''Variations'' is a musical with book and lyrics by Nick Enright and music and arrangements by Terence Clarke. It premiered at the

Belvoir St Theatre Belvoir is an Australian theatre company based at the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney, Australia, originally known as Company B. Its artistic director is Eamon Flack. The theatre comprises two performing spaces: the Upstairs Theatre and the small ...

in Sydney on 2 December 1982, produced by the Nimrod Theatre Company. The original production was directed by John Bell and featured Nancye Hayes, Deidre Rubenstein, Robert Alexander, Philip Dodd, Vivienne Garrett, Brian James, Patricia Kennedy, Kim Krejus and

George Spartels George Bernard Spartels (born 25 April 1954) is an Australian actor, presenter, director, playwright and children's musician of Greek descent on his father's ancestry, and English and Irish on his mother's. He remains best known for his role ...

. Set in contemporary (1982) Sydney, the musical concerned the search for love and fulfilment in three generations of Australian women: a cello-playing grandmother seeking a violinist to play with her; her daughter, a shopfront lawyer and single mother; a daughter-in-law leaving a routine marriage; and a granddaughter approaching love for the first time. ''Variations'' received the Play Award at the 1983

New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, th ...

. Despite the award, since the première there has been no further staged production. Neglected Musicals performed a staged reading in 2013 at the Hayes Theatre in Sydney.

References

{{Nick Enright 1980s Australian musicals 1982 musicals Musicals set in Australia Musicals set in the 1980s