The fiercely funny and fearlessly inventive new work combines a razor-sharp script, all-Queensland cast, cutting-edge puppetry and a banging Brisbane soundtrack in a high-octane showdown set among the city’s iconic landmarks.

WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE! is equal parts eco-thriller, schlock horror, laugh-out­ loud comedy and live-action comic book, brought to life by a team of talented Queensland creatives.

It follows Theo, a young Brisbane student who first senses a strange and menacing force stirring deep in the Pacific Ocean, off the Queensland coast.

Her attempts to warn the world of impending doom and destruction go unheeded until the monster rears its head, leaving a path of destruction across Brisbane and a lesson in the perils of ignoring what lies below the surface.

“We’re doing a few things we haven’t done in our shows before: integrating shadow puppets, augmenting our creatures with digital and robotic components, and then there’s the massive monster, which is by far the largest creature we’ve ever worked with,” Morton said.

“The joy of the work is in its ridiculousness. I hope audiences think it’s hilarious and that they enjoy seeing our beautiful city feature in a story with blockbuster ambitions.”

WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE! began to take shape in 2019 when Dead Puppet Society commissioned young Brisbane playwright Maddie Nixon to create a script for a bold new monster story.

“We were really struck by the way that Maddie wanted to use dark humour and her iconic wit to have some big conversations around our fragility in the face of the shifting environment,” Morton said.

Nixon began her career as an assistant stage manager at La Boite and is thrilled her Brisbane-centred story debuts during the company’s 100th birthday celebrations.

“La Boite raised me, put up with me in my early 20s, kicked me out of the nest to freelance in my late 20s – to be fair, I willingly leapt out of the nest – and now I’m coming back. It feels nice to come home,” she said.

“This play is both a love letter to Brisbane and a wake-up call to Australia. Queensland is such a heightened version of our national political landscape. The spectrum is fully represented here, so being able to supercharge that in a humorous way – and have a monster knock down the Wheel of Brisbane – has been a delight.”

It’s not just local landmarks and landscapes in the spotlight with musician Dean Hanson of award-winning indie band Ball Park Music composing and curating the play’s distinctly Brisbane soundtrack.

The eclectic playlist includes The Go-Betweens’ seminal Streets of Your Town before combing the catalogues of local legends such as Powderfinger, Regurgitator, Custard, The Saints, Violent Soho and The Veronicas.

“Once I got a copy of the early script, I sat down with a guitar on my lap and a playlist of Brisbane music legends in front of me, and there was a great match at every twist and turn!” Hanson said.

“I want it to feel like someone is flipping through vinyl records from the ‘Brisbane’ section of a record store. Nostalgia is important but there’s also an original theme and variation I wrote in a slightly sci-fi style to convey a sense that although we’re set in Brisbane, there’s something different, something out of this world occurring.”

Stewart said staging the world premiere season of WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE! in La Boite’s 100th year paid tribute to the company’s long and cherished history of nurturing and promoting new Australian work.

“It is fitting, that in a brand-new work about giving voice to the next generation of change-makers, we celebrate the talented artists and creative collaborators who have honed their craft at La Boite,” she said.

Dead Puppet Society developed one of its earli The Harbinger, at La Boite in 2011 and 2012, returning in 2017 with LASER BEAK MAN odyssey featuring Dean Hanson in the on-stage band.

“WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE! is both a testament to the wealth of Queensland’s creative talent and the strongest assurance that La Boite stands ready and brimming with optimism for what the next 100 years hold.”

WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!
30 July – 16 August 2025
La Boite, Brisbane
www.laboite.com.au

A stellar cast – including Brisbane stars Andrea Moor and Thomas Larkin – bring the razor-sharp comedy to life at La Boite’s iconic Roundhouse Theatre, alongside Sydney darlings Jemwel Danao, Nat Jobe and Camila Ponte-Alvarez.

Moor is Joan, a savvy businesswoman hired to revitalise a cult-ish yoga apparel company in the wake of a scandal involving its former CEO.

Yet, underneath the seemingly serene surface lies a cesspool of misconduct, plummeting sales, cultural appropriation, fat-shaming and rampant consumerism.

La Boite Artistic Director Courtney Stewart said Yoga Play was a laugh-out- loud examination of the business of peace, corporate responsibility and our love of yoga pants at any cost.

“Yoga Play drives right to the heart of La Boite’s art-making philosophy of fresh perspectives, authentic representation and considered collaboration,” Stewart said.

“It has been a wonderful experience working with Joanne Kee and her team at the National Theatre of Parramatta to stage Dipika Guha’s biting and brilliant contemporary writing in Australia for the first time.

“It’s thrilling for us to have some of the best Queensland talent on and off the stage working to bring this comedy to life.”

Yoga Play has won critical acclaim and delighted audiences across the US since its premiere in 2017 with the internationally renowned Mina Morita directing its Australian debut season.

“Dipika’s brilliance and wisdom have inspired me for over a decade of theatre-making, from her Mechanics of Love and her play Gaman to her writing on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” Morita said.

“Her sharply hilarious exploration of corporate ‘authenticity’ in relationship to the spiritual foundation of yoga via yoga pants is sure to bring belly laughs.”

Yoga Play
7 to 23 November 2024
La Boite Theatre, Brisbane
www.laboite.com.au

Settle in with a cocktail as the North Pole’s naughtiest performers show you what Santa really gets up to each holiday season.

With a live band playing everything from pop music and original songs, to Christmas carols as you’ve never heard them before, you’ll be begging to sit on Santa’s lap!

Hilarious, witty, and incredibly sexy, it’s everything your uncle at Christmas dinner wishes he could be. Now in its eighth year running, A Very Naughty Christmas really is the gift that keeps on giving… and giving… and giving! Book now for your place on Santa’s naughty list!

A Very Naughty Christmas
November 28 – December 8 2024
La Boite Theatre, Kelvin Grove
www.tickets.laboite.com.au

When Mark moved out of home for the first time, his mum started writing him letters – just checking in, staying in touch, keeping a gentle hold on her son.

Until one letter brings news no-one wants to hear.

Blue is a bold and deeply personal new work from a young and revelatory new voice in Australian writing. Journey deep into the beauty and sadness of a young life at its new beginning.

A tender and exquisite monologue written and performed by Logie Award-winner, Thomas Weatherall (Heartbreak High), Blue marks the writing debut of this accomplished actor and dancer.

The audience bears witness to Mark, alone in his apartment, on a quiet ordinary morning, trying to make sense of his world and navigate a way forward.

He needs to work out how to go on with the day, his studies and the fragility of living. He needs someone to hear his story and the story of his family.

A work of “very personal fiction”, Blue is drawn from Weatherall’s experiences as a teenager and young adult, finding his place in the world and overcoming an onslaught of emotional circumstances.

Delicately lifting the one-person play from its challenging themes with grace, fluidity and movement is director Deborah Brown, a choreographer and award-winning dancer.

Blue is a touching and beautiful exploration of a young person’s journey through grief, loss, mental well-being and young adulthood. Blue makes its Queensland debut at La Boite in 2024, following its premiere season at Belvoir as part of Sydney Festival 2023.

Blue
La Boite Theatre in the Round, Brisbane
16 May – 1 June 2024
www.laboite.com.au

Tied up in knots of likes and filters, @bloomgirl’s carefully curated online persona is about to spectacularly collide with the real world, culminating in a digital melt-down that breaks her tiny pocket of the internet permanently, but may just be real enough to matter to the right people.

Alice in a dark digital wonderland, @bloomgirl tells a riotous and sacrilegious tale about love and acceptance in a world of influencers who care more about your follower count than what you have to say.

Written and performed by Charli Burrowes and directed by Pacharo Mzembe, BLOOM GIRL is a unique stage-show about art, love and what it really means to be seen.

Bloom Girl
La Boite Theatre, Brisbane
5-6 July 2024
www.laboite.com.au

Being a gay 17-year-old cosplayer with a mild Disney Princess obsession, a TV celebrity as a best friend and a first date with a shy guy you met online takes awkward to the next level.

IRL is fairytale meets fanfiction in the quest for ‘happily ever after’. It is a fierce and funny reflection of what it means to be a teenager searching for friendship, love and acceptance and trying to find your community.

Alexei and his long-time internet crush, Thaddeus, are about to meet IRL (in real life) at the Supanova pop culture convention.

In a moment of regrettable self- sabotage, Alexei assumes a false identity to test the authenticity of his would-be boyfriend.

When Alexei’s best friend Taylor begins channelling the anti-capitalist vigilante superhero she plays on TV, the thin line between fantasy and reality wiggles wildly out of control.

At the end of a very long, strange, cosplay-filled day, will the trio find the connections they’re each craving?

This riotous and relatable world premiere work is written by Brisbane’s Lewis Treston, the creative force behind La Boite’s 2022 smash-hit, An Ideal Husband, and directed by Matilda Award-winning Sanja Simić.

IRL
La Boite, Brisbane
6 – 25 November 2023
www.laboite.com.aul

Sam and Ally are doomed and we have front-row seats to the end of their fractured relationship.

Fate brings them together again and again but when all the world’s pet fish mysteriously vanish and the world descends into heartbreak, these ill-fated lovers must assess their relationship and their choices to face the truth of what led to their downfall.

Capricorn, by Butchulla and Kabi Kabi writer Aidan Rowlingson, compacts all our anxieties and fears about love and loss into one relationship and asks us to look within.

Through the lens of this broken relationship, Capricorn explores culture, sexuality, personal growth and grief as well as environmental issues, the importance of protest and the effects of institutional corruption on society.

This theatrical journey from heartbreak to healing is tempered with a dash of surrealism and comic relief.

Rowlingson will co-direct the world premiere work with Queensland producer, playwright, director and Yuwi woman, Nadine McDonald-Dowd.

Capricorn
24 July – 12 August 2023
La Boite Theatre, Kelvin Grove, Brisbane
www.laboite.com.au

From the opium dens of 19th Century China to the harsh, rugged goldfields of colonial Australia, this production offers an illuminating insight into the early Chinese-Australian experience and puts a human face on the issue of migration.

Sleep-Sick is an ambitious young man from southern China who sets sail for the Victorian goldfields to make his fortune.

We bear witness to Ma, the long-suffering wife he leaves behind, Tsiu Hei, the seductive and cunning temptation he encounters, the choices he makes and the consequences they reap.

Will Sleep-Sick keep his promise to Ma or are the temptations of wealth, beautiful women and opium too much to bear?

The world premiere of The Poison of Polygamy presents the classic text through a contemporary lens with a dynamic collective of artists and creatives.

Thai-Australian playwright Anchuli Felicia King’s English-language adaptation poses intriguing questions on moral issues and is directed by La Boite Artistic Director Courtney Stewart.

The Poison of Polygamy
8 – 27 MAY 2023
La Boite Theatre, Brisbane
www.laboite.com.au

Join the bees on their magical adventure and be amazed by their super strength, glow-in-the-dark escapades, acrobatic skills, groovy dance moves, and giant new friends. From the team that brought you A Bee Story, this brand new show explores new themes around sustainability (pollination!), teamwork, and community spirit. The show was co-created by performer Robbie Curtis (Circa, Cirque du Soleil, Circus Oz, Australian Ballet), and performer Lizzie McRae (A Bee Story, Living Sculptures: How the birds got their colours).

Don’t miss this fantastical tale, guaranteed to have the whole family buzzing with laughter!

Garden Party has been commissioned by HOTA, Home of the Arts. This project has also been supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland. ARC Circus is supported by City of Gold Coast.

Garden Party
11-21 January 2023
La Boite, Brisbane
www.laboite.com.au

Funnier than a campaign stumble, infinitely more entertaining than a leaders debate and with crackling dialogue that hits harder than a tax cut,

An Ideal Husband is a fantastical and farcical antidote to the 2022 Federal election.

Set in the hallowed halls of Canberra’s House of Representatives in the mid-1990s, the reworked classic dabbles in political corruption, hypocrisy, blackmail and scandal while also posing age-old questions about love, loyalty and the value of relationships.

Brisbane playwright Lewis Treston adapted the play and leans into the absurdity of politics and romanticises the era instead of drumming a particular agenda or hot-button issue.

“I put Australian politics into a blender and extracted the bits I thought would be funny,” Treston says.

“That shift from Keating to Howard, from a progressive to a conservative government struck me as a historical transition point in Australia’s history and setting the play in this era makes it more relevant than a turn of the century melodrama.

“It’s in no way historically accurate and while some bits are recognisable, relatable and have resonance today, I’ve had a lot of fun making things up. This play is a fantastical take and a queer reimagining of ’90 Australian politics.

“I’ve taken recognisable political archetypes and used them and while the characters are not real people, there’s definitely a wink and a nudge to who they might be based on.”

Playwright Oscar Wilde gets a similar treatment, his wit and witticism skewed to a modern audience, his preposterous plotlines gently teased, and his zingy one-liners interspersed with ‘90s catchphrases.

Breathing life into the sizzling script is a popularly-elected all-star cast including Emily Burton – the 2022 Best Actress Matilda Award winner for La Boite’s Naked & Screaming – Christen O’Leary, Will Carseldine, Billy Fogarty, Patrick Jhanur, Kevin Spink, Hsiao-Ling Tang and Kevin Hides.

Costume and Set Designer Chloe Greaves has fun with both, draping the cast in iconic ‘90s fashion and converting La Boite’s Roundhouse Theatre into Federal Parliament’s House of Representatives, complete with signature green furnishings and a public balcony.

Director Bridget Boyle, a self-confessed political junkie and ‘90s tragic, says An Ideal Husband is a fast-moving play that’s “part sitcom and part French farce” laced with references from Seinfeld to Clueless, all set to a classic 90’s soundtrack: “You know, when music was good.”

“There’s a sense of distance and fantasy to the play, it presents a version of life that is far from Utopia and that’s the joy! This idea of “ideal” is blown apart – there’s no such thing as ideal, we’re all flawed, we’re all human and that’s OK,” Boyle says.

“It’s a fab, fizzy night of entertainment with some virtuosic comic turns and a beautiful undertone that asks questions about the nature of love, marriage, compromise and politics because, at its heart, it’s all about relationships.

“And there’s at least one dance routine to a ‘90s banger!”

An Ideal Husband
18 July – 6 August 2022
La Boite Theatre, Brisbane
www.laboite.com.au