Wake in Fright
Rural Australia becomes a place of horror in this classic, now adapted for stage.
Overview
Rural Australia becomes a place of horror in Wake in Fright. John Grant, a young teacher on a bonded placement to the back of nowhere, is trying to return to Sydney for his holidays but finds himself stranded in a mining town where he becomes drawn into a nightmare spiral of boozing, gambling and competitive machismo that begins to erode his very sense of self.
The savagely satirical 1961 novel by Kenneth Cook is perhaps best known for its film adaptation, which saw a revival in cinemas in recent years after its long-lost negatives were discovered. This stage version was produced by students at La Trobe University shortly after and, unlike John Grant, they got out of town in a big way. After playing at the Festival of Australian Student Theatre in 2010, they were invited to tour the show to Britain as part of the cultural program attending last year’s Olympics, an honour given to only a handful of non-British acts.
Clearly they were doing something right. You can find out what when this repeat season of the show, featuring a mostly new cast, opens at La Mama. Just don't bet your tram fare home on a two-up game.
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