.

Two Aboriginal stories feature in the 2018 program - Nakkiah Lui’s Black is the New White from Sydney Theatre Company and Nathan Maynard’s The Season from Tasmania Performs. 

Riverside will present ten children’s productions in 2018. Highlights of the children’s program include Michael Sieders’ The Magic Pudding which celebrates the 100^th anniversary of Norman Lindsay’s classic book, Stalker Theatre and Out of the Box’s Creature: Dot and the Kangaroo, and Windmill Theatre Co’s Big Bad Wolf, a fresh look on the infamous character.

Sport for Jove, will return to Riverside with three of Shakespeare’s greatest plays - The Tempest in May and Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream in June. 

In 2018, Riverside’s National Theatre of Parramatta will celebrate its third year with a  season of four world premieres and six Australian plays. Exploring themes of family, identity, belonging and love, the productions include Flight Paths, Stolen, The Girl / The Woman, (Generation 3) Sleeplessness and Jesus wants me for a sunbeam. 

Riverside’s resident contemporary dance organisation, FORM Dance Projects, will present a 2018 program of four new works, and the annual competitive dance festival, Sharp Short Dance. Productions will include Valley, Dancescience Moving Well, Above Ground and Plenty Serious Talk Talk. 

In celebration of its 30^th pearl anniversary year, Riverside has launched a new membership program for patrons 30 years and under. The 30 Club will offer significantly discounted tickets across all programmes, exclusive offers and special activities for a $30 annual membership fee. 

Director of Riverside Theatres Robert Love said, “To celebrate 30 years of entertaining Parramatta, we have put together a program for all tastes of which Sydney’s Central City can be proud.  Let’s just say, next year will be a pearler!”

For further information, visit the Riverside Theatres’ website at: https://riversideparramatta.com.au

Images: The Tempest (photo Phil Erbacher) & Calamity Jane (photo Marnya Rothe).