STAGE FRIGHT!

He may hold an Order of Australia (AM) and have book sales shooting up near the nine millions, but to the legions of kids who have grown up with Paul Jennings delightfully twisted tales, including Unreal! Unbelievable! and other exclamatory titles, this Warrnambool-based author is a legend in his own right.

In Stage Fright! adaptor Richard Tulloch (the acclaimed The Book of Everything) and director Ali Kennedy-Scott (The Day the Sky Turned Black) collates a number of his best and most performance-friendly shorts into a theatrical adventure replete with mad scientists, chickens and punk rockers (remember that one?)

Says Kennedy-Scott: “Our challenge is to get kids away from the passive entertainment of their computer screens and Playstations and into a theatre where they can interact with the actors and in a small way become part of the show.  For some of those attending, Stage Fright! might be their first time in a live theatre and the cast and crew are determined to make it one they won’t forget.” To put it in Jennings-jargon: unforgettable! (AB)

Jan 12-28, New Theatre, 542 King St, Newtown, $15-60 (family), 1300 13 11 88, newtheatre.org.au