A young adult dramedy about Clive, a boy who wears a top hat to school (in case he goes back in time), Bianca, the cool girl who bullies him (and might have a crush on him), Xavier, the world’s worst stepbrother (who wants to be a crime lord), Dylan, the school dropkick (who’s about to snap), and (perhaps) time travel.
The Other End of the Afternoon by Bokkie Robertson is a delightful new Australian play, suitable for both teens and like-minded adults, is a humorous, whimsical, quirky and surprisingly moving exploration of loneliness, connection, classism, family, relationships, and – most importantly – whether the grossest vegetable is eggplant or corn.
The New Theatre is excited to be bringing the world premiere of this new Australian play to Sydney audiences as part of the Sydney Fringe Festival.
This production continues our commitment to present the best scripts from the Silver Gull Play Award entries of the past couple of years, following on from The Park and The Chocolate Roster in January, and the acclaimed and sold-out season of Gods and Little Fishes in June.
Young Sydney playwright Bokkie Robertson has shared her thoughts on what inspired her to create her play:
“A couple years back, I jotted down a dumb little freeform poem about how some afternoons can take you back in time. Shortly thereafter, a nearby bottle shop did a Johnnie Walker promotion and put all their employees in button-ups and top hats, which was bizarre but also, if we’re being honest, kind of a Look.
My whole brain went ‘oh there’s a character in that’, followed swiftly by ‘and that character for sure believes in time travel afternoons’, followed with equal haste by ‘he gets bullied for it’, and rounded out with ‘one of his bullies is weirdly into him (and super mad about it)’.
With the clever addition of some tried and true classics like Plot and Other Characters, and a litany of personal favourites like Jokes, Chaos, Juvenile Delinquency and Soup, I found my way to The Other End of the Afternoon, a semi-ridiculous-but-also-quite-serious high school dramedy about a bunch of kids who fully believe time travel will fix their problems, and do everything they can to make it happen.
Underneath all that, of course, the play has some pretty important things to say about bullying, escaping abusive situations, and the effects of punitive discipline, and my dearest hope is that its theme of You’re Allowed To Leave resonates with people who need it most.
But mainly, yeah, it’s about crime and romance and jokes – and, maybe, afternoons that take you back in time.”
Bokkie is a stage and screen storyteller living and working on Gadigal land. She has a BA Screen (Production) from AFTRS and a Certificate III in Live Productions, Theatre and Events. Her body of work includes Shakespeare-inspired webseries Call Me Katie and its sequel Nothing Like The Sun, Short+Sweet Gala Finalist Wish, apocalyptic one-act drama Headbanging to Beethoven, and an immersive adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing.
Bokkie is also taking on directorial duties for the production, and has put together a terrific team: Blake Hedley (set and costume design), Dany Akbar (lighting), Paris Bell (sound), Ben Bauchet (composer), together with cast Lisa Hanssens, Sam Martin, Brendan McBride, Rebekah Parsons, Courtney Powell, Dominique Purdue, Sophie Teo and Sam Wallace. This production features strong language and is suitable for ages 13 and up.
SEASON New Theatre: 542 King St Newtown
14 September – 1 October 2022
PERFORMANCES
Previews Wed 14 & Thu 15 September 7:30pm
Fri 16 & Sat 17 September 7:30pm
Sun 18 September 5pm
Thu 22 – Sat 24 September 7:30pm
Sun 25 September 5pm
Thu 29 & Fri 30 September 7:30pm
Sat 1 October 2pm
TICKETS
Full $25
Concessions, Groups (6+) $20
Previews $15
BOOKINGS
https://sydneyfringe.com/events/the-other-end-of-the-afternoon/
WEBSITE
https://newtheatre.org.au/the-other-end-of-the-afternoon/
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