Drizzle Boy program

DRIZZLE BOY

WRITTEN BY RYAN ENNISS

DIRECTED BY DANIEL EVANS

Queensland Theatre acknowledges the Jagera and Turrbal people who are the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work, and their unique relationship with the lands, seas and waterways. We pay our respects to their Elders both past and present, and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

QUEENSLAND THEATRE IS ASSISTED BY THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT THROUGH THE AUSTRALIA COUNCIL, ITS ARTS FUNDING AND ADVISORY BODY. QUEENSLAND THEATRE IS SUPPORTED BY THE QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT THROUGH ARTS QUEENSLAND.

Our playwrights capture our hopes, dreams, fears and furies and shape them into new stories that will engage us, challenge us, and ultimately, hopefully, entertain us. Their plays are a reflection of us and the world we live in.

Watching Drizzle Boy rise up through the selection process and capture the attention of all the readers and judges was fascinating. At every stage of the long and complex process it was repeatedly acknowledged that this is a perspective that has not been seen on this stage before. It is original. And impressive. And it provoked an excitement for the theatrical potential it has on the page.

Of course, the magic of the QPDA is that winning is only half of the award. The partnership between the Queensland Government, Griffith University and Queensland Theatre means that the second half of the award is about bringing it to the stage. The script is a blueprint, and as any architect will know, there is a long way to go from the plans to the finished building. You need a lot of

The Queensland Premier’s Drama Award is an extraordinary opportunity for Queensland Theatre to reach out to the whole playwriting community of Australia every two years and take the pulse of our creative nation.

Lee Lewis Artistic Director

great builders to make a play stand up on opening night. And it was a real pleasure to introduce playwright Ryan Enniss to one of Queensland’s master builders of the theatre, Daniel Evans.

The play you are seeing tonight is the culmination of many months of re-writing, workshopping and growth. The real award is not the press announcement, the generous cash prize given by Griffith University, or a certificate on a wall. The real award is this — the performance you are about to see. For Ryan, this award guarantees the chance to witness how you, the audience, respond to what he has to say. Every reaction you have will tell him if his work speaks to you. And that knowledge will feed into his next play and his next and his next. Queensland Theatre has the privilege of producing Ryan Enniss’ first play, and as his first audience you have the opportunity to inspire a great new Australian voice in the theatre to keep writing for us.

Enjoy!

— Lee

DRIZZLE BOY

WRITTEN BY RYAN ENNISS

DIRECTED BY DANIEL EVANS

Drizzle Boy is autistic. Drizzle Boy is poked, prodded and diagnosed by a world that wants to change him and a family who doesn’t understand him. Then he meets Juliet — his very own star-crossed love. Could she be a safe space for a man who just wants a calm centre to his universe?

Join Drizzle Boy as he takes back his story from a world of misunderstandings with irreverence and audacity. It’s a biting satire blending magical realism with a Kafkaesque journey of self-discovery. If you are neurotypical then you’re about to take a theatrical cold shower in the world of neurodivergence.

Drizzle Boy is the winner of the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award 2022-23. If you like your theatre fresh, free-wheeling and unexpected, jump on board as director Daniel Evans (The Almighty Sometimes) takes us on an all-terrain ride.

CREATIVES

Writer Ryan Enniss

Director Daniel Evans

Set and Costume Designer

Christina Smith

Lighting Designer Matt Scott

Composer/Sound Designer

Guy Webster

Video Designer Nevin Howell

Stage Manager Kat O’Halloran

Assistant Stage Manager Nicole Neil

CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS

Dramaturg Saffron Benner

Industry Advisor

Oliver Hetherington-Page

Creative Specialist Consultant

Indelability Arts

Fight & Intimacy Director NJ Price

Voice/Dialect Coach Gabrielle Rogers

Choreography Dan Venz

CAST

Drizzle Boy Daniel R Nixon

Mother/Juliet/Valentina Tereshkova/

Dustin Hoffman/Google/Doctor

Naomi Price

Father/Hans Asperger/Baphomet/

Google/Doctor Kevin Spink

LOCATION

Bille Brown Theatre

Queensland Theatre

78 Montague Road

South Brisbane

DURATION

1 hour and 35 minutes with no interval.

WARNINGS

Sensory Access: Audio and visual warnings have been built into this production to provide audiences with sensory sensitivities time to adjust and prepare before extreme lighting and sound cues are activated. If you have audio or visual sensitivities or are concerned about the play's content, we recommend looking through our spoiler sheet and social story available through the website. Additionally, a break-out space will be available at the venue in our Diane Cilento Studio for those seeking a low sensory environment separate from the foyer and theatre.

Production Warnings:

This production contains references and frank discussion about autism, high-level coarse and ableist language including the "R" word in a personal historical context, aural depictions of bullying, depictions of medical mistreatment, references to suicide and occasional (and forewarned) loud noises and moments of visual intensity to reflect parts of the autistic experience.

This production contains smoke, haze, strobes, dead black outs, dynamic sound and the use of electronic cigarettes. Some audience members may have lights shone in their eyes.

If you or someone you know needs information or support, these organisations are there to help:

Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636

Headspace 03 9027 0100

Lifeline 13 11 14

Learn more about autism from these great local organisations:

Code Blue for Autism

codeblueforautism.com.au

Autism Queensland

autismqld.com.au

aeiou Foundation

aeiou.org.au

The use of photographic or recording equipment is not permitted inside the theatre.

PRODUCTION PARTNER AND PRIZE SPONSOR PROUDLY SUPPPORTED BY

MESSAGE FROM THE QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT

Welcome to the world premiere of Drizzle Boy — the recipient of the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award (QPDA) 2022-23.

Drizzle Boy draws upon playwright Ryan Enniss’ own journey of being diagnosed as autistic at the age of 19 and celebrates the importance of diverse stories that portray universal experiences of hope and fear, and our search for belonging.

It is always exciting to experience the opening of a brand-new theatre work and Drizzle Boy is the eleventh QPDA-winning play to be produced by Queensland Theatre since the establishment of the awards program in 2002.

The QPDA is a unique playwriting prize in Australia — set apart by its combination of a cash prize, a commission to develop the winning script, and to present a professional production as part of the Queensland Theatre season.

This award represents a commitment to championing playwrights and working with creative teams to develop new Australian work for the stage. Over the past two decades, the QPDA has supported more than 260 theatre artists and practitioners, creating employment, nurturing homegrown talent and providing valuable professional development opportunities.

The Palaszczuk Government supports Queensland Theatre to tell our stories and widen our horizons, helping to deliver the priorities of the Creative Together 10-Year Roadmap and build on the strength of Queensland’s phenomenal creative community.

Thank you for your support of Queensland Theatre and enjoy this production of the QPDA-winning Drizzle Boy.

— The Honourable Leeanne Enoch MP

THE HONOURABLE LEEANNE ENOCH MP Minister for Communities and Housing, Minister for Digital Economy and Minister for the Arts

Daniel R Nixon

Ryan Enniss Writer

This is a coming-of-age story in many ways, one about finding a place in the universe, and discovering why you were meant to go there.

Drizzle Boy originated from many different angles. It was an exploration into my own life, and the lives of other neurodivergent people I know, as well as a response to many of the ideas, thoughts, and actions surrounding autism and the autistic experience.

Strangely enough, the experience of a young, white, verbal man is the most commonly presented version of autism within media. And yet, I have still somehow never seen an authentic representation of myself on stage or screen. No, autistic people are relegated to the side characters, often for comedic, or tragic effect, and often their “condition” is cause for much concern. But that doesn't represent me. Nor anyone else I know that is autistic. I only wish that there was space for even more diverse stories to be included in this script, but alas, there are only so many minutes in a play. For women, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ autistic people, know that you are not alone. I see you, and hope that Drizzle Boy inspires, empowers, and makes space for you, and your stories.

Most think of Rain Man when they think of autism, a representation that was created, performed, and refined by neurotypical people. What Drizzle Boy aims to do is to take an authentic, lived experience, and put it front and centre. To connect audiences, regardless of neurotype, with a story that they have not heard before. But one in which they can find themselves, their loved ones, and a sense of curiosity about the world around them.

This is a coming-of-age story in many ways, one about finding a place in the universe, and discovering why you were meant to go there. It is a story about family, and the ties that bind, for good or ill. It is about love, and the many forms it can take. But above all, it is a story about hope. About what we do with it, what happens when it is reduced to ash, and how new hopes coalesce from the dust.

I cannot thank the team at Queensland Theatre enough for all their support, and for lifting this story into the light. They will never know how much I appreciate them. To the judges, the scores of people who reviewed the script on its way through the process, and of course to Griffith University for sponsoring the award, I give my deepest, most heartfelt thanks.

What you will see has been masterfully crafted by director Daniel Evans, in close collaboration with the design team, and the cast. Their passion, creativity, and love for storytelling are a shining beacon for all artists to aspire to, and it was my utmost privilege to work with them.

Finally, to you, in the audience… enjoy your rocket ride.

— Ryan

Ryan Enniss

Ryan Enniss

Daniel Evans Director

Drizzle Boy is the story of an autistic young man who is beginning undergraduate university study in the hopes of one day becoming an astronaut. “Once I’ve finished this course I want to get a masters degree,” Drizzle Boy says to his new friend Juliet, “which I’ll use to get a job for my two years relevant work experience with either NASA or JAXA… Then it’s simply a matter of learning Japanese, passing the physical exam, completing 10 months of intensive training and surviving the rocket launch.” All fairly straightforward… until he begins to realize that the power structures around him are conspiring to place the stars firmly out of his reach.

Playwright Ryan Enniss says that this is a story about coming-of-age — and it is — but what I’ve come to realise is that it is also a coming-of-age story for many of us; it’s about recognising the way in which we might be complicit in preventing someone from reaching their full potential, and how no young neurodivergent person — no matter who they are or how they see the world — should be made to dream smaller.

Drizzle Boy is a write-back, a clarion call and an anthem for anyone who's ever felt a little lost, out of step, with the world around them. It honours the enormous courage it can sometimes take to carve out your own corner of the galaxy — to fight for its place, to protect it from those who’d take it away, to open it out to others and say: 'this is me, this is where I am, right here is where I belong.'

“Drizzle Boy should never leave the stage,” Ryan writes in the preface to the play, “because as everyone knows, autistic people are the centre of the universe and everything revolves around them.” Despite many drafts, this foreword has never changed. And, quite appropriately, has become the portal into this debut production for the entire creative team. We have all worked to bring Drizzle Boy’s universe to life — always ensuring that it is the audience who are meeting Drizzle Boy in his space… and not the other way ‘round.

“The beauty of a living thing is not the atoms that go into it, but the way those atoms are put together.”

— Carl Sagan

To this end, Set and Costume Designer Christina Smith has conceived an orbiting world unto itself — a deep blue mirrored disc that is a homage to space craft, planetariums and the concentric circular maps of Copernicus. The design behaves almost like a blueprint for Drizzle Boy’s internal imagination where time is temporal, flashbacks land like lightning bolts, painful memories bubble to the surface and side-ways fantasies spontaneously erupt into life.

You’re about to enter Drizzle Boy’s universe. This place is populated by three wonderful actors, Naomi Price, Kevin Spink and Daniel R Nixon in his Queensland Theatre debut. These three performers slide and shape-shift across time and space — through events real and imagined — to populate the fantastical inner life that Drizzle Boy has developed as a defence

mechanism against the world around him or as part of his deep affinity with outer space. If tonight is a rocket ride, they are the thrusters.

It has been an honour to work alongside Daniel and Ryan, and to have met many excellent advocates and allies of autism. Daniel and Ryan both found theatre because they love to tell stories but, more importantly, in 2023, they need to tell their stories. It's been “all kinds of magic” to play a small role in bringing this brilliant new work to life alongside them.

— Daniel

Daniel Evans, Daniel R Nixon

Queensland Premier’s Drama Award 2022-23

The Queensland Government’s support for the Queensland Premier's Drama Award (QPDA) helps to honour diversity in Australian writing by supporting playwrights through the many stages of the creative process from transforming a script into a performance work.

The QPDA is the only award program in Australia that professionally develops and stages the winner’s work for an Australian worldpremiere, with the winning play showcased as part of Queensland Theatre’s mainstage season.

The award strengthens Queensland’s position as the location to develop and present important new work, and champion literary talent, by supporting innovation and creative thinkers.

Since its establishment in 2002, the QPDA has developed and premiered 36 plays, employed more than 260 actors, writers and directors, and helped engage audiences of more than 40,000 people for new Australian drama exclusively developed in Queensland.

The focus is on creating new work, nurturing new talent, and generating employment opportunities, and underpins QPDA’s support towards delivering the Queensland Government’s Creative Together: a 10-Year Roadmap for arts culture and creativity.

This partnership with Queensland Theatre realises the priorities of Creative Together in sharing important stories and celebrating storytellers by ensuring new stories are well-supported to reach and engage audiences.

Focusing on our creative future aligns with the Queensland Government’s priorities of embracing the opportunities of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games when our local stories, unique arts and cultural experiences will be showcased on the global stage to a world-wide audience.

Naomi Price

Kevin Spink

Creatives

Ryan Enniss Writer

Ryan is a playwright, actor, and voice-over artist originally from Tasmania, currently based in Sydney. His plays (Dis)cord, The 2100 Club, and Data Management have been performed by independent theatre companies and schools all around the country. He was the Artistic Director of Fawkes Theatre Co. in 2017, and his play Watching won the Community Theatre Judges' Award at the Tasmanian Theatre Awards the same year. Ryan holds a Bachelor of Contemporary Arts (Theatre) from the University of Tasmania, as well as a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting) from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). Drizzle Boy is his debut play on the professional stage.

Daniel Evans Director

Queensland Theatre: As Director: The Almighty Sometimes, The Seagull, I Want To Know What Love Is, The China Incident. As Writer: The Seagull, Six Hundred Ways To Filter A Sunset, Oedipus Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Other

Credits: As Director: La Boite Theatre: Away, The Tragedy Of King Richard The Third; Myths Made Here: Medea, Cinderella; The Good Room: Let’s Be Friends Fur-Ever, One Bottle Later, That’s What She Said, I’ve Been Meaning To Ask You, I Just Came To Say Goodbye, I Want To Know What Love Is, I Should Have Drunk More

Champagne, Rabbit, Single Admissions, Holy Guacamole; The Little Red Company: How To Make Snow; QUT: Algorithm, Three Sisters, Incognito, Ivanov; Griffith University: Mr Burns, The Comedy of Errors; University of the Sunshine Coast: Cosi; Australian Theatre for Young People: Oedipus Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. As

Dramaturg: Polytoxic: Demolition; The Little Red Company: Lady Beatle Television: The Traitors, Beauty and The Geek, Big Brother Training: Bachelor of Creative Industries (Interdisciplinary Studies), Queensland University of Technology.

Positions: Associate Artist (2021 – present), Queensland Theatre; Festival Director (2022), MELT; Raise The Roof Creative Director (2022), Brisbane Festival; Co-Founder & Artistic Director

(2008 – Present), The Good Room; Senior Writer (2006–10), Frankie Magazine; Co-Director (2008, 2009), National Young Writers’ Festival. Awards: Sydney Theatre Award – Best Work for Young People I’ve Been Meaning To Ask You; Matilda Award – Best Director Cinderella, Best Director The Almightly Sometimes; Queensland Premier's Drama Award – Oedipus Doesn’t Live Here

Anymore.

Christina Smith

Set and Costume Designer

Queensland Theatre: Mother Courage and her Children, Gasp, The Odd Couple, Female of the Species, Other Desert Cities (with Black Swan State Theatre Company). Other

Credits: As Set and Costume

Designer: highlights include Melbourne Theatre Company: The Heartbreak Choir, Berlin, A View from the Bridge, Gloria, The Architect, Elling, Clybourne Park; Seattle Opera: Madame Butterfly; State Opera South Australia: La Traviata (with New Zealand Opera and Opera Queensland); Malthouse Theatre: Porncake, Black Medea; Black Swan State Theatre Company:

Angels in America, As You Like It, A Streetcar

Named Desire, Rising Water. As Set Designer: Melbourne Theatre Company: Hay Fever; Victorian Opera: The Who’s Tommy, Salome, The Flying Dutchman; The Production Company:

Ragtime, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Brigadoon

As Costume Designer: Victorian Opera: Parsifal.

Education: WAAPA (Design). Positions: Lecturer in Design for Live Performance, Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. Awards: Green Room Award – Best Set Design Salome, Best Theatre Design Honour, Daylight, Julia3

Matt Scott

Lighting Designer

Queensland Theatre: Storm Boy, Jasper Jones, Once in Royal David’s City, The Odd Couple, Red, Betrayal, The School of Arts, The Alchemist, Anatomy Titus Fall of Rome: A Shakespeare Commentary, Heroes, The Woman Before, Constance Drinkwater and the Final Days of Somerset, A Streetcar Named Desire, A Christmas Carol, Oedipus the King, The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, Mano, Nera, The Venetian Twins, Eating Ice Cream With Your Eyes Closed, The Messiah,

Proof, Phedra, The Lonesome West, The Fortunes of Richard Mahoney, Richard III, Richard II, Buried Child, Dirt, A Forest, Fred, Shopping & F***ing, Mrs Warrens’ Profession, The Sunshine Club, Antigone, Sweet Panic, Radiance, Lovechild, Simpatico, Blithe Spirit, The Last Yankee. Other

Credits: As Lighting Designer: La Boite; Opera Queensland; Queensland Ballet; Australiasian Dance Collective; Kooemba Jdarra; Rock and Roll Circus; Grin&Tonic; Zen Zen Zo; Frank Theatre; Matrix Theatre; Brisbane Festival; QPAT; Melbourne Theatre Company; Sydney Theatre Company; Belvoir; Malthouse; Black Swan State Theatre Company; State Theatre Company of South Australia; PlayBox; Opera Australia; Victorian Opera; State Opera South Australia; West Australian Opera; Gordon Frost Organization; TML; Dainty Productions; Production Company; Performing Lines; Windmill Theatre; New Zealand Opera; Seattle Opera.

Training: Queensland University of Technology.

Positions: Lecturer (Lighting Design), Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne.

Awards: Sydney Theatre Award – Best Lighting Design of a Mainstage Production Fun Home; Green Room Award – Best Opera Design The Pearlfishers; Helpmann Award – Best Lighting Design Urinetown, Best Lighting Design The Blue Room; Matilda Award - Body of Work

Guy Webster

Composer/Sound Designer

Queensland Theatre: L’Appartement, Constellations, The Button Event, The Effect (with Sydney Theatre Company), The Seagull, Brisbane, Venus In Fur, Kelly, Orphans Other Credits: La Boite Theatre Company: An Ideal Husband, Naked & Screaming, From Darkness, Lysa & The Freeborn Dames, Blackrock, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Tragedy of King Richard III, As You Like It, Ruben Guthrie, I Love You Bro, The White Earth, Kitchen Diva, Summer Wonderland, The Narcissist, Last Drinks, Urban Dingoes; Shake & Stir: Fourteen, The Twits, Jane Eyre, A Christmas Carol, Forthcoming, Fantastic Mr Fox, Dracula, George’s Marvelous Medicine, Wuthering Heights, Revolting Rhymes and Dirty Beasts, Tequila Mockingbird, 1984, Animal Farm, Out Damn Snot; Belloo Creative: Boy Lost; Playlab Theatre: Brutal Utopias, Blue Bones, Horizon, Magpie; Brisbane Festival: Riverfire Soundtrack, Art Boat Stories Of Country; Shock Therapy:

Locked In, Medea, Viral, Welcome to Sameville; Lisa Wilson & Nathan Sibthorpe: Bunker; Homunculus Theatre: High Tea With Booff, The Knock Em Downs; Circus Corridor: The Rising; Tammy Zarb & Co: Inside Out; Bleach Festival: Follow The Bias, Hotelling, Shifting Sands, Quiet By Nature (with Gogi Dance), Fish Out Of Water; Brisbane Writers Festival: Angel’s Palace; Jute Theatre Company: La Bella Figura, To Kill A Cassowary, Here We Are All Assembled, The Salt Remains, Bastard Territory; The Farm: Depthless; State Library of Queensland: Teacup Sonata, I Cherish This…, The Unexpectedly Mind Boggling

Adventure; National Gallery Singapore: Closer; Institute Of Contemporary Art London: Shifting Intimacies; National Art Museum of China/ University of California/BIOS Athens; Ars Electronica Festival; Austria/Australian Centre for the Moving Image; Intimate Transactions. Awards: Prix Ars Electronica, Interactive Art – Honorable Mention. Matilda Award – Best Sound or Composition Design Bunker.

Nevin Howell

Video Designer

Queensland Theatre: Debut.

Other Credits: Redlands

Performing Arts Centre:

SACHÉM: The Bigger Picture; Brisbane Festival: Common People Dance Eisteddfod; Metro Arts: Where We Meet;

Digi Youth Arts: COOKED (with The Good Room); Wynnum Fringe: Maddie Is The New Karen; QMusic; optikal bloc; Backbone

Youth Arts; Counterpilot; Festival of Australian Student Theatre; Markwell Presents; Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre Company. Training: Bachelor of Fine Arts (Drama), Queensland University of Technology.

Daniel R Nixon

Kat O’Halloran

Stage Manager

Queensland Theatre: As Stage Manager: The Sunshine Club, Return To The Dirt, Taming of the Shrew, Triple X (with Sydney Theatre Company), Hydra (with State Theatre Company South Australia), Hedda, The 39 Steps, Rice (with Griffin Theatre Company), Once in Royal David’s City (with Black Swan State Theatre Company), Switzerland, Happy Days, Treasure Island, An Oak Tree, Hurry Up and Wait!; As Deputy Stage Manager: Twelfth Night; As Assistant Stage Manager: Scenes from a Marriage, An Octoroon, Tartuffe (with Black Swan State Theatre Company), Quartet, The Seagull, God of Carnage (with Black Swan State Theatre Company), Rabbit Hole. Other Credits: As Stage Manager: Dead Puppet Society: Holding Achilles, The Wider Earth (2022 national tour); Queensland

Ballet: 2022 Academy Gala, The Nutcracker, 2021 Academy Gala; La Boite Theatre: Caesar; Opera Australia: Madame Butterfly (regional tour); Creative Regions: It All Begins With Love; As Event Coordinator: Sydney Festival; As Assistant Stage Manager: SpoonTree Productions: The Man The Sea Saw (China and South Korea tour); Training: Bachelor of Fine Arts (Technical Production), Queensland University of Technology.

Nicole Neil

Assistant Stage Manager

Queensland Theatre: As Stage Manager: Robyn Archer: An Australian Songbook, The Holidays, The Shot (The Scene Project), The Wider Earth (with Dead Puppet Society, Sydney season); As Assistant Stage Manager: First Casualty, Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing. Other Credits: As Stage Manager: La Boite

Theatre: Naked and Screaming, Neon Tiger, Laser Beak Man (with Dead Puppet Society); Dead Puppet Society: Ishmael, Laser Beak Man (national tour); As Deputy Stage Manager: Dead Puppet Society: Holding Achilles; Opera

Queensland: The Sopranos, The Marriage of Figaro, Orpheus & Eurydice (with Circa), Tosca, Peter Grimes, The Merry Widow, Ruddigore; As Assistant Stage Manager: La Boite Theatre: A Streetcar Named Desire; Opera Australia: Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour – West Side Story, Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour – La Bohème; Opera Queensland: The Pearlfishers, The Barber of Seville; Shake & Stir: American Idiot, George’s Marvellous Medicine (Brisbane season & New Zealand tour). Training: Bachelor of Fine Arts (Technical Production), Bachelor of Fine Arts (Drama), Queensland University of Technology.

Daniel Evans, Ryan Enniss

Kevin Spink

Daniel R Nixon, Naomi Price

Naomi Price, Kevin Spink

Cast

Daniel R Nixon

Drizzle Boy

Queensland Theatre: Debut. Other Credits: Chapel Off Chapel: Urinetown; Melbourne Shakespeare Company: As You Like It; Victorian College of the Arts: Flora: The Red Menace, A Chorus Line, On The Town; Arts Centre Melbourne: Morning Melodies. Training: Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music Theatre), Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne.

Daniel is a proud neurodivergent actor and an active MEAA Diversity and Disability Committee member.

Naomi Price

Mother/Juliet/Valentina Tereshkova/ Dustin Hoffman/Google/Doctor

Queensland Theatre: Ladies in Black, Gloria, Rumour Has It.

Other Credits: The Little Red Company: Rumour Has It, Wrecking Ball, Lady Beatle, Christmas Actually, The IsoLate Late Show, There’s Something About Music, Skyfall, Your Song, Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves; Michael Cassel Group: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical; Melbourne Theatre Company: Ladies in Black; La Boite Theatre: Lady Beatle, The Tragedy of Richard III, The Wishing Well; The Good Room: I Want To Know What Love Is, That’s What She Said; Opera Queensland: Kiss Me Kate; Woodward Productions: Sweet Charity, Yank!; Spiritworks: Defying Gravity, Solitary Man

Television: Lord Mayor’s Christmas Carols, The Voice Australia, The Morning Show, Good Friday Appeal, Channel Nine Telethon. Training: Bachelor of Creative Industries (Drama), Queensland University of Technology. Positions: Artistic Director and Co-Founder (2012-present), The Little Red Company; Executive Producer (2021-present), Lord Mayor’s Christmas Carols

Awards: Green Room Award - Best Supporting

Actress in a Musical Ladies in Black; Matilda

Award - Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Ladies in Black, Best Musical or Cabaret Rumour

Has It, Best Musical or Cabaret Your Song.

Kevin Spink

Father/Hans Asperger/Baphomet/ Google/Doctor

Queensland Theatre: First Casualty, Antigone, Hydra, Twelfth Night, St Mary's in Exile, Kelly, Gloria, Macbeth.

Other Credits: La Boite: An Ideal Husband, Away, Colder; Dead Puppet Society: The Wider Earth; Hive Collective: Conviction; The Good Room: Rabbit; QSO: A

Midsummer Night’s Dream; 23rd Productions: The Ugly One, My Night with Harold; DeBase:

Ithaca Road; Harvest Rain: Peter Pan; Imaginary

Theatre: Tashi; The Forward Movement: Magda’s Fascination with Wax Cats, Laramie Project;

Three Sisters: Bronte; The Restaged Histories

Project: The Last Days of the New Theatricals; And Moor Theatre: Beautiful; Zen Zen

Zo: Dracula, Romeo & Juliet. Film: As Actor:

Thirteen Lives, Celeste, The Moths Will Eat Them

Up. As Director/Writer: A Man and a Cat, Emma.

Television: Mako Mermaids, Parer’s War, Heartbeat. Awards: Global Shorts, Los Angeles

- Award of Excellence Emma. Los Angeles Film

Award - Best Director; Honorable Mention: First Time Director Emma

Kevin Spink

Thank you to our donors

Queensland Theatre wishes to extend a heartfelt thanks to all our donors. Each gift, large and small, helps us make great theatre.

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Realised Bequests

Peggy Given

Notified Bequests

1 Anonymous

SUPPORTING CAST

3 Anonymous

Geoffrey Beames

Chris & Patty Beecham

Rita Carter-Brown

Kay & Sarah

Yanni Dubler

Robert Ellis & Michelle Skene

Merrilyn & Kevin Goos

Andrew Harding

Fotina & Roger Hardy

Jean & Herbert Heimgartner

Stephen & Yvonne Henry

John White & Judith Hoey

Grace Kahlert

Michael & Karlie Keating

David Kelly

Ranjeny & John Loneragan

Dr Linda Lorenza

Fiona Lowes

Mark Menhinnitt

Philip & Fran Morrison

Patricia Neely

Alison Nicol

Kathy Noble

optikal bloc

Lynette Parsons

Wendy Price

Marianna Serghi & Harvey Whiteford

Suzanne Sheridan & Peter Hastie

Michael Stewart

Annette Stoddart

Dr Josephine Sundin

Kevin Vedelago & Karen Renton

Jacqui Walters

Dr Catherine Yelland

TRUST AND FOUNDATION PARTNERS

Australian Communities Foundation

- Davie Family Fund

Australian Communities Foundation

- Keith & Jeannette Ince Fund

The Rekindle Foundation

Shepherd Family Foundation

Tim Fairfax Family Foundation

William Angliss (Queensland) Charitable Fund

Acknowledging Visionaries who individually support special Queensland Theatre funds: Landmark Productions Fund

Thank you to the Visionaries who generously support our Landmark Productions Fund, cementing Queensland Theatre as a national leader in the development and staging of productions of significant scale.

Tim Fairfax AC & Gina Fairfax AC

Ian & Cass George

Elizabeth Jameson AM & Dr Abbe Anderson

The Mather Foundation

Liz Pidgeon & Graeme Wikman

The Rekindle Foundation

Bruce & Sue Shepherd

Trevor St. Baker AO & Judith St. Baker

2 Anonymous

Together we are making our ambitions a reality

For more information about our giving programs, please contact our Executive Director Amanda Jolly on 07 3010 7602 or ajolly@queenslandtheatre.com.au

Naomi Price, Kevin Spink

The Queensland Government supports

to celebrate our stories, engage audiences and strengthen our communities through arts and cultural experiences.

Othello, 2022. Photo by Brett Boardman

Your Lasting Legacy

You can help inspire the next generation of theatre lovers. For over 50 years, Queensland Theatre has championed great storytellers and theatre makers. By leaving a gift in your will, you are providing support to artists who create memorable work for our audiences to enjoy now and into the future.

We understand the decision to make a bequest is personal. Please contact our Executive Director Amanda Jolly on 07 3010 7602 to arrange a confidential conversation.

LOVED THE PLAY?

Continue experiencing the excitement of live theatre in 2023 with a Season Ticket package.

Put your Drizzle Boy ticket towards a 6, 5 or 3 play package upgrade and gain all the savings and benefits our Season Ticket holders enjoy.

BOOK ONLINE AT QUEENSLANDTHEATRE.COM.AU/UPGRADE OR SCAN THE QR CODE BELOW

FROM OUR PRODUCTION PARTNER

Griffith University is delighted to celebrate 21 years of partnership with Queensland Theatre. The future of the arts in Queensland is led by local talent, and we’re immensely proud of the contribution Griffith University makes to the cultural life of Queensland through relationships with major arts organisations.

Queensland Theatre provides our students with the opportunity to expand on their tertiary learning and create a new level of professional development. Through partnerships such as this, our students build comprehensive skills and attributes that contribute significantly to their learning. Particularly significant for our partnership this season, has been the opportunity for

Professor Scott Harrison

Griffith’s Autism Centre of Excellence (ACE) to collaborate during the production development of Drizzle Boy. This is an example of our research bridging academic excellence and societal impact – which sits at the core of our University values.

Griffith’s Autism Centre of Excellence is nationally and internationally recognised as a leader of research and teaching in the field of autism. ACE proudly partners with the autistic and autism communities to cocreate pathways to improve well-being and quality of life for autistic individuals across the lifespan.

We wish Queensland Theatre well for this season of Drizzle Boy, and for all their endeavours throughout 2023.

Pro Vice Chancellor (Arts, Education and Law), Griffith University

QUEENSLAND THEATRE PARTNERS

PRODUCTION PARTNERS PROGRAM PARTNER

TICKETING PARTNER

TRUST AND FOUNDATION PARTNERS

COMPANY PARTNERS

FIRST NATIONS PARTNER

SEASON PARTNERS

GOVERNMENT PARTNERS

PATRON

Her Excellency the Honourable

Dr Jeannette Young PSM, Governor of Queensland

FOUNDING DIRECTOR

AIan Edwards, AM, MBE (1925–2003)

MEMBERS OF THE BOARD

Tracey Barker

Mundanara Bayles

Liz Burcham

Associate Professor Stephen Carleton

Rachel Crowley

Simon Gallaher

Dean Gibson (Deputy Chair)

Elizabeth Jameson AM (Chair)

Susan Learmonth

INDIGENOUS REFERENCE GROUP

Judge Nathan Jarro

Mundanara Bayles (Chair)

Dr Valerie Cooms

Isaac Drandic

Dean Gibson

Charles Passi

Michael Tuahine

Roxanne McDonald

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Lee Lewis

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Amanda Jolly

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

Pete Sutherland

HUMAN RESOURCES AND GOVERNANCE MANAGER

Donna Maher

ARTISTIC

ARTISTIC ELDER

Roxanne McDonald

ASSOCIATE ARTIST (CAIRNS)

Isaac Drandic

ASSOCIATE ARTIST

Daniel Evans

LITERARY ADVISOR

Dr Julian Meyrick

WRITING FELLOWSHIP ARTISTS

Claire Christian, Wendy Mocke

DEVELOPMENT

CORPORATE PARTNERSHIPS MANAGER

Merryn Csincsi

GRANTS AND CONTENT WRITER

Yvonne Henry

DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR

Jade Rodrigo

FINANCE AND OPERATIONS

HEAD OF FINANCE AND OPERATIONS

Shane Burke

FINANCE OFFICER

Sarra Lamb

ACCOUNTING ASSISTANT

Lien Mai

FACILITIES AND OPERATIONS MANAGER

Jake Cook

VENUE AND BAR MANAGER (MATERNITY LEAVE)

Kimberley Mogg

VENUE AND BAR MANAGER

Peter Carroll

MARKETING AND TICKETING DIRECTOR OF MARKETING (MATERNITY LEAVE)

Laura Oliver

DIRECTOR OF MARKETING

David Graham

MARKETING MANAGER (MATERNITY LEAVE)

Maneka Singh

MARKETING MANAGER

Cinnamon Smith

MARKETING COORDINATOR

Hannah Wilson

MARKETING ASSISTANT (DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT)

Thomas Manton–Williams

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Sarah Gannon

PUBLICIST IVY PR

DATABASE SUPERVISOR

Jeffrey Guiborat

TICKETING SUPERVISOR

Madison Bell

TICKETING COORDINATOR

Dan Sinclair

TICKETING OFFICER

Myk Brown, Ngaire Lock

SEASON TICKETING

Milena Barraclough Nesic, Sophie Hodych

PRODUCTION

DIRECTOR, TECHNICAL AND PRODUCTION

Daniel Maddison

TECHNICAL MANAGER

Chris Goeldner

TECHNICAL COORDINATOR

Harry Provins

PRODUCTION COORDINATOR

Mia McGavin

SOUND ASSOCIATE

Brady Watkins

HEAD OF WORKSHOP

Peter Sands

COMPANY CARPENTER/ HEAD MECHANIST

John Pierce

COSTUME SUPERVISOR

Nathalie Ryner

WARDROBE COORDINATOR

Barbara Kerr

PROGRAMMING

SENIOR PRODUCER

Helen Hillman

CASTING MANAGER

Samantha French

ARTISTIC ADMINISTRATOR

Jane Youngs

EDUCATION, YOUTH AND REGIONAL ENGAGEMENT

SENIOR PRODUCER, EDUCATION, YOUTH AND REGIONAL ENGAGEMENT

Eylece Blaikie

PRODUCER, EDUCATION, YOUTH AND REGIONAL ENGAGEMENT

Laurel Collins

ASSOCIATE ARTIST

Steve Pirie

YOUTH PROGRAM COORDINATOR

Alana Dunn

ADMINISTRATION COORDINATOR

Abigail Taylor

QUEENSLAND THEATRE

PRODUCTION STAFF

CARPENTERS

Chris Maddison, Tim Pierce

SCENIC ARTIST

Leo Herreygers

CUTTER / COSTUME MAKERS

Kiara Bulley, Leigh Buchanan

COSTUME MAKER

Cody Newnham

WARDROBE DRESSER

Adrian Teveluwe

WARDROBE MAINTENANCE & COSTUME PROPS

Tracey Leino

WIG AND HAIR STYLIST

Rebecca Anthony

AUTOMATION OPERATOR

Alon Jones

PRODUCTION ELECTRICIAN

Lachlan Cross

HEAD ELECTRICIAN / LIGHTING OPERATOR

Brandon Duncan

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

PHOTOGRAPHY

Brett Boardman

Cinnamon Smith

Josh Woning

VOICEOVER ARTISTS

Ethan Aumua, Leon Cain, Harry Cardell-Ree, Radhika Chotai, Harriet Dann, Ellie Dawson, Sammie Fuller, Amy Ingram, Maisie Juett, Luke Kennedy, Milly Kirkwood, Ava Kozlovskis, Szonja Meszaros, Lara Mikkelsen, Thor Morrison, Zoe Tempany, Carys Walsh, Liam Wilson, Esme Wise.

Special thanks to Prof Dawn Adams, Griffith Autism Centre of Excellence, Shari Irwin, Madeleine Little, Opera Queensland, Queensland Premier’s Drama Awards Development Team (Declan Greene, Danny Murphy, Veronica Neave, Lukas Stokes), Queensland Premier’s Drama Awards Finalists (Phoebe Grainer, Anthony Mullins), Queensland Premier’s Drama Awards Judges (Frederick Copperwaite, Dr Julian Meyrick, Lydia Miller, Sanja Simić), Angela Phillips, Dr Kate Simpson, Matt Strachan.

Information correct at time of printing.

Daniel R Nixon

Daniel R Nixon, Naomi Price

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