In case you haven't heard, Friday the 8th of October saw the launch of the State Theatre Company's 2011 season. There were mysterious boxes, Parkinson-esque couch interviews and many a laugh conjured up by the evening's charismatic host, Artistic Director Adam Cook.

On a crate-strewn stage in the Festival Theatre, Cook literally unpacked an exciting and adventurous season.

"It's going to be a year of high crisis and low comedy, amazing stories and curious incidents, unexpected pleasures and irresistible distractions," he said.

"Travel with us to take part in eight tales of triumph and tribulation, of the miraculous and the disastrous. You'll meet husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, a Hollywood movie star and even the President of the United States!"

The 2011 season kicks off in February with Moliere’s sparkling 17th-century comedy The Misanthrope. In an adaption by Martin Crimp the Frenchman is whisked into modern-day London, losing none of the biting flavour of the original and delving deeply into the absurdities of social conventions and pretensions.

Three brave actors brazenly blend the best of the brilliant Bard in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), presenting all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays in just 99 minutes! Using improvisation, pop culture and audience participation, this performance is also presented as part of Come Out 2011.

Garry McDonald stars as befuddled American president Charles Smith in David Mamet’s scathingly funny November, and class warfare and values are explored in the 2011 Education show, Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story, which will tour the outer metropolitan and regional areas following a short season in the Space Theatre.

Acclaimed Australian playwright Andrew Bovell’s stage precursor to cinematic hit Lantana, Speaking in Tongues, delves into the murky territory of love, intimacy and trust within relationships. Family issues are also explored along with small-town life frustrations in Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters, with a strong cast including Underbelly's Peter O’Brien (who's apparently a bit of a spunk).

Winner of the 1979 Pulitzer Prize, Buried Child by Sam Shepard digs deep into the disintegration of the American Dream; and the year is rounded out with Tommy Murphy's Holding the Man, an emotional and honest account of growing up gay, charting the relationship between two 1970's high school boys over 15 years.

All productions take place in the Dunstan Playhouse, except for The Misanthrope, which will be performed at Her Majesty’s Theatre due to disability access upgrades in the Playhouse, and The Zoo Story, which will be performed in the Space Theatre.

"These plays are adventures," said Cook. "That's what they're intended to be. To quote [almost] Emily Dickinson, 'There is no frigate like a play to take us lands away...'"

Not content with offering a corker of a season, STC are also indulging their humanitarian side in a new partnership with Anglicare SA. Theatre of Life through Anglicare's Positive Ageing program will provide many disadvantaged South Australian's with an opportunity to experience the magic that is a live theatre performance, with your donations providing them with theatre tickets.

Season 2011 subscriptions are now available through BASS - phone 131 246 or visit their website.

The full program can be viewed at the SA State Theatre Company's website, but I think the radiant Sophie Gardner sums it up pretty well with the following verse:

Our 2011 season's unpacked
And we're quite excited, as a matter of fact
There's Shakespeare of course, and our dear old friend Chekhov
And Andrew Bovell, and Mamet with a heck of
The use of the "F" word but that's no surprise
And Tim Conigrave will bring tears to your eyes

Come share in the stories, the highs and the lows,
The families, the misfits, the friends and the foes
All of whom should indeed be celebrated
In the worlds we've created and have also "un-crated!"