The Pitch - Every now and then in the theatre you get the pure pleasure of seeing an absolutely wonderful performance. I had that pleasure last night. ABC Radio National

The China Incident - The comic genius of Peter Houghton is back on show … a terrifically funny script and a wildly entertaining performance. The Age

Ladies and gentlemen, put down your smart phones; logout of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube, Skype, Boompa; exit the 1,234 blogs you are live streaming; say goodbye to Googletalk, and come down from your iCloud. It’s time to see a live theatre production that shows just what happens when the frenetic pace of modern living catches up, and when the pitch is stronger than the idea!

After a blockbuster Season 2012, Queensland Theatre Company's onstage adventure for 2013 opens on February 2 with the hilarious double-bill The Pitch & The China Incident, starring two of the country’s finest actors in landmark roles.

These two companion pieces by acclaimed Australian writer Peter Houghton are an actor’s dream; two  tour de force roles with Hugh Parker fresh from rave reviews in QTC’s Kelly in The Pitch and Barbara Lowing in The China Incident. Both are high energy, rapid pieces which carry wonderful ties to today’s world of fast ideas, fast talk and fast people. 

Winner of the Green Room Award for Best New Australian Play in 2006, The Pitch sees Brisbane based director Catarina Hebbard team up with Hugh Parker as down-and-out film writer Walter Weinermann.

Witty, manic and oozing modern truths, the story sees Walter psyching himself up for the biggest pitch meeting of his life with a panel of powerful producers. He has an epic idea and a dream cast, but no decent ending, and so the die is cast for Peter Houghton’s fast paced script, where audiences ultimately find out if Walter is destined to be a millionaire – or just another idiot. Super-talented Hugh Parker will play more than 30 different characters in The Pitch, and with over 200 different sound effects, the production is demanding, and perfectly placed to open QTC’s Season 2013.

Companion piece The China Incident,is the story of one woman, a perfect storm of crises, and altogether too many phones. The indomitable Barbara Lowing is in the spotlight as Bea Pontivec, a high-flying, highly-strung diplomatic consultant who’s quite literally well connected, guided by Daniel Evans in his directorial debut for the Company.

Not unlike recent TV series’ Scandal, The West Wing and The Good Wife, The China Incident has Bea holding direct hotlines to the White House, to the United Nations and to a bloodthirsty dictator. She’s a power-broker, a playmaker, a cast-iron negotiator and a control freak. But as this pin-sharp satire becomes more frenetic, and her personal and professional lives collide, Bea will learn the meaning of the term ‘communications breakdown’.

The double-bill reunites Designer Simone Romaniuk and Lighting Designer Ben Hughes after working together on Head Full of Love and Kelly. Composer/Sound Designer Lawrence English completes the creative team.

QTC’s Artistic Director Wesley Enoch has promised season 2013 will showcase a range of works that take ticketholders around the world, shine the light on home grown talents and create theatrical moments of national importance across a world of love, art, laughter, drama, catharsis, glamour, song and adventure.

In March QTC and QPAC open the blockbuster End of the Rainbow with powerhouse actor Christen O’Leary brilliantly cast as Judy Garland in her final troubled days. Next QTC presents the acclaimed and six-time Tony-award winning masterpiece Red starring Colin Friels.

Queensland Theatre Company presents The Pitch and The China Incident
By Peter Houghton
2 February to 9 March, 2013 at the Cremorne Theatre, QPAC

The Pitch
WINNER GREEN ROOM AWARD BEST NEW AUSTRALIAN PLAY (2006)
Director: Catarina Hebbard
Designer: Simone Romaniuk
Lighting Designer: Ben Hughes
Composer/Sound Designer: Lawrence English
Cast: Hugh Parker

The China Incident
Director: Daniel Evans
Designer: Simone Romaniuk
Lighting Designer: Ben Hughes
Composer/Sound Designer: Lawrence English