REVIEW: Antidote - Phoenix Ensemble

Book by Kristina Redwood & Louella Baldwin

Music & Lyrics by Your Man Alex Smith

Co-Directors: Hannah Martin & Dominic Bradley

Choreographer: Rachael King

Music Directors: Rhea Basha & Alex Smith

“You shouldn’t have to convince someone to love you.”

Phoenix Ensemble welcomed audiences to the world premiere of Antidote, a new Australian rom-com musical about two sisters, Olive and Darcy, trying to navigate the maddening (and occasionally disastrous) world of love. Olive and Darcy are both searching for that elusive spark... But Olive’s heart has inconveniently latched onto someone completely off-limits, Darcy discovers her heart fancies not one, but two people at once. As wedding plans collide with surprise confessions, queer awakenings, brutally honest friends, steamy dreams, panic attacks, and the universal desire to be chosen, these two learn that the road to love is anything but straightforward!

The theatre had a lovely buzz when I arrived. You could tell how much it meant to the community to see a brand-new Australian musical created and performed by our own. The set, made up of empty photo frames, cube blocks, and a sprinkle of small props, created a clean, flexible canvas that could shift from a coffee shop to a nightclub to a living room. The show also leans heavily (and realistically) on phones for communication between characters. In future productions, I could absolutely imagine them projecting the screen POVs like a high-tech crystal ball to make everything clearer and more immersive for us.

You can't have a rom-com without some sibling drama, a forbidden crush, and a dating disaster, right? Antidote packed all of that into just the first Act. The opening song, One Thing, launched the show with the big question we all ask: What do you really want from a relationship? The cast then introduced us to a tangled web of characters who all hang out at the same little coffee shop (probably because they can't afford therapy).

Kristina Redwood was so relatable as Olive: recently dumped, clearly miserable, and trying (but failing) to appear happy for her newly engaged friends Brittany and Spencer. You could sense her emotional exhaustion... This is a character who needed a hug, a nap, and maybe a couple of weeks in Bali. Kristina gave Olive some beautiful musical moments and had a great knack for finding humour in tension breaks. What made her performance stand out was how real she played. Olive wasn’t a caricature. She was everyone who's ever been blindsided by a breakup, or fallen for the wrong person, or put on a happy face for a friend’s big news while quietly falling apart, or been totally clueless about who’s actually right for them.

Louella Baldwin brought a whirlwind of charm, chaos, and queer panic to Darcy. They played the character as someone flirty, fun, and absolutely averse to stillness. Lou's performance had a bright, magnetic energy, and they landed the comedic beats with ease. Their voice had some strong, punchy chest-voice moments and a clear tone that fit Darcy’s emotional outbursts. The panic attack scene with Austin was one of the show’s most honest beats. It was intense, vulnerable, and... sadly relatable lol.

Chapter One, Darcy's duet with Kaitlin Evans as Zoe, was an absolute favourite of mine. Opening with an adorable harpsichord moment, the duet blossomed into a tender, delicate number. Kaitlin, though not onstage often, made every entrance count with their natural acting and a beautiful vocal tone. Daniel Lelic made a memorable impact with his limited stage time too. His duet Chill with Louella was one of the funniest numbers of the night — a playful, riffy, belty narrative where two people try to interpret each other's intentions through the universal lens of “Netflix and chill.” Daniel’s vocals were crisp, confident, and exciting, and his chemistry with Louella made their scenes pop. What really stood out was how genuine Darcy’s connection felt with both Austin and Zoe. Each of them brought out a different side of Darcy, and I was cheering for both couples because they genuinely made each other happy. Jeez, I wish I had two people in love with me and couldn't decide between them! Dang.

As Brittany and Spencer, Priya Shah and Christopher Batkin were perfectly cast as the dorky, eager-to-please newly engaged couple. Their love felt earnest, even if their communication wasn’t always on point. Which brings me to Café Chaos, a scene that showcased Chris’ great voice and anxious energy. The song was bouncy and witty, even though sound-level issues softened its full impact. Together, they formed a couple you'd definitely cheer for, even when they were emotionally worlds apart.

Reagan Warner gave a lovely, down-to-earth performance as Connor, Olive's go-to best friend. His line “leave that cruel voice outside just for tonight” landed with sincerity and showcased what made his character so likeable. His naturalism made the friendship between Connor and Olive feel truly supportive and comforting. In a cast full of spiralling romantics, Reagan became the steady anchor — the one person you could count on to tell you the truth firmly and without (much) judgment.

And Hannah Macri as Miles was pure joy. They seemed to do every job in Brisbane — barista, waiter, tailor, tango teacher, florist, celebrant, emotional support human — and excelled at all of them. Honestly, I bet their name was secretly jotted down in the stage manager’s script with a note saying “If all else fails… Hannah.” Their vocal moment in 5, 6, 7, Wait! was brilliant, and their belt-heavy rock solo Tough Love really packed a punch. Hannah’s comedy as the overwhelmed waiter in the accidental double-date sequence (a full Mrs. Doubtfire moment) had me cracking up!

Your Man Alex Smith’s score was a delightful genre-mash, pulling from disco, rock, pop, folk, musical theatre, and even classical. No two songs sounded alike, yet they all fit comfortably within the same musical universe. Some highlights included:

• Just For Tonight – An alcohol-soaked trip to The Beat nightclub where Darcy’s queer feelings suddenly unlock themselves under the pulsing lights. It was fun, flirty, messy, and captured that moment where something shifts inside you before you even realise it’s happening.

• More Than Words – Christopher’s beautiful, romantic love anthem where Spencer spirals over choosing the perfect centrepieces. His anxious determination to pick the flowers that prove he knows Brittany, loves her, and wants their life together to be perfect was very touching. The Pachelbel Canon overlap was a clever musical touch too!

• The Bitter Truth / Golden – These layered, emotionally charged company numbers had overlapping harmonies and shared tension. Everyone is tiptoeing around each other’s feelings like a melodramatic minefield, singing truths they absolutely did not want to deal with.

• Antidote – The soaring title track with a bridge so good I genuinely thought we had reached the finale... only to realise there were still twenty minutes left whoops!

• Poison - The vicious sibling argument full of insults was fun in concept and staging, but pitchy unfortunately.

The direction by Hannah Martin and Dominic Bradley showed a clear understanding of how to keep a small space visually alive. Their choice to have characters remain onstage during scenes they weren’t directly involved in — existing in their own miniature worlds — helped fill the space and created easy transitions between scenes. As brilliant comedic actors themselves, Hannah and Dominic made sure the humorous beats landed with confidence; their instincts in timing-focused sequences were excellent. The double date remained the comedic high point of the show thanks to its tight pacing and well-sculpted farce structure. The nightclub scenes were also shaped with strong atmospheric logic, capturing the emotional overwhelm and sensory overload of those environments.

The ensemble harmonies were pretty straightforward, but they often had a tough time, which makes me think the cast could've used more practice with the mics in the space or a bit more time to get the blend just right. I know every performer in this cast can sing well, so I suspect a combination of sound balance, monitoring issues, and the difficulty of the harmonic learning played a part. Sometimes, sticking to unison lines might have worked better when time is tight. But none of this detracted from the sincerity of the performances, and the cast were very well chosen for their characters.

The script by Kristina and Louella was full of sharp, heartfelt writing. Lines like “I know what it’s like to be used and discarded” hit hard, and the show sprinkled humour into all the right places. The world they created was thrilling, over-caffeinated, and a true reflection of how real people go through love and friendship. Some relationships, particularly Olive and Brittany’s friendship and Olive and Darcy’s sisterhood, didn’t always feel as deep as the story required, but a future version could strengthen those bonds easily enough.

One thing the script captured beautifully was the interconnectedness of the characters. Every relationship looped back into another. Everyone was linked to someone. It actually echoed the Brisbane theatre scene with startling accuracy, where everyone knows everyone, friendships overlap with romances, breakups ripple through casts, and the community always has your back. Rachael King's choreography brought a sense of buoyancy and playfulness to the production; her movements aligning with the storytelling well. However, some ballads might have been more impactful with a more restrained and still approach to enhance emotional focus.

Quiet mics under loud tracks caused some dialogue to be swallowed, and some lower-frequency voices were difficult to hear. But the main hurdle for Antidote was its length. At roughly three hours with each act around ninety minutes, the rom-com pacing started to drag. Some trims to transitions, repeated beats, or restructuring scenes would help keep all the songs without the stamina fatigue. And as much as I love Phoenix Ensemble, by the time we hit the three-hour mark, my tailbone was complaining HARD. Thank the musical theatre gods that new seats are coming soon!

Creating an original musical is one of the most ambitious artistic undertakings a person can attempt, and this team should be incredibly proud. Antidote has heart, humour, relatability, originality, and so much potential.

I left thinking two things.

Firstly, these artists are incredibly impressive.

Secondly, both sisters are toxic and everyone around them deserves better.