Alana Valentine

Narelle is Sydney born and bred but lately she's lost her sense of belonging. Something keeps bringing her back to Pyrmont. This peninsula was her family's bedrock, and the home of her extraordinary grandmother June, who held everything together through the decades: a son's brush with the law, a daughter's battles with demons, a husband's decline. Life revolved around the sugar refinery. For a time this was the sweetest neighbourhood in the country. But the family bedrock, like the sugar, has dissolved away. Narelle can't fix the past, but maybe she can fix the future. A story of Sydney - work and corruption, family and massive social change. A story of how Australia went from working class to middle class. 'Valentine, an essential Australian dramatist, writes the marginalised and oft-persecuted fringes of Australia into our dramatic canon with long-denied dignity and grace. The Sugar House is a gift of theatre; an exploration of who we were, who we are and who we wish we could be.' - TIMEOUT

'I want to be extreme Unreasonably rude I like to spit and scream Inappropriately crude I drink St Agnes Brandy In a paper cup with ice And when I'm feeling randy Don't expect me to be nice High maintenance me Real piece of work you see A troublesome stunt Instincts of a ...'Wild, unpredictable, and deeply vulnerable, Barbara and her sister Rene are singing for their lives. Barbara's been trying to make it in Sydney, but when their mother's health deteriorates, the sisters embark on a pilgrimage back home to country. Full of painful, unfinished business for Barbara, their return sends her into a downward spiral. Can Barbara find a way to resolve the past in time to preserve love in the only family she has known?Through music that ranges from punk-inspired explosions of rage, to tender rock and soul ballads full of yearning, Barbara and the Camp Dogs is a gob-spit of fun, frenzy and family that finds beauty in honesty and hope in confronting the past.

"The most powerful thing that has been done on my story, and the most true to what I lived through." - Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton The court case captivated a nation. A mother accused of murdering her child, her claim ""that the baby was taken by a dingo"" denied and discredited by zealous police and a flawed legal system. The media circus, the rumours, the nation's prejudices laid bare. And in the eye of the storm: Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton. Over three decades, from baby Azaria's death to the final coroner's report, the public's fascination with Lindy seldom waned. The National Library holds a collection of more than 20,000 letters to Lindy. From sympathy to abuse, from marriage proposals to death threats, the correspondence traverses the gamut of responses to Lindy's story. Letters to Lindy draws on this correspondence and interviews with Lindy herself. It is an enthralling, revealing, and long overdue dialogue between Lindy and the nation; a portrait of the wisdom and resilience of a grieving mother. This powerful work by award-winning playwright Alana Valentine (Ladies Day, Parramatta Girls) explores the public's relationship with one of Australia's most iconic figures.

It's Ladies Day at the Broome races and the divinely beautiful Mike is the toast of the track. But amongst the froth and festivity, a brutal act of violence reminds us that life is not just all swishy hemlines, debonair gents and fascinators galore. Alana Valentine is one of Australia's best playwrights. Known for her incredibly successful verbatim works, she takes her interviews and research with individuals and communities, and mixes them with a healthy dose of drama. The result is powerful, thought-provoking theatre in which the voices of her protagonists ring absolutely true. Alana spent months interviewing the gay community of Broome to create a play that asks questions about tolerance, isolation, love, hope and the right to have your story told.

When the National Rugby League thought they could jettison the Rabbitohs to streamline their competition they were in for a shock. South Sydney, a proud club that had won more premierships than any other, refused to lie down. Alana Valentine's play is a verbatim piece about the battle to overturn the decision. Based on extensive interviews with both the public faces of the campaign and the grassroots supporters, this is a story of passion and politics that goes beyond football. For when South Sydney came out fighting they proved the importance of community and the power of momentum. Their battle in the courts and streets of Sydney captured the imagination of the wider population as they successfully fought to regain the right to play league football at the top level.