The Sunshine Club
Director and Writer
Queensland Theatre Company
Premiered at Cairns Civic Theatre, 1999
The Playhouse, Brisbane, 1999
Sydney Theatre Company, 2000
Deadly Award – Best Direction 2001
Matilda Award – Best Direction 2000
Queensland Theatre Company - 2022
Australian Tour - 2023
A ground-breaking First Nations musical and instant classic when it premiered in 1999, The Sunshine Club is a gloriously energetic, thought-provoking and entertaining night of theatre.
It’s 1946 and the war is finally over. Aboriginal soldier Frank Doyle has spent years fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with troops from all over Australia. War-weary and ready for a happy life of simple pleasures like music, love and dance, Frank sets out to change things for the better by setting up The Sunshine Club, a place where everyone can come together, laugh and, most importantly, where he can dance with Rose, the beautiful girl next door.
The Sunshine Club harnesses the innate optimism of musical theatre to create an unmissable love story between two young people, and a love letter to a future nation.