AD ASTRA Productions
Upcoming Productions
Long Gone Lonesome Cowgirls
Set in the small town in outback Queensland in the 1960s, Philip Dean’s musical comedy, of two deserted women, Vickie and Rae, both of whom have a passion for singing Country and Western classics, will start your boot scootin’ feet tapping and your heart singing along with Hank Williams and Patsy Kline. Though very different in background and temperament, the conforming Catholic housewife and the brash, lusty and hard-living barmaid, form a bond.
First produced in Brisbane’s La Boite theatre in 1995, this witty, wild musical is set against the wider Australian landscape in a time of feminism, contraception, reds under the bed, conscription and the Vietnam War. It is very funny and very poignant. At “the heart of the story is loneliness, driven by the very primal fear of abandonment”. Come to Ad Astra’s black box production of Long Gone Lonesome Cowgirls: let the emotional depth of the music surprise you and these “crazy for being so lonely” women delight you.
Hot Tub
Ad Astra Production
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“Life’s a beach and then you die.”
Winner of the Patrick White Playwrights Award, Hot Tub is a tragicomic fever dream set on the Gold Coast during Schoolies Week. Dido, a sad girl from North Queensland, arrives at ‘The Great White’—her estranged family’s crumbling beachside tower—seeking cash for weight-loss surgery in Brazil. When her father refuses, Dido teams up with her scheming twink stepbrother to raise the money online.
Meanwhile, the family's ageing matriarch Eunice discovers she’s a suspect in a criminal investigation, but refuses to sell the building to keep everyone out of jail.
A satirical takedown of Australia’s tasteless upper crust, Hot Tub is packed with explosive secrets, cosmic justice, karaoke, and characters who will stop at nothing to protect their spot on the beach.
Hot Tub premiered at the Belvoir Street Theatre in 2024.
Time Out wrote:
Shamelessly crass and Aussie to the core … Pantomime-like-levels of camp and perverse parallels to the humour of Kath & Kim aside, Treston is able to pack in clever and unexpected deep cuts when it comes to commentary about the superficiality and greed that underlies modern life in Australia, as well as broader ruminations on the meaning of life.
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Director Notes go here,
Director
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Content Warnings TBA
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Dido Hunter | Grace Lofting
Murray Hunter | Sandro Colarelli
Eunice White | Sarah Speller
Jade Hunter-White | Natasha McDonald
Reese White | Lachlan Brayshaw
Officer Sheryl | Ruby Gudenswager
Macka/Stinger | Daniel Johnson
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Director | Daniel Lammin
Assistant Director | Ebony Webb
Stage Manager | Zalee Jensen
Costume Designer | Lottie Banford
Sound Designer/Assistant Director | Eloise Collins
Ashleigh Winter | Set Designer
Show Poster
Reviews
“There is something in the very bones of our way of life on this land, that insists that we make safe and bland decisions. Even in art, we are often held back from jumping off cliffs, as though the repercussions will forever be dire, even though nobody can know for certain what awaits thereafter. In Hot Tub, we can see that a leap of faith has been taken, a kind of wild abandon is in action, perhaps informed by the unequivocal queerness that serves as central guiding principle, establishing the language and paradigm from which it communicates.”
Suzy Go See - Sydney Theatre Reviews | Read Review Here
Gallery
Merch
Three Little Words
With her trademark intelligence and emotional precision, Murray-Smith crafts a play that is both deeply intimate and universally resonant. Three Little Words is a compelling two hander that asks who owns a love story, and what happens when the version you have lived by is challenged. Unsettling and darkly humorous, it is a riveting examination of desire, loyalty and the cost of believing in a beautiful lie.
Hotel Sorrento
Hotel Sorrento is a 1995 Australian drama film directed by Richard Franklin. Three sisters reunite in the sleepy Australian town of Sorrento after a ten-year hiatus.[1] One of the three has written a book called Melancholy which is a thinly disguised version of their lives.
Frankie & Johnny in the Clair De Lune
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune is a poignant and intimate two-character play by Terrence McNally. Set in a small New York City apartment in the 1980s, the story follows Frankie, a guarded waitress, and Johnny, an earnest short-order cook, as they navigate the complexities of vulnerability, connection, and the possibility of love after a one-night stand. With humor, heart, and raw honesty, the play explores the deep human desire for companionship and the courage it takes to open up.