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Join Shwa Shwa Theatre for a limited run of The Hairy Ape: 10 – 12 December 2026“The most striking play of many seasons.” – The Freeman, 1922
“A bitter, brutal, wildly fantastic play of nightmare hue and nightmare distortion.” – The New York Times, 1922
A man being told he is an animal. An animal encountering what it means to be human. Slowly, inevitably, their worlds begin to collide…
Deep in the engine room of a transatlantic ocean liner, Yank is powerful, proud and certain of his place. But when an encounter with the wealthy elite fractures his sense of who he is, he is propelled into a search for belonging in a society divided by class.
Elsewhere, deep in the forest, an Ape is equally at home. Powerful and free, she is queen of her domain, until she is torn from it and hurtled into the world of man.
As Yank moves from the furnace of the ship into the streets of New York, the Ape is drawn deeper into an unfamiliar human world. Their parallel journeys begin to echo one another, as the boundaries between human and animal, freedom and captivity, power and vulnerability begin to break down.
Eugene O’Neill’s expressionist classic The Hairy Ape is a powerful exploration of class, identity and the search for belonging. More than a century after it was written, its questions about inequality, alienation and what it means to be truly seen remain strikingly relevant.
Shwa Shwa Theatre presents a bold new reimagining combining immersive sound and powerful visual storytelling to create a contemporary theatrical experience that speaks directly to today’s audiences.
This production embraces the play’s expressionist heart. Bodies transform into workers, crowds, machines and animals, creating a constantly shifting world around its two central figures: Yank and the Ape.
Raw, funny, physical and unsettling, The Hairy Ape confronts a world where work, wealth and status determine where we belong. It leaves us with a question as urgent as ever: what makes us human?
The Hairy Ape was developed through a Creative Development supported by ArtsACT.
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Event venue
Canberra Theatre Centre, Canberra Theatre Centre, Civic Square/London Cct,Canberra,ACT,Australia
Tickets
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