Bastard Territory — Queensland Theatre Company and JUTE Theatre Company

Overview

Great art doesn't just happen in — or tell stories about — big cities. As its name makes plain, Bastard Territory takes place in the dry and dusty northern centre of Australia.

Indeed, the new play by Darwin-raised, Brisbane-based writer Stephen Carleton transports audiences to the NT capital circa 2001, and into the lives of Russell and his partner Alistair. They run a place that's been dubbed a 'hip urban café and art gallery by day, queer cabaret dive by night'; however their bohemian establishment isn't the only thing keeping the duo on their toes. Born in Papua New Guinea, adopted by a white couple and desperate to find out his biological parentage, Russell just can't shake his past ghosts.

Cue a confessional drama and a man's search for his identity, as directed by Ian Lawson, starring Benhur Helwend, Suellen Maunder and Peter Norton, and boasting a pumping '60s and '70s soundtrack. And, the production's setting isn't its only regional connection. In a reversal of the oft-seen process of creative endeavours debuting in the big smoke then touring elsewhere, Bastard Territory first graced the stage in Cairns before making its way down south.