What's On

There's more to land than real estate. There's more to family than DNA.

A fast, funny and darkly observant look at family, urban development and the progress of life, Felix Nobis’ Boy Out of the Country will have its Sydney premiere for two performances only at the new Pioneer Theatre this November 24.

A family property is suddenly zoned as part of a regional housing estate to accommodate an ever-increasing urban sprawl. At this moment of shifting economies, and loyalties, Hunter returns from a seven-year absence. Finding his boyhood house boarded up and his mother in aged care, Hunter goes in search of answers.

And he starts with his brother Gordon.

Presented as the premiere work at the inaugural Pioneer Play Festival by theatre makers Company of Rogues, Nobis’ ‘Boy’ is a bush ballad for contemporary life, written in vernacular verse reminiscent of the poetic tradition of Banjo Patterson.

Here, old Australia meets new Australia. A country cop comes to terms with rapid social change, a backyard is less important than extra bedrooms, and technology has the potential to unearth old family secrets. For Hunter and Gordon, sibling rivalry and childhood nostalgia collide with unexpected consequences.

The debut work for Director Erica Lovell, co-directed by Goldele Rayment, this new production features a stellar cast including Brendan Miles (A Place to Call Home), Tom Harwood (Things Not to do After a Break Up), Jason Glover (Van Dieman's Land), Jeannie Gee (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), and Amelia Robertson-Cuninghame (Anatomy of an Offence, Love Child).

“A play infused with the vitality of Aussie idiom and melodrama, that crackles with understatement and wit.” Cameron Woodhead, The Age

“Mr Nobis’s writing is a particular kind of brilliant… Nobis’s command of ‘vernacular verse’ is faultless” Stage Whispers

A story of land, family and belonging, Boy Out of the Country emerged from the Melbourne Theatre Company Affiliate Writers Scheme and was awarded the R. E. Ross Trust Script Development Award.