LEVIATHAN

Programs Projects and Partnerships - Award Winner Division C

Sydney Theatre Company Resident Director, Stefo Nantsou, adapted John Birmingham’s award-winning book, “Leviathan...The Unauthorised History of Sydney” into a large-scale collaborative theatre work involving a cast of culturally-diverse performance groups from around Hurstville; others local to Liverpool and Bankstown; and Sydney Theatre Company’s permanent ensemble of actors, The Residents.

Birmingham’s sprawling non-fictional examination of Sydney, blending factual recreations of early penal settlement, brutal accounts of racism and abuse, and powerful stories of immigration, was rich with drama, comedy, characters and events which leapt off the page, ripe for theatrical adaptation. Stefo, in collaboration with the performers, Council’s Cultural Development section and STC, forged a large-scale theatrical production that brought the essence of the book alive, integrating both professional and non-professional performers, from all backgrounds, in a unique presentation of "our monstrous and sea-abiding city’s colourful history".

The two Hurstville shows opened Hurstville's 2010 Discovery Festival of Community Arts.

• Cultural Officer

  Anne-Marie Wiles ()

• Award Category

  Programs Projects and Partnerships – Division C

Other Projects

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