Observatory Theatre has launched an exciting 2022 season after receiving rave reviews in 2021. Their 2022 season is bigger and better with casts of diverse backgrounds and vibrant productions from a Dystopian Drama to an Original Musical and even incorporates a new playwright program. Bravo Brisbane sat down with Creative Director and Producer, Lachlan Driscoll, to get the inside scoop! Check it out.

Your 2022 program is quite ambitious for such a young theatre company. Tell us more about what inspired you to take such a big leap this year?

What defines ambitious? As a wise friend once said to me, “Go big or go home!” and also because I can’t help myself but seek out plays and concepts that are big and refuse to go home. So in a way, it’s too late to turn back!! I also know that COVID has reinvigorated many artists and producers out there, and is testament to how the ancient art of theatre can survive even in the toughest, bleakest scenarios.

Your season features everything from a play about futuristic technology to a musical based on mythology. What ties it all together?

Longevity of the human spirit, which is (here comes the buzzword!) relevant in COVID times, and also the world’s current political and environmental climate. It charts the incredible, personal power we all have inside us and the search for greater meaning in our lives. From our origins and tales of human courage, to the future and the great potential of life ahead. This year is full of big stories and big ideas.

What stirred you to create your playwriting program? How does TELESCOPE work?

TELESCOPE was born out of my passion for new Australian work. There’s nothing more exciting than a piece of writing that is different, inventive and lends a fresh perspective on the world. So that’s what this initiative provokes from upcoming Australian writers. It starts with applications across the country, and then a full year of development of a new story from an existing idea or from scratch. We bring in many creative thinkers from a wide range of backgrounds to take the ideas to a whole new level, and the result is a work that combines not just the perspective of the main writer, but so many others. As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a play!

This year, we are developing Oliver Gough’s savage, surrealist play Disney Off Ice, which will be staged in 2023.

In a very short period of time, Observatory Theatre has made big waves in the Brisbane theatre scene. What do you think the future holds?

I think Brisbane is going to continue to explode with brilliant independents and new work! And for Observatory Theatre, we will continue to make work that we hope is memorable and impressive for indie theatre. Down the line, I would like to be more aligned with social causes, action and donation as a core policy. I think making profit is dandy but if theatre really has the power to make change, we need to start thinking about how to actually do it.

Last year, you had immense success with your own original work, Portraits. What’s next for Lachlan Driscoll as a writer?

There’s an idea that I’m sold on rolling around in my head. It’s different from Portraits but continues many of its conversations in a way. We’ll wait and see!

Make sure to check out all the information about the 2022 season from Observatory Theatre and book your tickets now on their website!