Inside a stylish North Queenslander home, comforted by the calls of native creatures and classical tones, it appears the Baxters are an archetypal family, complete with happy marriage and diligent son. But 1968 is a time rife with religious controversy, political upheaval, and the constant looming threat of conscription. The appearance of conservative family values must be rigidly upheld - but what happens behind closed doors? Aaron J. Clarke's play, presented in typical eloquent style flourishing with sophisticated language, cracks open the hard exterior of his characters to reveal their innermost desires, secrets...And motives. How far would you push the boundaries for the one you love?

Dans 'Le baiser du pecheur', Clarke raconte une histoire de trahison et de revanche se deroulant dans le France et le Maroc de la fin du dix-neuvieme siecle. Trois femmes sont attirees par le Don Juan Gabriel. Madame de Rosa souhaite l'utiliser comme l'instrument de sa revanche, tandis que Justine et Esmee auraient aime le voir s'echapper des confins de la societe. C'est un monde ou les ennemis sont toujours prets a frapper, comme Madame de Rosa, dont les actions ont des consequences dangereuses et tragiques pour elle-meme et ses deux adversaires. Leurs destinees sont imbriquees dans le cadre des conventions de la fin-du-siecle regulant la conduite des femmes, dictant que celles qui s'abandonnent au desir doivent en payer le prix.

'Upon the Rock' is a blend of narrative voices and styles that tells the story of Marcus Baird, a gay man from Townsville, and Aemilius, a character from a novel set in Ancient Rome written by Aaron J Clarke. Marcus Baird hopes to win the author's affections. His quest for love leads him to England where he is imprisoned in the writer's house. During his captivity, he is forced to confess his darkest secrets hoping to gain absolution and, most importantly, Aaron's love. Likewise, Aemilius hopes to win the affections of Culcita, a dangerous youth who threatens the Roman Republic. Aemilius' quest for love results in him writing his life story and that of Rome's, where deception leads to murder.

'Death in Xanadu' is a savage indictment against the movie industry, and in this world of celluloid fantasy, the ultimate power belongs to the studio mogul Carlton Hislop, who can either destroy careers or create them - on the condition that they submit themselves to him. Author Aaron J Clarke turns a jaundiced eye on Xanadu, and the result is a depiction of a chain-smoking, heavy drinking, coke snorting, megalomaniac - not to mention perverse - movie mogul, who will stop at nothing to get what he wants and likewise, prevent his abhorrent desires from being publicized. Drawn into this scandal are the producers Tiffany, Lisa and Tony, in addition to the casting director, Kathy, who nominates child actors Frank and Freddie for roles in an upcoming film. Carlton becomes fixated on the young actors the moment he sees their audition. And so the malevolent man descends down a path of depravity, which ultimately leads to his humiliating escape from America and subsequent punishment in tropical Brazil.

On the verge of committing suicide, Cecile, a middle-aged woman, suffering from Multiple Sclerosis, contemplates her life in Townsville, and with that of her husband, Alain - whom in hindsight she believes to have made a mistake in marrying. Cecile believes her marriage to be flawed because Alain is unsupportive of her artistic ambitions and her dreams of travelling. Compounding their mutual incompatibility is Alain's authoritarian mother, Eleanor, who stays with them in order to care for Cecile; but in reality, she undermines her son's marriage with her overpowering religious beliefs. Drawn into this marital melee is Julie, an old friend of Cecile's but the secret lover of Alain: the duo insidiously plan to profit from Cecile's death. In 'The Voices of Discontent', Clarke examines the effects of religion, disease, artistic ambition and adultery in an already unstable marriage, discovering that true love overcomes all of these obstacles.

The seven stories in this selection span Clarke's early career, ranging from The Woman in Question, a drug affected man who is unable to let go of the woman he loves that ultimately leads him to the person responsible for her death. In The Wager, an unscrupulous man bets that a black servant won't be accepted into English high society; in The Unyielding Wind, Clarke reimagines the myth of Pan and Syrinx; and in Stabat Mater, an unhappy wife discovers her husband is having an affair with her sister that leads to a chain reaction resulting in murder and moral depravity. The haunting, The Unobtainable Agnes depicts a young man's love for an older woman, who happens to be a nun and the resulting emotional tension that follows. Beautifully drawn, Clarke's stories are as rich and resonant as his novels.

Inspired by a real-life 19th century scandal, Clarke deftly writes about the privileged world of the Victorian upper-class, where Hugh is forced by his overbearing mother, Lady Lillian, to conform to society's views concerning sex. Hugh's inquisitive and rebellious nature leads Lady Lillian to send the innocent young man away to Thorndike Academy to be educated according to English etiquette. Instead, his schooldays ignited forbidden desires for an older student, Edmund. However, it would be Hugh's affair with William, a working-class man, which would cause him so much angst as well as ecstasy.

Drawing upon personal events, Clarke invites readers of his poetry to meet a romantic and sensitive soul. He explores death and desire, questions what it means to be good, and pays homage to the divine and nature, observing it with impressionist intensity. Moreover, the language is simple, yet blended with the ornate to create poetry of great beauty.

In the distant future, a man downloads an ancient novel and instead of instantly transferring the novel into his brain, the man does something profound, he reads the text. As he reads the novel set in 1940s Townsville, he is involved in the story of Mr. Wilbur's immoral desires for Sam. 'The Cat' is perhaps Clarke's most daring novel: where innocence is betrayed, where reality is challenged, and where there is the possibility of moral redemption.

In this finely drawn novella, Clarke portrays the free-spirited Sonia sacrificing her scruples and, more importantly, her first love, the handsome gardener, to the callous millionaire, John. Like the flowers that grow his garden, John's obsessive love for Sonia is tainted with corruption and as a result, a malevolent presence affects the garden to the present day. Unable to resist her fate, Sonia marries John, a man whom she does not love, because he can provide for her and her unborn child. Decades later, the malevolent phantom of the past threatens to wreak havoc on a writer and his mother, who knows the secret to the possessed garden, involving the fate of Sonia. Therefore, she must tell her writer son before it is too late. 'The Flowers of Spring' represents Clarke at his finest, exploring the corrosive effects of money and the consequences for those who obtain it.

Adam Carlson takes for his research topic an unfinished novel by Noelene Richards, a friend of Virginia Woolf. Trying to finish this extraordinary masterpiece, Adam begins to obsess about the book and its author, an obsession compounded by drugs. This clever debut novel by Aaron J Clarke, a book within a book, plays on perceptions of reality and identity and the possibilities of redemption.