My Brilliant Career
by Mathew Frank, Dean Bryant & Sheridan Harbridge
★★★★★ The Age ★★★★★ The Guardian
★★★★★ Time Out ★★★★★ ABR
Sybylla Melvyn is finding her voice.
Growing up in the 90s – the 1890s, that is – life doesn’t throw a lot of options at a girl. But life didn’t reckon on Sybylla. Forced to choose between romance and her own genius, her family and a future she defines, she’s decided she’s having it all.
Miles Franklin’s novel My Brilliant Career gets a bold new makeover that transforms one of the most enduring literary figures into a musical heroine for this very moment, with a live soundtrack that’s equal parts contemporary pop, folksy bush band and raucous pub rock. An adaptation with edge, this re-imagining captures the playful and effervescent spirit of a young woman ready to take on the world.
World Premiere: 12th November, 2024
Sumner Theatre, Melbourne Theatre Company
Starring Kala Gare, Cameron Bajraktarevic-Hayward, Lincoln Elliot, Victoria Falconer, Raj Labade, Drew Livingston, HaNy Lee, Ana Mitsikas, Christina O'Neill and Jarrad Payne
Directed by Anne-Louise Sarks
Musical Direction by Victoria Falconer
Design by Marg Horwell
Green Room Awards: Outstanding Production, Outstanding Writing, Outstanding Ensemble, Outstanding Music Director, Outstanding Choreography
Photographs: Pia Johnson
Developed by Monash University, Melbourne, as part of the Jeanne Pratt Artist in Residency program, which culminated in a development staging directed by Petra Kalive with dramaturgy by Anna Barnes. Further development funded by City of Stonnington and Melbourne Theatre Company’s NEXT STAGE Writers’ Program.
