Books published by Currency Press Pty Ltd

Como sabes que esto no es el sueño? (How do you know this is not the dream?) How do you know this is not the nightmare? Mortido is a remarkable crime drama, revenge tragedy and morality play all rolled into one. Jimmy is a small-time dealer and Monte is a biggish-time distributor. Grubbe is a detective. They all want the same thing: to live out their lives in leisure. And a water view would be nice. But for Jimmy and Monte to win, Grubbe has to lose. Same goes the other way. It begins with a Mexican fable about death and ends in the Western suburbs of Sydney. In between it takes in the public housing on Belvoir Street, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, quinoa, Nazi Germany, Qantas, Coca-Cola, a seventh birthday party, the Surry Hills police, the property market and a body in the harbour. The connective tissue? Cocaine. This is Betzien's most ambitious play so far, and a brilliant portrait of the Emerald City: familiar, bizarre, glorious and mean. A quintessential Sydney tale about crime, globalisation and the killer desire for a bigger house. (10 male, 2 female).

After nearly losing his mind in the abandon of 1960s America, young Danny finds his way again with the help of an enigmatic sensei. At a New Jersey karate dojo, he and other mislaid souls make their way back into the world, and Danny bumps into a woman called Lois. Meanwhile, in present-day Australia, Dannys long-lost grandchild has decided to become Patti Smith. From the marvellous mind of Lally Katz comes a modern romance about wanderlust, love and karate. Inspired by the true events that brought her parents together, Back at the Dojo is a ravishing, nourishing story about the myths families live by. (14 male, 6 female).

We are in a mythical landscape on the banks of a mighty river. The Yorta Yorta know him as Dhungula''. The white fellas call it The Murray''. A clan of storytellers has gathered to invoke the beautiful place they once knew; to sing it into being. Some are stories of remembering, others are told so that they may never happen again. Children and elders, spirits and ghosts, dingoes and min-min lights are threaded together in these tales of colonial law, a people and their land. The land rights struggle of the Yorta Yorta people continues today. (4 male, 1 female).

Kennys Coming Home is a play with music that celebrates life in Sydneys Western suburbs. The Green family escape inner-city Sydney in the early 1990s for a better life out west. Dad grows zucchinis and involves himself in local politics. Aunt Dorothy and Mum find the community they have been missing in the big smoke. Son Kenny leads the Panthers to rugby league glory and is ordained a local legend as a result. Daughter Kim is caught between a rock and a hard place as she tries to make sense of her teenage years. All hell breaks loose when the local MP drops dead playing squash. Dad decides to seek pre-selection for the Labor Party and tries to co-opt Kenny for support. The family are opposed to his plans. Then they start actively campaigning against him. (2 acts, 2 male, 3 female).

School Drama is a professional learning program for primary school teachers, which focuses on the power of using drama and literature to improve English and literacy in young learners. School Drama was developed by the Sydney Theatre Company (STC) in 2009, in partnership with The University of Sydney. It has been acclaimed by Australian and international critics, and is now a cornerstone of the STCs Education program. This book is a comprehensive School Drama resource. It includes: A summary of how drama and literature enhance literacy; An explanation of the School Drama approach and methodology; Learning outcomes from the School Drama program so far; Exploration of the art and pedagogy of drama (via elements, devices, and roles) 22 classroom dramas: each comprised of a series of workshops that progress through common themes and texts. The School Drama Book is essential reading for teachers and theatre practitioners who want to educate confidently with drama, either through the STCs School Drama program or on their own. It uses drama as a critical pedagogy, and encourages learning through activities, rather than teaching about the texts. This approach has been shown to develop rich imaginations and creative capacities for the future. Includes a foreword by Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton.

The past is what you make it. John saw his brother Michael die. He seems to have forgotten it, until now. His brother Peter saw it too, but remembers things differently. Together, they revisit the past in search of a common truth. But this search has terrifying, unexpected consequences for them both. Winner of the Patrick White Playwrights Award in 2011, Phillip Kavanagh is a playwright of exceptional delicacy. Replay is a beautiful meditation on the fluidity of life, childhood nostalgia and the fallibility of collective memory. It reminds us that moments of chance, lost or taken, can determine our destiny. (1 act, 3 male).

Many years ago, in the 1970s, in pursuit of a good life and a sustainable future, Judith and Patrick built a house in the Adelaide Hills. They raised the kids there. As time wore on, bit by bit, the family drifted both from the house and the dream it was born from. Now its Christmas, the first grandchild is on the way and all three generations have gathered again. In the tinderbox heat of summer, Judith is at a crossroads: can the life they pursued in the first place come good again? Warm, funny, deeply felt, The Great Fire is the work of a brilliant new writing talent, Kit Brookman. Its a play about family, politics and life, about large hopes, uncertainty and the fading triumph of Australian social democracy. In short, The Great Fire is a play about us. The Great Fire was originally commissioned by Belvoir in association with ArtsNSW through the NSW Philip Parsons Fellowship for Emerging Playwrights (previously the Young Playwrights Award). (5 acts, 5 male, 5 female).

A learnéd fool is more of a fool than an ignorant fool can be. Juliet and Clinton are in love. Guileless, sweet, all-encompassing love. However, love is not without its impediments. Standing in the way of their eternal happiness are Juliets mother and sister, whose disapproval is of the most high-brow kind. Justin Fleming has audaciously brought Molieres Les Femmes Savantes (The Learned Ladies) screaming into the 21st century and created a sassy, Sydney story filled with linguistic dexterity, wit and rhyme. (5 acts, 2 male, 3 female).

The human and political story of the last man to be executed in Australia, Remember Ronald Ryan won the 1995 Victorian Premier's Literary Award. Dickins portrays the man behind the legend as loveable, cheeky, courageous, and wretched. (25 male, 9 female).

Kiki, Bob and Jumper are best friends with extravagant and idiosyncratic dreams. Kiki wants to dance the tango on Mount Kilimanjaro with a bearded lady, Jumper is in love with a snake called Trix and Bob's an ordinary bloke who might just hold the secret to time travel. Join them for the wild ride. Cut Snake is a comedy about growing up, dying young, and being extraordinary no matter what. (1 make, 2 female).

Brutality in the workplace, rage in the streets, seething in the home. The vulnerability of political parties when they''ve forgotten why they''re there. The intellectual torpor of modern Australia. How power corrupts. The Blind Giant is Dancing is an angry and tender depiction of an idealist, Allen Fitzgerald, who becomes so embroiled in a party power struggle that he loses sight of what''s at stake. When it premiered in 1983, The Blind Giant is Dancing felt like a sharp slap in the face. Now, in an age of ICAC, Union credit cards, speculative housing bubbles, a pulverised working class and vapid leadership in the 21st century, this Australian classic has lost none of its brute force. (10 male, 5 female).

This is a one-woman play that tells the story of Christie, a homeless woman in a world detached, unforgiving and destructive. It gives voice to the fallen and dispossessed, to those who exist at the edge of safety, at the point of being undone. It speaks of madness, denial, ignorance and free-falling poverty. Utterly devastating, yet written with Daniel Keene's characteristic lyricism, Mother is wrought with tenderness, violence and loneliness in equal measure. (1 act, 1 female).

'Back in Kenya -- in the camps -- they say we can stay there for free. But everybody wants something. The journalists want our stories; the NGOs want us to sing in their choirs; the SPLA wants our sons as soldiers. The spirits of our ancestors want us to honour them...' Maggie Stone is a battle axe. She is rude, prickly and does not owe the world a thing. This makes her an ideal loans officer. But when a family of strangers finally awakens her compassion, Maggie will learn first-hand the politics of charity. For even favours require gratitude, investment requires returns, and an outstanding debt awaits satisfaction. And soon the life Maggie borrowed will need to be paid for. Maggie Stone is about loneliness and debt, the risk that comes from asking others of help and the cost of living a life owing nobody. Nominated for the Western Australian Premier's Script Award, Maggie Stone by Caleb Lewis paints an unflinchingly honest yet ultimately empathetic portrait of modern Australia.