An Ideal Husband Presented by: St Luke’s Theatre Society Date Attended: 28 August 2026 Written by: Oscar Wilde Director: Matthew Hobbs Set Design: Susan Hobbs Lighting Design: Sean Doran Photography: Dia Holt “An ideal husband! Oh, I don't think I should like that.” Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband proves that putting anybody on a pedestal is a bad idea. Sooner or later, they’ll wobble, say something foolish, get tangled in a scandal, or turn out to have committed fraud. Hopefully not all four... An Ideal Husband is a story about political corruption, blackmail, marriage, reputation, and the impossible standards we place upon people we admire. Surrounding all of that is Wilde doing what Wilde does best: filling a room with wealthy Victorians, arming them with wit, and letting them verbally attack one another for a few hours. Sir Robert Chiltern (Alex Thompson) appears to have everything. He’s affluent, successful, respected, and married to the deeply principled Lady Gertrude Chiltern (Elaina Mullins), who considers her husband practically incapable of moral wrongdoing. Unfortunately, Robert’s rise to success began with a decision from his younger years that was... well... considerably less honourable. Then Mrs Cheveley (Sophie Parker) struts onto the scene like she owns the place. She knows what Robert did, she has evidence, and she would very much like to use it. From there, we’re dealing with blackmail, missing jewellery, old school grudges, romantic assumptions, mistaken identities, and enough secrets to keep Victorian society gossiping for weeks. Meanwhile, Lord Arthur Goring (Giorgio Impiccini) repeatedly finds himself in the middle of everybody else’s problems (despite initially appearing to be one of the least useful men in London). Alex Thompson anchors the higher stakes of the story as Robert. Plenty of people around him are allowed to revel in Wilde’s ridiculousness, but Robert’s predicament needs to appear genuinely stressful. And Thompson makes sure it does! He wears the guilt across his face before his character can ever comfortably put it into words. There’s immediate anxiety around Cheveley, fear over what exposure could do to his marriage, and the creeping realisation that his immaculate public identity could disintegrate very quickly. He’s particularly convincing as a husband caught between these two very different women. Cheveley knows exactly where to apply pressure and enjoys doing it. Gertrude, meanwhile, has no idea how much pressure she’s applying at all. Elaina Mullins plays Mrs Gertrude Chiltern with sweetness, composure, and genuine devotion. Gertrude hasn’t simply married a man she loves. In her mind, she’s married a morally impeccable one. Mullins lets us see how deeply that belief is woven into her affection for him, so when Robert falls from that pedestal, there’s a real sense of her entire emotional framework shifting with him. Mrs Laura Cheveley has no interest whatsoever in making anybody’s life easier. Sophie Parker makes her a fabulous queen bee nemesis, playing Laura with deliberately slow pacing, a siren gaze in her eyes, and a venomous edge in her voice. Parker wears the character’s malice in her knowing smiles and carries herself like a woman who’s completely aware of everybody’s weakest point. Her history with Gertrude adds another layer. We learn that they are old school acquaintances who clearly did not leave their dislike of one another in the schoolyard. Every civil exchange carries a little sting underneath it, and Cheveley seems to relish every second she has the upper hand. Then there is Lord Arthur Goring. Giorgio Impiccini gets many of Wilde’s best lines and makes excellent use of them, with crisp comic timing and a wonderfully matter-of-fact delivery. He carries himself with the easy confidence of a man who has never had to worry too much about anything, adding little looks and reactions that make his self-importance even funnier. Arthur says baffling things with tremendous conviction, dresses extravagantly, puts his foot in his mouth, and somehow ends up responsible for untangling everybody else’s mess. Impiccini also finds the warmth of a loyal friend. When Robert faces humiliation and possible ruin, Arthur’s immediate instinct is to help him. He doesn’t spend the evening delivering moral lectures or recoiling in disappointment. He rolls up his frivolous sleeves and gets involved! Nigel Munro-Wallis, portraying Arthur’s very proper father, Lord Caversham, creates some of the show's most biggest laughs. Caversham seems permanently dissatisfied with his son, while Arthur remains impressively resistant to his dad's disapproval. Munro-Wallis nails the dry wit perfectly. He doesn’t need to chase the punchlines because Caversham’s constant exasperation is funny enough. The frequent chuckles from the audience whenever father and son faced off proved that the actors' pairing was landing exactly as intended. Maya Cranny’s Mabel Chiltern occupies the same gloriously unserious corner of society as Arthur. She’s playful, self-important, a bit childlike, and entirely convinced of her own opinions. Naturally, she and Arthur make perfect sense together. Their scenes offer a lighter counterpoint to the Chilterns' marriage. Robert and Gertrude are wrestling with whether love can survive imperfection. Arthur and Mabel seem perfectly happy to begin with imperfection and save themselves the time in therapy. Cranny has some terrific facial reactions too, and I wished she’d open her positioning a little further so those expressions weren’t hidden by her hair or angle to the audience. Natalie Pedler appears as the highly sociable Lady Markby, chattering enough to sustain a drawing-room conversation indefinitely. Savarnah Cruck and June Balfour, as Mrs Mason and Phipps, round out the household with the appropriate formality and restraint, helping maintain the proper world surrounding all this improper behaviour. Matthew Hobbs’ direction handles the script’s shifting moods comfortably. Robert and Gertrude carry the marital stakes, Cheveley keeps the danger simmering, and Goring, Mabel, and Caversham are usually nearby to puncture the seriousness before anything becomes unbearably solemn. There’s a lot of dialogue here (Wilde was hardly shy of a sentence), but the conversation moves at a comfortable clip for most of the performance. Wilde also very good at convincing us the story is nearly finished. A crisis resolves. A loose end appears tied. Everyone can surely go home now... Nope. Somebody enters with another piece of information, another secret wriggles free, and off we go again. Visually, the production creates an attractive world, with the warm drawing-room setting and formal costumes supporting all those ideas of wealth, status, and respectability. Susan Hobbs’ set fills the room with cosy details and ornate furnishings, providing exactly the sort of polished home in which one should absolutely not be discussing blackmail. A few garments would benefit from a good steaming, and some of the women’s hairstyling could use a little extra finishing to match the tidier presentations. And where their tattoos are being concealed, I think lace or evening gloves could sit more naturally within the period styling than the visible bandaging. I’d also encourage a more physical freedom from Gertrude and Mabel during their heightened moments. Their vocal delivery is extremely assured, but both can occasionally look stiff through the body. Anger, distress, excitement, and disbelief all invite a reaction beyond the voice, so allowing those feelings to travel more freely through posture and gesture would help the emotional shifts register even more clearly. Politics hums underneath this piece. Robert’s career was built upon reputation, ambition, influence, and the expectation that a respected public figure must somehow possess an immaculate private history as well. More than a century after Wilde wrote the play, that aspect of the script requires very little assistance to remain recognisable... People fail. People lie. People make choices they regret. People disappoint their fathers by becoming unmarried bachelors who talk nonsense to themselves.... For audiences who enjoy wit, period comedy, scheming, and characters who can turn an insult into an art form, St Luke’s Theatre Society’s An Ideal Husband is very easy to recommend. And after an evening with Wilde’s characters, I’m inclined to agree with Mabel... An ideal husband does sound terribly dull.

Dead Bat on the Night Shift Presented by: Observatory Theatre Venue: PIP Theatre Date attended: 27 August 2026 Written by: Samantha Hill Director / Set Design / Costume Design: Lachlan Driscoll Dramaturg: Emma Churchland Vision Designer: Freddy Komp Sound Designer / Stage Manager: Hannah Page Lighting Designer: Noah Milne Photography: Images by Anderson / Creative Futures Photography Content warnings: Coarse language, sexual references, misogynistic and racist language, fake firearm, gunshots, staged violence, fake blood, haze, and sudden flashing lights. “Hey Siri. How to murder...?” Written by Samantha Hill and presented by Observatory Theatre at PIP Theatre, Dead Bat on the Night Shift centres on Sloane (Claire Pearson), an intelligent, withdrawn employee who's come up with a dramatic plan to improve workplace morale. Her solution? Give her boss a permanent vacation. Six feet under. To be fair, Dave is the worst. I just recently watched 9 to 5, and it seems like I picked an excellent week for watching fictional office tyrants. Darren King as Dave sits comfortably among those men who mistake a tiny bit of managerial authority for evidence of their own superiority. He’s a sexist, racist bully who’s extremely comfortable making everyone else squirm. The audience kept up a chorus of groans whenever Dave launched into another revolting scene. You could feel the reaction ripple through the room, especially from the women hearing a fictional man say something we’ve all, unfortunately, heard some version of before. King gives Dave exactly the kind of cringey swagger that makes him painfully familiar. When we walk in, Sloane is already onstage, rocking the ultimate comfort combo of a hoodie, sweats, and a fanny pack. She’s giving the wall her best dissociative stare. Around her is a deliberately miserable office of grey surfaces, boxes, and a whiteboard covered in the sort of workplace nonsense that suggests somebody attended a management seminar and returned with several markers and no useful ideas. Customer service has rarely looked so bleak. Claire Pearson does a lot of the heavy lifting in this show, with Sloane onstage for almost the entire 150 minutes. She doesn’t say much for long stretches, instead expressing herself through internal asides, sudden outbursts, quirky facts, and wonderful facial reactions. Some parts of Sloane's character might really resonate with neurodivergent folks. She retreats into facts rather than socialising, likes systems that make sense to her, struggles to express emotion directly, and seems way more at ease planning a complex murder than chatting about the weather at work. There are even binders involved in said planning. She is also enormously capable, yet almost none of her strengths are valued in a workplace more interested in whether she can perform the expected version of customer-service friendliness. Pearson understands the power of stillness. Sloane is like a pressure cooker for most of the play, holding everything in and giving very little away. You can tell there’s always far more happening underneath than she knows how to express. So when that restraint finally cracks, it really hits. At one point, Sloane screams, and the sound went straight through my soul. It was like years of frustration, grief, rage, and all the words she has never been able to say coming out at once. Much of that history takes physical form through Clara (Ellen Hardisty), Sloane’s deceased mother and ultimate ghostly bully. She taunts Sloane, puts her down, and voices the cruellest things Sloane believes about herself. With exposed brain tissue and torn clothing from the car accident that killed her, Clara is a pretty horrifying sight (and that’s before she opens her mouth). But what she represents is even worse. She becomes the embodiment of Sloane’s unresolved abandonment, carrying the damage left by a mother who gave her up to foster care. Hardisty also plays another Clara, completely unrelated to Sloane’s mother. Office Clara is firm, quiet, and strong, carrying her own private grief. Hardisty separates the two women beautifully, giving one a vicious, needling presence and the other a quiet resilience. The doubling also works nicely in a play so interested in identity and the versions of people we create in our own minds. And then there is the dearly departed bat. Sloane finds a dead bat outside work and starts carrying it around. Calum Johnston’s puppet is macabre, peculiar, and somehow increasingly companionable as it begins to “speak” to her. That is the strange charm of Samantha Hill’s writing. The absurdity keeps opening little doors into something sadder. For all its dark comedy, Dead Bat on the Night Shift has a real soft spot for the odd little families that form in terrible jobs. You might hate the workplace itself, but sometimes the coworker beside you is the only reason you make it through another shift. Jaxon Norman gives Jonathan an instantly gentle quality. He’s helpful and sweet without needing a flashing “Nice Guy” sign above his head. In Sloane’s world, where she expects criticism, abandonment, or misunderstanding, simple kindness really counts. Clarise Ooi brings bright, distinctly Gen Z energy to Aysu. She’s the lively uni student of the group, full of youthful optimism and momentum. Jenna Murphy became one of my favourite recurring presences throughout the show. Pamela, bless her heart, is a bit of a doormat but stays relentlessly positive despite being injured (wrist guard and all). Murphy keeps popping up as a Centrelink worker, gun seller, glow-worm tour guide, and plenty more. Her comic instincts make each one distinct, and by the time another variation of “Pam” appears, simply recognising her becomes part of the joke. Lachlan Driscoll’s direction keeps us firmly inside Sloane’s world. She becomes our guide, speaking directly to us through narration and asides, while completely zipping up around the people actually standing beside her. Those moments are invisible to everyone else, and sometimes all it takes is one quick glance out to us (very The Office) to say exactly what she’s thinking. The world around her stays fluid too, with rapid scenes, actors shifting between characters, and simple visual changes moving us between settings. Driscoll's costume design tells us plenty as well. Sloane begins in clothes built around comfort, practicality, and invisibility, as though being unnoticed is preferable to being perceived. Later, she changes onstage into more conventionally professional clothing, making the transformation part of the storytelling. Jonathan’s preppy young-adult look suits his gentle manner, Aysu is unmistakably a Gen Z uni student, Office Clara dresses with sensible Gen X practicality, and Pamela’s brighter colours match her determined positivity. Dave, meanwhile, is just... Dave. Freddy Komp’s vision design extends Sloane’s inner world through drawn projections of buildings, beaches, caves, offices, bookshelves, and other environments. Their chalkboard-like style gives the whole thing a hand-drawn quality, as though we’re watching Sloane’s imagination sketch the world around her. Noah Milne’s lighting and Hannah Page’s sound are woven tightly into the action. A lot of the comedy relies on cues landing at exactly the right moment, and they do. Voiceovers, gunshots, flashes, and sudden shifts between Sloane’s external and internal worlds all land with sharp timing. Lastly, motifs of bats, twelves, and tarot cards appear throughout the story, tying into ideas of cycles, fate, prediction, and whether our futures are already set or still ours to mess with. One line cuts straight through all of it: “How dare you dream so small for your life?!” That, far more than the murder plot, feels like the challenge at the centre of Hill’s play. Samantha Hill began writing Dead Bat on the Night Shift 20 years ago as a young graduate feeling stuck, uncertain, and unseen. That backstory adds another dimension now. The frustrations of thankless work are funny because, let’s face it, they’re still painfully familiar for plenty of us. But the play also understands why telling someone to “just quit” or “find something better” can be wildly unhelpful. Choice gets complicated when life has taught you to expect very little. Sloane even goes through the torturous process of Centrelink and JobSeeker (iykyk), turning the whole thing into a bureaucratic circus. Quitting a lousy job is one thing. Then comes figuring out what’s next, proving you deserve assistance, dealing with judgement from strangers, filling out a thousand forms, and somehow staying sane through all of it. Sloane may be very good at planning a murder, but figuring out what she actually wants from her own life is much harder. For all its terrible bosses, maternal trauma, murder prep, and dead bats, Dead Bat on the Night Shift still has a surprising amount of heart. It will particularly appeal to audiences who enjoy black comedy, theatrical absurdity, and character-driven contemporary writing. It’s weird, funny, and is certain to catch you off guard.

Title: Take The Stage 2026 Presented By: Elements Theatre Co. Genre: Community Performance Showcase / Variety Performance Synopsis: Take The Stage is a free community performance showcase celebrating local talent, creativity, and confidence. Open to performers of all ages and experience levels, the event welcomes singers, dancers, actors, musicians, comedians, and variety performers. Participants can perform solo, as a duo, or as part of a group. Rather than operating as a competition, Take The Stage has no judges, scores, or prizes and is designed simply as an opportunity for members of the community to perform and share their talents. Audition Date: Saturday 19 September 2026 Audition Time: From 12:00pm. Individual audition times will be allocated after registrations close. Audition Location and Address: Elements Theatre Co., 1A/131–135 Old Pacific Highway, Oxenford QLD Audition Requirements: Prepare the act you intend to perform in the final showcase if selected. Maximum performance length is 4 minutes. Solo, duo, and group performances are welcome. Acts must be family-friendly and suitable for audiences of all ages. If using music, bring your track on your phone or USB. If using props or equipment, bring these to the audition and ensure they can be set up quickly. Costumes are welcome but are not required at auditions. Wear comfortable clothing and appropriate footwear suitable for your act. Arrive 15 minutes before your allocated audition time for check-in, warm-up, and to meet the team. Performers will present their act to the coaching team and may receive questions or feedback. Applicants under 18 must provide parent/guardian details. Audition Registration: Take The Stage 2026 Registration Form Registrations close Monday 7 September 2026 at midnight. Audition Pack: Take The Stage 2026 Information Pack Performance Date: Sunday 4 October 2026 Performance Times: 3:00pm and 6:00pm Performance Location: Elements Theatre Co., 1A/131–135 Old Pacific Highway, Oxenford QLD Rehearsal Dates: Friday 2 October 2026 – Free Performance Workshop Rehearsal Times: 1:00pm–6:00pm. Successful acts will select a one-hour workshop session, with each act receiving approximately 10 minutes of one-on-one coaching within the open workshop setting. Warnings: Acts must be family-friendly and suitable for audiences of all ages. Please note the studio is located upstairs and is accessed via stairs. There is currently no wheelchair access. Those with accessibility requirements are encouraged to contact Elements Theatre Co. prior to the event. Performer Age: All ages and experience levels. Production Website: Elements Theatre Co. – Event Calendar Other information: Registration, auditions, the Performance Workshop, and the performance opportunity are all free. Successful performers will attend a free workshop on Friday 2 October to polish their act in the performance space. Coaching may cover stage presence, microphone technique, movement, timing, and audience engagement. On performance day, performers should arrive 30 minutes before their concert time, completely performance-ready with costume, hair, makeup if applicable, correct footwear, props, and accessories. General enquiries: info@elementstheatreco.com.au Available Roles: There are no set characters or theatrical roles. Applications are open to a broad range of acts, including: Singers Dancers Actors Comedians Musicians Magicians Spoken word performers Variety performers Other unique performance acts Solo performers Duos Groups

My Sunny Boy Presented by: Spotlight Theatrical Company Venue: Spotlight Theatre Date attended: 30 August 2026 Written by: Amy McDonald Director: Helen Maden Stage Manager: Pat Apelt Set Design: Helen Maden Props: Dianne Lamb Costumes: Helen Maden and Amy McDonald Lighting: Thomas Bell Sound: Helen Maden and Simon Fox Photography: Vargo Studios (Clay English) “Travel safe, take care, f*ck off.” Audrey Hart is a loving, fiercely protective mother and a woman with plenty to say. Her advice to her son always begins with “my love.” Her patience for her ex-husband is non-existent. And any attempt at emotional restraint around the new wife tends to end somewhere around sarcasm, swearing, or a well-placed insult. Written by Amy McDonald and presented by Spotlight Theatrical Company, My Sunny Boy is a contemporary Australian comedy about separated families, old resentments, surprise pregnancies, and the horrifying discovery that if you raise an independent son, he may eventually have the audacity to become independent! Audrey once expected a very different life for herself. She and husband Ted were preparing to welcome their first baby when he revelaed that he was leaving Audrey for his much younger mistress, Vanessa (who was also pregnant!). Great timing, Ted. Years later, Audrey has rebuilt herself in a quirky seaside town, where she raises their son George, teaches belly dancing with free-spirited Bodhi, befriends her eccentric neighbour Leo, and has created a life that is messy, colourful, and entirely her own. George is now seventeen, and Ted offers him the chance to spend a year living with his family abroad. Where George sees travel, education, new experiences, and more time with his dad and half-brothers. Audrey sees a year of being left behind and, worse, being replaced. Naturally, she takes this extremely well... “I hold on tight and let go lightly." Helen Maden’s set gives us the lowdown on Audrey’s life from the get-go. The split-stage set is packed with plants, photographs, and knick-knacks that make a home feel properly lived in. The porch goes even further, with a surfboard, climbing flowers, roughed-up shoes, and enough coastal decoration to make their lifestyle immediately obvious. Inspired by McDonald’s affection for 1960s domestic décor, Maden creates a colourful home with personality in every corner. Even the front lawn gets involved once Leo arrives with his mower and headphones. He's apparently available at all times to perform garden maintenance, collect neighbourhood gossip, and insert himself into whatever family crisis is currently underway at the Hart household. The costumes by Helen Maden and Amy McDonald underline the contrast between George’s two families immediately. Audrey’s world is all beachy prints, flowing fabrics, dressing gowns, bare feet, and her pair of enormous green reading glasses, while Bodhi looks as though she may have wandered directly in from a music festival. Ted and Vanessa are much more restrained, with structured suits and considerably less tasselling. It’s essentially a fashion face-off between a beachside belly-dancing studio and a corporate boardroom. As director, Helen Maden cleverly uses the wider stage to establish separate locations rather than forcing every conversation to occur at Audrey’s kitchen table. She keeps the conversational script moving with natural blocking, interruptions, and constant movement through the spaces. The pacing is well defined, with scenes often ending on a revelation, cliffhanger, or killer line before snapping to blackout. At the performance I attended, those blackouts always earned applause before we were plunged back into the family chaos. The audience was especially responsive to Audrey, and it’s easy to see why. McDonald’s writing is at its funniest when affection and hostility occupy the same scene. When Vanessa shows discomfort about the past, Audrey simply replies, “That condition is called having a conscience, Vanessa.” Playing her own creation, McDonald sells every contradiction in Audrey. She’s loving, furious, spiteful, and vulnerable, with sarcasm and swearing doing very little to disguise how deeply she feels everything. Harrison Salter plays George as a genuinely likeable boy rather than a stock bundle of teenage angst. He and McDonald share an easy, affectionate mother-son rapport, full of casual teasing and kitchen-table familiarity. There’s something about him that reminded me of several boys I know who were raised by single mums, with that same emotional openness. Plus, his occasional frustrations come across as understandable rather than bratty. When he argues, “I deserve better stuff too”, it doesn’t come across as a rejection of Audrey. George loves his mum, but he also wants some of the opportunities his half-brothers have had. Peter Maden’s Ted feels immediately familiar as a daggy dad of three boys with an addiction to pastries. He’s attentive to George, eager to help, and clearly adores his son. Maden gets some great laughs from Ted’s awkwardness and reactions, but Ted can still be a bit of a prick (to both Audrey and Vanessa). The scenes with Audrey are especially entertaining because the two actors play that ex-partner history so naturally. They bicker, goad each other, slip into old habits, and still have a bit of spark underneath all the irritation. Ted has spent years being a good father to George, but the play never asks Audrey (or us) to forget why she’s angry with him. Josie Sargent plays Vanessa with a composure that avoids turning her into the obvious villain. She keeps trying to remain civil with Audrey, which is both admirable and, from Audrey’s point of view, incredibly irritating. Sargent holds her ground well against McDonald’s verbal attacks, while keeping Vanessa warm enough that she never comes across as smug or icy. Their scenes together are my favourites because every not-so-polite exchange carries years of resentment. Vanessa wants peace. Audrey would rather chew glass. Sargent is also much softer with Salter, and the affection between Vanessa and George comes across as genuine. Sienna Johnson portrays Bodhi as free-spirited, scattered, sexually confident, and genuinely sweet. Johnson plays her ditziness for plenty of laughs while still letting some vulnerability peek through. Her relationship with George did make me raise an eyebrow (five years feels rather more noticeable at 17 and 22), though the play acknowledges the age gap. Sienna Johnson and Amy McDonald develop a shift in Bodhi and Audrey’s relationship, as their workplace friendship grows into something more maternal. When Audrey speaks through tears about how she loved George while also resenting him after his birth, McDonald lets the humour fall away and the room becomes noticeably quieter. It’s a beautifully judged piece of acting from McDonald, who drops Audrey’s usual bravado and gives us a much more exposed version of her. Rob Kenna’s laid-back delivery makes Leo’s constant reappearances reliably funny, whether he’s mowing Audrey’s lawn, gossiping about locals, or grooving to Lady Gaga. There’s much more to him than comic relief, though. Leo is a later-in-life gay man with two sons from different mothers, and he becomes the person several characters confide in. I did wish the script gave Leo a little more room of his own. Much of his personal life is delivered through one-sided phone conversations. Considering how interesting his family history is, I’d happily have spent more time with him. There’s also an interesting thread running through McDonald’s writing about what it means to raise boys into men. George, Ted, and Leo all present very different versions of masculinity, while George is still working out where he fits among family expectations and all the other noise surrounding teenagers. I’d wholeheartedly recommend My Sunny Boy to audiences who enjoy contemporary Australian family comedy, parent-child stories, unapologetically blunt characters, and dialogue packed with terrific wit.

Goodbye, Eli Anderson Presented by: THAT Production Company Venue: Ipswich Civic Centre Date attended: 19 August 2026 Playwright: Grace Wilson Director: Timothy Wynn Assistant Director: Ruby Sanders Set & Costume Design: Madeleine Barlow Lighting Design: Daniel Anderson Video Design: Nevil Howell Sound Design & Composition: Morgan Francis Photography: Kenn Wylchi Content warnings: Mature themes, coarse language, mild violence, terminal illness, references to suicide, and grief. “I can't let life catch up to me." At 17 years old, Eli Anderson should be focused on senior year and whatever comes next. Instead, he’s facing terminal cancer, and a future that has been unexpectedly and unfairly cut short. Written by Grace Wilson, Goodbye, Eli Anderson won Queensland Theatre’s Young Playwrights’ Award before receiving its world premiere with THAT Production Company. Eli Anderson (Lincoln Kay) has a dark cloud hanging over him, with the same illness that took his mother now threatening his own life. His father (Hugh Parker) has gone into protective overdrive, while older brother Gabe (Angus Freer) is trying to figure out how to act around Eli when everyone knows their time together is running out. Eli doesn’t want to spend whatever time he has left being treated like he’s dying. So he takes Betty (the family’s colourful old campervan), and sets off for Uluru to make some memories of his own. Things get a lot more interesting when a teenage troublemaker, going by the oh-so-clever name “Hugh Jass”, hijacks his ride and insists on a lift to Darwin. Hello, Benji Hatchet (Jesse Frommelt). These reluctant road-trip companions quickly become something resembling brothers. Benji talks incessantly, steals things, gets bored every eight seconds, makes ridiculous decisions, and barrels through the world with the energy of an overexcited puppy who’s discovered the front gate has been left open. He becomes exactly what Eli needs. Both boys are on the run, but for very different reasons. As the story unfolds, we learn that Benji isn’t sure he even wants a future. He barely has a past to cling to either, having been essentially left alone in the universe. This younger teen is contemplating the idea of ending his own story, while Eli has had that decision made for him. Grace Wilson is clear that this isn’t really a play about cancer, but about men who love each other and struggle to say it aloud. Her writing places Eli in a cruel limbo between childhood and adulthood. Benji represents the adolescence he can still touch (full of play, impulsiveness, petty crime, and mischief), while to me, Gabe feels like everything waiting on the other side of seventeen: responsibility, family, memory, and adulthood. Eli sits between them, knowing he may never quite reach Gabe’s side. Thankfully, Wilson doesn’t let that sadness swallow the play. This is still an Aussie road trip, with plenty of joy along the way. The show takes us back to a time when cassettes were king, disposable cameras were the Instagram of the day, and a Refidex was your trusty GPS. For just a dollar, the pub jukebox could become your own disco inferno. At one point, there’s even talk of becoming pen pals, because keeping track of your random road-trip buddy was a much bigger logistical challenge before social media. The boys play cricket at a far less touristy Uluru, evade the cops like pros, and soak up the exhilarating thrill of being young and up to no good. Lincoln Kay plays Eli with a finely balanced mix of anger, fear, humour, stubbornness, and vulnerability. He never becomes simply “the sick kid” in the play. Kay’s quieter work packs just as much of a punch, with Eli’s vivid dreams and moments of make-believe reminding us how young he still is. His monologue addressed to his mum beneath the stars was met with audible sniffles in the audience. Only someone who has faced Eli’s circumstances could truly know how he feels or understand his reasoning from inside his head. Still, I found myself empathizing fiercely with him, even when his choices seemed irrational to those who cared about him. As Gabe puts it, “He doesn’t want to be coddled, he wants to be capable.” Jesse Frommelt is enormously endearing as Benji, whose relentless, chaotic energy could easily become exhausting in less capable hands. Instead, every bit of his performance feels truthful, especially when an intense confrontation with Eli completely changes the atmosphere. I went from tensing up to tearing up within the same scene as Frommelt’s emotional work landed with startling force. The impact of having young actors who actually match the characters’ ages is huge. Their awkwardness, bravado, silliness, affection, and sudden bursts of emotional intensity feel completely real - never like adults trying to imitate teenagers. Angus Freer brings a different kind of pain to Gabe. He’s facing the reality that his little brother will die before him, and there’s nothing he can do to fix it. Freer captures Gabe’s position between protecting Eli and respecting him. He understands something their father struggles to accept: keeping Eli alive isn’t the same as letting him truly live. His exchanges with Hugh Parker as their father are particularly intense. Dad’s overbearing nature can be frustrating, but having already lost his wife to cancer, his fear is painfully understandable. Together, Freer and Parker capture the emotional limbo of anticipatory grief, cherishing Eli while he’s still with them and already wondering what they might regret afterwards. Timothy Wynn’s direction allows all that emotional weight to sit comfortably alongside the pace, humour, and momentum of the road trip. Madeleine Barlow’s set drops us straight into regional Australia, with corrugated tin, road imagery, and Betty herself dominating the space. A genuine campervan is an ambitious centrepiece, but Betty more than earns her place. She rotates and shifts throughout the trip to give us different perspectives, with the backstage team deserving their own shoutout for repeatedly manoeuvring the thing around! Morgan Francis's sound design gives Betty plenty of sputters, groans, and engine noises, helping sell the idea that she’s actually getting them somewhere. The music of their era becomes another bonding language for the boys. I also loved the striped motif across Barlow’s design. Stripes appear on the walls, across Betty’s paintwork, and throughout the boys’ costumes, tying the whole visual world together. Nevil Howell’s video work is very clever too, with projections of scenery and road signage, plus live footage allowing us to watch Eli and Benji from inside the van. The projections expand beyond the stage during Eli’s imaginative sequences, while Daniel Anderson’s lighting finds beauty in the landscape, particularly beneath the stars and at dawn over Uluru. Out there, Eli can disappear from his father’s protection and feel completely alive, while the enormity of the world reminds us how much of it he’ll never get to see. Out on the road, these boys finally get something they haven’t really had before... Space to muck around. Space to fight. Space to be frightened. And, eventually, enough space to speak. Grace Wilson wrote the first version of Goodbye, Eli Anderson as a teenager, and perhaps that’s why its young characters are allowed to be so contradictory. They can be brave and terrified, selfish and generous, hilarious and devastating within moments of each other. Nobody suddenly becomes eloquent just because this awful thing has happened. These are boys trying to find words for experiences they were never taught how to discuss. Sometimes they manage it. Sometimes all they can do is sit beside each other in a battered van, put on a cassette, and keep driving. Funny, poignant, and scrappy, Goodbye, Eli Anderson introduces a distinctive young Australian voice in Grace Wilson, brought to life by the gifted young performers entrusted with her work. It brought plenty of joy and tears, and left a fairly substantial lump in my throat. Grace Wilson may have written a story about a boy running out of time, but I suspect this play itself has a long life ahead of it.

Title: The Addams Family: Young@Part Presented By: Second Star Youth Theatre Genre: Youth Musical / Musical Comedy Synopsis: America’s darkest and kookiest family comes to life in a musical about love, family, honesty, and growing up. Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with Lucas Beinecke, a sweet, smart young man from a respectable and decidedly “normal” family. There’s just one problem: her parents have never met him. Wednesday confides in her father and asks him to keep her relationship a secret from Morticia, forcing Gomez to do something he has never done before: lie to his beloved wife. Everything comes to a head when the Addams family hosts Lucas and his parents for dinner, bringing two very different families together for one unforgettable night. Audition Date: Sunday 13 September 2026 Audition Time: 1:00pm–5:00pm Audition Location and Address: Faith Works Norman Park, 177 Bennetts Road, Norman Park QLD Audition Self-Tape (if applicable): Video auditions are available for performers unable to attend the in-person audition workshop. Register as normal and indicate your unavailability on the registration form; instructions for submitting a video audition will then be provided. Audition Requirements: Auditions will be conducted as an iTheatrics-style group workshop. No prepared audition material is required. During the workshop, performers will learn material from the show and then have the opportunity to perform what they have learned for the creative team and their fellow auditionees. The workshop is designed to assess not only singing, dancing, and acting, but also how performers connect with others, respond to direction, and learn new material. All performers who audition are guaranteed a place in the cast. Auditions are used to determine individual casting rather than whether a performer will participate in the production. Audition Registration: Registrations are open now and places are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. There is no fee to register for the audition, although the participation fee must be paid in full before audition day. Audition Pack: All audition and production information is available on the production page: The Addams Family: Young@Part Audition Information Performance Dates: Saturday 3 October 2026 Performance Times: 3:00pm and 6:00pm Performance Location: Marjorie Godfrey Theatre, Cavendish Road State High School, Holland Park QLD Rehearsal Dates: Monday 28 September – Friday 2 October 2026 Rehearsal Times: 9:00am–4:00pm daily Performer Age: 10–18 years old, as of 3 October 2026. Creative Team: Director & Musical Director – Lauren McNamara Choreographer – Isabella Maric Production Website: Second Star Youth Theatre – The Addams Family Other information: Participation costs $450 per performer, including GST. The fee contributes towards rights and royalties, creative and technical professionals, venue hire, sets, props, costumes, marketing, and other production costs. Each participant receives a script, production T-shirt, dinner on performance day, an audition workshop, and the full week of tuition and rehearsals. The majority of costumes will be supplied by Second Star Youth Theatre, with costume hire included in the participation fee. Performers may be asked to provide basic items such as footwear, stage blacks, dress pants, or a white T-shirt. After casting, performers receiving lead and featured roles are expected to learn dialogue and lyrics before the intensive rehearsal week. Scripts, rehearsal tracks, and accompaniment tracks will be supplied. Performers of all genders may be considered for all roles, regardless of the character’s original gender representation. Character names and pronouns in the script will remain unchanged. Enquiries: lauren@secondstaryouththeatre.com.au Available Roles/Character Breakdown: Gomez Addams - A suave and passionate father of Spanish descent who adores his wife and children and takes enormous pride in being an Addams. Gomez finds himself caught between Wednesday and Morticia when Wednesday asks him to keep her secret. Requires strong comedic timing and dancing ability. A Spanish accent is a plus. Morticia Addams - The beautiful, mysterious, confident, and dryly witty head of the Addams family. Morticia values family tradition and becomes increasingly suspicious when she realises Gomez is hiding something from her. A strong mover; tango skills are a bonus. Wednesday Addams - The gothic eldest Addams child, balancing her loyalty to her wonderfully strange family with her love for a “normal” boy. Wednesday is compassionate, stubborn, determined, and strong-willed. Requires a strong belt. Pugsley Addams - The youngest Addams child, who has always enjoyed being tortured by his big sister. With Wednesday now focused on her new boyfriend, Pugsley struggles to understand his changing place within the family. Charming and funny, ideally with an unchanged singing voice. Uncle Fester - The lovable, childish, enthusiastic, and incorrigible narrator of the story. Requires excellent comedic timing and a tenor voice. Grandma - Fun, feisty, quirky, and wonderfully wacky, Grandma always has another trick up her sleeve. She is wise, eccentric, occasionally crass, and requires strong comedic timing and physicality. Lurch - The Addams family’s imposing butler and a man of very few words. Much of Lurch’s storytelling comes through grunts, moans, facial expressions, and slow, deliberate physicality. Requires excellent non-verbal acting ability and typically suits a rich bass voice. Lucas Beinecke - Wednesday’s sweet, optimistic, “boy-next-door” boyfriend who intends to marry her. Lucas struggles to navigate the enormous differences between his conventional family and the macabre Addams clan. Requires a strong singer and scene partner. Mal Beinecke - Lucas’s uptight and cynical father and Alice’s rather cold husband. Mal is immediately sceptical of the bizarre Addams family and horrified by the possibility that they may soon become his relatives. Alice Beinecke - Lucas’s mother and Mal’s wife. Alice initially presents herself as reserved, composed, and devoted to her family, even frequently speaking in rhyme. Dinner with the Addams family eventually unleashes a very different side of her personality. Requires a strong comedic actor with a strong belt. The Ancestors - The Addams ancestors from many different historical eras form the show’s ensemble and help tell the story after emerging from the family crypt. The Ancestors feature extensively throughout the production in both singing and dancing, with additional featured opportunities available for ensemble performers.

Do Not Go Gentle Presented by: QLD Theatre Company Venue: Bille Brown Theatre Date Attended: 21 August 2026 Playwright: Patricia Cornelius Director: Heather Fairbairn Assistant Director: Kate Wilson Set and Costume Designer: Simone Romaniuk Lighting Designer: David Walters Sound Designer: Julian Starr Composer: Alan John Photographer: Stephen Henry “The elements have aged us.” Five explorers traverse the merciless Antarctic wilderness, looking like overstuffed penguins and hoping history will remember them as more than popsicles with a purpose. It does, but not quite as they hoped. Written by acclaimed Australian playwright Patricia Cornelius, Do Not Go Gentle takes Robert Falcon Scott’s doomed 1911 expedition to the South Pole and gives it an entirely different traveling party: five aging residents whose memories, identities, and realities are slipping away. They envision themselves as Scott and his team, transforming the frightening, disorienting landscape of dementia into an Antarctic quest requiring just as much courage and endurance. First written in 2006, the play has earned significant accolades. Its title comes from Dylan Thomas’ poem Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night, urging his dying father to fight against death rather than quietly surrender to it. That defiance runs right through Cornelius’ characters. I was honoured to be invited to experience this production. A stage populated so prominently by older performers is a rarity, and I can’t remember seeing anything quite like it. Simone Romaniuk’s stark design transports us somewhere cold and inhospitable. White walls and flooring enclose the stage, mirrored surfaces expand the space, and suspended sheets transform into snow, ice, tents, or whatever else this unstable landscape requires. But Antarctica fractures, identities shift, memories drift, and another reality emerges. The white wilderness merges with aged-care corridors, blurring the line between being lost on the ice and lost inside a fading memory. Even the stage management team (dressed in beige scrubs) blends into the action like carers. Initially, all the actors are buried beneath heavy expedition gear. Slowly, those layers come away, giving way to pajamas, canes, and shakier bodies. Time, it turns out, may be the harshest element of all. Cornelius offers no neat linear plot to cling to. Scott narrates from his expedition diary as those around him speak in fragments, arguments, memories, stories, and sometimes complete nonsense. Characters drift in and out of one another’s realities without necessarily understanding where they are, who they’re speaking to, or even who they themselves once were. At times, it’s genuinely difficult to follow. Identities overlap, realities change without warning, and the expedition can seem almost as directionless to us as it does to its travelers. As the aged-care setting comes into focus, though, that disorientation gains purpose. We’re constantly losing our bearings alongside people who are losing theirs. Cornelius also finds plenty of wit amongst the confusion. Residents bicker, contradict themselves, or even produce beautifully articulate thoughts. A rapid exchange about everyone’s various physical ailments is particularly funny (especially as they collectively insist their minds remain perfectly healthy). Then there are the things the writing refuses to soften: the pain of aging, dementia, war trauma, losing independence, forgetting the people who love you, and facing death. The possibility of choosing one’s own ending (VAD) when suffering becomes unbearable enters the conversation... alongside the stubborn desire to continue:“I’m too invested in the journey to cut it short.” The ensemble comprises William Zappa, Jennifer Flowers, Steven Grives, Christen O’Leary, Andrew Buchanan, Marilyn Richardson, and, at the performance I attended, cover Bryan Probets, who stepped into the roles normally performed by Bruce Spence. William Zappa provides a steady presence as Scott, stubbornly persisting with the expedition and documenting the journey as his companions grow less stable. “I should’ve done more with my life,” one admits, while another reflects, “I never had a sense of the world beyond me.” Cue the debate club, as they squabble over what it means to achieve greatness, contribute to society, and what exactly makes a life well spent. Jennifer Flowers is an absolute delight as Wilson. She remains cheerfully resilient and her optimism has a deliciously offbeat quality, as though she’s wandered into an alternate universe to everybody else where everything is just peachy. Later, as Mary, Flowers brings tremendous comic instinct to the chaos of memory loss, all while keeping the real Mary shining through like a beacon in a foggy brain. Steven Grives brings a much tougher, rougher edge to Evans, enduring the expedition with the tenacity of a grumpy old bear. He complains about the conditions, grumbles about everything his body is being asked to withstand, and still keeps trudging onward. That makes Evans’ eventual decline particularly affecting. As the first of the expedition party to die, his loss alters the entire journey. Watching this seemingly indestructible man finally succumb makes mortality suddenly much harder to ignore, and Grives gives the scene genuine sadness. Christen O’Leary’s as Bowers is an intriguing character, like a fortress with unyielding and guarded walls. Once a journalist, Claudia now faces the world with a defensive stance, bewildered by a reality that seems foreign to her. It's especially sad to see her fervently recite directions as she grapples with her own disorientation. Plus, she’s frightened of her own family because she no longer recognises them. That landed hard for me. Memories might fade, but the grip of fear is much harder to shake. Bryan Probets has the considerable task of taking on Oates (performing with the script in hand), yet that practical necessity barely gets in the way. His character quivers at the howl of something following him and searches desperately for what initially seems to be his dog. Spoiler alert: the eventual revelation of what he’s actually lost is a punch in the gut! His story unfolds into father-son trauma and the psychological scars of war, giving earlier questions about heroism a much darker weight. “How is being killed or killing someone making a contribution?” Probets’ final scenes are deeply affecting, with his exposed distress making them some of the most emotional moments of the show. Andrew Buchanan occupies a fascinating position within the production because, unlike Scott and his intrepid squad of Antarctic adventurers, Andrew isn't out there freezing his toes off. Instead, he moves between several smaller but important characters orbiting their fractured memories and present-day lives. He appears as Claudia’s distraught husband, desperately trying to reach the woman who no longer recognises him, as the head of the aged-care centre, and as the shell-shocked soldier at the centre of Oates’ devastating memories of his son. And if that’s not enough, he even embodies the unseen creature haunting the Antarctic landscape, shifting into a more abstract presence. Then there’s Marilyn Richardson as Maria, who exists outside the expedition and brings a dreamlike quality to proceedings. At 90 years young, Richardson still has a striking classical voice, and she gets several opportunities to use it throughout the production. Her operatic singing drifts through the action alongside old vinyl records and classical music, evoking the familiar soundscape of a retirement home. Speaking with a Serbian accent, Maria repeatedly longs to go home, suggesting a woman displaced from her country and clinging to a place that still feels familiar. Heather Fairbairn’s direction allows reality to shift without warning. People wander into memories, conversations, and identities, and we’re expected to find our footing alongside them. It can be frustratingly elusive, but that confusion suits characters whose own memories offer no clear signposts. Fairbairn also gives this veteran ensemble room to remain fiercely individual, never reducing anyone to a symptom, diagnosis, or symbol of aging. And that’s where Do Not Go Gentle really finds its heart. These people are tired. Their bodies are changing. Yet they still love, flirt, grieve, argue, sing, laugh, resist, and search for meaning. By the final stretches of the journey, the heroic expedition has fallen away. What remains is far more ordinary, and perhaps more frightening: human beings facing the reality that every journey eventually ends. The audience around me grew noticeably emotional as the final pieces fell into place. Somewhere nearby, I could hear someone openly sobbing. That reaction says a lot. Queensland Theatre Company gives Cornelius’ work a visually arresting, deeply human production, led by a remarkable group of performers. Eventually, the snow disappears, the costumes come off, the expedition ends, and history moves on. But these characters still refuse to go gently.

Title: Camelot Presented By: Brisbane Musical Theatre Genre: Musical / Romantic Fantasy Synopsis: King Arthur dreams of creating a kingdom founded on justice, honour, and chivalry through the Knights of the Round Table. His ideals are tested when the celebrated French knight Lancelot arrives at Camelot and falls in love with Arthur’s wife, Queen Guenevere. As their forbidden feelings grow, Arthur struggles to reconcile his love for them both with his responsibilities as king. Meanwhile, his illegitimate son Mordred plots to destroy Camelot from within, threatening the Round Table and everything Arthur has worked to build. Filled with romance, humour, magic, betrayal, and legend, Camelot explores the rise and fall of Arthur’s extraordinary vision. Audition Date: Saturday 19 September 2026 Audition Time: 9:00am–10:00am – Specialist Dance Auditions 10:00am–4:00pm – General Auditions Auditions are conducted in groups of up to 15, with each audition slot running for approximately one hour. Audition Location and Address: Upstairs Studio, Emerge Church, 1 Coorparoo Road, Warner QLD Audition Requirements: General auditions consist of three components: dance, singing, and acting. Acting: Principal and featured-role auditionees should prepare the character-specific monologue supplied in the audition pack. Those interested in ensemble should select whichever provided monologue they feel they can perform best. Memorisation is helpful but not essential. Singing: All performers will sing the supplied section of “Camelot”. The song should be approached with clear storytelling and expression. Accompaniment will be provided live on piano, so no backing track is required. Dance: Auditionees will be taught a short choreography sequence during their audition slot and perform it in small groups. Specialist Dancers: Skilled dancers are specifically being sought for the production. Specialist dancers should book the dedicated 9:00am–10:00am audition and will also perform the audition song. Please bring a printed audition form with a headshot, wear sensible shoes, and bring water. Audition Registration: Book an audition time by contacting Production Manager Sara Reynolds. Email: sara_reynolds@mac.com Phone/Text: 0404 891 400 When booking, provide your name, mobile number, email address, age, and the role you are auditioning for. Audition Pack: Google Drive Audition Pack Performance Dates: 13–16 January 2027 Performance Times: Wednesday 13 January – 7:00pm Preview Thursday 14 January – 7:00pm Friday 15 January – 7:00pm Saturday 16 January – 1:00pm Saturday 16 January – 7:00pm Performance Location: Auditorium, Emerge Church, 1 Coorparoo Road, Warner QLD Rehearsal Dates: Rehearsals commence Sunday 4 October 2026 and generally continue Sundays and Mondays through December, followed by additional rehearsals in January before opening. Key dates include: Sunday 4 October – Readthrough/Vocal Rehearsal Sunday 29 November – Sitzprobe Monday 14 December – Sitzprobe Sunday 20 December – Costumes/Props Run Sunday 3 January – Cast/Orchestra Rehearsal Monday 4 January – Cast/Orchestra Rehearsal Thursday 7 January – Cast/Orchestra Rehearsal Sunday 10 January – Curtain Performance Monday 11 January – Final Cast Run/Bump-In Tuesday 12 January – Crew Technical Fixes Wednesday 13 January – Preview Rehearsal Times: Sundays – 12:30pm–3:30pm and Mondays – 6:30pm–9:00pm Warnings: The story contains infidelity, betrayal, violence, references to execution/burning at the stake, and death. Creative Team: Director – Jack Bradford Choreographer – Ruth Gabriel Music Director – Mark Beilby Assistant Director – Sienna Santos Production – Sara Reynolds Production Website: Brisbane Musical Theatre Other information: An Audition Information Session will be held on Sunday 6 September from 3:00pm–4:00pm in the Upstairs Studio at Emerge Church. Callbacks will be held on Monday 21 September from 6:00pm–9:00pm. Callback performers will prepare cold reads and designated songs. Casting is expected to be announced on Sunday 27 September. The production fee is $80, covering annual membership, refreshments, and insurance. This includes a refundable $20 deposit upon return of the script/score. Performers should disclose known rehearsal conflicts on their audition form. Missing three or more rehearsals without communication or reason may result in a role being withdrawn. Available Roles/Character Breakdown: Arthur Male, 25–40 Vocal Range: A2–Eb4 An idealistic, compassionate, and generous young king. Though sometimes unsure of himself, Arthur inspires those around him and strives to create a kingdom governed by honour, equality, and chivalry. Guenevere Female, 20–35 Vocal Range: B3–A5 A spirited young woman who becomes Arthur’s queen. She loves Arthur and believes in his ideals, but her world is complicated by the arrival of Lancelot and the unexpected feelings that develop between them. Lancelot Male, 20–35 Vocal Range: A2–B4 A highly accomplished and rather self-involved French knight who is accustomed to excelling at everything. Fiercely devoted to Arthur and the ideals of Camelot, his confidence is challenged by his feelings for Guenevere. Pellinore Male, 50–70 An eccentric older knight devoted to Arthur. Warm, muddled, humorous, and well-meaning. Mordred Male, 20–30 Vocal Range: C3–D4 Arthur’s illegitimate son, who arrives in Camelot determined to undermine his father and destroy the kingdom he has built. Tom of Warwick Male, 14–20 An earnest young stowaway who dreams of becoming a Knight of the Round Table. His belief in Camelot ultimately reminds Arthur that his ideals can survive beyond the kingdom itself. Nimue Female, 20–40 Vocal Range: Eb4–Eb5 A mysterious mythical spirit who lures Merlyn away and steals his magical powers. Merlyn Male, 20–50 Arthur’s longtime mentor and a wizard who ages backwards. He guides the young king before being drawn away from Camelot by Nimue. Morgan Le Fay Female, 40–50 Mordred’s magical aunt and a sorceress who casts a spell on Arthur. Mischievous, indulgent, eccentric, and more interested in enjoying herself than fitting the traditional image of a wicked sorceress. Knights – Dinadan, Lionel & Sagramore Knights of the Round Table who feature in the story’s court and jousting sequences, with opportunities for energetic comedy and character work. Ensemble / Featured Ensemble / Vocal Ensemble Includes Knights of the Round Table, lords and ladies of the court, townspeople, and other inhabitants of Camelot. Strong singers, actors, movers, and specialist dancers are being sought.

Hot Tub Presented By: Ad Astra Theatre Venue: Pluto, Ad Astra, Petrie Terrace Date Attended: 13 August 2026 Written By: Lewis Treston Director: Daniel Lammin Assistant Director: Ebony Webb Assistant Director & Sound Designer: Eloise Collins Stage Manager: Zalee Jensen Set Designer: Ashleigh Winter Costume Designer: Lottie Babic Lighting Designer: Teegan Kranenburg Photography: Sierra Sunset Co. | Saën Sunderland “Ick! This is gonna trigger my childhood trauma.” I have now spent several days trying to explain Hot Tub to people, and I’m not entirely convinced I can. It's White Lotus meets The Real Housewives... but make it bogan Gold Coast. Set during Schoolies, awkward Townsville teenager Dido Hunter (Grace Lofting) has travelled to the GC to visit her absent father, Murray (Sandro Colarelli). She's got one tiny favour to ask him - just a casual $32K for some surgery in Brazil. She's pulled into his bizarre new family, where nobody seems capable of behaving like a normal human being. Leading the household and property (The Great White) is Eunice White (Sarah Speller), whose fortune is vanishing thanks to some questionable investments. Murray is hitched to Eunice’s daughter Jade (Natasha McDonald), who spends most of Act One temporarily blind after eye surgery in Bangkok. Her son Reese (Lachlan Brayshaw) is Dido’s pampered new stepbrother and an OnlyFans creator who quickly concocts another money-making scheme. Toss in a loony cop, a friendly tradie, a juiced-up conman, and a criminal investigation... Daniel Lammin’s direction doesn’t try to tame any of it. Scenes are abrupt, heightened, and occasionally bonkers. The family gathering just gets stranger every time somebody new wanders in. Just when I was wrapping my head around one jaw-dropping moment (that stairwell scene, anyone?), another one would pop up. Eventually, I gave up on predicting the madness and just rode the rollercoaster in joy. When I entered Ad Astra’s intimate black-box theatre, Pluto, the cast was already lounging in beach chairs around the space. With no traditional wings, the performers remain visible around the perimeter when they’re “offstage”. It suits the GC resort vibe rather nicely (and means we never really escape this family). Ashleigh Winter’s sparse set leaves plenty for the performers and our imagination to do. The long-awaited arrival of the titular hot tub is particularly funny, with the ensemble committing wholeheartedly to the mime. Eloise Collins’ sound design transports us straight to Surfers Paradise. We’re serenaded by the sounds of Schoolies, the beach, and the bubbling spa. The local references hit home for a QLD crowd. This isn’t some generic satire. Many of us have probably wandered down Cavill Ave late at night and made poor decisions of our own... Grace Lofting brings an awkward vulnerability to Dido. She's clearly fishing for more than just cash from Murray, even if both of them are clueless about how to express it. As Dido gets sucked into the whirlwind of the Hunter-White circle (since Dad is too preoccupied to take her to Movie World like he promised), Lofting lets her character evolve with it. By later scenes, she’s in sparkly togs with styled hair, plumped lips, and heavier makeup. She even ends up "performing" for Reese's online fans to rake in some cash. There's an undercurrent in Dido's storyline about changing yourself to fit the life you think you want. Lofting holds onto that vulnerability without letting it disappear beneath all the jokes throughout. “Do you like yourself?” Sandro Colarelli plays the denim-clad hipster-wannabe-bogan dad Murray. He's got the aura of a man who's undoubtedly made several financial choices that shouldn't be investigated too closely. His interactions with Dido swing between awkward, touching, or tragic as you gradually realise how poorly they really know each other. And then there’s Jade... Somehow, Murray and Jade make perfect sense together. Natasha McDonald is a riot as his fabulously flashy trophy wife, who spends most of Act One stumbling around and screeching. She’s childlike, melodramatic, and completely on her own wavelength. She needs to bathe her crystals in the ocean and occasionally slips into prophetic episodes. That pretty much says it all. She has strong Alexis Rose/Moira Rose (Schitt's Creek) vibes, particularly once The NeverEnding Story karaoke kicks in. McDonald's comedic timing is so loose and unpredictable that I started to wonder if she was making it up as she went along. Her pauses, whines, and odd reactions seem to hit Jade about half a second before they tumble out of her mouth. Lachlan Brayshaw’s Reese is the ultimate brat queen who has grown up with money and a serious disconnect from the real world. He somehow exudes a spectacular sense of self-importance yet remains entirely indifferent to everything. Brayshaw portrays him with a dry humour, never glossing over his casual cruelty. Beneath all that luxury and privilege lies an emotional void, which makes some interactions with Dido surprisingly impactful. “You’re gonna make a lucky man very unhappy one day.” Sarah Speller brings formidable authority to Eunice White, the haughty head of this unstable household. Eunice is British, affluent, and stern, with a keen interest in horse racing and an apparent comfort with brandishing a firearm. Meanwhile, she continues dispensing proclamations and attempts to keep the family's finances afloat (but not in the hot tub). “You’re not entitled to the good things in life, you have to earn them.” Then we have Officer Sheryl. Ruby Gudenswager might have created the character who stayed in my head the longest afterwards. Sheryl has these huge, intensely focused eyes; it's like she's trying to hypnotise you into confessing your deepest secrets. I’m fairly sure she never blinked. She truly is the most intriguing character to unpack - just mention the old Gold Coast Bungee Rocket. By the closing moments, Sheryl is softly singing the lyrics of Savage Garden’s Affirmation to soothe herself. I’ve been listening to Affirmation non-stop ever since. Those lyrics really are like a warm hug for the soul. Daniel Johnson pulls double duty as Macka and Stinger. Macka is your laid-back Gold Coast tradie (who also happens to be an undercover cop). In Act Two, he reappears as Stinger, a bikie conman with an overconfident swagger. “Enjoy hell, I’m sure you’ll fit right in!” The ensemble work is one of the biggest reasons all of this holds together. The actors are all equally brilliant at portraying Treston’s over-the-top characters. You simply couldn’t play this material halfway. That commitment also helps Lammin keep the plot rolling when it starts tying itself in knots. Amidst the chaos, there's plenty to keep us entertained. This family is always on the hunt for the next quick fix. And if all else fails... there's always karaoke. It all sits perfectly inside this very Gold Coast collision between luxury and tackiness. For all the satire, though, the Hunter-Whites are oddly charming in their own disastrous way. The audience around me seemed equally bewildered and entertained. At times I was watching the faces across the theatre almost as much as the stage. There were plenty of visible WTF reactions and a tidal wave of laughs throughout. Hot Tub is coarse, camp, deliberately tacky, and gloriously chaotic. There are references to body image, drugs, sex work, gambling, and violence (plus firearms, loud noises, and flashing lights). It won’t be for somebody looking for tidy realism or a plot that politely explains itself. I walked out trying to work out exactly what I had just witnessed. I also walked out wanting to tell everybody about it.

The True Midnight Cry Presented by: Minola Theatre Venue: PIP Theatre Date Attended: 14 August 2026 Written by: Bianca Butler Reynolds Directed by: Kat Dekker Set Designer: Regan Ainslie Lighting Designer: Teegan Kranenburg Sound Designer: Roosje Harder Stage Manager: Ursula Heesh Intimacy Consultant: NJ Price Production Photography: Kris Anderson (Images by Anderson) “Eternity is a reality with which I must contend." Brisbane’s theatre calendar has coincidentally produced a compelling double bill this August. While The Book of Mormon causes religious mischief at QPAC, just across the bridge at PIP Theatre, Bianca Butler Reynolds is taking the apocalypse considerably more seriously. So, a light evening at the theatre, then. Presented by Minola Theatre, The True Midnight Cry is an ambitious new two-hander written by Reynolds and directed by Kat Dekker. Think of it as two plays in one, with a 200-year gap. In 1840s New England, Inez (Bianca Butler Reynolds) and her husband Thaddeus (Colin W Smith) are raising three children with another on the way. They live off the land in a world where mortality comes much earlier. Their marriage is supportive and loving, until Thaddeus becomes increasingly wrapped up in the teachings of a preacher who claims to know when Christ will return. The title has real historical roots, by the way. Back in 1844, preacher Samuel S. Snow published The True Midnight Cry, foreseeing the Second Coming. The predicted day came and went (spoiler alert, no apocalypse!), leaving the Millerite movement with what became known as the Great Disappointment. Fast forward two centuries and we find ourselves in a futuristic Australian society that has been shaped by the ominously named "dark '30s". Mila (Reynolds) works within Arcadia, a government monitoring program that uses personal and behavioural data to identify people vulnerable to radicalisation or violence. Meanwhile, Conrad (Smith) is the ever-inquisitive and talkative security guard stationed to protect her. The link between these worlds takes time to reveal itself, and I liked being left to piece it together as the story unfolded. I loved discovering the characters in real time, including the lives and histories of people who never physically appear onstage but gradually become important to our understanding of the four who do. And despite how many ideas Reynolds is juggling, the story itself is easy to follow. Her writing gives us enough information to understand each world without drowning the characters in philosophy. Regan Ainslie’s set begins as a wooden cube structure, framing a modest nineteenth-century home that immediately suggests the hard work of daily survival. Inez and Thaddeus initially seem comfortably matched, with mutual affection and passion. However, Thaddeus’ growing fixation on the prophecy soon creates a religious divide in their marriage. For him, the promise of the Second Coming offers something incredibly tempting: certainty amid life’s difficulties and fears. “We need not face death!” Smith adeptly handles Thaddeus’ downward spiral. His excitement mutates into an obsession, responsibilities start slipping, and the practical needs of his family take a backseat to his preparations for an eternity he believes is imminent. Meanwhile, poor Inez might as well be talking to a brick wall... There’s an infuriating contradiction in hearing Thaddeus describe women as “the wiser sex” while repeatedly disregarding the woman in front of him. Reynolds portrays Inez with such a grounded sense of practicality. She does not mock his faith, nor is she without faith herself, but she can recognise how their beliefs are progressively diverging as their disagreements get uglier. “I've made you unhappy without knowing how.” Reynolds developed the play specifically as a two-hander for herself and Smith, and you can feel that in the chemistry between them and in how comfortably the characters sit with each performer. She grants both characters dignity to ensure the play doesn't devolve into a simplistic argument of religious-person-bad versus sceptical-person-good. Knowing the work draws heavily from her own Adventist upbringing adds another layer because that nuance is clearly there onstage. She’s exploring the harm caused, what she still believes, and the complexity of separating the two (especially when those ideas are ingrained in childhood before we’re old enough to think critically). And during interval, the whole world changes... The timber structure becomes metallic, fluorescent, and institutional. Cold light replaces the warmth of the nineteenth century, computer screens appear, Reynolds returns in a sharp black suit, glasses, and sleek blonde bob as Mila, and Smith swaps Thaddeus’ period clothing for Conrad’s practical uniform and tactical vest. Almost everything changes. Except the mirror. The same ornate mirror sits in both worlds, quietly linking the past and the future. “I don't believe in things where there is no data.” For Act Two, Reynolds portrays Mila, a character distinct from Inez yet similar in nature. She is controlled, intelligent, headstrong, and loyal to measurable information. Initially, her worldview contrasts sharply with that of Thaddeus, but the longer we spend with her, the more those two worldviews start to echo each other. Both characters are uncomfortable with uncertainty and place great faith in systems that promise to reduce it. Arcadia inevitably invites comparisons to Minority Report, as Mila focuses on how our behavioural data could be used to determine who might become dangerous, who might be vulnerable, and who needs monitoring. Reynolds envisions a future two decades from now that's recognisable enough to be unsettling: cancer still exists, trauma still occurs, and people still seek human connection. They carry implanted technology embedded in their arms with periodic "data sync" announcements. After years of instability and violence (after a vaguely stated North Korea situation...), society has apparently accepted increasingly invasive surveillance in exchange for the promise of safety. But human beings, of course, are more complicated. Smith has an enormous amount of dialogue in this half, but it doesn't feel like pages of exposition. Conrad speaks with the easy rhythm of a friendly debate that occasionally turns into an accidental therapy session. There’s always real thought happening behind his words. Plus, he repeatedly drums his hand against his leg, a small physical tic that hints at the stress underneath all that chatter. And the longer he stays inside this controlled environment, the more the confinement wears on him. The space starts to feel like an office, high-tech bunker, prison, and psychiatric ward all at once. Regan Ainslie’s set plays right into that feeling, sitting at the centre of the roundhouse seating so the audience surrounds this contained little world from every side. It offers protection from the outside world while still keeping the characters confined and strangely assailable. Teegan Kranenburg’s lighting clearly separates the two periods: the nineteenth century glows with amber and warm earth tones, while the future is under colder blues and harsh fluorescent whites. Roosje Harder’s sound design shifts with it. Birds and natural sounds give way to mechanical rumbles, computerised cues, synthetic tones, and those ambient sounds that remind me of meditation apps trying to convince you everything is absolutely fine. Between scenes, Doretta Balkizas’ violin interludes give us a little musical breathing room. By the final stretch, things have become much more personal. I won't spoil the discoveries because the gradual exposure of these characters' histories is central to the experience. There is also no pretending that The True Midnight Cry is brief. The program lists a running time of approximately three hours including interval (and apparently this is already the cut-down version). So, get your buttocks comfy in that seat! There are a lot of ideas flying around here: theology, ideology, psychology, technology, trauma, ethics... sometimes all at once. But I never stopped wanting to know more about the people involved, and that’s what keeps it working. Reynolds builds enough emotional life around the ideas that the play remains about human beings rather than concepts wearing costumes talking at each other. Plus, there are so many brilliant lines scattered through the script that I felt compelled to keep jotting them down. Perhaps the most revealing is Thaddeus' observation: “The world ended in a whole other way.” Because an apocalypse may not necessarily arrive with fire, judgement, and graves opening beneath our feet. A world can end when a marriage changes forever, when the belief system you were raised inside collapses, when somebody violates your trust, or when society loses its sense of civility. Reynolds’ play isn’t really asking whether religion or science has the correct answer. It’s more interested in what people do when they can’t tolerate the possibility that there may be no answer at all. Thaddeus relies on prophecy, Mila turns to data, Conrad searches for closure, and Inez embraces nature. This is a big, deeply personal piece of writing, and exactly the kind of original Australian work that I love to see independent companies taking risks on. It asks a lot of its performers and its audience, but it also gives plenty back: two terrific performances, an inventive production design, fascinating speculative world-building, and enough moral and philosophical knots to keep untangling on the way home. Content warnings include coarse language, self-harm, references to sexual assault, miscarriage, and terrorism, with haze and strobing lighting also used. If you’re happy to settle in for a substantial night of theatre, this is one call that's well worth answering.

Title: Chicago: Teen Edition Presented By: Brisbane Junior Theatre Genre: Youth Musical Synopsis: Set amid the glamour and grit of 1920s Chicago, Chicago: Teen Edition follows aspiring performer Roxie Hart after she murders a faithless lover and finds herself imprisoned alongside vaudeville star Velma Kelly. Both women quickly discover that in a city obsessed with scandal, crime can be transformed into celebrity with the right headlines, the right lawyer, and enough razzle dazzle. As Roxie and Velma compete for public attention and the services of slick defence attorney Billy Flynn, the musical takes a sharp, funny look at fame, justice, ambition, and the media circus surrounding sensational crime. This Teen Edition retains the iconic score and story while adapting some language and adult material for younger performers and audiences. Audition Date: Saturday 12 September 2026 Audition Time: 1:00pm–4:00pm Audition Location and Address: Emerge Church, 1 Coorparoo Road, Warner QLD 4500 Audition Requirements: Auditions are required for performers seeking a lead or minor role, featured dancer position, or solo. Everyone who auditions is guaranteed a place in the cast. Auditionees are required to: Memorise the assigned monologue with appropriate characterisation and accents. Prepare the song listed on the relevant monologue sheet. Participate in a dance audition, with choreography taught on the day. Audition Registration: Book an audition time by texting Debbie on 0438 896 436. A Production Registration Form must also be completed and emailed to brisbanejuniortheatre@gmail.com. Audition Pack: View the BJT audition and monologue packs on Google Drive Brisbane Junior Theatre – Chicago: Teen Edition Performance Dates: Friday 25 September and Saturday 26 September 2026 Performance Times: Friday 25 September: 6:00pm & 8:00pm Saturday 26 September: 12:00pm & 2:00pm Performance Location: Emerge Church1 Coorparoo Road, Warner QLD 4500 Rehearsal Dates: Monday 21 September – Friday 25 September 2026 Rehearsal Times: 8:30am–5:00pm daily Warnings:Chicago centres on murder, imprisonment, capital punishment, infidelity, corruption, manipulation, and sensationalised crime. The Teen Edition has been specifically adapted to remove overtly sexual references and adult language from the original version. Production Website: Brisbane Junior Theatre – Chicago: Teen Edition Other information: An optional Audition Intensive will be held on Saturday 5 September from 12:00pm–3:00pm at the Emerge Church Upstairs Studio. The intensive costs $50 and covers monologue delivery, characterisation, physicality, projection, accents, audition-song presentation, acting through song, storytelling, and vocal technique. Individual feedback will be provided. Musical Participation fee: $425 including GST. The fee covers costumes, rights and royalties, scripts, insurance, technical and creative staff, sets and props, venue hire, and pizza dinner with a drink on the Friday performance day. Performers cannot audition without registering and paying. BJT guarantees every auditionee a place in the cast. BJT generally double casts its productions to provide performers with additional performance opportunities. Available Roles/Character Breakdown: Roxie Hart Female-presenting An ambitious, impulsive aspiring performer who dreams of fame and suddenly finds herself at the centre of Chicago’s biggest murder story. Roxie is charming, manipulative, funny, vulnerable, and determined to turn notoriety into stardom. Requires a strong singer, actor, and mover with excellent comic timing. Velma Kelly Female-presenting A confident vaudeville performer already accustomed to the spotlight when she lands on Murderess’ Row. Stylish, sharp, competitive, and highly theatrical, Velma becomes Roxie’s principal rival for headlines and public sympathy. Requires particularly strong dance ability alongside confident vocals and acting. Billy Flynn Male-presenting A charismatic celebrity lawyer who knows exactly how to manipulate journalists, juries, and public opinion. Smooth, theatrical, charming, and completely in control of his own image. Requires excellent stage presence and a strong singer/actor. Amos Hart Male-presenting Roxie’s loyal but frequently overlooked husband. Sweet, sincere, and somewhat naïve, Amos remains devoted to Roxie despite repeatedly being taken for granted. A strong character role requiring warmth and understated comedy. Matron “Mama” Morton Female-presenting The formidable matron of the Cook County Jail. Mama understands how the prison system works and happily exchanges favours for favours. Bold, confident, commanding, and humorous, with a strong vocal presence. Mary Sunshine Female-presenting A relentlessly optimistic newspaper journalist who believes everyone has some good in them. A highly theatrical character role requiring strong comic commitment and a high vocal register. Fred Casely Roxie’s lover, whose death sets the plot in motion. A featured acting role. Sergeant Fogarty A police officer involved in investigating Fred Casely’s death. The Merry Murderesses of Murderess’ Row Featured prisoners including Liz, Annie, June, Hunyak, and Mona, each with her own story explaining how she ended up in jail. These are strongly characterised singing, acting, and movement roles featured in “Cell Block Tango.” Kitty A sensational new murder defendant whose arrival temporarily steals the press spotlight from Roxie. Ensemble The ensemble may portray prisoners, reporters, jurors, court officials, dancers, club performers, police, and other citizens of Jazz Age Chicago. Chicago is particularly dance-driven, so ensemble performers have substantial opportunities for stylised movement, vocals, and featured character work.

Title: Disney’s Moana Jr. Presented By: Valmy Academy Genre: Youth Musical Theatre Synopsis: Moana Jr. is a stage adaptation of Disney’s animated adventure, following adventurous teenager Moana as she sets sail across the Pacific to save her people and discover the truth about her heritage. Along the way, she encounters the legendary demigod Maui and a host of colourful characters in a story about courage, identity, community, and finding your own path. Audition Date: Sunday 30 August 2026 Audition Time: 1:00pm–4:00pm Audition Location and Address: Valmy Academy, 127 Sandgate Road, Albion, Brisbane Audition Requirements: Every registered child will be part of the production. The auditions are used to determine where each performer fits best rather than to decide who is included. Audition Registration: Registration is through Valmy Academy. Families who register will receive the full audition pack. Valmy Academy Performance Dates: 26 September 2026 Performance Times: 11:30am and 2:30pm Performance Location: Hope Centre, 35 Thompson Street, Bowen Hills Rehearsal Dates: Holiday Workshop Week: 21–26 September 2026 Rehearsal Times: 9:00am–4:00pm daily Performer Age: 5–17 Production Website: Valmy Academy Other information: Audition Preparation Workshop: Saturday 22 August, 3:00pm–5:00pm Participants can learn the audition choreography ahead of time, ask questions, and receive audition tips before audition day. Audition Day & Parent Information Session: Sunday 30 August, 1:00pm–4:00pm Holiday Workshop Week: Monday 21–Saturday 26 September, 9:00am–4:00pm daily Available Roles/Character Breakdown: Moana Female | Vocal Range: G3–D5 The adventurous, determined daughter of Motunui’s chief. Moana is energetic, compassionate, funny, and increasingly confident as she struggles between the future expected of her and her desire to explore beyond the reef. This is a major singing and acting role requiring maturity, strong storytelling, and confidence with songs such as “How Far I’ll Go.” Maui Male | Vocal Range: G2–B3 A charismatic demigod, master wayfinder, shapeshifter, and legendary trickster. Maui is larger-than-life, funny, confident, and physically expressive, but gradually reveals a more vulnerable side as his friendship with Moana develops. Strong comic timing, energy, and stage presence are important. Gramma Tala Female | Vocal Range: G3–B4 Moana’s wise, eccentric, and playful grandmother. Tala is the village storyteller and encourages Moana to understand both her identity and her connection to the ocean. Requires warmth, humour, and the ability to handle both comic and heartfelt material. Chief Tui Male | Vocal Range: E2–A#2 Moana’s father and the respected chief of Motunui. Protective and responsible, he prioritises the safety of his family and village and strongly discourages Moana from travelling beyond the reef. A mature, grounded actor with good singing ability is required. Sina Female | Vocal Range: C#4–C#5 Moana’s compassionate and perceptive mother. Sina understands her daughter more deeply than most and ultimately trusts Moana to make her own decisions. A confident singer and actor with a warm, mature presence. Chief Ancestors 1–3 Any gender | Vocal Range: G3–A4 Three ancient leaders of Motunui who help guide Moana and narrate parts of her journey. These roles suit expressive storytellers with strong diction, characterisation, and singing ability. Pua Any gender | Vocal Range: B3–C#5 Moana’s loyal and supportive friend. Pua may be nervous about adventure but remains devoted to Moana. A confident singer with strong character energy can make this featured role stand out. Hei Hei Any gender | Vocal Range: B3–C#5 Moana’s hilariously clueless companion. Hei Hei is innocent, naïve, and well-meaning, offering plenty of opportunity for physical comedy and bold character choices. Tamatoa Any gender | Vocal Range: B3–B4 A giant, egotistical crab living in Lalotai, the Realm of Monsters. Obsessed with collecting shiny treasures, Tamatoa is theatrical, outrageous, and completely convinced of their own fabulousness. This role requires big personality, comedy, and confident showmanship. Te Kā / Te Fiti Any gender Two connected manifestations central to Moana’s quest. Te Kā is a fierce volcanic force guarding the path forward, while Te Fiti represents restoration and creation. These roles are generally movement and storytelling-focused within the ensemble. Ensemble Roles