Following sold-out seasons and strong critical reception across Australia, the queer dark comedy Trophy Boys will make its Queensland debut at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) from 25 to 30 August 2025.
Set during the Grand Final of the Year 12 Interschool Debating Tournament, the play follows an all-boys debate team from an elite private school as they prepare to argue the topic ‘feminism has failed women’. Performed in real time over a one-hour preparation window, the work is brought to life by a female and non-binary cast in masculine drag.
Trophy Boys aims to blend satire with social commentary, examining the entrenched misogyny, toxic masculinity, and homophobia within private boys’ schools and their influence on political and social power structures in Australia.
Written by Emmanuelle Mattana (Mustangs FC) and directed by Marni Mount (Victorian College of the Arts), Trophy Boys premiered at Melbourne’s La Mama Theatre in 2022. It has since toured extensively to sold-out audiences in Geelong, Sydney, Melbourne, St Albans, Wyong and Canberra. As of August, Queensland locales will also be added to that list.
The production was recognised at the 2024 Sydney Theatre Awards with the accolade of Best New Australian Work, and received a nomination for Best Independent Production. It also earned four Green Room Award nominations in 2023.
Mattana shared that her own experience as a high school debater helped inspire the work:
Once upon a time I was a competitive high school debater who would make jokes with her friends about how we ‘probably knew’ the next Prime Minister.
Soon, when the sorts of horrors taking place in the halls of Parliament began coming to light, this old joke became less funny, and I felt compelled to revisit my time as a high school debater in the only way that felt right – drag, camp, and a lot of comedy.
Trophy Boys dares to look at misogyny in a new way, through a satirical lens: it’s riotous, irreverent, and the performances are infectious.
As we grapple as a society with how to combat violence, I think it takes this kind of approach to change the way we see things and invite a new way of thinking.
Ahead of its Brisbane season, Trophy Boys will tour to Carriageworks in Sydney (23 July to 3 August), Riverside Theatres in Parramatta (6 to 9 August), and Arts Centre Melbourne (12 to 24 August). An Off-Broadway production is also planned for later in the year, featuring Mattana in the cast and direction by Tony Award winner Danya Taymor.
