NORPA 2022
NORPA has revealed some of the world-class theatre shows it will be bringing to the region in 2022, with more to be announced in the new year. NORPA Artistic Director and CEO, Julian Louis, sat down with Seven Editor, Eve Jeffery, to take us through what’s in store for us at NORPA next year.
Is there a theme that links the shows together in the 2022 season?
We always aim for diversity when putting a season of shows together and there’s a bit everything on offer in 2022 – comedy and political satire from The Wharf Revue, classic theatre from Bell Shakespeare, powerful drama with Sunshine Super Girl, The Boy Who Talked to Dogs and King of Pigs, joyous cabaret from Sprung!! with French Café and magnificent physical theatre from Gravity and Other Myths.
A theme that has emerged is the power of theatre to transport you to different worlds. For Sunshine Super Girl the stage becomes a tennis court with seating all around, for The Boy Who Talked to Dogs, we enter an Irish pub and the work is performed on five stages.
Do you think audiences are becoming more sophisticated as time goes by?
The audiences that come to NORPA are sophisticated and diverse. There’s a trust that has built up where people know that the shows in our season will be high quality. There’s also a willingness to take risks in that they will come and see a show at NORPA, even if it isn’t what they might usually go for. Touring companies that perform here always remark on how engaged and responsive the NORPA audiences are – so they always want to come back.
You say this announcement is like Act I of the 2022 Season, what is Act II?
NORPA is unique in that we are one of the few theatre companies in regional Australia that creates original work. Creating theatre is at the heart of what we do. Act I of our 2022 Season is all the shows being performed by other companies, Act II is all about the work we are creating here, inspired by our stories and the country around us.
We’re planning a big welcome back event in February to announce some very exciting additions to our 2022 Season as well as our First Nations program, developed by Rhoda Roberts, our NORPA Youth Program and new, ambitious NORPA works in development. There’s plenty more to come in 2022!
NORPA’s 2022 Season now on sale at www.norpa.org.au.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
