In April 2009, two weeks short of his nineteenth birthday, Toowoomba teenager Kristjan Terauds died due to complications from illicit drug use. Using the words of Kristjan’s friends and family interviewed over many months, and inspired by the journal of Kristjan’s father, playwright David Burton has dramatised a powerful story of love, loss and sadness, with touching humour.

April’s Fool is a though provoking, memorable and ultimately optimistic reflection of the choices we make and how they affect those we love. Available now.

Contact Playlab for more information or order direct from Australian Plays.

The Dark Room by Angela Betzien

A haunting new psychological thriller from the writer of the award-winning play 'Hoods'.

Set on the border of a military town, six unlikely characters converge late one night at a run-down motel. A teenage boy from a nearby country town waits for a stranger. Pregnant Emma waits for her husband, a country cop, wasted after his best friend's wedding. Anni, a government youth worker accompanied by a withdrawn and violent fourteen year-old girl, waits for the dawn. As the night draws on, each of them becomes trapped in dark and dangerous territory, each of them searching for a way out.

A modern day ghost story full of lingering memories and emotional drama.

I’ll Show You Yours by Finegan Kruckemeyer

An exciting new work from the writer of ‘The Tragical Life of Cheeseboy’.

If you show me mine, I'll show you yours
I'll Show Yours is a funny and truthful depiction of nine teenagers who want to love and be loved. It's the ifs and maybes and never agains of being a boy who likes a girl, or a girl who likes a boy, or a combination of these things. There's a party in it. And a fight. And some kissing. But those bits are easy - the hard part is finding the right words to make a girl see how perfect you are together, or recording the right mix tape to make a boy love you for the rest of Year Ten.

Finegan Kruckemeyer's inventive script rejects cliches and reminds us what it's really like to be young, confused, and in love. Originally developed with young people and selected for the 2004 Adelaide Fringe Festival, as part of the YEP Programme, toured high schools.

La Boite – the story of an Australian theatre company by Christine Comans

The compelling history of one of Australia’s most important and oldest theatre companies.
LA BOITE - THE STORY OF AN AUSTRALIAN THEATRE COMPANY is Christine Coman's meticulously researched and enlightening work that both interrogates and celebrates the history of Queensland's oldest theatre company. Highlighting the roles key people played in its evolution - particularly four remarkable women - Christine Coman's explores La Boite's colourful past, its cultural significance to Brisbane, and its vibrant and enduring role in the nation's theatrical history.

Complete with photos from over 75 years of history.

The latest work from deBASE Theatre’s Robert Kronk.

Snagged is a poignant and funny story about coming of age, discovering who you are, and vegetarian sausages. Sam, the butcher’s daughter in a small country town, is a closet vegetarian who plans to get to the city as soon as possible. Until she meets Josh, who has done the unthinkable and moved back home.

Developed in consultation with young people, Snagged appeals to country and city audiences alike.

The Seven Stages of Grieving by Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman

The 7 Stages of Grieving is a highly acclaimed contemporary Indigenous performance text from two of Australia’s most talented artists.

Appropriating western form whilst using traditional storytelling, The 7 Stages of Grieving gives an emotional insight into Murri life. This one-woman show follows the journey of an Aboriginal 'Everywoman' as she tells poignant and humorous stories of grief and reconciliation. In an environment where Indigenous Australians battle racism, deaths in custody, a history of violence and the anguish of land,

The 7 Stages of Grieving is a strong reminder of Indigenous peoples' will to survive, sense of humour and irony, and reinforces the traditional role of Indigenous Australians as storytellers.

The Kursk by Sasha Janowicz

An award winning story about a true disaster.

The Kursk is a taut and thrilling play that recreates the disappearance and the rescue of the Russian nuclear submarine that captured the imagination of the world in August 2000. Follow the claustrophobic world of the trapped submariners, the urgency of the rescue led by the proud and obstinate Admiral Popov, and meet the wives and friends of the sailors who wait and watch as the rescuers fight against the impossible while the fate of their loved ones hangs in the balance.

Paradise by Shaun Charles and Breakthrough

A dynamic Australian youth musical, Paradise explores the clashes of two cultures (the west meets the South Pacific Islands) whilst celebrating Pacific Island culture with dignity, creativity and an irrepressible sense of fun. Developed with young people from Pacific Island and indigenous cultures.

The Forwards and The Apology by Stefo Nantsou

Two of the most powerful plays from the acclaimed Zeal Theatre.

The Forwards was created through workshops with students from regional high schools around Victoria and deals with football culture, alcohol abuse and reckless behaviour in small country communities. Since its premiere in 2004, Stefo Nantsou's funny and insightful play has toured extensively throughout Australia and was translated into Hungarian for Kolibri Theatre's production of 'CSATAROK' in 2006. The Apology premiered at the Newcastle Showroom in 2005. This award winning production is a powerful study of teenage violence and the effects of long-term bullying. The Apology has toured extensively throughout Australia and was translated and produced in the Denmark by Teatret Neo in 2006, directed by Stefo Nantsou.

Beyond the Neck by Tom Holloway

An award winning story about the devastating effects of the Port Arthur Massacre.

Tom Holloway was 17 years old and working in a pizza shop in Hobart when the tragedy at Port Arthur unfolded in 1996. Dealing with grief and recover, the play is set ten years after the events at Port Arthur and is based on in-depth interviews conducted by Holloway.

Oodgeroo – Bloodline to Country by Sam Watson

The true story of one of Australia’s most important artists.

She was Oodgeroo of the Noonuccal people. She was Kath Walker, poet and activist. She was mother to her two sons. Sam Watson's new work tells the true story of Oodgeroo Noonuccal and her son, Denis Walker, co-founder (with Sam Watson) of the Australian Black Panthers. Oodgeroo - Bloodline To Country weaves Oodgeroo's personal and cultural life with her time on a BOAC aircraft hijacked in Dubai by Palestinian terrorists in 1974. Sam Watson tells the previously untold story of the tensions that tore at the fabric of one of Australias's most prominent families.

This play comes with teacher's notes.

Something Like Lost by David Brown

An exciting new work from an award winning writer for young people.

What is it that makes us different?
This insightful and thought-provoking play follows a group of young people brought together through a series of interconnected experiences, forced to deal with personal and family relationships. In doing so, they learn about themselves and each other and come to realise that it can leave you 'something like lost, something like found'.

Commissioned by Tantrum Theatre in 2009, Queensland Premier's Award Winner David Brown incorporated live video to write a play that sensitively explores issues surrounding mental health and young people.

Not Like Beckett by Michael Watts

Not Like Beckett is one of the most produced new Australian works of recent years.

Meet Walter Walloon Beckett! An all-singing, all-dancing, comedian extraordinaire. The last of the famous Beckett clan. And he’s a rabbit…!

With his lucky rabbit foot stuck in a trap on top of a hilltop in outback Australia, Walter has plenty of time to reflect on his less than exemplary life, and his unrequited love for a bilby named Boo Boo.

Michael Watt’s unique play is a raw and dangerously funny reflection on the colonization of Australia. Playful and razor sharp in turns, Not Like Beckett explores what it is to love and be human, albeit in a ‘bunny’ sort of way.

The Clown from Snowy River by Bridget Boyle and Liz Skitch

An entertaining clowning history of Australia!

The Swagman, inspired by his beloved Banjo Paterson, sets out to stage the history of Australia. However, his troupe of clowns have ideas of their own. Together, they attempt to stage all of the defining chapters in Australian history--from Gallipoli to the Sydney Olympics and from Ned Kelly to Kylie Minogue. The Clown from Snowy River asks the big questions: What is Australian identity? What historical events define who we are? And what on earth is a movement at the station?!

Developed in collaboration with Indigenous performers. Contains teachers notes. An instructional, interactive DVD is also available from deBASE Theatre

The Matilda Women by Sue Rider

Re-printed to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the first performance, The Matilda Women is a joyous theatre event which celebrates the lives of nine extraordinary women from Queensland’s past.

Fast-moving imaginative theatre where in a moment a rope from a washing line can represent a ship; a step ladder becomes a magistrate’s seat or a rocky hill; and a bed sheet, a baby. The Matilda Women celebrates the strengths and achievements of women past and gives inspiration and confidence to women of the future.

Embers by Campion Decent

An award winning, verbatim play about one of Australia’s most devastating bush fires.

A touching play about the effects of the 2003 bush fires in Victoria's North East and Gippsland, and the fighting spirit of small communities. Drawn from the real life stories of those involved.

Selected for the Unit 4 Theatre Studies Playlist in Victoria.

The White Earth by Andrew McGahan and Shaun Charles

Adapted for the stage by Andrew McGahan and Shaun Charles from McGahan's award winning novel.

The White Earth conjures a surreal world of memory and madness, in a landscape haunted by uniquely Australian ghosts. Set against the backdrop of the Native Title debate, this is a gothic tragedy of ownership, paranoia and self destruction.

‘Worry Warts’ an adaptation by Eva Di Cesare, Sandra Eldridge, and Tim McGarry (Monkey Baa Theatre for Young People)

The hugely popular stage adaptation of award-winning author, Morris Gleitzman’s book ‘Worry Warts' by and award-winning theatre company.

'Worry Warts' tells the story of eleven year old Keith Shipley and his attempts to cheer up his ‘misery guts’ parents. Keith paints his parent car ‘Hot Sunflower and Tropical Parrot’ to cheer them up. Then he discovers what’s really making them unhappy – their lack of money – and decides to take matters into his own hands.

This stage adaptation of Morris Gleitaman’s hugely popular book by Monkey Baa Theatre opened at the Matt Dann Cultural Centre in Port Headland in April 2003. It toured to 30 theatres around Australia playing to over 20 000 young people in its first season.

Published alongside 'Ivy Shambitt and the Sound Machine' by Daniel Evans

Ivy Shambitt and the Sound Machine by Daniel Evans.

A delightfully RoaldDahlesque tale, that warns us what happens when a community neglects its children and the past is ignored.
“Ivy was a small and sickly girl – her face was quite a fright,
For you see she had no eyes (not one!) and therefore: no sight!”

The small town of Apronwood appears normal enough, if a little tattered towards the edges. Ivy Shambitt’s unexpected arrival almost goes entirely overlooked by the strange Apronwood inhabitants, who will do anything I their power to conceal a dark secret and turn their sleepy outpost into a thriving tourist hotspot. Even if it means murder…

Published alongside' Morris Gleitzman’s Worry Warts’ by Eva Di Cesare, Sandra Eldridge and Tim McGarry (Monkey Baa Theatre for Young People).