shake & stir bring Christmas Classic to re-open QPAC’s Lyric Theatre
Queensland audiences are in for some much-needed joy this year as the award-winning stage spectacle - Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol returns to Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC). The production will reopen the Lyric Theatre, from 16 to 24 December 2020 with tickets on sale from 9.00am Friday 30 October.
Renowned for their adaptations of popular fiction, Brisbane’s shake & stir theatre co, together with QPAC, present this timeless Christmas classic, full of festive cheer, hope and heart-warming magic, for audiences of all ages.
It’s Christmas Eve and Ebenezer Scrooge is counting down the seconds until the silliness of the season passes. Deeply entrenched in his own misery, Scrooge receives a visit from four ghosts who whisk him away on a journey through time to show him fragments of Christmas past, present and future. Redemption is his for the taking - but is Old Scrooge capable of changing his ways before it’s too late?
QPAC Chief Executive John Kotzas said he was pleased that QPAC’s largest theatre would reopen with this much-loved and critically acclaimed home-grown production.
“QPAC has collaborated with the formidable shake & stir to develop and stage new and captivating works for close to a decade. The Centre is passionate about the success of Queensland artists and companies and A Christmas Carol is another great work developed with Queensland artists that attracts large audiences to the theatre, many for the first-time.
“Returning to QPAC for its third season and becoming somewhat of an annual Christmas tradition for QPAC’s Playhouse, this uplifting production will this year light up our largest theatre for the first time and promises to enthrall and delight audiences now more than ever,” said Mr Kotzas.
“We are excited to play in the Lyric Theatre and to join other returning companies and artists in welcoming audiences back to QPAC. 2020 has been filled with so much anxiety and uncertainty so we are thrilled to offer audiences of all ages a heaped serving of festive cheer to round out the year,” shake & stir theatre co’s Artistic Director Nick Skubij said.
The production is led by acclaimed Australian actor Eugene Gilfedder as Scrooge, and features a stellar supporting cast including multi-instrumentalist Salliana Campbell and shake & stir’s Artistic Directors Ross Balbuziente, Nelle Lee and Nick Skubij.
Hailed as one of Dickens’ most popular stories, the tale serves as a timeless and timely reminder to avoid the pitfalls of selfishness, to think of those less fortunate and honor the true spirit of Christmas. It’s a story as relevant today as it was when Dickens first put pen to paper in 1843.
Directed by nationally acclaimed Michael Futcher, A Christmas Carol is a sumptuous and surprising theatrical experience featuring live music, cutting edge technology, lavish costumes and an on-stage snow storm.
Earlier this year, shake & stir collected the 2020 Gold Matilda Award, at the annual Awards ceremony, in recognition of its prolific touring work throughout Australia. shake & stir had to postpone all Australian and New Zealand tours this year and this production will mark the company’s return to the stage, following a nine-month hiatus.
Theatre capacity is limited to allow for social distancing between booking parties.
Tickets on sale from 9.00am Friday 30 October 2020 at qpac.com.au or phone 136-246.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Adapted and created by shake & stir theatre co, 16 - 24 December 2020, Lyric Theatre QPAC, Queensland Cultural Centre, South Bank, Brisbane
Recommended age: eight years plus