The Popular Mechanicals back on Sydney stage

Right: Amber McMahon. Photo by Kris Washusen

Following a riotous reception in 2015, the original cast of State Theatre Company South Australia’s The Popular Mechanicals are heading east to remount the show for Sydney Theatre Company, directed once again by former STC Resident Director Sarah Giles. Performances are at The Wharf from 6 April to 13 May 2017.

This play of mischief, song and sheer silliness was a smash hit with audiences and critics alike in Adelaide with The Australian saying “the excellent cast is inventive and versatile” and Scenestr declaring it “hilarious from the get-go”.

First directed by Geoffrey Rush in 1987, The Popular Mechanicals was written by Keith Robinson and Tony Taylor, inspired by the Rude Mechanicals of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The play follows the back story of Shakespeare’s greatest clowns; the group of amateur thespians who stage the ridiculously earnest and unintentionally hysterical Pyramus and Thisbe.

This production stars Helpmann Award-winning Amber McMahon and multi-Helpmann Award-winner Julie Forsyth. They are joined on stage by Lori Bell, Charles Mayer, Tim Overton and Rory Walker.

With excerpts from the original text of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Popular Mechanicals the cast of the play-within-a-play star in their very own behind-the-scenes romp of what might have happened off-stage during the Bard’s popular comedy.

Season: 6 April – 13 May. Box Office: 02 9250 1777. www.sydneytheatre.com.au.

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