30 Aug – 9 Oct
Trent Dalton's
Boy Swallows Universe
The blockbuster Australian novel inspired by Dalton’s own childhood comes alive onstage.
Brisbane Festival, Queensland Theatre and Queensland Performing Arts Centre present
World Premiere
Adapted for the stage by Tim McGarry
Directed by Sam Strong
Queensland Theatre (AUS)
Eli Bell’s childhood in the outer Brisbane suburbs is far from the idyllic 1980s haze some kids would remember. His alcoholic dad has shot through, his mum is in jail, his stepfather’s dealing heroin, his brother Gus won't talk and silently swirls cryptic messages in the air with his finger, and his babysitter Slim is a convicted killer and infamous escapee from Boggo Road Gaol.
Beset by chaos on all sides, it’s a run-in with the local crime king and his henchman that sets the 13 year old with the old soul on a journey to find out what kind of man he is going to be.
Boy Swallows Universe is adapted from the smash hit novel inspired by Brisbane author Trent Dalton’s own childhood. It’s an exhilarating story of magic and madness, of beauty and brutality, of joy and heartbreak, and of the power of love to triumph over the darkest of circumstances.
Creatives
Author Trent Dalton
Writer Tim McGarry
Director/Dramaturge Sam Strong
Designer Renée Mulder
Lighting Designer Ben Hughes
Composer/Sound Designer Steve Francis
Video Designer Craig Wilkinson
Movement Director Nerida Matthaei
Fight and Intimacy Director Nigel Poulton
Senior Stage Manager John Reid
Deputy Stage Manager Yanni Dubler
Assistant Stage Manager Margaret Burrows
Associates
Associate Motion Designer Jordan Pena
Assistant Fight Director Sam Valentine
Associate Sound Designer Matthew Erskine
Cast
Eli Bell Joe Klocek
August Bell/Ensemble Tom Yaxley
Lyle Orlik /Brian Robertson/Ensemble Anthony Gooley
Frankie Bell Michala Banas
Bich Dang/Mrs Birkbeck/Ensemble Ngoc Phan
Darren Dang/Ensemble Hoa Xuande
Slim Halliday/Tytus Broz/Ensemble Anthony Phelan
Iwan Krol/ Alex Bermudez/Ensemble Joss McWilliam
Caitlyn Spies/Shelley/Ensemble Ashlee Lollback
Robert Bell/Ensemble Mathew Cooper
Teddy Kallas/Ensemble Andrew Buchanan
Ensemble Charles Ball
Ensemble Hsin-Ju El
Price
$68 - $110 + Booking fee
Times
Mon, Tue 6.30pm
Wed 1pm, 7:30pm
Thur 7.30pm
Sat 2pm, 7:30pm
Auslan Interpreted: Mon 6 Sept, 6.30pm and Tue 5 Oct, 6:30pm
Audio Described: Sat 18 Sept, 2pm
Play Briefing: Mon 23 Aug, 6pm
Night with the Artists: Mon 6 Sept, 6.30pm
Duration
2 hrs 45 min, including a 20 minute interval
Where
Playhouse, QPAC ›
Cnr Grey and Melbourne St,
South Brisbane QLD 4101
Accessibility
Auslan interpreted events
Audio description
Wheelchair access
Assistive listening systems available
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Extraordinary and beautiful storytelling
The Guardian on
Trent Dalton's Boy Swallows Universe
Photos by David Kelly
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