''Bombshells'' is a play by Australian playwright

Joanna Murray-Smith Joanna Murray-Smith (born 17 April 1962) is an Australian playwright, screenwriter, novelist, librettist, and newspaper columnist. Early life and education Joanna Murray-Smith was born on 17 April 1962 in Mount Eliza, Victoria. Her father was ...

Synopsis

Six monologues made famous by the diva Caroline O'Connor, exposing six women balancing their inner and outer lives with humour and often desperate cunning. They range in age from a feisty teenager to a 64-year-old widow yearning for the unexpected.

References

{{reflist 2000s Australian plays 2004 plays

First production

''Bombshells'' was first presented by

Melbourne Theatre Company The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre com ...

at the Fairfax Theatre,

Victorian Arts Centre Arts Centre Melbourne, originally known as the Victorian Arts Centre and briefly called the Arts Centre, is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, located in the central M ...

, Melbourne, Australia, on 28 December 2001, with the following production team: *Performer: Caroline O'Connor *Director: Simon Phillips *Designer: Shaun Gurton *Composer:

Elena Kats-Chernin Elena Davidovna Kats-Chernin (born 4 November 1957) is an Uzbek-born Australian composer and pianist, best known for her ballet ''Wild Swans''. Early life and education Elena Kats-Chernin was born in Tashkent (now the capital of independent Uz ...

*Lighting Designer: David Murray This production was revived at the same venue from 26 February 2004 and transferred to the York Theatre,

Seymour Centre The Seymour Centre is a multi-purpose performing arts centre within the University of Sydney, located in the city of Sydney, Australia. It is located on the corner of City Road and Cleveland Street in Chippendale, south-west of the city ce ...

, Sydney, Australia, from 30 April 2004. A reduced version—consisting of four monologues—was presented as part of the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

at the

Assembly Rooms In Great Britain and Ireland, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, assembly rooms were gathering places for members of the higher social classes open to members of both sexes. At that time most entertaining was done at home and there wer ...

, Edinburgh, Scotland, from 6 August 2004. The performer again was Caroline O’Connor, directed by Simon Phillips. This production—now consisting of all six monologues—transferred to the

Arts Theatre The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London. It opened on April 20, 1927. History It opened on 20 April 1927 as a members-only club for the performance of unlicensed plays, thus avoiding theatre cen ...

, London, England, on 3 September 2004. Four of the monologues from ''Bombshells'' were televised by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

in November 2003.