Program

Content Warnings: coarse language, sexual references and suggestive behavior, nudity, self-harm and reckless behavior, verbal abuse and bullying, physical violence and aggression, drug and alcohol use and references, toxic masculinity and peer pressure, references to bodily functions, discussion of sexual assault, sexism and misogyny. Loud sustained noise, theatrical smoke, use of herbal cigarettes.

Cast

Ben Walter
Karl Richmond
Justin Hosking
Damon Baudin
Akeel Purmanund

Avyakt Pawar
Pepe Wright
Smith Barling

Director’s Note:

Boys on the Verge of Tears is a mammoth journey, but one that we might feel we know all too well. A play set in many mens' toilets lends itself to discussion of grimy surfaces, mens' bodies, 'locker room talk', and anger and its management. When I read this play for the first time, I was impressed at how Sam Grabiner managed to dramatise these moments (and more) with both love for the masculine experience and clear-eyed judgment for how boys and men behave. 

The lessons Sam's characters learn can be both fortune-cookie and profound. In staging this work, our team has been focused on keeping both of these truths in mind. We've looked to create an arena where you may choose where to best place your gaze on each dramatic moment, and encounter the divisive placement of empathy from your fellow audience members as well. 

Our five-strong cast of talented, dedicated and sensitive actors have relished embodying over 40 different boys and men, and have pulled the task off with panache over the last two months of rehearsals. My utter gratitude goes to them for the ways they have let this script into their hearts and lives, and for the performances they have brought out to show you. The design team and crew have likewise brought their aesthetic talents and strength of their convictions to the visual and aural worlds that you will encounter. My collaborations with them have been insightful and fruitful, and have honoured the script's ambition while also refining and challenging its dramaturgy in parts. And an especial thanks to The Maybe Pile for taking an ambitious risk on this project, to bring it to Melbourne audiences.

The masks of masculinity elicit strong emotions for people in different ways, but we've all carved out a space in our life to humanise men, as well as deify and demonise them. Whether living as a man is your lived experience or a foreign concept, you've learnt lessons about them. I've found mounting this show that the urge to pass on those lessons keeps me up at night, but also keeps me sane. We hope you are touched and moved. 

Keegan Bragg

Special Thanks

Tansy Gorman, Bridie Pamment, Aisha Aidara, Sholto St Cloud, Connor Sweeney, Rosie Osmond, Emma Jevons, Tiernan Maclaren, Marni Mount, Flick, Stephanie Lee, Mitchell Walters, Bailey Tynan, Dylan Talbot, Daisy Paxton-Whitel, Olivia Fisher, Remy Prichard, Rebecca Cecil, Yvonne Vas, Simon + Debbie-Jane Andrews, TGS, Benjamin Samuel + JMC Academy, Carlton Scout Hall, Cam Lukey, Philippa Jelbart, George Jefford, John Collopy.

Company Bios

Karl Richmond - Cast

Ko Ngāti Toa Rangatira te Iwi. Karl is a green room nominated actor born in Aotearoa and raised in Melbourne. His recent stage credits include The Almighty Sometimes (Melbourne Theatre Company); Touching The Void (Melbourne Theatre Company); The Lifespan Of a Fact (Melbourne Theatre Company); The Inheritance (fortyfivedownstairs); Holding Achilles (Sydney Festival, Brisbane Festival); The Hour of the Wolf (Malthouse Theatre); Atlantis (Malthouse Theatre); Ishmael (Dead Puppets Society); Punk Rock (Patalog Theatre) and many more.

He recently finished filming his first feature film Together alongside Dave Franco and Alison Brie. When not acting, Karl has worked as a directing assistant on Moulin Rouge! The Musical.

Ben Walter - Cast

Ben is an actor, director and producer based in Melbourne/Naarm. He is most recognised for his work in the lead role of Albus Potter in the Michael Cassel Group production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre. He has trained at various institutions including the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, 16th Street, NIDA & the Royal Shakespeare Company (UK). Other notable credits include William Carlisle in Punk Rock and Eliot in Tusk Tusk, both of which he also produced for his company Patalog Theatre to critical success. In 2019, Ben was a key cast member and the Assistant Director for Lightning Jar Theatre’s production of Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play at fortyfivedownstairs, (dir. John Kachoyan), which won the Greenroom Award for Best Independent Production. In addition to his acting work, Ben is the Artistic Director and founder of Patalog Theatre, which he has been developing theatre since 2017. In 2023, he produced an acclaimed season of Caryl Churchill’s Far Away at fortyfivedownstairs. He is a proud member of the MEAA.

Justin Hosking - Cast

Justin is an ensemble member of Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre, Australia’s leading actors’ ensemble and was co-founder of Human Sacrifice Theatre. He has performed at the Malthouse, Victorian Arts Centre, fortyfivedownstairs, Red Stitch, Chapel Off Chapel and venues in the US. Of his many theatre credits, highlights include Uncle Vanya, True West, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, The Realistic Joneses and Angels In America.

Film credits include Snatchers, The Return, The Broken Shore, Crime & Punishment, Any Questions for Ben?, The Heckler and Vessel. TV shows including All Her Fault, Metro Sexual 2, The Dr Blake Mysteries, The Hollowmen, City Homicide, Satisfaction, and Tangle.
Justin produced, co-wrote and starred in the short After Silence, which won multiple awards globally. He is a father of two, who loves to cook, wrestle with the French language and is a rare North Melbourne supporter.

Damon Baudin - Cast
Damon is a recent graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), and the Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre Graduate Program. His VCA credits include; 37 (dir. Isaac Drandic), An Unseasonable Fall of Snow (dir. Keegan Bragg), Tales from the Vienna Woods (dir. Mark Wilson), and Slaughterhouse (dir. Georgina Naidu). During this time, he was awarded the Irene Mitchell Award for Excellence in Acting. 

Recent credits include; Romeo & Julie (dir. Kamarra Bell-Wykes); MinusOneSister (dir. Marni Mount), Laundry Shoot! (dir. Keegan Bragg), The Owl of the Woods (dir. Pummel Squad), and understudy for the hugely successful Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (dir. Sarah Goodes).

Akeel Purmanund - Cast
Akeel’s notable performances include his upcoming titular role in Othello (Melbourne University Shakespeare Company dir. by Elizabeth Browne and Claudia Scott), as well as a number of leading roles at JMC Academy including Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing (dir. Mark Yeates) and Melchior in Frank Wedekind’s Spring Awakening (dir. Mark Yeates). He also appeared in a devised work What If? made in collaboration with Deborah Leise-Moore.
Akeel has a wide range of skills in multiple Martial Arts as he is trained in Wing Chun Kung Fu (Fight Choreography), Muay Thai, Kickboxing and Arnis/ Kali and has motion capture experience with Lyndall Grant. On top of that he played basketball at a young age representing Melbourne with the Melbourne Grizzlies Australian AAU Team.

Keegan Bragg - Director

Keegan Bragg (he/him) is a Melbourne-based director with a Masters of Theatre (Directing) from the Victorian College of the Arts. His passion for theatre began growing up in Ōtautahi (Christchurch), New Zealand, and developed through ensemble and text-based performance making in Pōneke (Wellington). He is of Māori/Pakeha descent. In 2023, Keegan worked with Melbourne Theatre Company through the MinterEllison’s Future Directors Initiative and was Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre’s Graduate Director. In 2019 he directed Shadow, co-devised with Liam Whitney, which toured to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He also served as Artistic Director of Long Cloud Youth Theatre, based in Pōneke.

Ben Andrews - Producer, Graphic Design + Photography, Set Designer

Ben Andrews is a producer, graphic designer, production designer, photographer and performer (adhd). He is the founder and creative producer of The Maybe Pile production company, which has been an incubator for a slew of Australian writers, comedians, performers and theatre makers since their inception in 2020 including runaway success Trophy Boys by Emmanuelle Mattana, which received 4 Green Room Award nominations, was best Production Company on the VCE Playlist in 2024 and went on to tour nationally in 2024/2025.
Ben has presented works at Arts Centre Melbourne, The Seymour Centre, Geelong Arts Centre, Canberra Theatre Centre, The Art House Wyong, La Mama, Theatre Works, St Martins, Melbourne Fringe Festival, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Midsumma and is returning for his 7th show at fortyfivedownstairs. Previously Ben was the head of RMIT University’s Performing Arts Program, and the founder and artistic director of this is NOT a film festival - a regular short film event. He has over a decade and a half of experience as a freelance graphic designer, photographer, and videographer inside and outside of the performing arts industry and he is currently one of the 6 inaugural recipients of the Creative Victoria funded MILKE Producer Mentoring Program.

Ella Campbell - Stage Manager

Ella Campbell is an emerging Stage Manager and Set Designer. Recently completing a Bachelor of Stage Management & Technical Production at COLLARTS, Ella has been learning new skills and putting them to practise while working in the independent scene in Naarm/Melbourne. Stage Managing and Designing at venues such as La Mama, Theatreworks, The Substation, Bluestone Church Arts Space, The Motley Bauhaus, the MC Showroom, and the National Theatre. Participating in festivals such as Melbourne Fringe and Midsumma Festival. Ella Stage Managed Feast by Pony Cam, as well as completing secondments with Xroads Live (The Odd Couple, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne) & Bell Shakespeare (Twelfth Night, The Sydney Opera House.)

Ethan Hunter - Sound Design + Composition

Ethan Hunter (he/him) is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Design & Production). His passion for sound has led him to a career across various artistic mediums in the realms of theatre, dance, film, and installations. His recent notable credits include sound design for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (2023, 2024) at Red Stitch Actors Theatre & GWB Productions, i hope this means something (2024) as a part of Melbourne Fringe, Laundry Shoot (2024), MinusOneSister (2023) at Theatre Works, and several graduate productions at VCA, such as Plant Nation (2024), Theatrum Botanicum (2022), and The Wolves (2022). Ethan has also collaborated with Masters of Theatre (Directing) students on captivating projects like Ariadne (2021), and An Unseasonable Fall of Snow (2022) at VCA. In 2024, Ethan completed a Besen Family Artist Secondment on Macbeth at Malthouse Theatre. Additionally, he has completed secondments with Melbourne Theatre Company, contributing to productions like Laurinda and Cyran'. In addition, Ethan has served as a Sound Engineer for companies such as Malthouse, Chunky Move and Melbourne Theatre Company.

Georgina Wolfe - Lighting Design

Georgie is a theatremaker based in Narrm whose work reimagines the role that technical design plays in the creation of new work. Alongside her practice as a lighting designer, she is a director, writer, and sound and set designer. Her recent lighting design credits include Anatomy of a Suicide (Meat Market, 2025), All The Things We’ve Done (Theatre Works, 2024), Slutnik 2: Planet of the Incels (Theatre Works, 2023), Climbers (fortyfivedownstairs, 2023), Full Cream (Geelong Arts Centre, Melbourne Fringe, 2023), Wood Wide Web (ArtPlay, 2022), Brittney and the Mannequins (Northcote Town Hall, 2022) Q (La Mama, 2019), The Bachelor S17 E05’ (Brunswick Mechanics Institute, 2018), and Death Match (Monash Centre for Theatre & Performance, Malthouse, 2017). As a freelance maker, her work focuses on building community, with her company PIGEONPIGEON.

Louisa Fitzgerald - Costume Design + Scenic Art

Louisa Fitzgerald is a set and costume designer for theatre, opera and dance. Her practice is informed by a passion for design history and her skilled background as an artist and maker. Originally from Sydney where she earned a Bachelor of Design at UNSW, Louisa moved to Melbourne to complete a Master of Production Design at the Victorian College of the Arts. Recent design credits include Set and Costume Design for Victorian Opera's English Eccentrics (2024), Costume Design for The Australian Ballet's Storytime Ballet: Cinderella (2023), and Set and Costume Design for Milked at fortyfive downstairs (2024).
Recent associate design credits include Red Stitch's Your Name Means Dream (2024), and Victorian Opera's Follies (2025) and La Rondine (2024). Recent award nominations include a 2024 Green Room Award nomination for Opera Design, and 2024 APDG Award nomination for Outstanding Emerging Designer.

Zsuzsa Gaynor Mihaly - Lighting and Sound Operator

ZSUZSA GAYNOR MIHALY is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) with a Bachelors in Fine Arts (Production), majoring in Stage Management (2019). They have worked professionally across companies such as Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC), Lucy Guerin Inc (LGI) and The Australian Ballet. They have been involved in productions such as LGI’s premier of Pendulum, (2021) as a part of Rising Festival, MTC’s adaption of Cyrano (2021) by Virginia Gay and have toured as the Stage Manager for the Storytime: The Nutcracker (2020) and as Assistant Stage Manager for Alice in Wonderland (2019, Brisbane) and the premier of The Happy Prince (2020, Brisbane). They have also worked professionally with companies such as The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (2020), The Women’s Circus (2017), Red Stitch Actors Theatre (2018) and Polyglot Theatre (2019). While attending university they have contributed to such works as August: Osage County (2018) Directed by Leith McPherson and Dance On (2019) with Choreographers Brianna Kell and Alexandra Dobbs. In addition they were involved in the first season of devised graduate works at the VCA in 2019. They are passionate about creative, collaborative environments and works that are innovative and exciting.