QPAC

Following rave reviews and multiple sold-out seasons across Australia, the acclaimed queer dark comedy Trophy Boys will make its Sunshine State debut at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) from 25 to 30 August 2025.

Set on the biggest night of the high school academic calendar - the Grand Final of the Year 12 Interschool Debating Tournament - Trophy Boys follows the all-boys debate team from an elite private school as they are tasked with arguing that ‘feminism has failed women’.

Performed by a female and non-binary cast in masculine drag, the play unfolds in real time during the debate’s one-hour prep window as the riotously funny satire turns into a sharp exploration of power and privilege.

The production playfully and powerfully interrogates the well-documented toxic masculinity, misogyny, and homophobia of elite private boys' schools, that spills into the highest offices of power in the country.

Written by Emmanuelle Mattana (ABC’s Mustangs FC) and directed by Marni Mount (Victorian College of the Arts Masters of Directing), Trophy Boys debuted to sold-out audiences at Melbourne’s La Mama Theatre in 2022, followed by sold-out seasons across Geelong, Sydney, Melbourne, St Albans, Wyong and Canberra over the course of the last two years.

Mattana said her own real-world experiences of high school and participating in debating inspired her to craft Trophy Boys.

“Once upon a time I was a competitive high school debater who would make jokes with her friends about how we 'probably knew' the next Prime Minister,” she said.

“Soon, when the sorts of horrors taking place in the halls of Parliament began coming to light, this old joke became less funny, and I felt compelled to revisit my time as a high school debater in the only way that felt right - drag, camp, and a lot of comedy.”

After several successful seasons in venues across the country, Mattana believes Trophy Boys continues to resonate with audiences as it reflects the modern world.

“Trophy Boys dares to look at misogyny in a new way, through a satirical lens: it's riotous, irreverent, and the performances are infectious.”

“As we grapple as a society with how to combat violence, I think it takes this kind of approach to change the way we see things and invite a new way of thinking.”

Trophy Boys recently won Best New Australian Work and was nominated for Best Independent Production at the 2024 Sydney Theatre Awards. It received four 2023 Green Room Award nominations, including Best Production and Best New Writing, in addition taking home Best Theatre of 2023 by The Age and Best New Play/Musical 2023 by Broadway World Australia.

Off the back of Trophy Boys’ success in Australia, a US production is set to premiere later this year Off Broadway in New York, directed by Tony Award-winning Danya Taymor and Mattana as a member of the cast.

Trophy Boys will also tour to Sydney’s Carriageworks from 23 July to 3 August, Riverside Theatres in Parramatta from 6 to 9 August, and Arts Centre Melbourne from 12 from 24 August as part of the national tour.

Tickets for this hilarious and witty trip back to the classroom are on sale from 9am Monday 7 April via qpac.com.au or 136 246.​