Cluster Arts Global in association with Breaking the Castle Productions is pleased to announce Sydney tour dates for writer and performer Peter Cook’s award winning, compelling and uplifting one-man play, Breaking the Castle. The show will play at The Studio at The Sydney Opera House from July 23 to July 26. The season comes after a sold out run at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre in March of this year and critically acclaimed runs at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Off-West End in London in 2023.
The play has now been optioned for the film. Written and performed by Cook, (ABC’s Total Control, Old School and Redfern Now, Channel 7’s Home and Away and The Secret Daughter, Channel Ten’s Secrets and Lies, Bell Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus), Breaking the Castle is a brutally honest and unexpectedly funny journey through addiction, loss, and recovery. What makes this production truly remarkable is it’s based on Cook’s own life. At the height of his mental health crisis and addiction to methamphetamine, Cook was homeless, hopeless, and spiralling fast, his addiction ultimately leading him to a psychiatric ward. Years later the VCA trained actor has received standing ovations and critical acclaim in London and across Australia, having turned his survival into a one-man theatrical tour de force.
“This isn’t just a play. It’s proof that you can come back from anything,” says Cook. “When I was at my worst, I never thought I’d be on stage again, let alone perform a solo show that I’ve written at the Sydney Opera House. This play was born in the streets of Kings Cross. It really is a Sydney story.” says Cook. “I lived it. I nearly died in it. And now I get to bring that story to the Opera House — as evidence that even from the darkest places, something beautiful can grow.”
Breaking the Castle follows the story of David (Cook’s on stage alter-ego), a struggling actor whose life is a chaotic blend of substance abuse, Shakespearean soliloquies, failed auditions, and debilitating mental health. David takes himself to the brink, until an unlikely lifeline offers hope in the mountains of South-East Asia. Breaking the Castle is a dark comedy that offers audiences a rare and unfiltered look at the mind of an addict—and the fragile, beautiful process of healing. This is not your average tale of addiction. It’s a razor-sharp, darkly comic ride through one man’s chaos, full of warmth, laughter, and surprising hope. Think Trainspotting meets Fleabag; raw, real, and unexpectedly hilarious, with a huge heart that will have you leaving the theatre feeling inspired and uplifted.
Australian critics have called the show “the most significant theatre production audiences are ever likely to experience” with UK critics calling Cook’s performance “spectacular” and his writing “brilliant”. This is not just a play for those affected by addiction, it’s a play for everyone, cleverly and comically traversing human complexity and how we make a place for ourselves in the world.
Breaking the Castle reminds us that there is light, even in the darkest places — and that sometimes the most shattered lives can be pieced together into something extraordinary. “I got lucky in my recovery, my best mate paid for my rehab in Thailand, and I felt I owed it to those people who have fallen through the cracks and can’t get to rehab to tell this story. I’ve been through the mental health system in Australia, de-tox units and psychiatric wards in hospitals, and I know it’s hard to get the right help, whether it be for addiction or mental illness, and so there is absolutely a voice for the voiceless in my show. Australia is in the middle of a mental health crisis and mental ill health and addiction go hand in hand.”
Cluster Arts and Cook have partnered with the Australian Anti-Ice Campaign (AAIC), based on the Gold Coast and run by Andrea Simmons, who like Cook has lived through the hell of Ice addiction. A portion of the show’s box office will be donated to the AAIC “I watched Peter’s show, and it was absolutely brilliant,” she said.
The play has been optioned into a film by production company Tilt Media, part of the Forte Corp Group. CEO of Tilt Media Chris Hilton read the script and immediately wanted it as part of his slate. “We’re really excited to have Breaking the Castle in development,” says Hilton. “It’s such an emotionally charged story and it resonates with so many people. We believe Peter’s story deserves a much broader audience.”
Cluster Arts in association with Breaking the Castle Productions presents Breaking the Castle, written and performed by Peter Cook and directed by Bridget Boyle.
Where: The Studio, Sydney Opera House July 23-26
Tickets: sydneyoperahouse.com
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