New Theatre

New Theatre is delighted to present its first play for 1999, a timely new production of Summer of the Aliens by Louis Nowra, opening Saturday, January 9. Originally conceived by Nowra as the first part of an autobiographical trilogy, Summer of the Aliens explores with warmth and humanity, the awakening of a boy's sexuality and the development of his relationships in an environment characterised by the surrounding adults' own failings and flawed relationships.

This is no sentimental journey, rather an account of the relationships and events, the wonder and terror which shaped a fourteen year old boy's emerging sense of self. It is a play about the angels and aliens within us all, and a guide to the genesis of many of Louis Nowra's themes. At the same time, Summer of the Aliens is a call for greater understanding (but not necessarily acceptance) of human emotional frailty and failure. (Nowra continues his exposition of human nature and the search for meaning in Cosi - the second play in his as yet unfinished trilogy - where intellectual flaws become metaphors for the human drives that determine our relationships with one another.)

Summer of the Aliens explores the essential conflict between reason and passion, love and violence, angels and aliens. Through the use of the Narrator (the playwright?), Nowra looks back on the past with a spirit of reconciliation, where past good and evil are examined without judgement so that the present can be explained.

Aarne Neeme directed Alex Buzo's Pacific Union for New Theatre in 1998 and makes a welcome return in 1999 with Summer of the Aliens. Aarne Neeme has directed over 200 professional productions covering both classical and contemporary repertoire and has held the positions of Artistic Director for The Actors Centre (Sydney), Hole in the Wall Theatre (Perth), Hunter Valley Theatre Company (Newcastle), and National Theatre Company (Perth).

Playwright, Louis Nowra, perhaps best known for Cosi and the eponymous film, has also been acclaimed for the plays Radiance, Inner Voices, The Golden Age and Inside the Island.