Featuring some of Sydney’s most exciting and established and emerging writers, Subtlenuance and thirty-five creatives will take over Flight Path Theatre in Marrickville for monumental project, Morning Star.

A multi-playwright project that explores pernicious ideas, Morning Star is about the tales told in Hell, and the ways of looking at the world that on first appearance seem innocuous, but on closer inspection, really just add to human misery.

Morning Star is not a short play festival. Each week’s program (each “Horn”) is a single cohesive work of art. The blending of different tales by multiple playwrights into a single whole is an artistic practice Subtlenuance has been exploring – to much critical acclaim – since 2013.

Co-founders of Subtlenuance, Paul Gilchrist (Kings Cross Theatre’s Shut Up and Drive, Old 505’s All the Difference) and Daniela Giorgi (New Theatre’s Women, Power and Culture, KXT’s Shut Up and Drive), will each direct one Horn.

Each with their own tale to tell, the esteemed team of ten writers delve into the darkness to find that although the devil may have two horns, he’s got more than a single tale.

First Horn (23rd to 27th June)

We live in a time of change. Shauntelle Benjamin’s (The Book of Mormon) telling indictment on race relations in Australia. Performed by Olivia Suleimon (ABC TV’s The Set), Zachary Bush (Virginia Plain’s Twelfth Night) and the ensemble.

A mother’s love is the purest love. Melita Rowston’s (Between the Streetlight and the Moon) historical poetic piece on a child murderer. Performed by Sonya Kerr (Little Black Dress) and ensemble.

Safety is number one. Mark Langham’s (winner of National One Act Play Competition for Nothing) playful riff on 70s sitcoms and the need to keep life small. Performed by Zoe Crawford (Goalpost Pictures’ I Am Woman) and Sarah Furnari (Chasing Comets, Love Punch).

Be you, but better. Peter Maple’s (award-winning 2017 short film Legacy) satire on self-improvement culture. Performed by Demitra Sealy (The Debt Collector 2 film), Michael Smith (The Secret Daughter) and Esther Williams (Standby).

Capitalism is the paragon of all animals. Catherine Zimdahl’s (Griffin Playwriting Prize winner for Clark In Sarajevo) chilling gothic portrait of capitalism’s terrifying ability to perpetually morph. Performed by Cormac Costello (The Day of the Roses, Chameleon), Demitra Sealy and Michael Smith.

Second Horn (30th June to 4th July)

We must prevail. Donna Abela’s (Griffin Playwriting Prize winner for Jump for Jordan) powerful exploration of institutional cover up of abuse. Performed by Susie Lindeman (Oscar-award winning Howards End), Garreth Cruikshank (Fragmentary, Streamed Shakespeare), Simon Lee (New Theatre’s Broadway Bound), Dominic Stone (Risen, Beijing Punk) and the ensemble.

If I’m gay, I must be good. Callum McLean’s (The River) savage naturalistic take on the cult of self-righteousness. Performed by Richard Holborn (Australian Shakespeare Company’s Wind in the Willows) and Eli Saad (Sweet Marshall).

Do what makes you happy.  Roslyn Hicks’ (The Great Divorce) comic take on the pitfalls of pop psychology. Performed by Georgia Britt (Seymour Centre’s Inner West Side: The Musical), Linda Nicholls-Gidley (Dirty Dancing- The Musical) and the ensemble.

A woman is her body. Kel Vance’s (The Deal) biting monologue on the objectification of women. Performed by Nyssa Hamilton (Deadly Women).

Status is all.  John AD Fraser’s (Catch a Falling Knife) hilarious satire of our obsession with social media. Performed by Georgia Britt, Nyssa Hamilton and Simon Lee.

For tickets and more information, visit https://www.flightpaththeatre.org/whats-on/morning-star.