Losing Face

This is rated 5 out of 5 stars

‘A triumph of ensemble comedy and contemporary Australian writing.’
The Scoop

This is rated 4 out of 5 stars

‘Michala Banas, Madeleine Sami and Christie Whelan Browne are outstanding together.’

Melbourne My Style

This is rated 0 out of 5 stars

‘Sharp, savage and absolutely unmissable.’

Onya Magazine

This is rated 0 out of 5 stars

‘A laugh-out-loud, must-see show.’

Scenestr

This is rated 0 out of 5 stars

‘It may be a hoot, but it also sends a powerful message.’

The Blurb

This is rated 0 out of 5 stars

‘An absolutely smashing black comedy.’

Stage Whispers

ABOUT THE SHOW

Pack your bags for a perimenopausal Weekend at Bernie’s: an outrageous and unforgettable trip directed by Leticia Cáceres (Erotic Stories, Bump) and starring Michala Banas (Upper Middle Bogan), Madeleine Sami (Deadloch), Christie Whelan Browne (Kimberly Akimbo: A Musical), Genevieve Morris (Dying: A Memoir) and Wil King (In Our Blood). Losing Face is an absolutely unhinged and spikily clever new comedy about friendship and unmasking the true price of chasing the fountain of youth.

Injectables. Nips, tucks and lifts. A biohacking wellness host on a mission to defy death. Just your average girls’ weekend, courtesy of screenwriter and playwright Marieke Hardy (Heartbreak High, Laid).

Travel writer Jo is turning 50 and has invited her two ride-or-dies along for an unforgettable celebration: an all-expenses-paid visit to flashy new wellness resort, The Royal You. Expecting a long-overdue catch-up in steam rooms and infrared saunas, they instead arrive at a high-end medispa, where supercharged cosmetic procedures are upsold to unsuspecting guests. When a medical mishap turns disastrous, the women are left with some wildly unexpected and gravity-defying side effects.

Commissioned with the support of Peter Clemenger AO. Developed through Melbourne Theatre Company’s NEXT STAGE Writers’ Program with the support of our Playwrights Giving Circle

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 11 July at 2pm Tuesday 14 July at 6.30pm
Tactile Tour at venue	Saturday 11 July at 2pm (Tactile tour commences at 1pm)
Open Captioning via screen	Saturday 18 July at 2pm
Closed Captioning GoTheatrical App	Saturday 18 July at 2pm
Auslan Interpreted	More information here.

Talks & Events

Forum Night
Monday 29 June

Stay after the show to join an enlightening conversation with the cast and creative team. Supported by Time & Place. Read more.

Donor Events
Tuesday 7 July & Wednesday 15 July

Donors ($1,000+) enjoy access to informative and engaging post-show events.

Melbourne Theatre Thursdays
Thursday 2 July. Read more.

Face Value: In-Conversation Event
Tuesday 21 July. Read more.

Key art by Tiffany Garvie
Production photos by Pia Johnson

Content Warnings

This production contains mature themes, graphic imagery and coarse language. For detailed information about the production’s content click here.

Script

You can purchase the script for Losing Face online.

Programme

Want to learn more about Losing Face? View our interactive digital programme.

Michala Banas

Jo

Wil King

Tomas

Genevieve Morris

Nurse / Competitive Guest

Madeleine Sami

Simone

Christie Whelan Browne

Lauren

Marieke Hardy

Writer

Leticia Cáceres

Director

Jo Briscoe

Set & Costume Designer

Amelia Lever-Davidson

Lighting Designer

Kelly Ryall

Composer & Sound Designer

Justin Gardam

AV Designer

Hayden Spencer

Movement Director

Laura Mckenzie

Assistant Director

Geraldine Cook-Dafner

Dialect Coach for Wil King as Tomas

Wil King

Choreographer

Whitney McNamara

Stage Manager

Annah Jacobs

Assistant Stage Manager

Jessie McGuigan

Assistant Stage Manager 2

View All

Michala Banas

Jo

Michala Banas is a multi-award-winning film, television and theatre actor. With a remarkable career spanning over four decades, Michala has starred in over 90 films, television and theatre productions. Some of Michala’s theatre credits include Love Stories, The Memory of Water, Boy Swallows Universe, Avenue Q, The Odd Couple, Birdland, The Beauty Queen of Leenane and Funny Girl. Michala has been a fixture on Australian television, starring in shows like Always Greener, McLeod's Daughters, Winners and Losers, Halifax Retribution, Nowhere Boys, Upper Middle Bogan, Gold Diggers and most recently A Remarkable Place to Die and Blue Murder Motel, to name a few. Michala has also made her mark in film with roles in That’s Not My Dog, Ned, Scooby-Doo, and Nowhere Boys: The Book of Shadows. She also appears alongside Liam Neeson in the Amazon Prime feature Road to The Sky.

Wil King

Tomas

Wil King (they/them) is a Naarm based actor and graduate of 16th Street Actors Studio and the Maggie Flanigan Studio in New York City. Stage credits include Strangers in Between (fortyfivedownstairs/Seymour Centre); This Is Living (Malthouse Theatre); Sneakyville (fortyfivedownstairs); DIRT (Chapel Off Chapel); Venus in Fur (Holden Street Theatre) and Every Lovely Terrible Thing (Theatreworks). Screen credits include Why Are You Like This (ABC/Netflix), In Our Blood (ABC/Hoodlum), Gold Diggers (ABC/CBS) and most recently Dog Park (ABC/Matchbox) as well as feature films Who Needs Love Songs and Better Man.

Genevieve Morris

Nurse / Competitive Guest

Genevieve Morris has been an actor/improvisor and co-creator for over 35 years. She has appeared on stage with Melbourne Theatre Company (most recently in Dying: A Memoir), Sydney Theatre Company, Circus Oz, Malthouse, and has co-created shows for Arena and Back to Back Theatre, including the internationally renowned Small Metal Objects. Her TV and film credits include Scrublands, Deadloch, Colin from Accounts, Ride Like a Girl, Bloom, Squinters, Paper Champions, Family Law, True Stories, That’s Not My Dog, Little Acorns, Sexy Herpes, Sisters, No Activity, City Homicide, Comedy Inc, Ben Elton Live, Little Johnny The Movie, Can of Worms, Wednesday Night Fever, as well as Buried, a darkly funny digital series. Genevieve produced Maria Theodorakis's short film Jimmy and Douglas, and teamed up with Eyvonne Carfora and Rachel Griffiths as producer of Little Acorns. As well as being a Green Room and AFI nominee, Genevieve took out the Best Actor award for the 48 Hour Film project in 2013.

Madeleine Sami

Simone

Madeleine Sami is excited to be making a long-awaited return to the stage with Melbourne Theatre Company’s Losing Face. After launching her acting career performing multiple roles in Toa Fraser’s award-winning plays No. 2 and Bare, Madeleine went on to perform in a number of theatrical productions across New Zealand, last appearing on stage in 2014 as King Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar (Auckland Theatre Company). Since then, Madeleine has become a familiar face on screens across New Zealand, Australia and further afield. She stars as Eddie in Aussie hit TV series Deadloch, and co-wrote, co-directed and starred in romcom film The Breaker Upperers. Further noteworthy screen credits include internationally celebrated What We Do in the Shadows (Taika Waititi), Our Flag Means Death, and UK Western Slow West.

Christie Whelan Browne

Lauren

Christie Whelan Browne’s Melbourne Theatre Company credits include Kimberly Akimbo, As You Like It, Twelfth Night, An Ideal Husband, Born Yesterday, The Odd Couple, The Importance of Being Earnest and The Drowsy Chaperone. Other stage credits include Muriel’s Wedding the Musical, Bloom (Sydney Theatre Company); Vigil (Arts Centre Melbourne); Company (Kookaburra Theatre Company); The Beast (The Ambassador Theatre Group); Nice Work If You Can Get It, Singin’ in the Rain, The Producers, Jerry’s Girls (The Production Company); Britney Spears: The Cabaret, Life in Plastic, Show People, Shane Warne The Musical (Adelaide Cabaret Festival). Screen credits include the upcoming Ground Up, Colin from Accounts, Knee High Spies, Spreadsheet, Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell, Offspring, The Wrong Girl, Neighbours, True Story with Hamish & Andy, Peter Allen – Not the Boy Next Door and Wonderland. Christie has received a Green Room Award (Best Actress, Vigil) and a Sydney Theatre Award (Company).

Marieke Hardy

Writer

Marieke Hardy is a curator, screenwriter, playwright, artist and producer. She has penned columns for The Age, The Drum and Frankie magazine, and written for numerous television shows. Marieke’s ABC comedy series, Laid, was the winner of several awards and recently adapted for the US market. Her smash hit adaptation of Dario Fo’s No Pay? No Way! premiered at the Sydney Opera House in 2020 and went on to tour the UK. She was co-curator of international literary salon Women of Letters and was a regular panelist on the ABC's Book Club for 11 years. She is a recipient of the 2015 Sidney Myer Fellowship and currently co-curates the monthly spoken word event Better Off Said.

Leticia Cáceres

Director

Leticia Cáceres is an acclaimed director and former Associate Director of Melbourne Theatre Company. She has directed numerous productions including The House of Bernarda Alba, Constellations, The Effect, and Birdland, which won the Green Room Award for Best Direction (Melbourne Theatre Company). Other notable stage credits include The Drover’s Wife, winner of the Helpmann Award for Best Direction, and Barbara and the Camp Dogs, winner of the Helpmann Award for Best Musical (Belvoir); Going Down (Sydney Theatre Company/Malthouse Theatre); and The Mares, which earned her the Tasmanian Theatre Award for Outstanding Direction (Tasmanian Theatre Company). Her screen work includes Bump (Stan/Roadshow Rough Diamond); Spooky Files (ABC/Netflix); Rock Island Mysteries (Nickelodeon) and Royal Flying Doctor Service (Endemol Shine). Recently, she received an AACTA nomination for Best Direction in Drama for her episode in the anthology series Erotic Stories (SBS).

Jo Briscoe

Set & Costume Designer

Jo Briscoe returns to Melbourne Theatre Company after Cyrano, The Sound Inside and Madagascar. Other selected set and costume design credits include La Traviata (Oz Opera); Reunion/A Kind of Alaska (costume) and Ruby Moon (Sydney Theatre Company); The Pillowman (costume), The Pianist, Elling, La Ronde, Wilde Tales and Greek Tragedy (Belvoir and B Sharp); Mr Bailey’s Minder, Nailed, October and Strange Attractor (Griffin); Citizenship, Stories in the Dark (Australian Theatre for Young People); La Vera Costanza (Sydney Conservatorium) and costume design for On the Case (Legs on the Wall). Her screen production design credits include Oddlands, Elders, Mustangs FC (season 1), Please Like Me (season 3), The Family Law (season 2), Upper Middle Bogan, Nowhere Boys (season 1), Woodley, Little Lunch and The Katering Show (season 2), winner APDG Award for Best Production Design on a Television Production. She is Senior Lecturer in Design at the Victorian College of the Arts.

Amelia Lever-Davidson

Lighting Designer

Amelia Lever-Davidson is an award-winning lighting designer for theatre, live art, installation, dance and events. Select include The Almighty Sometimes, Meet Me at Dawn, Bloom, Bernhardt/Hamlet, Girls & Boys, SLAP. BANG. KISS., Admissions, Torch the Place (Melbourne Theatre Company); The Wrong Gods, Blessed Union, My Brilliant Career, Every Brilliant Thing (Belvoir); Julius Caesar, Coriolanus (Bell Shakespeare); The Seagull, Julius Ceasar (Sydney Theatre Company); Game. Set. Match, Macbeth, An Undoing, Hour of the Wolf, K-Box, Because the Night, Australian Realness, Trustees (Malthouse Theatre); Next Move 11 (Chunky Move); Leviathan (Circa); Hydra, Moral Panic, Contest, Niche, Conviction, Dream Home (Darebin Arts Speakeasy); They Divided the Sky (Belvoir 25a); Looking Glass, Triumph (fortyfivedownstairs); Your Name Means Dream, Monument, A Simple Act of Kindness, Desert 6.29pm (Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre); Gilgamesh (Sydney Chamber Opera). Amelia’s work has been recognised with Green Room Awards for Diaspora, Contest and Looking Glass. She is an Australia Council Artstart and JUMP Mentorship recipient.

Kelly Ryall

Composer & Sound Designer

Kelly Ryall is an award-winning composer, musician and sound designer. Stage highlights include West Gate, Destiny, Mother Play, 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); Black Light, 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); Orlando, 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.

Justin Gardam

AV Designer

Justin Gardam is an award-winning designer whose practice spans sound, composition, video design and dramaturgy for theatre. His Melbourne Theatre Company credits include Laurinda as AV Designer and Abigail’s Party as Sound Secondment. Highlights of his wider sound and video design work include Pride and Prejudice (Malthouse Theatre/Bloomshed); Animal Farm, Paradise Lost, and The Importance of Being Earnest (Bloomshed); The Meeting, Heroes of the Fourth Turning, Control and Lamb (Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre); Eurydice (Melbourne Shakespeare Company); Shitbag (Tiny Table Reads). As associate designer, his credits include Truth, Macbeth: An Undoing and Hour of the Wolf (Malthouse Theatre); Homo Pentecostus (Malthouse Theatre/Joel Bray Dance). Justin is the recipient of multiple Green Room Awards for his long-term collaboration with independent theatre collective Bloomshed. He holds a Master of Dramaturgy from the Victorian College of the Arts.

Hayden Spencer

Movement Director

Hayden Spencer is an acclaimed Australian actor, clown, director and performance coach whose career spans nearly three decades across stage and screen. His Melbourne Theatre Company acting credits include Happy Days, The Odd Couple, Jasper Jones, The Beast, Australia the Show, Elling and Cyrano de Bergerac. Hayden was also part of the much-celebrated production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Most recently, Hayden appeared as Nathan Jessep in Queensland Theatre’s acclaimed production of A Few Good Men, and internationally has toured with Cirque du Soleil as a Head Clown. Screen credits include Deadloch, Spooky Files, Judy & Punch, Mystery Road and Superwog. Hayden has directed works for La Boite Theatre, NICA and Woodford Folk Festival, served as Movement Director on ABC TV’s Spooky Files, and worked as Fight Director for Queensland Theatre and La Boite Theatre.

Laura Mckenzie

Assistant Director

Laura McKenzie (she/her) is a writer, director, producer and dancer, a white-Australian woman with Scottish ancestry, living and working in Naarm. Her theatre credits as writer and director include Lizard People (Melbourne Fringe); Social Dance (TheatreWorks) and The More I Know (Meat Market). She wrote, directed and produced short film Divine Intervention (Melbourne Women in Film Festival) and is a former member of the Melbourne University Law Revue sketch comedy group. Laura is also a dancer within Naarm’s Street Dance community. Laura is delighted to be making her debut with Melbourne Theatre Company as part of the 2026 MinterEllison Future Directors Initiative.