Paul Capsis and Adam Noviello unite for Grey Gardens-inspired HOUSE OF ROT

Australian stage luminaries Paul Capsis (The Who’s Tommy) and Adam Noviello (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) are set to join forces in HOUSE OF ROT, a brand new theatrical song cycle from Green Door Theatre Company created by acclaimed director Dino Dimitriadis (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) and award-winning musical director Victoria Falconer (My Brilliant Career).

Playing at Malthouse’s Merlyn Theatre from 18-20 June before touring to Sydney’s Hayes Theatre later this month, HOUSE OF ROT is loosely inspired by Grey Gardens, the cult documentary that introduced the world to Big and Little Edie: two eccentric recluses trapped in a house slowly falling in on itself. Through the lens of these isolated characters, the piece explores queer survival and resilience amidst a world in collapse.

Weaving original compositions with contemporary anthems from Lana Del Ray to Dinah Washington, The Velvet Underground to Lady Gaga, HOUSE OF ROT conveys the grief and fury of ageing against a backdrop of haunting screen imagery and live instrumentation.

With a strictly limited season of just four performances across three days, this unmissable cabaret event is sure to sell out.

Director Dino Dimitriadis shared their delight to be devising a unique audience experience with two of the country’s most electric performers:

I’ve had the privilege of working with Paul a number of times across different projects, and more recently with Adam on Hedwig and the Angry Inch. What’s incredibly special about HOUSE OF ROT is that it’s built specifically around the two of them. That’s a very different kind of joy as a maker, to create something in direct conversation with the performers’ instincts, histories, humours and hearts.

Paul has an extraordinary ability to move between total theatrical chaos and devastating emotional precision in a single moment, while Adam brings a raw vulnerability that feels incredibly alive. What connects them is that they’re both genuinely dangerous performers, artists willing to completely lay themselves bare in pursuit of something truthful.

The show doesn’t exist without their bodies, their voices, their contradictions. HOUSE OF ROT has really emerged from who they are as artists, and I think audiences will feel that electricity immediately.

Musical Director Victoria Falconer echoed this sentiment:

To get two performers at this level of theatrical bravery, who are truly collaborative and generous with sharing themselves – body, soul, brain, voice – with such raw and exciting brilliance, is a real thrill for me. The creative synergy between Paul and Adam is beautiful to witness and the power of their combined presence on stage is a very exciting prospect.

Throw into the mix the unrelenting chaos and high-level campery that Dino and I are always ready to conjure onstage; the big-hitter song repertoire, the interplay of the intimate with a sense of the epic and cinematic, HOUSE OF ROT is a show that demands to be experienced.

Paul Capsis is one of Australia’s most versatile performers. His extensive career has included theatre, live concerts, cabaret, television, and film. Paul has worked with leading Australian theatre companies (Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, Malthouse Theatre, State Theatre Company South Australia, and Belvoir) and performed in Vienna, Valletta, Hong Kong, London, Edinburgh, and New York. In 2021, Paul starred in two original works at Sydney Festival: The Last Season for Force Majeure; and Rapture: a Song Cycle of Desire, Ecstasy, Murder and Mayhem directed by Michael Kantor and co-starring iOTA.

The following year Paul performed in Victorian Opera’s 2022 production of The Who’s Tommy. Paul’s film credits include Ana Kokkinos’ Head On, which won him the 1998 Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Supporting Actor and a nomination for an AFI Award in the same category. Other film credits include Justin Kurzel’s The True History Of The Kelly Gang and Adam Elliot’s Memoir of a Snail.

Adam Noviello is an acclaimed nonbinary singer, songwriter and actor, celebrated for their electric stage presence, fierce advocacy for inclusivity and unapologetic authenticity. They earned immense praise for bringing deep emotional vulnerability and raw rock vocals to the role of the devoted yet defiant Yitzhak in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, performing opposite Seann Miley Moore.

Adam also brought their signature flair to the Australian tour of Jesus Christ Superstar, where they understudied and performed the scene-stealing role of King Herod. Their extensive stage credits further include notable roles in Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, Matilda The Musical, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Who’s Tommy with the Victorian Opera, and originating the role of Corrin in the new musical workshop A Transgender Woman on the Internet, Crying at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival.

HOUSE OF ROT plays at Malthouse’s Merlyn Theatre 18-20 June 2026.

Season Details

Venue: Malthouse’s Merlyn Theatre
Date: 18- 20 June 2026

For more information click HERE

Photo Credit: Abraham De Souza