Julian Larnach
#ABOUT
Julian Larnach is a Sydney-based playwright and is currently Literary Associate at Griffin Theatre Company. 2022 sees the premieres of his stage adaptation of Favel Parrett's award winning novel Past The Shallows for Australian Theatre for Young People and Archipelago Productions (Tasmania), a new large-cast political comedy for Canberra Youth Theatre and a new regionally touring musical for Critical Stages. He is currently under commission with Bell Shakespeare for a new cycle of history plays and is developing a new work for Griffin Theatre Company. Julian has had seasons of work produced and toured by the Australian Theatre for Young People, Outback Theatre for Young People, Darlinghurst Theatre Company and the National Theatre of Parramatta.Julian’s plays have been shortlisted for Griffin Theatre Company’s Lysicrates Prize, the Griffin Award for Playwriting, the Edward Albee Scholarship and the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award. He was an Affiliate Writer for Griffin Theatre Company in 2013, Resident Playwright at the Australian Theatre for Young People in 2015 and was a member of Sydney Theatre Company’s inaugural Emerging Writers Group from 2017 – 2019.
#PLAY SYNOPSIS
It's late and in the backyard of a harbourside mansion, the remains of a great night litter the lawn. Nathan is heading off for a new job in Shanghai, his grandma Marg has thrown him a farewell party and his mum Stephanie has arrived back from book club armed with his favourite dessert. Beyond the manicured hedges and sandstone hedges sit press trucks and photographers waiting to capture a newly minted celebrity. Nathan’s legal team, having deployed especially vicious tactics, have won a precedent setting and publicly deplored acquittal. With their world on the precipice Nathan is keen to move on, Marg wants to point the finger of blame anywhere but her grandson and Stephanie desperately tries to contain her opinions over the matter. When Marg makes the radical suggestion that Nathan stay in Sydney and face the music, the fragile family peace begins to swiftly unravel. Set over the course of a single evening and diving headfirst into the aftermath of the #metoo moment, Leviathan asks what responsibility communities have for the actions of individuals and how much damage can a family sustain before bursting into flames.