Papermoon Theatre will present Alison De Groen's Wicked Sisters at the Courtyard Studio

Papermoon Productions is rising again after a 12-year hiatus with a new purpose. Its first production will be New Zealand-Australian writer Alma De Groen's 2002 play Wicked Sisters, directed by Tony Turner.

Turner was one of the founders of Papermoon with Geoffrey Borny and Cate Clelland at the Australian National University in 1991.

It was founded, Turner says, "for the purpose of giving students in the drama department the experience of seeing the great plays."

The best way to experience a play, he says, is to see it in performance, not simply reading it while sitting in a classroom.

During its existence, the old Papermoon presented a wide range of classics to students and the public, beginning with Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire and finishing in 2007 with Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot.

When the ANU Drama Department closed, Papermoon ceased its activities in 2008.

But, Turner says, "there was no reason why we couldn't do it again."

The resurrected Papermoon has Elaine Noon as president with Turner, Borny, Clelland, Kate Blackhurst, Nikki-Lynn Hunter and Bart Meehan on the committee.

Turner was approached to direct Wicked Sisters by Noon, who had been wanting to do it for several years.

He says, "It's very, very good, the kind of play you could start a new company with: a small cast, one set."

It also fits in with one of the aims of the new Papermoon: Turner says despite the existence of companies such as Echo and Pigeonhole, which champion works by and about women, "It isn't enough.

"The fact is Canberra has a great many strong female actors who don't get enough to do."

This doesn't mean the company won't stage works by male authors with male characters, but he says the plays Papermoon will produce need to have strong female roles.

"I think there's room for more."

Wicked Sisters features Alice Ferguson, Lainie Hart, Hunter and Noon.

Hunter, who is co-producing with Noon, says she has worked with Noon and Turner before and that, as well as the play and the new company's stated aims, brought her into Papermoon.

"That's what it's all about - good solid plays with good solid actresses."

And, she says, it's about entertainment for theatre-goers as well as a "welcome all comers" attitude.

"They wanted to be inclusive not exclusive [with] the same group of directors, the same group of actors ... That's refreshing."

De Groen's 2002 black comedy deals with revenge, guilt and ambition - "all the big strong themes", Hunter says.

"It's about at least six of the seven deadly sins and breaking at least four of the 10 Commandments."

Four old university friends - Meridee (Noon), Lydia (Hunter), Judith (Ferguson) and Hester (Hart), reunite in the Blue Mountains a few months after Meridee's husband, the scientist Alec Hobbes, has died.

But the get-together is not the benign, sympathetic occasion it seems - "Everybody has an ulterior motive" - and soon descends into a rancorous, foul-mouthed occasion where secrets are revealed and loyalties are tested.

Papermoon's next, still undecided production will be in October and they will also be producing one of Meehan's plays in the future.

The risen Papermoon hopes to shine for some time to come.