October 27, 2016

Undergraduate playwright to make debut for Sydney Theatre Company

Story of tension between Thai and Australian cultures included in 2017 main season

The work of a University of Wollongong (UOW) undergraduate has been chosen for Sydney Theatre Company’s 2017 season, a major achievement that will see his play performed alongside that of the world’s greatest playwrights.

Australian Graffiti, by Disapol Savetsila, tells the story of a Thai family working in the restaurant industry in a small country town and will run from 7 July to 12 August next year.

Disapol, who is studying a Bachelor of Creative Writing, hails from Bathurst and said Australian Graffiti was largely influenced by his own experiences caught between two cultures in the Central Tablelands city.

“I tried to tap in to my experiences growing up in a rural town in a restaurant family. I was trying to tell that story of the tension between the Thai and Australian cultures,” Disapol said.

“But it’s also the experiences of my parents’ generation and my family. It was difficult for them, being in a country town, because they don’t really have the language, they keep to themselves. It’s that sense of isolation that I was trying to capture.

“I think that is why it has connected with audiences, because I tried to be very honest in my experiences.”

The play grew out of the Lotus Playwriting Project, an initiative of Playwright Australia and Contemporary Asian Australian Performance, which aims to bring the stories and creative works of Asian-Australians to the stage.

Disapol, aged 22, was amazed to find out Australian Graffiti would be included in Sydney Theatre Company’s 2017 next season, a huge achievement for any playwright.

He only began writing for the theatre while at UOW – he is now in his third year – after initially focusing on prose.

“It was terrifying and extremely exciting, I just couldn’t believe it at first,” he said. “I’m just trying to spend my time before the season making this the best play I can. But at some point, I think you just have to let go and see what form it takes up on stage.”

Paige Rattray will direct Australian Graffiti’s Sydney Theatre Company run. In announcing the play’s inclusion in its 2017 season, Sydney Theatre Company said Australian Graffiti signalled the debut of a dynamic new voice in Australian theatre.

“Disapol Savetsila’s play in an investigation of the migrant experience from the inside out. Teasing out the complexities of identity and belonging, his writing – both wryly humorous and deeply affecting – offers an insight into Australian lives often overlooked.”