Time to make sure you have your story straight and your alibi sorted for the November premiere of Death In A Statesman. This is noir theatre with a regional Queensland twist.
The plot of Death in a Statesman includes a suspicious death, strained family relationships, generational change, and a reckoning of what being Australian actually means.
The play is set in Bundaberg and spans from 1985 to the present day, taking in a range of characters that will be immediately familiar to anyone with a nostalgic love of regional Queensland. But all the typical tropes of noir, including the centrality of the white, middle-aged male detective, get turned on their head in Kronk’s hilarious yet deeply felt text.
Cliff’s life is in the toilet: he’s lost his wife, his job, and he’s back living in Bundaberg. Struggling to reconcile with his daughter (and his mother), Cliff navigates family dramas, local politics, and a potential murder case … all without a car.
Elliott’s doing alright: she’s finishing Year 12, looking after her grandmother, and running the family newsagent … until her estranged father turns up out of the blue, the mayor turns up dead, and the papers don’t turn up at all.
Of all the rum joints in all the world, it had to happen in Bundy.
Growing up in the Bundaberg region, Robert Kronk has written this play as an ironic but warm love letter to his hometown. “I love the noir genre and I just wondered what that would look like set amongst the cane paddocks and the hot sleepy streets of Bundy that I remember from my childhood. All these incredible characters just started emerging,” he said.
Award-winning director Bridget Boyle explains “The title is more than a typical Kronkian play on words. Just like in Death of a Salesman, our hero has to have a reckoning with himself about his relevance in a changing world. This show is going to make you laugh and then cry. I can’t wait for everyone to see it,” she said.
Season: 8-12 November 2022 @ 7.30pm (Preview 8th all tickets $11 plus booking fee)
Venue: Judith Wright Centre
Tickets: General Admission $33; Concession $25; Groups of 10+ $22 (plus booking fee)
Bookings: https://debase.com.au/shows/death-in-a-statesman/
Details: Suitable for ages 15+. Contains mild swearing or offensive language, adult themes and haze/smoke effects.
