The SBW Stables Theatre in Sydney’s Kings Cross, home to Griffin Theatre Company, is about to close for a major renovation. By way of a farewell, Griffin is staging one of its most ambitious projects – a triple bill of Louis Nowra’s semi-autobiographical plays that can be viewed individually or in one hit. Directed by Declan Greene, the trilogy consists of Summer of the Aliens, Cosi and This Much Is True. Seen together, The Lewis Trilogy runs for around seven hours, “but don’t let that put you off,” said Limelight Digital Editor Jason Blake in his four-star review. “As marathons go, it’s a benign one, with each play cut to about 90 minutes and played at a fast trot straight through.”

Limelight Editor’s Choice

When times are tough and you’re a teenager with an overactive imagination, extraterrestrial life forms don’t seem all that absurd.

It’s 1962, and Lewis is an average fourteen-year-old on the outskirts of working-class Melbourne. In the blistering heat of summer he forages for shell casings at the rifle range, sneaks into sci-fi double features, and tries to understand how the hell you talk to girls.

Then, lights start flashing in the night sky. The adults start acting weird. And strangers arrive from distant lands.

Set against the backdrop of the Cuban missile crisis, Summer of the Aliens is a sun-soaked coming-of-age classic all about class, closed doors and global catastrophes of galactic proportions.