The 2021 season of Queensland Theatre welcomes the debut of author Trent Dalton’s award-winning, Boy Swallows Universe, to the stage.

The Queensland novel has been adapted by playwright Tim McGarry and will debut in August for the 2021 Brisbane Festival circuit. The play will be directed by the previous Artistic Director of the Queensland Theatre, Sam Strong.

Boy Swallows Universe follows the story of 13-year old Eli Bell, a young Brisbane boy in the 1980s and his far-from-idyllic childhood. Eli’s story revolves around the characters in his life: a mother in jail, an alcoholic father, a heroin-dealing stepfather, a non-speaking brother, and a convicted killer and infamous escapee from Boggo Road Gaol as a babysitter.

This is a coming of age story that follows Eli’s journey of who he will be, set against the backdrop of local crime after a run-in with a local crime king. The novel is based on Trent Dalton’s own  childhood growing up in Brisbane and is the winner of several Australian literary awards. Boy Swallows Universe explores the joys, heartbreaks, magic, madness, and pressures of being 13 and living on the darker side of Brisbane suburbia.

The play has an experienced creative team such as Designer Renée Mulder, Lighting Designer Ben Hughes, Composer and Sound Designer Steve Francis, Video Designer Craig Wilkinson, and Movement Director Nerida Matthaei. The play features actor Joe Klocek (The Dry) as Eli Bell. Boy Swallows Universe will premiere at the Queensland Theatre Playhouse and is presented by Queensland Theatre, Brisbane Festival, and Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC).

The QPAC Chief Executive John Kotzas said, “This is a Queensland story, but it is also so much more. It is a story for anyone who was once a kid filled with wonder, anyone who has fallen in love, and anyone whose mum is their hero.”

Boy Swallows Universe will run from 30 August to 22 September 2021.

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Words and Images via QPAC