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''Saturn's Return'' is an Australian play by Tommy Murphy, first performed in 2008 in
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
.


Synopsis

Zara, the heroine of the play, is happily settled in a relationship with her partner, Matt. Marriage, mortgages and midwives lie on the horizon. Then, as the big planet does its thing, doubt creeps into Zara's mind. She must decide whether to continue on the path of the three Ms or break free from the constraints of rational living. Tommy Murphy wrote about his thoughts on the themes of the play, "What is this final call to adulthood likely to do to my generation? Will it just be about gathering debt, finding a comfortable home in which to breed and finding time to edit the friends list on Facebook?". The title refers to a
Saturn return In horoscopic astrology, a Saturn return is an astrological transit that occurs when the planet Saturn returns to the same ecliptic longitude that it occupied at the moment of a person's birth. While the planet may not first reach the exact lo ...
.


Productions

The play was commissioned for the
Sydney Theatre Company Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in the Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Theatre ...
2008 season by incoming co-artistic directors
Cate Blanchett Catherine Élise Blanchett ( ; born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor and producer. Regarded as one of the best performers of her generation, she is recognised for Cate Blanchett on screen and stage, her versatile work across stage and scre ...
and
Andrew Upton Andrew Upton is an Australian playwright, screenwriter, producer and director. He has adapted the works of Gorky, Chekhov, Ibsen, and others for London's Royal National Theatre and the Sydney Theatre Company. He wrote the original play ''Rifle ...
. ''Saturn's Return'', written by Playwright Tommy Murphy, is published by
Currency Press Currency Press is a leading performing arts publisher and its oldest independent publisher still active. Their list includes plays and screenplays, professional handbooks, biographies, cultural histories, critical studies and reference works. H ...
. The project is from the writer-director team behind ''
Holding the Man Holding may refer to: Film and television * ''The Holding'' (film), 2011 British film * "Holding", an episode of the American animated television series ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * ''Holding'' (TV series), a 2022 TV series based on the book by ...
'' and '' Strangers in Between''. It opened at Wharf 2 Theatre, Walsh Bay, NSW, 15 August 2008 with a later season Wharf 1, Sydney, NSW, 24 July 2009. A revised version of the play and production, from the same team, opened at Sydney Theatre Company's Wharf 1 theatre on 29 July 2009.


Creative team

;2008 production: *Director
David Berthold David Berthold is an Australian theatre and festival director, who has also been artistic director of several major Australian arts organisations. Early life and education David Berthold was born in Maitland, New South Wales. He spent some ye ...
*Designer Adam Gardnir *Lighting Designer Luiz Pampolha *Sound Designer/Composer Basil Hogios *Cast Matt Zeremes,
Leeanna Walsman Leeanna Walsman is an Australian actress. She is best known for her role as Zam Wesell in '' Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones'' (2002), and for her roles in the 2000 film '' Looking for Alibrandi'' and the television series '' We ...
,
Socratis Otto Socratis Otto is an Australian film, theatre and television actor. He is best known for his roles in television series ''Young Lions (TV series), Young Lions'' as Justin Carmody, ''Home and Away'' as Robert Robertson (Home and Away), Robert Ro ...
;2009 revised version: *Cast Toby Moore, Leeanna Walsman and Matt Zeremes.


Reviews

In his review of the 2008 production Stephen Dunne called the play,
..well-made and thought-through play and production, very much about real and modern concerns ... Growing up, or not, is the point celebrated, delayed, mythologised and avoided in this psychologically deft and satisfying work. It's a fantastical drama about a very real moment: when each individual works out that no, this is your one-shot life, and there's a reason most of those younger hopes and fantasies are labelled "dreams.
In Australian Stage reviewer Alekskei Wechter writes that, "The nuances of each character are fleshed out which can only be contributed to a strong collaboration between the actors, director and writer." The production returned in 2009. The original 2008 production was presented through STC's experimental arm but was now a main stage production. Alex Lalak wrote that, "... with a tweak of the script and a more solid design concept, it has developed more gravity but retained plenty of sparkle ... It makes an interesting addition to a growing list of locally produced shows telling local stories with a sense of humour." "This production by David Berthold is a tense affair, all snappy dialogue and pithy black humor." writes Nic Connaughton. "It's a generally solid affair but there are a few weaknesses, with the play promising so much but ultimately leaving you feeling that the sum of all its parts has not really added up to achieve the kind of emotional catharsis that Murphy's work is noted for ... an intriguing and beguiling outing by some of the Australia's most exciting talent.


References

{{Reflist


External links


Wharf 1 production
on ''
Ausstage AusStage: The Australian Live Performance Database is an online database which records information about live performances in Australia, providing records of productions from the first recorded performance in Australia (1789, by convicts) up unt ...
''
Wharf 2 production
on ''
Ausstage AusStage: The Australian Live Performance Database is an online database which records information about live performances in Australia, providing records of productions from the first recorded performance in Australia (1789, by convicts) up unt ...
'' 2000s Australian plays 2008 plays