Review by Markus Hamence – Trophy Boys – Performance date:Tuesday 17 March 2026. Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide, South Australia.
State Theatre Company South Australia kicks off with a razor-edged bang in Trophy Boys, a production that feels less like a play and more like a pressure cooker ready to blow. Set in the familiar territory of a private school debating chamber, this is where polished privilege meets its own reflection – and doesn’t quite like what it sees.
Written by Emmanuelle Mattana, the premise is deceptively simple: four elite Year 12 boys prepare for a national debating final arguing that feminism has failed women. But from the moment the cast steps on stage, you realise this is anything but straightforward. The roles are inhabited by a powerhouse quartet – Myfanwy Hocking, Tahlia Jamieson, Fran Sweeney-Nash and Kidaan Zelleke – who don’t just ‘play’ boys, they dissect them. Every gesture, every vocal inflection, every flicker of ego or insecurity is dialled in with surgical precision.
“Every gesture, every vocal inflection, every flicker of ego or insecurity is dialled in with surgical precision…”
Markus Hamence
These performances are fearless. There’s bravado, there’s absurdity, but beneath it all is something far more unsettling – the quiet exposure of how entitlement is learned, rehearsed, and rewarded. Each character feels distinct, yet collectively they build a portrait that is both hilarious and confronting. You laugh, then immediately question why.
Director Marni Mount keeps the entire piece moving at a clipped, almost breathless pace. The staging is tight, contained, and deliberately claustrophobic – like the walls themselves are closing in as the debate unravels. Mount understands the rhythm of tension: when to let the comedy land, and when to twist it into something sharper. The tonal shifts are seamless, sliding from satire into something darker without warning.
What makes Trophy Boys hit differently is its ability to hold a mirror up without preaching. It doesn’t hand you answers – it lets the contradictions sit in the room. The script crackles with intelligence, but it’s the undercurrent of vulnerability that gives it weight. Beneath the slick arguments and rehearsed confidence, you glimpse the fragility of identity and the cost of fitting into a system built long before these boys arrived.
“Trophy Boys is bold, biting, and brilliantly uncomfortable…”
Markus Hamence
The minimal set works in its favour — no distractions, no escape. Just words, bodies, and power dynamics constantly shifting. It’s theatre stripped back to its essentials, and all the more potent for it.
Wrap-up: Trophy Boys is bold, biting, and brilliantly uncomfortable – a slick piece of theatre that lures you in with laughs before landing something far more lasting. This isn’t just a debate on stage; it’s a cultural unravelling in real time.
Writer: Emmanuelle Mattana
Director: Marni Mount
Producer and Designer: Ben Andrews
Producer: Jo Dyer
Lighting Designer: Katie Sfetkidis
Stage Manager: Genevieve Davidson
Cast: Myfanwy Hocking (Owen), Tahlia Jameson (Scott), Fran Sweeney-Nash (Jared), Kidaan Zelleke (David)
State Theatre Company South Australia website
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