Matthew Flinders Theatre will be the venue for a special presentation of Euphoria by the State Theatre Company South Australia, in partnership with Flinders University.

The performance at 7pm on Friday 21 May will be preceded by a rare opportunity for the audience to meet and hear from the cast and crew, which includes many Flinders University alumni.

Hailed as being an Antipodean take on Under Milkwood, playwright Emily Steel’s Euphoria brings to life a South Australian regional community, full of love, pain, complexity and humour, with two virtuosic actors playing a range of idiosyncratic characters.

Informed by real conversations between Steel and people who live in these communities, Euphoria is a sharply observed play about the human habit of distracting ourselves from our most vulnerable parts.

The play follows the efforts of school teacher Meg, who wants to start a new festival called “Euphoria” to celebrate everything her country town has to offer. Former student Ethan doesn’t think there’s much to celebrate at all, until he meets Annie and hatches a plan for a campervan escape. Meg’s husband Nick wants Meg to slow down, but there’s still so much to do – get grants, make run sheets, hurry to Adelaide to win the support of the Premier. She’s spinning fast. And the rest of the town is noticing.

Immediately before the performance in the Matthew Flinders Theatre, the audience is invited to enjoy Serafino wines and nibbles while hearing from the Flinders Alumni involved in this production. This includes director Nescha Jelk, assistant director Emma Richardson, set and costume designer Meg Wilson, lighting designer Nic Mollison, sound designer Andrew Howard, along with Ashton Malcolm and James Smith.

The performance at Flinders University is part of a State-wide tour for Euphoria by State Theatre Company that will take in 19 venues – from Bordertown to Kingscote, Streaky Bay to Renmark – between April 30 and June 15.

General admission tickets to the 21 May performance at Matthew Flinders Theatre, costing $20 each, can be booked through Eventbrite. Proceeds from ticket sales will go towards the Matthew Flinders Scholarship Fund supporting Flinders University students.