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Artwork for Destiny
Artwork for Destiny
Artwork for Destiny
Artwork for Destiny
Artwork for Destiny
Artwork for Destiny
Destiny

18 AUG  —  13 SEP 2025

Southbank Theatre, The Sumner

Destiny is an intimate drama of allure and loyalty set against the canvas of world-changing events in South Africa, January 1976.

Approx. 1 hour and 40 minutes, with no interval

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This is rated 5 out of 5 stars

‘A striking achievement in both storytelling and design.’

MelbourniseMe
This is rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

‘Marillier’s writing is incredibly impressive.’

Standing Innovation
This is rated 4 out of 5 stars

‘Arrives at a particular resonant point in time.’

The Age
This is rated 4 out of 5 stars

‘Politically charged... rich with humour, heartache and tenderness.’

Limelight
This is rated 0 out of 5 stars

WINNER 2022
Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting

Kirsty Marillier
This is rated 0 out of 5 stars

WINNER 2020
Max Afford Playwrights Award

Kirsty Marillier

ABOUT THE SHOW

Written by and starring award-winning South African-born playwright Kirsty Marillier, this transportive world premiere is a potent reminder that the past is always with us.

South Africa, January 1976. Della is 24 and doing her best to stay under the radar — working at the general store, keeping her younger brother Rocky out of trouble, and her dad off the booze. But when her old flame Ezra shows up with a head full of revolution — and Rocky starts getting ideas — Della's world will be upended by forces that will echo around the globe.

As student uprisings surge and the shadow of apartheid deepens, family ties are tested, old wounds resurface and a generation stands on the edge of change.

Directed by Zindzi Okenyo (Is God Is), and also starring Clare Chihambakwe, Barry Conrad, Gaz Dutlow, John Shearman and Patrick Williams, Destiny is an intimate family drama of allure and loyalty set against the canvas of world-changing events. 

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Commissioned and developed through Melbourne Theatre Company’s NEXT STAGE Writers’ Program, with the support of our Playwrights Giving Circle.

Accessibility

  • Wheelchair Accessible

  • Hearing Assistance

  • Audio Described

  • Tactile Tour

  • Open Captioning

  • Closed Captioning

  • Auslan Interpreted

Performance Type Performance Date(s)
Audio Described
by Vision Australia 		Saturday 30 August at 2pm
Tuesday 2 September at 6.30pm
Tactile Tour
at venue 		Saturday 30 August at 2pm (Tactile tour commences at 1pm)
Open Captioning
via screen 		Saturday 6 September at 2pm
Closed Captioning
via GoTheatrical App 		Saturday 6 September at 2pm
Auslan Interpreted More information here
Artwork for Clare Chihambakwe

Clare Chihambakwe

Mrs. Jones

Clare has previously appeared with Melbourne Theatre Company in the roles of Angie in Is God Is (with Sydney Theatre Company) and as understudy for the role of Aseni in The Heartbreak Choir. Other stage credits include Tina, the Tina Turner Musical (TEG Dainty); Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Michael Cassel Group); Gary Coleman in Avenue Q (Arts Asia Pacific); Ruby in Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (Live Theatre Productions); France in Eurobeat (Glynn Nicholas Group); Dirty Dancing (Jacobsen Entertainment); Sweet Charity and 42nd Street (The Production Company). Clare has trained and worked in New York, appearing as Agnes in Goldilocks (ODTC). Television credits include Utopia (Season 5), Love Me (Season 2), Mustangs, Barracuda, Packed to the Rafters and Home and Away in the ongoing role of Grace. Film credits include Late Night with the Devil, Better Man, Goddess, Happy Feet 2 and Knowing.

Artwork for Barry Conrad

Barry Conrad

Ezra Jones

Barry Conrad’s multifaceted career spans stage, screen and music. Destiny marks his debut with Melbourne Theatre Company. On stage, he delivered acclaimed performances in In The Heights (Sydney Theatre Company); the Australian premiere of Tony Award-winning Violet (Hayes Theatre Co.); and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Michael Cassel Group). His screen credits include Neighbours (Network 10), Home and Away (Seven Network), the AACTA-nominated Erotic Stories (SBS) and #1 box-office hit The Sapphires (Goalpost Pictures). He won the Spotlight Short Film Award (USA) for 4D. As a singer-songwriter, he’s collaborated with an array of award-winning artists including Rodney Jerkins and OneRepublic and worked with brands globally. He is the creator and host of the podcast Banter with BC and co-host of US-based The Intermittent Fasting Podcast. Away from the spotlight, Conrad is a proud ambassador for R U OK?, Kawai and Panasonic.

Artwork for Gaz Dutlow

Gaz Dutlow

Rocky Meth

Gaz Dutlow is a non-binary performer born and raised in Melbourne, and is excited to share their South African heritage and make their Melbourne Theatre Company debut in Destiny. In 2023, they left their primary school teaching position to pursue a career in the arts. Soon after, they had their professional theatre debut in Choir Boy (National Theatre of Parramatta), and recently toured Australia with Gabby’s Dollhouse Live! (TEG Lifelike Touring). In 2024, they appeared as Parker Reed on Neighbours (Fremantle). For their performance in Choir Boy, they were nominated for Best Ensemble at the Sydney Theatre Awards.

Artwork for Kirsty Marillier

Kirsty Marillier

Della Meth

Kirsty Marillier is a South African actor and award-winning playwright. Her debut play, Orange Thrower, premiered at Griffin Theatre Company and National Theatre of Parramatta in 2022, and won the 2019 Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award and the Nick Enright Prize at the NSW Premier’s Literary Award. Kirsty’s play, The Zap, was nominated for the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting in 2022 and won the Max Afford Playwrights Award in 2020. In addition to being an award-winning writer, Kirsty is an accomplished performer, having starred in the Australian Premiere of Harry Potter And The Cursed Child; The Cherry Orchard (Belvoir); Home, I’m Darling, Picnic At Hanging Rock (Sydney Theatre Company); and Coma Land (Black Swan State Theatre Company). Her acting credits in film and television include The Greenhouse directed by Thomas Wilson-White; Hook Up directed by Laura Nagy (short for MQFF/Paper Moose) and Home And Away. Kirsty attended WAAPA and is currently developing an original television idea with Thomas Wilson-White and Matchbox.

Artwork for John Shearman

John Shearman

Policeman

John’s stage credits include the original Australian companies of War Horse (National Theatre of Great Britain/Global Creatures); Fawlty Towers – Live! (Louise Withers/Phil McIntyre); and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Michael Cassel Group/Sonia Friedman Productions/Colin Callender). In 2022, he was appointed Australian Associate Movement Director on Cursed Child. Other credits include Rakali (Melbourne Fringe); The Crucible (Complete Works Theatre Company); and Da Dink Inter Alia (VCA Masters); a national tour of The 26-Storey Treehouse (CDP Theatre Producers) and a Victorian & UK tour of You the Man (Deakin University). John will appear later this year in the Stan original series Dear Life. He is a 2011 graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) where he was awarded the Pratt Bursary for Outstanding Actor. John also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Drama and Audience Studies/Semiotics from the University of Newcastle.

Artwork for Patrick Williams

Patrick Williams

Cliff Meth

Patrick Williams’ stage credits include Is God Is (Melbourne Theatre Company); Strangers in the Night (Malthouse Theatre); The Sunset Limited (Ensemble Theatre); The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (fortyfivedownstairs) and Prayer Machine (Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre). Musical theatre highlights include Bad Boy Johnny (BBJ Productions); The Buddy Holly Story (Everyday Productions); Hair (E,H&W Productions/Auckland Theatre Company); Oh! What a Night (J Nicholls Productions); An Officer and a Gentleman (Gordon Frost Organisation) and The Bodyguard (J Frost & Co). Patrick has performed with INXS, Hunters & Collectors, The Models, Tina Arena, Renee Geyer and Stephen Cummings. Screen credits include Foe (See-Saw Films) and Woody Woodpecker Goes to Camp (NBCU Films), The Survivors (Evelyn Bay Productions), Deadloch (Amazon), The Kettering Incident (Foxtel), Wanted (Seven); Rosehaven, Fires, Laid, The Librarians (ABC), True Story with Hamish & Andy (Nine), My Life is Murder, Five Bedrooms, Riptide (Ten).

Artwork for Kirsty Marillier

Kirsty Marillier

Writer

Kirsty Marillier is a South African actor and award-winning playwright. Her debut play, Orange Thrower, premiered at Griffin Theatre Company and National Theatre of Parramatta in 2022, and won the 2019 Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award and the Nick Enright Prize at the NSW Premier’s Literary Award. Kirsty’s play, The Zap, was nominated for the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting in 2022 and won the Max Afford Playwrights Award in 2020. In addition to being an award-winning writer, Kirsty is an accomplished performer, having starred in the Australian Premiere of Harry Potter And The Cursed Child; The Cherry Orchard (Belvoir); Home, I’m Darling, Picnic At Hanging Rock (Sydney Theatre Company); and Coma Land (Black Swan State Theatre Company). Her acting credits in film and television include The Greenhouse directed by Thomas Wilson-White; Hook Up directed by Laura Nagy (short for MQFF/Paper Moose) and Home And Away. Kirsty attended WAAPA and is currently developing an original television idea with Thomas Wilson-White and Matchbox.

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Zindzi Okenyo

Director

Trained at NIDA, Zindzi Okenyo’s Melbourne Theatre Company credits include co-directing Is God Is, appearing in An Ideal Husband and Disgraced. She was a former Artistic Associate with the Company. Zindzi has performed extensively for most of Australia’s major theatre companies and was a member of Cate Blanchett’s Residents Company at Sydney Theatre Company for three years. Zindzi assistant directed Death Of A Salesman and associate directed Raisin In The Sun (Sydney Theatre Company); co-directed Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner (Darlinghurst Theatre/Greendoor); co-directed Choir Boy (National Theatre of Parramatta) and directed Orange Thrower (Griffin Theatre). A much loved presenter on Playschool since 2012, Zindzi’s television roles include Critical Incident, Totally Completely Fine and Wolf Like Me (Stan), Fisk, Troppo, Wakefield, Janet King, Harrow and Get Krack!n (ABC) as well as Wonderland and Sisters (Network 10). Feature films include Little Monsters and The Very Excellent Mr Dundee. Zindzi also performs her own Rap/RnB music as OKENYO and children’s music as Zindzi & The Zillionaires.

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Sophie Woodward

Set & Costume Designer

Sophie is a Melbourne-based set and costume designer. Sophie graduated with a Bachelor of Production (Design) from VCA in 2010, winning the Beleura John Tallis Design Award in her final year. Her Melbourne Theatre Company credits include set and costume design for Topdog/Underdog, costumes for Come Rain or Come Shine and Hungry Ghosts as well as associate costume design on Girls & Boys, Bernhardt/Hamlet, An Ideal Husband and Twelfth Night. Other theatre credits include set and costume design for The Grinning Man (Vass Productions and Salty Theatre); Honour, Romeo and Julie, Selling Kabul, Iphigenia in Splott and Monument (Red Stitch Actors Theatre); and The Plan (and other plans) (HotHouse Theatre); costume designs include Death of a Salesman (GWB Entertainment and Red Line Productions); Gabby’s Dollhouse Live! (TEG Life Like Touring); and set design for La Boheme (Melbourne Opera). Sophie was also Design Associate on A Christmas Carol and Groundhog Day (GWB Entertainment).

Artwork for Kelsey Lee

Kelsey Lee

Lighting Designer

Kelsey is a lighting, set and costume designer for theatre and dance. As Lighting Designer her credits include 4000 Miles (Sydney Theatre Company); Big Girls Don’t Cry; Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Well-Behaved Women, A Room of One’s Own (Belvoir); The Lewis Trilogy; Sex Magick; Whitefella Yella Tree (Griffin Theatre Company); Autotune (regroup); Mutiara (Marrugeku); Gurr Era Op (Force Majeure); Comedy of Errors (Bell Shakespeare); Jali (Aya/Griffin Theatre Company); April Aardvark (ATYP); Sistren, Good Dog (Greendoor Theatre). As Set & Costume Designer: Somos (Sydney Dance Company); A Practical Guide To Self Defence (NTofP), and as Costume Designer: Silence & Rapture (Sydney Dance Company/ ACO); Switzerland (Ensemble Theatre). She designed Set & Lighting for An Ox Stand On My Tongue (Belvoir 25A), and lighting, set & costume for Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge; There’s a Sea In My Bedroom (Australian Chamber Orchestra); Lulu (NIDA). Kelsey was co-production Designer & Lighting Designer on Destroy, She Said (Belvoir 25A), which won Best Set Design at the Sydney Theatre Awards.

Kelly Ryall

Kelly Ryall

Composer & Sound Designer

Kelly Ryall is an award-winning composer, musician and sound designer. Stage highlights include The Almighty Sometimes, My Sister Jill, Cyrano, Berlin, A View from the Bridge, Working with Children, Di and Viv and Rose, Hay Fever, Three Little Words, Double Indemnity, Rupert, The Crucible (Melbourne Theatre Company); Triple X (with Queensland Theatre), The Trial (with Malthouse Theatre), Boys Will Be Boys (Sydney Theatre Company); Truth, Nosferatu, Edward II, The Shadow King (Malthouse Theatre); Hedda, Scenes from a Marriage (Queensland Theatre); Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It, Tartuffe, Macbeth, Julius Caesar (Bell Shakespeare); The House on the Lake, Emerald City, The Boys, The Floating World, Dreams in White (Griffin Theatre Company); Opening Night, Title and Deed, Nora, Hedda Gabler (Belvoir); Switzerland, Suddenly Last Summer (Ensemble). Kelly has composed music for renowned choreographers such as Kyle Page, Danielle Micich, Daniel Riley, Lucy Guerin, Nicola Gunn, Sandra Parker, Paula Ley and KAGE. Kelly has received four Green Room Awards and a Melbourne International Arts Festival Award.  

Artwork for Amy Cater

Amy Cater

Intimacy Coordinator

Amy Cater is part of the first cohort of qualified Intimacy Coordinator practitioners, training and working since 2018 when the profession first arrived in Australia. Previous stage works include A Streetcar Named Desire, Cost of Living, Is God Is, Seventeen, Jacky, Cyrano, Sunday, Bernhardt/Hamlet, Fun Home, As You Like It (Melbourne Theatre Company); Oscar (The Australian Ballet); and &Juliet (Michael Cassel Group). Selected screen credits include Love Me, The Newsreader, The Rooster, Bad Behaviour, The Clearing, Safe Home, Swift St, Sleeping Dogs, Erotic Stories, Better Man, Inside and Exposure. Amy has 20 years’ experience working with sexuality, embodiment, consent and intimacy; specifically within the adult industry, client therapy and education spaces. Amy was a director/senior photographer of ethical erotica for 4 years. She is a qualified psychosomatic therapist, sexological bodyworker and somatic sex educator. Amy has a trained background in theatre, dance and the performing arts. Amy mentors and consults on sexuality and gender best practice. Her work in LGBTQIA+ advocacy and education is a key component of her cultural influence in the Intimacy Coordinator industry.

Matt Furlani

Matt Furlani

Voice Coach

Matt Furlani is a voice & dialect coach and actor, holding a Postgraduate Diploma in Voice Studies and Bachelor of Dramatic Art from the Victorian College of the Arts. Matt has worked as voice and dialect coach on productions including My Brilliant Career, Cost of Living, Topdog/Underdog, 37, The Almighty Sometimes, A Very Jewish Christmas Carol, My Sister Jill, Bloom, Jacky, Come Rain or Come Shine, Admissions and The Truth (Melbourne Theatre Company); &Juliet (Michael Cassel Group); Looking for Alibrandi (Malthouse); Your Name Means Dream, A Case for the Existence of God, Wolf Play, Heroes of the Fourth Turning, Iphigenia in Splott, The Cane, Pomona and Ulster American (Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre); Death of a Salesman (Hearth Theatre) and feature film Daliland (Magnolia Pictures). In 2016 he was a recipient of the Mike Walsh Fellowship, enabling him to travel to Scotland and work with Kristin Linklater. He has taught at 16th St Actors Studio since 2017.

Artwork for Morné Steyn

Morné Steyn

Accent Coach

Artwork for Linnea Tengroth

Linnea Tengroth

Assistant Director

Linnea Tengroth is an award-winning theatre maker and performer, celebrated for her contributions to intercultural theatre with a focus on women's stories. She is a graduate of Calle Flygare Theatre School and the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (2019). Linnea premiered her solo show Black Girl Rising (Melbourne Fringe Festival), earning the award for Best Work by an Emerging Artist, as well as a nomination for Best in Theatre and five Judge's Picks. Her credits include Plastic Planet (WAAPA), which represented WAAPA at the 2018 Asia Pacific Bureau Theatre Festival; Hair (Perth FRINGE WORLD Festival); HUNK (Livet Bitch Scenkonst); and Flamingos (Dead Puppet Society) at the 2023 Brisbane Festival. Linnea’s dynamic and original storytelling continues to captivate audiences across Australia and internationally.

Artwork for Silvia Shao

Silvia Shao

Assistant Set & Costume Designer

Silvia Shao is intrigued by conceptual and abstract art works and enjoys exercising her creativity. She completed a Master of Design for Performance at VCA in 2022. In the same year, she made her design debut with set and costumes for Caught (Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre). Although specifically trained as a set and costume designer, she loves working closely with lighting and sound. During her time at VCA, she developed interests in architecture, graphic design, and contemporary dance. She believes there is no boundary to what she can do, either as a designer or as a human, an ideology carrier.

Artwork for Jennifer Medway

Jennifer Medway

Dramaturg

Artwork for Lyndall Grant

Lyndall Grant

Movement Consultant

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140 Southbank Boulevard

Southbank, Victoria 3006