In Housework, celebrated South Australian writer Emily Steel smashes through said doors to give us a whip smart, gaspingly funny and incisive deep dive into the corridors of power.
With shades of Veep, The Thick of It and The Hollowmen, Steel (Euphoria) unlocks some devilish and dangerous truths in this bold new black comedy about what goes on in Parliament House.
Kelly Sheppard, a naive but excited junior staffer in the Electorate Office of Ruth Mandour, a first-term Member of Parliament, unexpectedly gets the chance to travel to Canberra with the passionate MP she idolises and Ruth’s brilliant-but-exhausted Chief of Staff, Anna Cooper.
Anna’s juggling Ruth’s new policy launch, a husband who can’t deal with their kid in her absence and the type of muffins the Member requires for a meeting while Kelly’s over the moon to get behind the scenes at Parliament and to watch her hero in action.
But getting what you want in the nation’s capital requires some fancy footwork. What they all experience in that week makes them question their ambitions, their ideals and the value of democracy itself.
Two of Australia’s greatest comic actresses take to the stage in this thrilling world premiere – acclaimed actress and comedian Susie Youssef, star of The Project, Deadloch and The Appleton Ladies Potato Race assumes the ministerial mantle while Emily Taheny, she of a thousand characters from Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell, is set to juggle a plethora of political hot potatoes as Anna, with direction from State Theatre Company South Australia Artistic Associate Shannon Rush (Cathedral, The Puzzle).
Artistic Associate with State Theatre Company South Australia Shannon Rush will again take up the Director’s role.
“At State Theatre Company South Australia, we’re huge advocates for new South Australian playwriting and I’m humbled that this will be the fourth new SA play I’ve directed for the Company,” says Rush.
“Working with playwrights is one of my favourite things to do – I’m always in awe of them – writing a play is extremely challenging.
Emily Steel is one of the best. She’s developed this brave, whip-smart, comedic insight into the great corridors of power in Parliament House.
“She explores how women navigate and operate within a system originally designed for, and still dominated by, men. Her writing is incredibly intelligent and sharp, and the characters leap off the page. It’s very much a play for now, a story that captures the zeitgeist.”
Steel, originally from Wales and living in Adelaide since 2010, is an award-winning playwright who has worked in the UK and Australia. Her previous play for STCSA, Euphoria, garnered rave reviews in Adelaide and during its regional tour.
She developed the concept and was one of the lead writers for STCSA/ActNow’s Decameron 2.0 project, which put 100 new monologues on YouTube during the 2020 lockdown. Housework is supported by Dramatic Women – a vibrant community of women passionate about supporting outstanding female lead creatives – playwrights and directors – to present work with State Theatre Company South Australia.
Since 2002, Dramatic Women has stewarded the work of more than 100 female writers and directors to the stage, including veteran artists such as Robyn Archer and Sue Smith, through to (then) emerging artists such as Rita Kalnejais, Lally Katz, Nikki Bloom and Michelle Law.
Last year Dramatic Women supported Justine Clarke in the sell-out success, Julia.
“I’m very grateful to Dramatic Women for supporting Housework. I just love what this collective does! They give an essential voice to women from all walks of life and boldly bring women’s stories to the stage. They are a delightful and passionate group who I always feel are supporting and backing me as a female director.”
Sex scandals, betrayals, culture wars, the price of power, motherhood and Machiavellian manipulation – it’s all in a day’s work inside the House… Get ready to laugh, cringe, cheer and see what makes the wheels of power turn, and what doesn’t make it onto the nightly news.
Rush added, “I can’t wait to open the doors to the House and share this brilliant new work with Adelaide audiences.”
State Theatre Company South Australia in association with Adelaide Festival Centre present HOUSEWORK by Emily Steel, from 7– 22 February at Dunstan Playhouse.
