New works, musicals and conversations across time take centre stage in Clare Watson’s first season as Artistic Director.

Western Australia’s Black Swan State Theatre Company has announced its 2018 season, featuring a series of pairings that set contemporary works alongside classic plays in a programme of ‘mini festivals.’ The season is Black Swan’s first with new Artistic Director Clare Watson at the helm.

“Curating the 2018 season we began by asking the question: ‘What should we be talking about right now, as citizens of the world, as Western Australians, as humans?’” Watson said. “We wanted the theatre that you see at Black Swan to catalyse and contribute to the big conversations.”

^{Julia Hales in Black Swan State Theatre Company’s You Know We Belong Together. Photos © Cameron Etchells}

The season kicks off with a world premiere. Watson will direct You Know We Belong Together by Julia Hales and collaborators, in four shows at the Perth Festival with Disability in the Arts Disadvantages in the Arts (DADAA). The play is a deeply personal account of Hales’ experiences of love, and the beauty and complexity...