This Bitter Earth

This July Newtown’s New Theatre will be presenting the world premiere of Australian writer Chris Edward’s play This Bitter Earth. The play is hilarious, heart wrenching and gay. Really gay. Exploring the ins and outs of being a 20-something queer living in Sydney, This Bitter Earth was written by Chris while completing his Masters of Writing for Performance at NIDA in 2018.

Directed by Riley Spadaro and featuring a stellar cast of upcoming Australian actors, This Bitter Earth is unbearably funny while also existential crisis-inducing. 

Director Riley Spadaro spoke with City Hub about his initial thoughts and feelings after reading the play for the first time. 

“I was really struck by how honest it was and how true to life it was. There was something about it that was very truthful, very witty and then it also had a lot of opportunities to be theatrically daring.”

Although This Bitter Earth focuses on the journeys of queer characters, Riley says the play also looks at themes that will be universal to the audience saying, “it’s about queer lives in queer times but it kind of speaks to the fears of our time as well.”

This Bitter Earth is packed with emotion and is both tear-jerking in its sadness and its humour. Riley says, “Throughout the work, there’s this kind of thread of existential horror and fear for the future but also a kind of hopefulness about it.”

With the piece being so new and so prevalent to Sydney’s current queer culture, Riley hopes audiences will leave having more than just a good laugh, saying, “I hope that audiences laugh, and I hope that there’s some kind of catharsis. I also hope that it’s a bit of a gut-punch.”

Until Jul 27/. New Theatre, 542 King Street, Newtown. $20-$35+b.f. Tickets & Info: www.newtheatre.org.au

By Madison Behringer