SANCTUS

adaptation by Liam Wallington and Carlos Gomes from Frei Bentinho de St Antonio

by Djalma Di Frattini

The ultimate miracle

A journey into a startling world, Sanctus takes you in to a place where magic realism crashes into the outback, and where holy statues spring to life to challenge everything you thought you believed.

Friar Benjamin (Kirk Page), a Brother of Christ, is sent on a mission to restore a chapel, neglected in a desolate land.

Leaving his seclusion, Benjamin enters a harsh new landscape that is full of surprises, challenging his expectations of the world.

At the abandoned chapel, four Saints (Katia Molino, Drew Fairley - popular Darlo Drama teacher and co-creator/ performer of the DTC hit show Bangers and Mash, Kym Vercoe and Carlos Gomes) lie in wait, and Benjamin is plunged into a hallucinogenic confrontation that ultimately tests the depths of his faith.

An inspired parody/ celebration of the Catholic Church, Sanctus is a bizarre, physical, dark comedy that simultaneously ridicules and reveres religion as an institution, along with the very human need to believe.

Sanctus explores complex issues of faith and belief, and particularly what happens when these are challenged. It does so, using the very elements of Christianity that have inspired great Western art, from Botticelli to Evelyn Waugh, Gaudi to Almodovar. The sensuality and intensity of Catholicism, with its images of crucifixion, smell of incense, sanctity of communion, and the camp theatricality of the traditional mass, all come together in a potent tableaux of all the horror and beauty in this world.

"A skilfully performed and entertaining contemporary work... intelligent satire."

Sydney Morning Herald

SEASON DETAILS:

Preview: 7pm Wednesday 2 November

Opens: 7pm Thursday 3 November

Plays: Friday 4 November to Saturday 19 November

7pm Tuesday - Saturday, 5pm Sunday,

Tickets: $27 full; $21 concession; $17 VIP Card holders

Venue: Darlinghurst Theatre Company, 19 Greenknowe Avenue, Potts Point.

Bookings: (02) 8356 9987 or www.darlinghursttheatre.com