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The Silo Theatre picks up speed next year with a programme of seven productions, including Joe Orton's comedy Loot and a presentation of Life is a Dream, a challenging poetic work by 17th century Spanish dramatist Pedro Calderon de la Barca.
After moving from Lower Greys Ave to the Herald Theatre at the beginning of this year and restructuring its management, the Silo has had a relatively low-key 2008 with fewer productions than usual.
The Threepenny Opera, Rabbit and The Little Dog Laughed were its standout - and well-attended - shows of the year.
Next year's programme, which comes under the banner The House of Fun, starts as part of the Auckland Festival with The Ensemble Project, following on from last year's highly regarded EP. This time, the concept is to take eight actors and two directors, immerse them in "theatrical boot camp" and develop two new works.
Life is a Dream, written in 1636 and directed by Michael Hurst, features a wounded woman on the run called Rosaura, who discovers a chained man called Segismundo who believes he's a slave. He is, in fact, a prince. The play runs at the Herald Theatre from March 14.
The second EP project is Back Story, an unknown at this stage as the actors will have to construct their own narratives during the workshops. Directed by Oliver Driver, it will also run at the Herald Theatre, from March 19.
The inclusion of American playwright Theresa Rebeck's sharp comedy The Scene is a canny move by Silo artistic director Shane Boshier. It features a vacuous young fox called Clea, newly arrived in New York, who casually destroys the marriage of bitter middle-aged actor Charlie. Directed by Peter Elliott and starring Sophie Henderson as Clea, it's at the Herald from May 29.
In August, Boshier directs Holding the Man, an Australian drama about a gay relationship adapted by Tommy Murphy from Timothy Conigrave's memoir. It stars Stephen Lovatt and Charlie McDermott.
Oliver Driver drinks like there's no tomorrow in Ruben Guthrie, a dark comedy by Australian writer Brendan Cowell about an ad agency creative director who decides to choose sobriety over life on a bender. Colin Moy directs, from September 18.
Orton's Loot, from October 23, should be a light way to see out the year. Regarded as one of the great British farces of the'60s, Loot involves Charlie McDermott and Cameron Rhodes, among others, juggling the proceeds of bank robbery with a coffin and a body stuffed in a wardrobe.
A 1970 film version of Loot starred Richard Attenborough and Lee Rem
