Goulburn's own international Lieder Theatre Company is proud to present the hilariously absurd and hauntingly familiar play, Life Without Me, by the much-awarded playwright, Daniel Keene.
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Directed by Blake Selmes, this modern Australian production promises to tickle and provoke audiences with its honest portrayal of the human experience and the search for happiness.
The synopsis is that if you don't know who you are or where you're headed, you might find yourself spiralling in ever-tightening circles until you come to rest in a nondescript part of town in a crummy two-star hotel.
Here, the service is churlish, the lift doesn't work, the toast is burnt, and the pot plants set off your allergies. But keep your expectations low, really low, and, who knows, you might be pleasantly surprised by how everything works out. A hotel, with reservations.
"In Life Without Me, Daniel Keene masterfully weaves humour, honesty and the search for identity into a fable we can all recognise," director, Blake Selmes, said.
"It invites us to question life, or at least our own, as we follow a mix of drifters seemingly stuck in a paradoxical hotel lobby somewhere in Australia. When considering this play, I was greatly inspired by the emotional truth of these characters and their quest for meaning, presented with great wit and served up in a tasty soup of absurdity."
Equipped with a writing style both poetic and pragmatic, Daniel Keene's ability to find beauty in the mundane and humour in life's absurdities sets him apart. With a keen eye for detail and an ear for authentic dialogue, the multi-award winning playwright deftly captures the essence of our shared experience.
Among other accolades, Keene has won the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Drama twice, the NSW Premier's Literary Award for Drama three times, the Adelaide Festival Award for Literature, the Wal Cherry Play of the Year Award, the Sumner Locke Elliot Prize (New York) and the Griffith University Creative Writing Program Award at the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards.
Any audience member will a see part of themselves in this writhing hotel's temporary residents as they struggle with both coming and going, often in dreamlike waves of farcicality.
Life Without Me is a must-see for theatre enthusiasts seeking a fresh perspective on love, identity and the pursuit of happiness.
The production opens at the Lieder Theatre at 7pm on Friday, June 14. The event, with drinks and nibbles, will be hosted by Goulburn Labor.
It continues on Saturday, June 15, Wednesday, June 19 and Friday June 21, all at 7.30pm; Saturday, June 22 with a 2pm matinee and 7.30pm performance; Wednesday June 26 at 7:30pm; Saturday, June 29 - 2pm matinee and 7.30pm performance.
Bookings for the charity opening night: trybooking.com/events/landing/1222817 Regular season: https://theliedertheatre.com/
