What does it really mean to be a so-called Australian? The Lucky Country is a rollicking new chamber musical for “all Aussies” that digs deep into ideas of Australia, identity and belonging.
Created by writer and lyricist Vidya Makan – who is well-known for touring with Australia’s staging of Six the Musical – in collaboration with Sonya Suares, The Lucky Country gives a voice to those typically marginalised in our collective conversations about Australian identity and history.
Featuring six exceptional performers and a five-piece band (including yidaki – didgeridoo), this 70-minute show introduces a host of new Australian anthems, illuminated and amplified by groundbreaking audiovisual design.
The team from Hayes Theatre Co has scoured the country to bring together a stacked cast, featuring the talents of Joseph Althouse (Griffin’s Green Park), Milo Hartill (Belvoir’s Fangirls, The Hayes’ Bonnie & Clyde), soulful singer Dyagula, former aspiring K-Pop artist Jeffrey Liu, Indigenous singer-songwriter Kristal West, award-winning character actor and writer Karlis Zaid, the aforementioned Vidya Makan, and Ava Maddon (Belvoir’s Into The Woods).
We meet Boy, a 13-year-old Thitharr Warra boy, whose youthful optimism is dashed when he clashes with his classmates' notion of ‘our shared history’. It sparks a journey of self-actualisation that leads him back to his truth.
While Boy is grappling with the fault-lines in our national story, we are introduced to a collection of all-Aussie characters – including grey nomads who find love on a Contiki tour, a Chinese Australian restaurateur who dreams of life as a Byron Bay nudist, a young refugee in Mingoola, a WW2 veteran, an aspiring actress, an all-fake-Russian choir, and much, much more.
“What does it mean to be Australian? Who are we as a nation when we lean into the difficult questions of how we came to be?” said Makan. “The Lucky Country is a love letter to these provocations. Embracing the contradictions, love, pain and joy of being ‘Aussie’. It’s an all Aussie musical, for ALL Aussies; featuring the voices I never got to see on stage growing up.”
Be amongst the first to experience this hilarious and uplifting musical journey exploring what it means to be Aussie.
(Hot tip: While you're in Kings Cross for a night at the Hayes, we recommend a post-show night cap and apertif at Piccolo Bar or Vermuteria.)
The Lucky Country plays at Hayes Theatre Co, Elizabeth Bay (just off Kings Cross), from May 26, 2023. Tickets are $60-$75 and you can snap yours up over here.
