A Nightime Travesty: Blak music and mayhem at Malthouse

A revamped production of the smash-hit show that brought audiences to their feet across sold-out performances during YIRRAMBOI Festival promises to push the boundaries of theatre this summer.

With its potent mix of satirical Blak humor, explosive visuals, vaudeville, and existential horror, A Nightime Travesty comes in to land at Malthouse Theatre this Wednesday 19 to Saturday 22 February as part of Asia TOPA.

Set aboard the last plane hurtling out of Earth, this wild ride follows a motley crew of unruly travellers, including a fierce flight attendant who must face off against God Himself in a battle for the ultimate prize. As they navigate the surreal and absurd world inside the aircraft—a metaphor for the fractured, post-colonial psyche—the passengers encounter a series of bizarre, often darkly comedic events, from gruesome decapitations to explosive musical numbers.

With a live band, extravagant costumes, and a storyline that continually defies expectation, the epic, fever-dream of a musical delivers both emotional depth and spectacle, offering a high-octane, genre-defying rollercoaster of absurdity, satire, and political punch.

The show, co-created by Kamarra Bell-Wykes (Fireburn) and Carly Sheppard (Chase)—who together lead theatre collective A Daylight Connection—features a powerhouse of independent First Nations artists both on and off stage. Directed by Stephen Nicolazzo (Loaded), this refreshed staging of the festival hit promises to take the production to new heights of outrageousness in a fierce reimagining of what performance can be.

Kamarra Bell-Wykes and Carly Sheppard (A Daylight Connection):

After a sell out smash hit season at Yirramboi in 2023 audiences have been begging for another chance to board the wild ride that is A Nightime Travesty and now with Stephen Nicolazzo in the director’s seat (that’s right we had NO DIRECTOR last time) A Daylight Connection are jetset to shock, thrill and electrify our passengers with even sharper, darker and more hilarious antics than our maiden flight.

Stephen Nicolazzo:

A Daylight Connection are without a doubt a group of the most radical theatre-makers in Victoria. They push the boundaries of theatrical exploration and do so with a unique and madly compelling voice. It takes guts to make the work that they do and to do so without fear or censorship, with an eye for the absurd and an ability to break our hearts and souls in the process, these innovators don’t take shit and demonstrate the power of making pure and uncensored theatre.

With its unapologetic and potent commentary, A Nightime Travesty is a bold celebration of the definace, power, and creativity embedded in First Nations storytelling. More than just a performance, it’s a one-of-a-kind theatrical experience that will leave audiences questioning everything they thought they knew.

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Season Details

Venue: Beckett Theatre
Date: 19 – 22 Feb 2025

For more information click HERE