Owl and the albatross
How the hell are you meant to figure out who you are while the world is on fire around you?
In the near future the sky is filled with smoke. For a kid with asthma, you haven’t got a chance in the city. So you get sent to live with your grandad, a boring old man who lives in a lighthouse by an ocean filled with rubbish and a baby albatross with no one to look after them.
So you fight for justice. But how are you meant to fight when the adults who can make a difference don’t care at all? And how can you possibly save the world when you’re barely staying afloat yourself?
Written for early secondary students, OWL AND THE ALBATROSS is a love letter from queer young adults who missed out on seeing their stories growing up—stories with queer kids who don’t like being told who they are and what their name is and now they have something to say.
Writer: Paris Balla
Dramaturg: Sarah Branton
Co-directors: Paris Balla and Sarah Branton
Producer: Ryan Hamilton
Puppet Design: Jason Lehane and Paris Balla
Set Design: Tiernan Maclaren and Paris Balla
Sound Design: Callum Cheah
Lighting Design: Kyra Ryan
Stage Manager: Jemma Law
Videography: Elena Rüfenacht
Photography: Jaimi Houston
Cast:
Owl: Geo Valentine
Jack/Flock: Oliver Ayres
Albert/Flock: Don Bridges
Jane/Flock: Cassandra Hart
Charleston/Puppeteer/Flock: Mikeala Innes
Performed at Theatre Works in June 2022 as Part of the VCE Drama Playlist before being shut down by Covid-19.
HOME
and other mysteries
MEL and ALLIE are sitting on a balcony smoking a joint and staring out into space. It’s warm enough that you can sit there in a tshirt and you won’t get cold but you might get bitten by mozzies.
MEL: What do you reckon the future’s gonna be like?
ALLIE: Shit
MEL: Really?
ALLIE: Whaddyou think?
MEL: Mmmmmmm not sure
MEL: Should we get a dog?
ALLIE: Why?
MEL: My mum reckons dogs bring hope
ALLIE: Until they die
MEL: Wowwwwww
ALLIE: Sorry
ALLIE: How long do we have?
MEL: Of what? The high? Life? Dogs? Cats? Mums?
ALLIE: Not sure.
MEL: MMmmmmm 7.
ALLIE: 7 what?
MEL: I guess we’ll find out.
A new work by Paris Balla, Georgina Bright & Callum Robertson
On the edge of finishing high school, Eli throws his first Grown-Up Uni Student Party. If a boy touches Ange’s shoulder, does that mean he likes her? And why are there aliens in Mel and Allie’s apartment?
Three different MUST playwrights have combined to create three unique stories of family, connection, and finding your home. Combining energetic choreography with a beat-driven soundscape, HOME is a heartwarming snapshot of three young Australians on the brink of change.
Presented by MUST in the MUST space
Directed by Georgia Kate Bell
Oh, for a muse of firepower
That would rise to the brightest heavens of adaptation!
Shakespeare Aliens is the classic feminist science-fiction film on stage, remounted as if it was a history play written by William Shakespeare. A story of soldiers, war, dreams, nightmares, complex human machinations and two Queens facing off in the final duel, the James Cameron film feels like the Bard himself conceived it.
This is the bravado of Henry V and the royal intrigue of Hamlet with A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Merchant of Venice thrown in for good measure.
By Rob Lloyd and Keith Gow
January 11-15th 2022
PROJECT
Pollinate
A new work for young audiences about recovering a lost forest and building new futures
"TREE: We can speak, if one cares to listen. In times of old, plants and humans lived in harmony. I am old and wise, I remember those times and I remember what was done to our kind. The younger plants have grown only in this cave, they know nothing else except for the stories of how the humans treated the plants. That is why they fear you, that is why they do not speak."
Created/Co-Directed by: Paris Balla
Co-Directed by: Simran Giria
Written by: Simone Louey
Dirk/Sound Design: Callum Cheah
Kaia: Hannah Johnson
Rowan/Set Design: Billie Ulrich
Tree/Old man/Costume Design: Geo Valentine
Stage Management: Cara Dowe
Created at Monash Uni Student Theatre, the students of Winters Flat Primary School and mentoring from Arena Theatre Company
Photography: Sam Howarth, 2019
The classic love story of gay car, meets gay car. Now a musical!
The road to my heart
Has always been easy
Never had strife in my life
I’ve always been breezy
The road to my heart
Has taken the short cuts
And sped around the bend
Until I saw him with all his bolts and nuts
Now I’m driving forwards
Without a GPS
No more driving in circles
The piston cup was my last test
Because now
You’ve found the freeway to my heart
And we’re on the highway to love
Written/Co-Created by: Paris Balla
Co-Created by: Oscar Balla
Composition/Musical Direction: Bianca Montagner
Costume Design/601 Bus: Geo Valentine
Lightning McQueen: Atticus Stones
Brum: Thomas
Sally: Lucy Rosenblum
Assorted Cars: Lucas Rindt
Created as part of the Monash Uni Student Theatre Cabaret Festival.
WINNER: Most Outstanding CabFest Performance
WINNER: Best onstage couple
Photography: Ian Cormick, 2019
