Silo Theatre invasion

In just over a week, the Silo Theatre opens its programme for the year - in Wellington's Downstage with a reprise of last July's hit, Boys in the Band.

The Silo is becoming a good little exporter, after last year's tour of The Women, and the capital-bound Boys will feature a near-replica of the same cast, headed by director Jonathon Hendry. The play, written by Mart Crowley in 1968, was till recently regarded as unfashionable, stereotyping gay men as shrill, drunken spites, but Hendry's reworking proved a terrifically smart piece of entertainment. It runs at Downstage Jan 27-Feb 18.

The Silo starts its Auckland year on Feb 1, with Neil LaBute's play of last year This Is How It Goes, directed by Jeff Szusterman, with Mark Ruka, Roy Snow and Sara Wiseman. A wrenching study of race, marriage and deception, it won't be a comfortable exercise because LaBute - Bash, The Mercy Seat, The Shape of Things - doesn't do warm and fuzzy.

Also at the Silo this year: Mr Marmalade, by American writer Noah Haidle, a show about adult behaviour seen through the eyes of two kids, directed by Michael Hurst, with Hannah Tolich, Paolo Rotondo, Andrew Laing, Charlie McDermott and Lauren Jackson; it opens Mar 8.

The Jungle, by Australian writer Louis Nowra, directed by Cameron Rhodes with David Aston, Phil Brown, Kip Chapman and Aidee Walker is about one crazy night out in Sydney and is a rare chance to see a contemporary Australian drama; from Apr 21.

In June, the Silo will host Open Home - New NZ Works In Development, with two productions - Advance in Order: A History of Auckland, created by Kip Chapman and James Milne, directed by Jennifer Ward-Lealand; and Crash Mat, devised and directed by Jackie van Beek.

David Hare devotees will be delighted that Plenty is on the agenda in late June, directed by Katie Wolfe; followed by Drawer of Knives, a new work by Stephen Sinclair; and in August, Take Me Out, by Richard Greenberg, directed by Silo boss Shane Bosher.

Later in the year there will also be a new production of Badjelly the Witch, and Danielle Cormack will play Katherine Mansfield in The Case of ... at the Herald Theatre. All up, it looks like another superb year for the Silo.