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Artwork for 37
Artwork for 37
Artwork for 37
Artwork for 37
37

24 JAN  —  22 FEB 2025

Southbank Theatre, The Sumner

★★★★★ The Age ★★★★★ ArtsHub
★★★★ The Guardian ★★★★ Limelight

The standout of Season 2024 is back, and you don’t need to be a footy fan to love it.

Approx. 1 hour and 30 minutes, no interval

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Explore
This is rated 5 out of 5 stars

‘Unquestionably the best theatre about football.’

The Age
This is rated 5 out of 5 stars

‘In a nutshell: perfect theatre.’

ArtsHub
This is rated 4 out of 5 stars

‘Terrific, thrilling – and a wake-up call.’

The Guardian
This is rated 4 out of 5 stars

‘A heartfelt, cleverly crafted snapshot.’

Limelight

ABOUT THE SHOW

Lace up your boots! Whether you’re a footy fanatic or not, the Cutting Cove boys are back.

The laugh-out-loud hit of Melbourne Theatre Company’s Season 2024 returns after winning the hearts of critics and audiences alike.

The local footy team of this small coastal town has spent too long at the bottom of the ladder. But then a new hope arrives: the Marngrook cousins. Named after the Aboriginal game that inspired AFL, they’re match-fit to bring home the team’s first flag in forever. 37 juxtaposes choreographed sequences of Marngrook and the modern game with the hilarity and at-times questionable banter found within sporting clubs around Australia.

Set within the era of Adam Goodes’s war cry – and named for the number he immortalised – 37 asks ten actors to throw themselves into this world of blood and grit to get at the values that drive a national obsession. Community, identity, the price of winning and the meaning of a goal: they’re all up for grabs.

Penned by Nathan Maynard – twice named Tasmanian Aboriginal Artist of the Year – and directed by Isaac Drandic (The Birthday Party, ABC’s Cleverman), 37 is a reminder that honest conversations are more than a ball toss. It matters where you stand.

 

BLAK IN THE LOUNGE

Get up close and personal to installations, designs, and artwork by the next wave of up and coming First Nations theatre-makers. A legacy of Blak in the Room, this is a specially curated exhibition by Melbourne Theatre Company's Deadly Creatives and ILBIJERRI Theatre Company's BlackStage creatives.

Southbank Theatre's Level 2 Lounge will be open before the show with a free exhibition featuring the work of Stone Motherless Cold, Natasha Carter, Ella Clarke-King, Emma Holgate and Emma Salmon.

Co-producer
QT STACKED BLACK s3tfxs


Supported by MTC’s 37 Giving Circle; Fitzpatrick Sykes Family Foundation, Angie & Colin Carter, Patricia Faulkner AO, Diane John, Larry & Petra Kamener, Marcia Langton AO & Craig Semple.


MTC Next Stage aa6oor
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 8 February at 2pm
Tuesday 11 February at 6.30pm
Tactile Tour
at venue 		Saturday 8 February at 2pm (Tactile tour commences at 1pm)
Open Captioning
via screen 		Saturday 15 February at 2pm
Closed Captioning
via GoTheatrical App 		Saturday 15 February at 2pm
Auslan Interpreted More information here
Artwork for Syd Brisbane

Syd Brisbane

The General

Syd Brisbane has worked in the industry for 40 years. He returns to Melbourne Theatre Company following the premiere 37 season. Other theatre credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet, The Comedy of Errors, Henry IV part one, Twelfth Night, Pygmalion, Alice in Wonderland (Australian Shakespeare Company); Victory (Sydney Theatre Company); Night On Bald Mountain, Because The Night, K Box (Malthouse Theatre); Fawlty Towers Live (Michael Coppel Entertainment); Coranderrk (ILBIJERRI Theatre/La Mama); MiWi 3027, Masterpiece (Glenn Shea/La Mama); The Club, Marat/Sade, Restoration, Spring Awakening, Capricornia (State Theatre Company South Australia); He Stumbled (The Wrestling School U.K.); Uncle (Vanya), The Europeans, Blue Remembered Hills, The Ecstatic Bible (Brink Productions); Assassins (Flying Penguin). In 2023 he directed the sold-out season of The Crucible at Athenaeum Theatre. Film credits include Silent Partner, Boxing Day, Dirt Music, Red Dog: True Blue and for TV, Deadloch S2, Stateless, Aftertaste, High Country, Beaconsfield and Conspiracy 365.


Current as of January 2025. 

Artwork for Mitchell Brotz

Mitchell Brotz

Gorby

The 2024 season of 37 was Mitchell Brotz’s debut with Melbourne Theatre Company. Previous theatre credits include Batmania (The Very Good Looking Initiative); Bromance (Melbourne and Adelaide Fringe Festivals); and Battlefield Blues (Melbourne Fringe Festival). Mitchell has many television, film and commercial credits including True Story with Hamish & Andy, How to Stay Married, Superwog, and Fruit Salad. His performance in the short film Animal Work earned him Best Actor awards at the Peninsula Film Festival, Reale Film Festival, and the Canberra Short Film Festival. He is a graduate of the 2014 Ballarat Arts Academy.

Current as of January 2025.

Artwork for Samuel Buckley

Samuel Buckley

Apples

Samuel Buckley returns to Melbourne Theatre Company following the premiere season of 37. Since graduating from Acting at the Victorian College of the Arts in 2022, Samuel has collaborated on several independent theatre productions as a creator, writer and actor including The Hertz Family Reunion, The Owl of the Woods (Pummel Squad); Seduction (The Lowbrow Outfit); Explorations (La Mama Theatre) and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. His screen credits include Hyde and Seek (Matchbox Pictures) and Stye (Azure Productions). 

Current as of January 2025.

Artwork for Blake Draper

Blake Draper

Ant

37 is Blake Draper’s theatrical debut. Blake recently finished filming the independent feature A. Rimbaud, directed by Patrick Wang, in which he plays the French poet Artur Rimbaud. Blake is the sole actor in the film. Previously, Blake played Graham Lansing in Disney’s Prom Pact and appeared in Click Bait. He is also the series regular role of Julius in Bad Mothers and the recurring role of Guy Martinez in Neighbours.

 

Current as of January 2025

Artwork for Thomas Larkin

Thomas Larkin

GJ

Thomas Larkin is an award-winning actor returning to Melbourne Theatre Company following the premiere season of 37. Stage credits include Death Of A Salesman, Bernhardt/Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet (Queensland Theatre); Yoga Play (Riverside National Theatre of Parramatta and La Boite Theatre); Hamlet, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, The Wizard of Oz (La Boite Theatre); Holding Achilles, The Wider Earth (Dead Puppet Society and Sydney Festival); I Just Came To Say Goodbye (The Good Room and Brisbane Festival). Thom produced and starred in Sex With Strangers and True West (with Brisbane Powerhouse), and Cinderella (with QPAC). Film credits include Elvis, Gabriel’s Redemption and Combat Wombat. Television credits include Monarch: Legacy of Monsters S2, Darby and Joan, Troppo and Rock Island Mysteries. Thom can next be seen in the upcoming Amazon Prime Video UK TV series Haven. He received Best Supporting Male Actor at the 2019 Matilda Awards and won the 2020 Brian Boak Fellowship.

Current as of January 2025. 

Artwork for Ben O’Toole

Ben O’Toole

Joe

Ben O’Toole graduated from the Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts in 2011. His credits include The Sublime (Melbourne Theatre Company); On the Beach (Sydney Theatre Company); A Streetcar Named Desire (Old Fitz Theatre); The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Sydney Theatre Company); Harp in the South (Sydney Theatre Company); Freak Winds (Old Fitzroy Theatre); Men (Old Fitzroy Theatre); Mojo (Sydney Theatre Company); Death of a Salesman (Black Swan Theatre Company); Boy Gets Girl (Black Swan Theatre Company). Film credits include Bloody Hell, Nekrotronic, 12 Strong, Detroit, Everybody Loves Somebody, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Hacksaw: Ridge, The Water Diviner. Television credits include Boy Swallows Universe, Caught, Barons, Pieces of Her, Amazing Grace, Halifax Retribution, Love Child (Series 3), Peter Allen: Not The Boy Next Door, Love Child (Series 2), Love Child (Series 1).

Current as of January 2025.

Artwork for Eddie Orton

Eddie Orton

Woodsy

Eddie is a graduate of the National Theatre Drama School. His recent credits include the premiere season of 37, Touching The Void (Melbourne Theatre Company); Let The Right One In (Darlinghurst Theatre Company); Werewolf (Arts Centre Melbourne); Heroes Of The Fourth Turning (Outhouse Theatre); Jurassica (Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre); The Last Train To Madeline (Fever 103) and The Players (Bell Shakespeare). He is proudly represented by Ian White Management.


Current as of January 2025. 

Artwork for Anthony Standish

Anthony Standish

Dazza

Anthony Standish returns to Melbourne Theatre Company following the premiere season of 37. Other theatre credits include City of Gold (Griffin Theatre Company); An Octoroon, Our Town, The Wider Earth, End of the Rainbow, Trollop, Kelly, American Buffalo, The Woman Before, Puss In Boots, The Removalists, Caucasian Chalk Circle, A Property of the Clan, Man Equals Man, The Exception and The Rule (Queensland Theatre); Cosi (La Boite Theatre); The Wider Earth, Megafauna (Dead Puppet Society); Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights (Shake & Stir); Prehistoric (Elbow Room). His film and television credits include Aquaman, Rock Island Mysteries, Hoges, Heartbeat, Wanted, Sea Patrol, Reef Break, Don’t Tell, Drive Hard, Bureau of Magical Things, The End, Harrow, Lightning Point and Mabo. Anthony won a Matilda Award for Best Supporting Actor for An Octoroon.

Current as of January 2025. 

Artwork for Ngali Shaw

Ngali Shaw

Jayma

Ngali Shaw is from the Wiradjuri, Murawari, Kunja tribes and returns to Melbourne Theatre Company following Jacky and the premiere season of 37. Ngali made his television debut in RFDS directed by Jeremy Sims. He went on to star opposite Sam Neill in Foxtel series The Twelve and ABC’s Ladies in Black opposite Miranda Otto. He recently wrapped on Amazon’s second series of Deadloch. His film credits include Windcatcher for Stan opposite Jessica Mauboy. As a professional trained dancer, Ngali has learned tap, ballet, hip hop, classical, modern contemporary and Capoeira. Under dance teacher and Ngemba and Yuwalayaay Custodian Doug Gordon, Ngali has trained in Aboriginal/Indigenous dance since 2017. Ngali is very proud of his culture and identity and wishes to inspire the next generation to dance and keep our stories alive.

Current as of January 2025. 

Artwork for Tibian Wyles

Tibian Wyles

Sonny

Tibian Wyles is a proud Warrgamay, Girramay and Kalkadoon man from North Queensland. He graduated with an Advanced Diploma from The Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts. His writing credits include Dear Brother (Queensland Theatre), premiering at the Brisbane Festival in 2024. Acting credits include Man with the Iron Neck (Legs on the Wall); Big Name No Blankets (ILBIJERRI Theatre Company); The Sunshine Club (HIT Productions); Hide The Dog (Performing Lines); The Sapphires (HIT Productions); Queens City (Blak Social); Country Song (Queensland Theatre); Black Diggers (Queensland Theatre). Tibian is also a member of DJUKI MALA, a dance company based in Arnhem Land. DJUKI MALA toured throughout Australia and worldwide in Guangzhou, Toronto, Madrid, Barcelona, Cairo, Tel Aviv, Cyprus and Innsbruck.

Current as of January 2025. 

Artwork for Nathan Maynard

Nathan Maynard

Writer

Nathan is a Trawlwoolway man and multidisciplinary artist from Larapuna country, Lutrawita/Tasmania. He began his theatre career in 2013, starring in Shadow Dreams (Terrapin Puppet Theatre). Since then, Nathan has written seven plays that have been performed across Australia, including Sydney Opera House’s Drama Theatre. His other writing credits include The Season, At What Cost, A Not So Traditional Story and Hide the Dog. His directing credits include The Box, which he co-wrote (Mudlark Theatre Company); Back on Track (JUTE Theatre); Crumbs (Yirramboi/Melbourne ArtPlay); Journey of the Free Words (Junction Festival). He was also assistant director for Belvoir’s production of his play At What Cost. Nathan is a two-time Tasmanian Aboriginal Artist of the Year, and his writing has earned him a Green Room Award and an Errol Award. In 2019, he was awarded both a Churchill Fellowship and the Balnaves Aboriginal and Torres Strait Fellowship.

Current as of January 2025. 

Artwork for Isaac Drandic

Isaac Drandic

Director & Co-Choreographer

Isaac Drandic is a Noongar man from the southwest of Western Australia. He is an award-winning playwright, director, and dramaturg. The 2024 premiere season of 37 was Isaac’s directorial debut with Melbourne Theatre Company. He has collaborated with Nathan Maynard over the past eight years making 37 their fourth collaborative instalment. Isaac has held several positions within the theatre industry including Associate Director of ILBIJERRI Theatre Company, Resident Artist at Playwriting Australia and Resident Dramaturg at Queensland Theatre among others. He is a member of Australian Plays Transforms National Advisory Panel and is currently Head of First Nations Theatre at Queensland Theatre. His productions have earned numerous Green Room Awards including Most Outstanding Independent Theatre Production for Blood on the Dance Floor, as well as Best New Writing, Best Direction and the coveted award for Best Production in the theatre companies’ category for The Season.

Current as of January 2025.

Dale Ferguson

Dale Ferguson

Set & Costume Designer

Dale Ferguson’s most recent credits for Melbourne Theatre Company include the premiere season of 37, Come Rain or Come Shine, Emerald City, Cosi, An Ideal Husband, Born Yesterday, The Weir, The Speechmaker, The Crucible and Top Girls. Other recent credits include Julius Ceasar (Pinchgut Opera); Counting and Cracking (Belvoir, transferred to New York); Death of a Salesman (GWB Entertainment); A German Life (STSA/Adelaide Festival); L’Appartement (Queensland Theatre); The Jungle and the Sea, Sami in Paradise, The Blind Giant is Dancing and The Judas Kiss, the latter of which transferred to West End (Belvoir); Because the Night, Away, Brothers Wreck, Night on Bald Mountain, Dance of Death (Malthouse Theatre); Exit the King (Broadway); Les Liasions Dangereues (Sydney Theatre Company). Dale received Helpmann Awards for August: Osage County and Counting and Cracking. He has also received six Green Room Awards, most recently in 2022 for Because the Night, as well as Tony and Drama Desk nominations for Exit the King on Broadway.

Current as of January 2025.

Ben Hughes

Ben Hughes

Lighting Designer

Ben Hughes’ lighting design spans theatre, dance, opera, concerts and events. Selected design credits include Black is the New White, Noises Off (with Queensland Theatre), Let The Sunshine (Melbourne Theatre Company). Other credits include Round The Twist, Othello, The Almighty Sometimes, The Sunshine Club, Return To The Dirt, Boy Swallows Universe, Triple X (with Sydney Theatre Company) Mouthpiece, Antigone, L’Appartement, Twelfth Night, Good Muslim Boy (with Malthouse Theatre), Scenes From A Marriage, An Octoroon (Queensland Theatre); Peter and the Starcatcher (Dead Puppet Society); Poison Of Polygamy (with La Boite Theatre), Black Is The New White, and with Queensland Theatre, The Effect (Sydney Theatre Company); Singin’ In The Rain (Queensland Performing Arts Centre/Prospero Arts); Breaking The Castle (Queensland Performing Arts Centre/Oombarra Productions); Love Stories, Bananaland, Salamander (Brisbane Festival); IRL, The Last Five Years, Away, The Time Is Now, Naked & Screaming, The Neighbourhood, From Darkness (La Boite Theatre); Celebrating Li, Strictly Gershwin, The Little Mermaid (Queensland Ballet). Ben lectures in lighting design at Queensland University of Technology.

Current as of January 2025.

Artwork for James Henry

James Henry

Composer & Sound Designer

James has worked as a composer and sound designer on various productions, including Blak in the Room (with ILBIJERRI Theatre Company), 37, Admissions, Jacky (Melbourne Theatre Company); An Octaroon (Queensland Theatre). He received a Green Room Award in 2023 for Sound Design of Heart is a Wasteland (ILBIJERRI Theatre Company), in collaboration with Gary Watling and Lidia Fairhall. His versatile skill set extends to composing for renowned ensembles, such as the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and others. As a cultural advocate, he plays a vital role in revitalising indigenous languages through music. His recent fellowship deepened his understanding of traditional Aboriginal music, enabling seamless integration into contemporary contexts. James earned recognition, receiving a nomination for Best Documentary Score at the 2022 AACTA Awards. James Henry's contributions extend beyond the stage, making him a significant figure in the cultural tapestry, bridging traditions and contemporary expressions.

Current as of January 2025. 

Artwork for Waangenga Blanco

Waangenga Blanco

Co-Choreographer

Waangenga Blanco is a proud Indigenous man who descends from the Pajinka Wik in Cape York and Meriam Mer, the furthest eastern island in the Torres Strait. He is an award-winning, globally touring performing artist, specialising in contemporary dance, choreography and acting. Waangenga began his professional career in 2005 with Bangarra Dance Theatre and became a senior foundational influencer to a new generation of traditionally informed contemporary dance, where he remained until 2018. He is now a freelance artist. Waangenga's unwavering passion for his craft lead him to choreograph the award nominated I.B.I.S for Bangarra's 2015 national tour. In the same year he won the Australian Dance Awards prize for Outstanding Performance by a Male Dancer. He also took home a Green Room Award for Outstanding Male Dancer for his work in Bangarra's 2014 production Patyegarang. In 2019 he won a Helpman Award for Australia's Best Male Dancer.

Current as of January 2025.

Matt Furlani

Matt Furlani

Voice & Text 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.

Current as of January 2025.

Artwork for Kamarra Bell-Wykes

Kamarra Bell-Wykes

Assistant Director

Kamarra Bell-Wykes (Yagera/Butchulla) returns to Melbourne Theatre Company after directing A Wake – A Woke Mob, as part of Blak in the Room, and assistant directing the premiere season of 37. Kamarra served as ILBIJERRI Theatre’s education manager and creative director from 2014-2019 and Malthouse Resident Artist 2020-2022. Writing and directing credits include ECLIPSE (RISING); Romeo and Julie (Red Stitch); Because the Night, Whose Gonna Love Em? I am that I AM, Chase (Malthouse Theatre); The Score, Scar Trees, Viral, North West of Nowhere, Body Armour, Chopped Liver, Shrunken Iris (ILBIJERRI); Crying Shame (Next Wave) and Mother’s Tongue (Yirra Yaakin). Kamarra has also developed numerous acclaimed drama education resources and publications. In 2020 Kamarra and Carly Sheppard became co-artistic directors of A Daylight Connection, a motley crew of independent theatre-makers dedicated to smashing performance binaries. Their credits include Chase (Malthouse Theatre/Hot House) and A Nightime Travesty (Yirramboi), which returns to AsiaTOPA at Malthouse in 2025.

Current as of January 2025.

Artwork for Lyndall Grant

Lyndall Grant

Fight Choreographer

Artwork for Isabella Vadiveloo

Isabella Vadiveloo

Intimacy Coordinator

Learn more about 37

Get Directions

The Sumner

140 Southbank Boulevard

Southbank, Victoria 3006