Commissions
We're proud to commission exciting new plays by some of the best up-and-coming Queensland playwrights and theatre-makers. We're interested in stories that speak to now, that go beyond the realm of the everyday, that explore and delight us with new worlds, perspectives and ideas, that invite all of us to go on a journey.
THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS (Working Title)
Writer el waddingham
Based on the novel by Ursula K. Le Guin
Based on the 1969 trailblazing novel written by science fiction master Ursula K. Le Guin. A world in perpetual winter, a tundra where new realities are prophesied by powerful psychics, and in the middle of it is an envoy sent from Earth, trying to make sense of it all. This poetic stage adaptation of The Left Hand of Darkness imagines a world without gender, one of the first works of literature that dared to explore gender fluidity. Ethereal yet fiercely grounded, this epic adaptation follows the envoy and an outcast on the run from persecution, from townships to prisons and finally to the perilous ice glacier where the story meets its dramatic conclusion. Written by genderqueer playwright el waddingham, this work is set to be a sci-fi reckoning of the hidden, true natures that exist within all of us.
About The Writer: el (they/them) is an experimental performance artist and writer based on Kombumerri country. Their practice blends contemporary dance with traditional theatre in the pursuit of creating a new performance language through which we can express the unexplainable, sublime and extreme. el’s playwrighting debut came in 2023 with LYSISTRATA: THE BITCH MYTH, a feminist adaptation of Euripides’ comedy, which was produced by their collective theatrePUNK co, where el works as creative director. They have co-written two published plays (34 Scenes About the Weather - Playlab, Intersection: Dawn - Currency Press), and are currently developing a dance/theatre work through GENERATE GC about the history of female sexuality in Surfer’s Paradise. They love to write work for young people, and through their practice work to alchemise history and rage into magick, queerness and radical joy. el holds a BFA (Acting) from QUT. The Left Hand of Darkness is el’s first commissioned work for theatre, and they could not be more grateful to be bringing this seminal work of science fiction to the stage.
The Left Hand of Darkness is commissioned by Observatory Theatre. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. Used by permission of Curtis Brown, Ltd. Copyright 1969. All rights reserved.
Artwork by Jacqueline Tam
From the writer
When Lachlan first asked me if I had read the novel, the answer was no. When he explained the premise of the story to me - a male, human envoy navigating life on a planet populated by non-binary, sexually androgynous humanoids - I was outraged at myself for not being familiar with the work.
As a non-binary person, I have never quite felt like I entirely belonged to this planet. Reading this novel for the first time felt like coming home to a place beyond our galaxy that maybe, in some other life, I could belong to. As a non-binary artist, obsessed with uncovering the hidden places where the history of trans people has been buried, I was thrilled at the opportunity to delve into this text and bring an adaptation of it to the stage, alongside one of my favourite indie companies in Meanjin.
What struck me most about the novel is that Le Guin uses language to describe feelings of gender dysphoria and experiences of trans-ness that have existed since the dawn of humanity, but had not yet been articulated in a piece of Western literature when she wrote it in the 1960s. I couldn't quite believe what I was reading. This work was so radical for the time it was written, at the height of the second-wave feminist movement, and although the conversation around gender equality has progressed far beyond Greer and Frieden, Le Guin's epic odyssey resonates still. It is so relevant because the book is hard proof that yes, trans people have always been here. From the First Nations owners of this land to the streets of Meanjin to other universes. We always have, and always will, exist. Boldly and proudly.
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I can't wait to see how the work will unfold. It is going to be an absolute treat for queer audiences and science-fiction buffs alike. I am so deeply grateful to Lachlan and the whole team at Observatory Theatre for supporting my development as an artist, from my first assistant director position on Stephen Carleton's The Turquoise Elephant in 2023, up until now. This company keeps artists alive.