TROPHY BOYS OPENS 2026 SEASON State Theatre Company South Australia opens its 2026 season next month with Trophy Boys, Emmanuelle Mattana’s hit black comedy about power, privilege and high school debating.
The first show of Artistic Director Petra Kalive’s inaugural season, Trophy Boys is set on the biggest night of Melbourne’s academic calendar – the Grand Finale of the Year 12 Interschool Debating Tournament – with the show unfolding in real time as the team from an elite all-boys school are locked in a classroom for their one-hour prep window, forced to argue that “feminism has failed women”.
They are ready to totally annihilate their sister school — until things take a dark turn. Trophy Boys is performed by a female and non-binary cast (Myfanwy Hocking, Fran Sweeney-Nash, Tahlia Jamieson and Adelaide’s own Kidaan Zelleke, who starred in State Theatre Company South Australia’s Antigone), who play the four private school boys preparing for the debate.
From the queer, satirical lens of Emmanuelle Mattana (Videoland, Mustangs FC), the riotously funny satire looks at insecure adolescent masculinity, entitlement, and the ego of Australia’s next generation of politicians and powerbrokers, unveiling the dark undercurrents of male privilege and power.
Since its 2022 premiere at La Mama, Melbourne, Trophy Boys has enjoyed a sold-out national tour and a hit off-Broadway season in 2025.
A Soft Tread production in association with The Maybe Pile, Trophy Boys is the winner of Best New Work (Sydney Theatre Awards 2024) and recipient of multiple Greenroom Awards Nominations (2024): Best Production, Best New Writing, Best Director (Marni Mount).
Artistic Director Petra Kalive says Trophy Boys sets the tone for a fun, politically charged and entertaining 2026 season. “I first saw Trophy Boys in development at La Mama years ago and I fell in love with it. The show has since gone gangbusters all around the country, performing sold-out shows all over Australia to whoops and cheers and critical acclaim. I didn’t want Adelaide to miss out, and I am so excited for local audiences to experience this political and funny work by phenomenal early career writer Emmanuelle Mattana.”
Off the back of a sold-out national tour, Trophy Boys performs in regional South Australia with Country Arts SA before arriving at the Space Theatre.
17 Mar — 2 Apr 2026
Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
