Bøker av Angela Betzien

An award winning play. An intricately layered psychological thriller, exposing the startling mistreatment of those most vulnerable in our society, at the hands of those who are meant to protect them.

Como sabes que esto no es el sueño? (How do you know this is not the dream?) How do you know this is not the nightmare? Mortido is a remarkable crime drama, revenge tragedy and morality play all rolled into one. Jimmy is a small-time dealer and Monte is a biggish-time distributor. Grubbe is a detective. They all want the same thing: to live out their lives in leisure. And a water view would be nice. But for Jimmy and Monte to win, Grubbe has to lose. Same goes the other way. It begins with a Mexican fable about death and ends in the Western suburbs of Sydney. In between it takes in the public housing on Belvoir Street, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, quinoa, Nazi Germany, Qantas, Coca-Cola, a seventh birthday party, the Surry Hills police, the property market and a body in the harbour. The connective tissue? Cocaine. This is Betzien's most ambitious play so far, and a brilliant portrait of the Emerald City: familiar, bizarre, glorious and mean. A quintessential Sydney tale about crime, globalisation and the killer desire for a bigger house. (10 male, 2 female).

Three lost children discover an abandoned orphanage in the bush. They become trapped in this timeless world, haunted by spirits of the past and perpetually tormented by the ominous Black Skirt, the cruel governess who floats up and down the orphanage corridors wielding her enormous scissors. Soon, the children begin to listen to the stories of these restless spirits and by doing so, they find a light that will lead all lost children home. This new gothic fairytale for young people tells a history of Australia through the eyes of children, from convict times, to early white occupation to the vast era of the Stolen Generation to World War Two and beyond. A visually and aurally evocative play exploring themes of history, reconciliation and the cathartic power of storytelling. This is Roald Dahl meets Charles Dickens under the harsh Australian sun. (1 act, 7 male, 15 female).