The Kings Collective is on a mission to reinvent Sydney theatre

During the Sydney Fringe Festival this year, a new company will be staging a quiet revolution via three plays in rep.

Lepidoptera: An Exploration of Youth is the name of the triptych put together by the Kings Collective – three smart, insightful plays that are great additions to the Fringe lineup and to indie stages.

The Kings Collective is a newly formed collective of young artists aiming to create brave, detailed, honest work and to tell profound stories of human experience. They want nothing more than to challenge their audiences, to bring them hope, compassion and joy.

“We are passionate, we are brave, we are heartfelt and we are sincere,” The Collective said.

“We are human and we are here to tell our stories… The name [The Kings Collective] is based on the idea that, although we are young, we are making the bold choice to empower ourselves and become the Kings of our own careers.

“Instead of waiting for permission to be able to do our jobs, we are deciding to contribute to the landscape of the industry and creating the type of work we wish to see on stage and on screen.”

The plays are Out of Gas on Lover’s Leap by Mark St. Germain, Gruesome Playground Injuries by Rajiv Joseph, and This is Our Youth by Kenneth Lonergan.

Out of Gas on Lover’s Leap is a provocative and theatrically exciting examination of the prospects facing today’s youth, in a world where traditional values have declined and humanity seems bent on self-destruction. Cecelia Peters (As You Like It -Black Swan) and David Harrison (Room of Regret – The RABBLE, Pompeii L.A. – Malthouse) are Myst and Grouper, two bright, well-to-do, troubled teenagers who have driven to the local lover’s leap for a private, and ultimately heartbreaking, celebration of their high-school graduation.

This Is Our Youth follows forty-eight hours of three lost young souls in New York City in 1982 as they manoeuvre the complex moments between adolescence and adulthood. Scott Lee (The Dreamer Examines His Pillow) is Warren, a dejected nineteen-year-old who steals $15k from his abusive lingerie-tycoon father; Joshua Brennan (M.Rock – STC,Underbelly Badness) is his drug-dealing friend, Dennis, who helps put the money to good use; and Georgia Scott (Gaybies – MTC/Midsumma) is Jessica, the anxiously insightful young woman Warren yearns for.

In Gruesome Playground Injuries, the lives of Kayleen and Doug – WAAPA graduate Megan McGlinchey and Aaron Glenane (Drift, Puberty Blues, Deadline Gallipoli) – intersect at the most bizarre intervals over the course of 30 years, leading the two star-crossed lovers and childhood friends to compare scars and the physical calamities that keep tearing them apart and drawing them back together.

For more information on the shows, and to book tickets, visit the links below:

Out Of Gas On Lover’s Leap –
https://www.sydneyfringe.com/whats_on/event/d96a56ab-82f7-4184-9c9c-13816b69d31c/
This Is Our Youth –
https://www.sydneyfringe.com/whats_on/event/d59fcd80-5b16-4a5e-82e4-66c5670db540/
Gruesome Playground Injuries –
https://www.sydneyfringe.com/whats_on/event/658a90d0-67dc-4598-864a-1550d31308ef/