Performing Lines to produce major new work Anthem

We’re thrilled to announce that we will be working with Arts Centre Melbourne as the producing partner of Anthem: the long-awaited follow up to one of Australian theatre’s most acclaimed collaborations.

Twenty-one years ago four playwrights and a composer came together to create Who’s Afraid of the Working Class?, a series of powerful interwoven vignettes that captured the zeitgeist of Melbourne and Australia in the 1990s.

To mark its 20 year anniversary, Arts Centre Melbourne has commissioned the same team of some of Australia’s greatest contemporary playwrights Andrew Bovell (Things I Know to be True), Patricia Cornelius (SHIT), Melissa Reeves (Happy Ending), Christos Tsiolkas (The Slap) and Irine Vela (The Audition) to take the pulse of our nation today.

Performing Lines will work with Arts Centre Melbourne and our festival partners to bring this incredibly important play to the stage, and support bold and brave new writing by some of Australia’s greatest playwrights.

“Who’s Afraid of the Working Class? is one of the most powerful plays in our theatrical canon and its message is still as important as ever. Anthem carries that message further to survey Australian society today. We’re proud to be assisting a diverse and multi-generational cast of performers and musicians to give voice to this work, and to showcase the unparalleled talents of these independent artists in a major large-scale production.” said Marion Potts, Executive Producer of Performing Lines.

Led by director Susie Dee and an extraordinary ensemble of performers, the play is a funny and ferocious portrait of a country unable to reconcile its past, uncertain of its future and political vision. The colliding voices that make up this anthem might not always be in harmony, but they cannot be silenced.

The world premiere season of Anthem will take place 1-6 October at Arts Centre Melbourne, as part of Melbourne International Arts Festival. Tickets go on sale Monday 22 July.

For more info on the show and to book tickets, click here.