Belvoir is proud to announce the reopening of Belvoir St Theatre with the world premiere of The Boomkak Panto, a ridiculously flamboyant and hilarious pantomime by award-winning actor Virginia Gay, from 20th November to 23rd December.
From the creative minds behind Belvoir’s 2018 smash hit Calamity Jane comes a piece of utter joy to reopen the theatre after 2021’s lockdown– a love letter to theatre, to community, to the resilience of our Little Aussie Towns™ – lo-fi, big-hearted, and Belvoir to the back teeth.
A dry, dusty little Aussie town, somewhere in the back of beyond, with all the decency, diversity – and division – that you’d expect in a rural microcosm. But Boomkak is confronting some massive challenges now that the Big Developer has set his sights on the town, and this little community finds itself in a fight for survival. How can they possibly fight back?
By putting on a panto, of course!
Created and co-directed by Virginia Gay (Belvoir in Concert, MTC’s Cyrano) alongside accomplished co-director Richard Carroll (Darlinghurst Theatre Company’s Once, Black Swan State Theatre Co’s Oklahoma!), The Boomkak Panto brings together an all-star cast of Deborah Galanos (Stop Girl, Griffin Theatre’s Wicked Sisters), Rob Johnson (Calamity Jane, STC’s The Torrents), Billy McPherson (ABC’s Black Comedy, STC’s Battle of Waterloo), Mary Soudi (ABC‘s The Heights, Packed to the Rafters), Zoe Terakes (Foxtel’s Wentworth, Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers), Hamed Sadeghi (Sami in Paradise, Stop Girl) and Toby Truslove (Private Lives, STC’s Home, I’m Darling).
With new songs from Tony Award nominee Eddie Perfect, and a couple of Aussie rock classics, dance, and old-fashioned silliness, The Boomkak Panto promises to be a mad, sparkling jewel – a reward for getting through these dark and strange times.
Belvoir’s Artistic Director Eamon Flack said, “There’s no-one like Virginia Gay – witty, clever, big of heart, and ridiculously talented. She pitched this to us right on the cusp of the first lockdown, so it’s apt that this mad play of joy and connection and beating the odds is the show to lead Belvoir into our new high-vax COVID normal”.
THE BOOMKAK PANTO
Upstairs Theatre, Belvoir St Theatre
Dates: 20 November – 23 December 2021
Prices: Full price from $68, Seniors from $58, Concession from $48, 30-Down from $46, Student Saver from $33
Tickets: https://belvoir.com.au/productions/the-boomkak-panto/ or (02) 9699 3444