Penny, returning to Appleton from the big smoke, has always been an outsider. She never cared much about the potato race, but when she discovers that the men's prize is higher than the women's, she decides to do something about it.

Performances of "The Appleton Ladies' Potato Race" by the State Theatre Company of South Australia, directed by Elena Carapetis, designer:Kathryn Sproul, lighting design by Nic Mollison, composer and sound designer: Andrew Howard, accent coach: Jennifer Innes, choreography by Carol Wellman Kelly, stage manager: Gabrielle Hornhardt, assistant stage manager: Jennifer King, cast includes: Anna Steen, Carmel Johnson, Genevieve Mooy, Sarah Brokensha and Susie Youssef.

Three lost children discover an abandoned orphanage in the bush. They become trapped in this timeless world, haunted by spirits of the past and perpetually tormented by the ominous Black Skirt, the cruel governess who floats up and down the orphanage corridors wielding her enormous scissors. Soon, the children begin to listen to the stories of these restless spirits and by doing so, they find a light that will lead all lost children home. This new gothic fairytale for young people tells a history of Australia through the eyes of children, from convict times, to early white occupation to the vast era of the Stolen Generation to World War Two and beyond. A visually and aurally evocative play exploring themes of history, reconciliation and the cathartic power of storytelling. This is Roald Dahl meets Charles Dickens under the harsh Australian sun. (1 act, 7 male, 15 female).

This was meant to be Alice's year to shine, but things are already going wrong... At school, she's given young environmental activist Greta Thunberg as her pen pal for a fictional writing assignment. Why couldn't Alice get someone easy to write to, like a pop star? Then she's put in charge of taking the Harmony Day Food Fair online, which seems impossible, especially when she is teamed up with the most annoying boy in her school. As if she didn't have enough on her plate, Alice gets kicked out of her bedroom by her grandmother coming to stay. And no matter what Alice does, she'll never be able to live up to her infuriating big sister's achievements, right? Through her letters to Greta, Alice finds herself opening up about her life. And as Alice approaches the hard questions by wondering, 'What would Greta do?', she starts to believe that she can make a difference - a big one.

Critical Theory Today is the essential introduction to contemporary criticial theory. It provides clear, simple explanations and concrete examples of complex concepts, making a wide variety of commonly used critical theories accessible to novices without sacrificing any theoretical rigor or thoroughness. This new edition provides in-depth coverage of the most common approaches to literary analysis today: feminism, psychoanalysis, Marxism, reader-response theory, new criticism, structuralism and semiotics, deconstruction, new historicism, cultural criticism, lesbian/gay/queer theory, African American criticism, and postcolonial criticism. The chapters provide an extended explanation of each theory, using examples from everyday life, popular culture, and literary texts; a list of specific questions critics who use that theory ask about literary texts; an interpretation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby through the lens of each theory; a list of questions for further practice to guide readers in applying each theory to different literary works; and a bibliography of primary and secondary works for further reading.

In 1961, Peter and Helen Kroger, two Americans living in a London suburb, were convicted of spying for the Russians and sentenced to twenty years’ imprisonment. From these facts Hugh Whitemore has written a powerfully moving fictional account of the events leading up totheir arrest with the action centered on the totally unsuspecting Jackson household – Bob, Barbara and their daughter Julie. The Jacksons live opposite the Krogers, believing them to be a convivial Canadian couple and their closest friends. Then a mysterious stranger arrives, announcing he is from MI5 and quietly coerces the Jacksons into allowing their house to be used as a surveillance post. In the nightmare months that follow, the Jacksons’ decent, happy life is shattered as the truth about their much-loved friends is gradually revealed to them and, helpless in an alien, sordid world of deception and treachery, Barbara reaches breaking point with the agonizing realization that the Krogers have betrayed herand she, in turn, has betrayed the Krogers.