An eye-opening performance from playwright Emmanuelle Mattana is coming to Riverside Theatres to make audiences question power and privilege with a satirical twist.
‘Trophy Boys’ is about a high school debate team from an all-boys private school. The catch: all the characters are played by women and non-binary performers in drag.
“The strange thing about debating is it’s quite a cloistered environment,” explained director Marni Mount.
“It’s this private world that people don’t really know a lot about – but it’s a world where a lot of the people who end up in power in Australia come of age and learn their craft.
“It’s an important world to examine, and in our play, we’re focusing on a team of debaters from an elite private school – which is famously another one of the worlds the people who end up in power in this country grow up.”
‘Trophy Boys’ tackles the toxic masculinity, misogyny and homophobia present in Australian private boys’ schools.
“We’re interested in inviting the audience to witness how the masculinity we see played out by young men is a performance and something that they try on for each other and for themselves,” Mount explained.
“It also shows how much the performance of masculinity is learnt, and which pieces of it are dangerous.”
Despite the serious topic, the show remains joyful and sparks important conversations.
“I started working on this show in 2021 in the wake of the revelations about misogynistic behaviour in Parliament House,” Mount stated.
“Then, every few months we heard about alarming things that had happened at private boys’ schools.
“We kind of thought that the play wouldn’t be as relevant in 2025, but it’s as relevant as ever, so we’re glad to continue sharing the show with a broader audience and invite them into that conversation.”
School groups will attend the show across the nation to observe examples of toxic masculinity.
“There’s lots of classic examples about boys behaving badly and treating women badly, but the play is also interested in some of the hypocrisies of intelligent young men and the ways they can speak really articulately about feminism and women’s issues in a debating context, but when we learn about some of their past behaviour, we discover that they’re not always living up to those professed values,” Mount said.
The delightful show with a dark heart has made waves and provoked emotional reactions – so much so that it’s made its way across the sea.
“An American production of the show is currently playing in New York off Broadway,” Mount said excitedly.
“We’ll be playing simultaneously here in Sydney and in New York which is incredible for a debut play from a young Australian playwright and for a production that found its feet as an independent production in Melbourne.”
See ‘Trophy Boys’ at Riverside Theatres from August 6 to 9. Visit https://riversideparramatta.com.au for tickets.
Ally Hall joined the team 2024, and focuses on entertainment and community stories. She is a graduate of the University of South Australia.