Promotional image for Damien Ryan's Venus and Adonis, playing at Seymour Centre.
Sport for Jove and Seymour Centre present

Venus and Adonis

29 Sep - 21 Oct 2023

It's 1593. Theatres are closed, players out of work, houses bolted, people terrified by the touch of another's skin, the breath of another's air.

Shakespeare, syphilitic and dangerously bored, publishes a scandalous response to the pestilence—an epic work about the very things lost to us, like intimacy, identity, and the erotic freedom of touch.

His searing poem, Venus and Adonis, rips and tears at the founding myth of why human beings are cursed to love each other, in every form—him and her, her-as-him, him-as-her, love as equal and unequal, obscenely arousing and utterly destructive.

Fanning the flames, he stages this hot work of scandal at court before Queen Lizzie the 1st, and puts a rival and a revelation in the leading role—Emilia Lanyer, the woman who would become the first professional female poet ever published in the English language, and perhaps Shakespeare’s most significant, yet least celebrated, rival.

From Sport for Jove's Damien Ryan, this new original play is Lanyer's incredible story—and that of a company of players seeking a new fix, rehearsing and unlocking history’s most influential masterpiece of intimacy, copiousness, and copulation. "And in a world fucked by plague, death, and isolation, intimacy is a rare gawd."

Released as a feature film in 2020 and finally making its world premiere on stage, Sport for Jove's Venus and Adonis is about the need to love, the right to speak, and the power of the printed word. It is a passionate cry from the soul on behalf of artists and their eternal value.

Book your tickets for Damien Ryan's Venus and Adonis today.

 

Image credit: photo Andre Vasquez, graphic design Sean Dowling 

★★★★ "A luscious, visual feast and a remarkable achievement."
Limelight Magazine
★★★★ "Sophisticated… [depicts] a Shakespeare more credibly the author of supreme art than any I recall: a man intense in both life and art."
The Sydney Morning Herald

Writer Damien Ryan
Director Damien Ryan
Producer Rob Jago
Set Designer Damien Ryan
Lighting Designer Sophie Parker
Costume Designer Bernadette Ryan

We are a registered COVID-Safe business with measures in place to make your next Seymour visit safe and enjoyable. Find out more about our safety measures.

Reginald Theatre

Fri 29 Sep 7:30pm
Sat 30 Sep 7:30pm
Tue 3 Oct 7:30pm

Reginald Theatre

Wed 4 Oct 7:30pm
Thu 5 Oct 7:30pm
Fri 6 Oct 7:30pm
Sat 7 Oct 1:30pm, 7:30pm
Mon 9 Oct 6:30pm
Tue 10 Oct 6:30pm
Wed 11 Oct 7:30pm
Thu 12 Oct 7:30pm
Fri 13 Oct 7:30pm
Sat 14 Oct 1:30pm, 7:30pm
Mon 16 Oct 6:30pm
Tue 17 Oct 6:30pm
Wed 18 Oct 7:30pm
Thu 19 Oct 7:30pm
Fri 20 Oct 7:30pm
Sat 21 Oct 1:30pm, 7:30pm

150 minutes (including interval). Partial lockout applies.

Full $54
Concession (Pensioner, Veteran, Full-time Student, Senior)* $42
Under 35*, Group 8+ $39
Preview $45

$6 transaction fee applies.

*Please be prepared to present corresponding ID at your event if requested by our staff. Read more.

Venus and Adonis is available to purchase as part of a 2023 Seymour Season multipack, alongside a host of other great shows. Buy a multipack to save up to 15% on tickets and enjoy outstanding independent theatre for less.

Recommended for ages 16+; parental guidance recommended for those under 16. Contains adult themes, nudity, sex scenes, coarse language, haze smoke, and loud or sudden sounds. Photography and filming prohibited.

The only authorised ticket seller for this event is Seymour Centre. If you purchase from an unauthorised seller, you risk that your tickets may be fake or invalid.

Reginald Theatre

Fri 29 Sep 7:30pm
Sat 30 Sep 7:30pm
Tue 3 Oct 7:30pm

Reginald Theatre

Wed 4 Oct 7:30pm
Thu 5 Oct 7:30pm
Fri 6 Oct 7:30pm
Sat 7 Oct 1:30pm, 7:30pm
Mon 9 Oct 6:30pm
Tue 10 Oct 6:30pm
Wed 11 Oct 7:30pm
Thu 12 Oct 7:30pm
Fri 13 Oct 7:30pm
Sat 14 Oct 1:30pm, 7:30pm
Mon 16 Oct 6:30pm
Tue 17 Oct 6:30pm
Wed 18 Oct 7:30pm
Thu 19 Oct 7:30pm
Fri 20 Oct 7:30pm
Sat 21 Oct 1:30pm, 7:30pm

150 minutes (including interval). Partial lockout applies.

Full $54
Concession (Pensioner, Veteran, Full-time Student, Senior)* $42
Under 35*, Group 8+ $39
Preview $45

$6 transaction fee applies.

*Please be prepared to present corresponding ID at your event if requested by our staff. Read more.

Venus and Adonis is available to purchase as part of a 2023 Seymour Season multipack, alongside a host of other great shows. Buy a multipack to save up to 15% on tickets and enjoy outstanding independent theatre for less.

Recommended for ages 16+; parental guidance recommended for those under 16. Contains adult themes, nudity, sex scenes, coarse language, haze smoke, and loud or sudden sounds. Photography and filming prohibited.

The only authorised ticket seller for this event is Seymour Centre. If you purchase from an unauthorised seller, you risk that your tickets may be fake or invalid.

Writer Damien Ryan
Director Damien Ryan
Producer Rob Jago
Set Designer Damien Ryan
Lighting Designer Sophie Parker
Costume Designer Bernadette Ryan

We are a registered COVID-Safe business with measures in place to make your next Seymour visit safe and enjoyable. Find out more about our safety measures.

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