About

Families are like seasons: you don’t get to pick them, and when they show up you best be ready.

Somewhere between mainland Australia and its southern-most mate Tassie lies Dog Island. For six weeks every year that’s where you’ll find the Duncans, a mob as funny as they are unforgettable.

They come back to roost for mutton-bird season, and have done for as long as anyone can remember. Amid the threat of snakes and Pop’s explosive temper, the family reunites with a country and culture still very much alive.

But their long memories and smart-arse streak mean it’s not just the birds sticking their beaks where they’re not welcome.

Old secrets are dug from their burrows and fledgling rivalries begin to take flight – it might all fall apart if it wasn’t for the fierce love that holds this bunch together.

Country Arts SA is proud to present the South Australian tour of the heart-warming family drama-comedy, The Season, by award-winning playwright Nathan Maynard, which premiered at the Sydney Opera House last year.

Directed by Isaac Drandic with a stellar cast including: Trevor Jamieson (The Secret River, Bran Nue Dae), Matthew Cooper (Redfern Now), Lisa Maza (The Sapphires, Black Arm Band), Nazaree Dickerson, Della Rae Morrison, Maitland Schnaars and James Slee.
“It is full of happy vulgarity, good gags and storytelling and, above all, a cast of crazy characters whom you cannot help liking”  The Australian

Stick around after the performance to connect with the cast at a Q&A session.

Age suitability: 15+
Contains coarse language and sexual references – parental discretion advised.

Creative Team

Writer Nathan Maynard
Director Isaac Drandic
Dramaturg Peter Matheson
Set and Costume Designer Richard Roberts
Original Lighting Design Rachel Burke
Lighting Realisation Simon Rush
Sound Designer Ben Grant
Production Manager Peter Ashman
Stage Manager Simon Rush
Head Mech/ASM Matthew Hobson

A Tasmania Performs production. The Season is supported by the Australian Government through the Major Festivals Initiative and the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body; and the Tasmanian Government through Arts Tasmania.

Writers Retreat

First Nation Emerging Writers Retreat

First Nations emerging writers from around South Australia are invited to participate in a series of free writing workshops and discussions during a writers retreat at Narrung on Ngarrindjeri country. Nathan will team up with Adelaide based playwright Alexis West to facilitate the retreat, which will include a cultural tour of Raukkan, cultural food sharing and a unique opportunity to meet other emerging writers from around. Camping and catering will be provided for all participants on 5 & 6 May at Narrung Aboriginal School to share a yarn and work with Nathan and Alexis on their stories. Participation in the Retreat us free of charge.

Nathan Maynard

Country Arts SA is honoured to be touring Nathan’s award winning production, The Season, in August and he is offering a unique opportunity for emerging writers to develop and share their own stories. Nathan Maynard is a descendant of the chief of the Trawlwoolway Clan and of the whole of the North East Tasmanian Indigenous peoples. The Season is a loving portrait of a Tasmanian Aboriginal family who return each year to Dog Island in the Bass Strait for Mutton Bird Season, a tradition that endures and thrives despite two centuries of colonisation. Nathan is eager to share his experience and knowledge from his 17 years’ experience as a dancer, performer and writer. He was the recipient of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Artist of the Year Award in 2006 and 2013, and recently won the Green Room Award for Best New Writing for The Season, his first full  length play.

 

Alexis West

Alexis West has worked as a dancer, choreographer, performer, writer, theatre-maker and filmmaker over the past 20 years. As a Birri Gubba, Wakka Wakka and Kanak woman, Alexis is passionate about First Nation people’s voices as well as the stories of people with disability and people from diverse backgrounds. She has worked as an artistic director, writer, and facilitator for organisations including the Karrikarrinya Theatre Collective, SA Writers Centre, Spirit Festival, Our Mob, Art Gallery SA, and Adelaide Fringe. Alexis has devised and directed new works for No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability since 2008, and worked as AD, co-writer and performer for State Theatre Company SA. Alexis is an active member of the South Australian Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Storytellers and Writer’s group as well as a proud working party member of FNAWN (First Nations Australia Writers Network) and reports for NITV “Around the Traps”.

Please complete the following application form to register your interest. If you have any questions or require assistance with the form, please contact Lilla Berry on 08 8444 0422 or email [email protected]. Travel assistance may also be available, please advise us if you would like further information.

Applications close 30th April 2018.

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Writers Workshops

Writers Workshops with Nathan Maynard – 3-12 May

Writing workshops and engagement opportunities with Nathan Maynard will be held across the state in Mt Gambier, Port Pirie, Port Augusta and Whyalla.

Acclaimed playwright of The Season, Nathan Maynard is a descendant of the chief of the Trawlwoolway Clan and of the whole of the North East Tasmanian Indigenous peoples. Nathan is eager to share his experience and knowledge with writers and will be running engagement opportunities across South Australia. Join him for a writing workshop, a fireside yarn, “Gumnuts to Buttons” board game or a First Nations only writers retreat in Raukkan. Nathan has 17 years’ experience as a dancer, performer and writer and was the recipient of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Artist of the Year Award in 2006 and 2013.

Click here to download The Season Education Notes.

Mt Gambier – Friday 4 May

Port Pirie – Tuesday 8 May
Tarpari Wellbeing Centre

Port Augusta –  Thursday 10 May
Umeewarra Aboriginal Media Association

Whyalla – Friday 11 May
Gabmididi Manoo Children & Family Centre

 

Please complete the following application form to register your interest. If you have any questions or require assistance with the form, please contact Lilla Berry on 08 8444 0422 or email [email protected]. 

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