Experience the first full reading of The Queer Kingdom by Tom Ballard, winner of the 2024 QPAS Award. Be part of the development process towards presenting a premiere production in 2026, meet the artists and share your feedback.

In 2004, a group of radical queer activists boarded a seaplane they’d christened The Gayflower, flew 200 nautical miles off the coast of Queensland and landed on a tiny patch of sand and grass in the middle of the ocean. It was here that Emperor Dale Parker Anderson I would plant his rainbow flag and officially declare the claiming of “The Gay & Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands” – a gay nation independent of homophobic Australia, where there was marriage equality for all, the currency was the pink dollar and the national anthem was Gloria Gaynor’s I Am What I Am.

Playwright, Tom Ballard says: “I want to write a funny, joyous play that tells the story of this fascinating queer protest – its history, its characters and its politics – and interrogates what it means for Australian queers today. Would we all just be better off escaping to our own separate queer paradise?”

 

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After two years of total sell-out shows at Max Watt’s to raise buckets of cash for the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, co-hosts Wil Anderson & Tom Ballard are back to do it all again this Melbourne International Comedy Festival – and this time, they’re graduating to the big and fancy Comedy Theatre.

For one early-afternoon only, don’t miss this special line-up of A-grade comedy excellence, featuring the best comedians in the world donating their time and talents to support the ASRC’s vital work: providing material and legal assistance to people seeking asylum and refugees, and fighting back against Australia’s cruel immigration policies.

Most of the line-up will be kept super-secret until the day. Previous years have featured the likes of Anne Edmonds, Daniel Kitson, Sam Campbell, Geraldine Hickey, David O’Doherty, Guy Montgomery, Josh Thomas, Sam Pang and more – the only way to find who’s taking to the stage this time around is to grab yourself a ticket.

So come along and laugh good, feel good and do some good.

Co-hosted by Wil Anderson & Tom Ballard.

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