Home | Shows | What's On | 2025 Season | FLY GIRL
Inspired by a true story, FLY GIRL embarks on Deborah Lawrie’s turbulent journey to becoming Australia’s first female commercial airline pilot.
- Playwright Genevieve Hegney & Catherine Moore
- Director Janine Watson
- Cast Genevieve Hegney
Alex Kirwan
Cleo Meinck
Catherine Moore
Emma Palmer - Set & Costume Designer Grace Deacon
- Lighting Designer Morgan Moroney
- Composer & Sound Designer Daniel Herten
- Stage Manager Zoe Davis
- Assistant Stage Manager Alexandria Vidler
- Costume Supervisor Renata Beslik
- This production is made possible by the Commissioners’ Circle
-
- 17 Oct 2025 - 22 Nov 2025
- 2hrs 15mins (including interval)
- Recommended for ages 12+
- Wheelchair Accessible
- Hearing Loop
- Audio Described (selected dates)
- Adult themes, occasional coarse language
WORLD PREMIERE
It’s the late 70’s and the Australian Aviation Industry is a boy’s club. The only job women are allowed involves wearing heels, lighting smokes and serving nuts. Deborah Lawrie’s got the chops to fly the big jets, but Reg Ansett won’t let her.
From the comedic geniuses who brought you UNQUALIFIED and STILL UNQUALIFIED, Genevieve Hegney and Catherine Moore use their trademark humour to unpack the absurd obstacles faced by a trailblazing aviatrix who refused to be grounded. Inspired by a true story, FLY GIRL embarks on Deborah’s turbulent journey to becoming Australia’s first female commercial airline pilot.
Fasten your seat belts for a soaring celebration of one woman’s relentless fight to achieve her dreams. Let FLY GIRL fly!
This story is based on actual events. However certain details, characters, and timelines have been changed for dramatic purposes and certain characters may be composites or entirely fictitious.
For group bookings of 10+, submit the Group Booking Form and we’ll be in contact to confirm your tickets.
Arts professionals (MEAA, AWG members, etc.) check your Ensemble Industry Insider eligibility.
For school groups, please complete our 2025 Education Online Booking Form.
Prices are correct at the time of publication and subject to change without notice.
| TICKET TYPE | PREVIEWS | IN SEASON |
|---|---|---|
| FULL PRICE | $85 | $90 |
| SENIOR CARD | $82 | $87 |
| PENSIONER | $78 | $83 |
| GROUP 10 - 19 | $78 | $83 |
| GROUP 20+ | $73 | $78 |
| 30 OR UNDER | $40 | $43 |
| FULL-TIME STUDENT | $40 | $43 |
| SCHOOL GROUP | $25 | $25 |
★★★★ "Not only effervescent… but also touching and insightful" (STILL UNQUALIFIED) Limelight
"The strong chemistry between the pair makes this a joy to watch" (STILL UNQUALIFIED) The Sydney Morning Herald
Genevieve Hegney
Theatre: Ensemble Theatre: UNQUALIFIED (co-writer), UNQUALIFIED 2: STILL UNQUALIFIED (co-writer). Bell Shakespeare: TWELFTH NIGHT, ANTONY & CLEOPATRA, JULIUS CAESER, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. Belvoir: PARRAMATTA GIRLS, LOVE. Sydney Theatre Company: TOT MOM, INFLUENCE. Film: RIPTIDE, THE LITTLE DEATH. Television: COLIN FROM ACCOUNTS (S1&S2), SUNNY NIGHTS, ALL HER FAULT, IN OUR BLOOD, PIECES OF HER, YOUNG ROCK, THE COMMONS, DIARY OF AN UBER DRIVER, DOCTOR DOCTOR (S2, 3), JANET KING (S2), THE KETTERING INCIDENT, THE MOODYS, CAMP, DEVIL’S DUST. Training: National Institute of Dramatic Arts Bachelor of Dramatic Arts 1999, University of Western Australia Bachelor of Arts 1996.
Catherine Moore
Ensemble Theatre: UNQUALIFIED 2: STILL UNQUALIFIED (co-writer), UNQUALIFIED (co-writer), BECKY SHAW, CASANOVA, AND THE COW JUMPED OVER THE MOON, YOU TALKIN’ TO ME? THE DIARY OF AN OLYMPIC CABBIE. Bell Shakespeare: THE COMEDY OF ERRORS, AS YOU LIKE IT. Black Swan State Theatre Company: SPEAKING IN TONGUES, THE TEMPEST, FAR AWAY. Darlinghurst Theatre Company: MEMORY OF WATER. Griffin Theatre Company: THE SEVEN NEEDS, MOTORTOWN. Film: BIRTHRIGHT, RUNT, HOW TO PLEASE A WOMAN, H IS FOR HAPPINESS, BEING GAVIN, CELESTIAL AVENUE. Television: THE TWELVE (S3), INVISIBLE BOYS, ITCH (S1, 2), DROP DEAD WEIRD (S2), JANET KING (S3), HOME AND AWAY, THE KETTERING INCIDENT, A MOODY CHRISTMAS, CROWNIES, RAKE, SPIRITED (S1, 2), CHANDON PICTURES, BIG REEF. Training: Victorian College of the Arts School of Drama 2001.
Janine Watson
Directing Credits: Ensemble Theatre: ARIA, COLDER THAN HERE, ALONE IT STANDS, A BROADCAST COUP, NEARER THE GODS, STILL UNQUALIFIED, UNQUALIFIED. Bell Shakespeare: THE COMEDY OF ERRORS, ROMEO AND JULIET. Redline Productions: FIERCE, CRIMES OF THE HEART, DOLORES (co-director). Acting Credits: Ensemble Theatre: A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE. Bell Shakespeare: KING LEAR, THE DREAM. Griffin Theatre: THE HAPPY PRINCE. Little Ones Theatre: DANGEROUS LIAISONS, DRACULA. Old Fitz: MARY JANE Sport For Jove: THREE SISTERS. Film: THE CODE. Television: THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS, NEIGHBOURS, THAT’S NOT ME. Training: National Theatre Drama School (Melbourne). Awards: Sandra Bates Directing Award 2016. Sydney Theatre Award – Best Lead Female Performance THE HAPPY PRINCE 2019. GLUG Award – Best Supporting Actress A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE.
Alex Kirwan
Ensemble Theatre: THE FLY GIRL Debut. Bell Shakespeare Theatre: HENRY V. Black Swan State Theatre: THE SHEPHERD’S HUT Creative Development. Perth Fringe Festival: WITH FIRE IN HER HEART. Short Film: BOY ON FIRE, THE LAST TRIP, BI BI BABY. Training: Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Acting Bachelor Degree and Acting Diploma.
Cleo Meinck
Ensemble Theatre: FLY GIRL Debut. Short & Sweet Theatre: THE FINAL ROUND. Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts: LADY MACBETH, LOVE & INFORMATION, THE CRUCIBLE. Television: THE ARTFUL DODGER S2. Film: STUBBORNLY HERE. Awards: 2024 Enjoy Film Festival – Best Actress Award Winner for STUBBORNLY HERE, WA Screen Culture Awards – Performance Award Nomination for STUBBORNLY HERE. Training: The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.
Emma Palmer
Ensemble Theatre: THE QUEEN’S NANNY, BENEFACTORS, CRUNCH TIME, RELATIVELY SPEAKING. Critical Stages: SYNCOPATION. Darlinghurst Theatre: KINDERTRANSPORT, REMEMBERING PIRATES, CONSTELLATIONS, RIDE, FOURPLAY, THE JUNGLE. Griffin Theatre: THE KID, ON THE SHORE OF THE WIDE WORLD. Melbourne Festival: THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY. Sport for Jove: THE PLAYER KINGS, ROMEO & JULIET, ROSE RIOT. Sydney Theatre Company: TOT MOM, THE LOST ECHO. The National Theatre UK/Global Creatures: WAR HORSE. Television: PLAY SCHOOL, PIECES OF HER, ALL SAINTS, UNDERBELLY: A TALE OF TWO CITIES, OFFSIDE, BIKIE WARS, GASP! Training: National Institute of Dramatic Art.
Grace Deacon
Ensemble Theatre: THE GLASS MENAGERIE. Belvoir Street Theatre: NEVER CLOSER, WELL-BEHAVED WOMEN, TIDDAS. 25A Belvoir: HOT TUB, THE ITALIANS, NEVER CLOSER, WHO’S AFRAID, AN OX STOOD ON MY TONGUE, DESTROY, SHE SAID. Arts Centre Melbourne: LA CAGE AUX FOLLES. Melbourne Comedy Festival: NOT TODAY, SENSER. Kings Cross Theatre: AUSTRALIAN OPEN. Theatreworks: PEAR SHAPED, SENSER, PAPER STARS. International Grammar school : MAMMA MIA THE MUSICAL. Film: FROM ALL SIDES, THE HORRIFIC MURDER OF GRIGORI RASPUTIN. Television: DANCING WITH THE STARS (BBC). GLADIATORS, THE MASKED SINGER (Warner Bros). Awards: William Fletcher Foundation Scholarship, Peter Ivany Scholarship for Excellence in Design, Sydney Theatre Awards (2023, 2024). Training: National Institute of Dramatic Art (Bachelor of Design for Performance, Masters of Design).
Morgan Moroney
Ensemble Theatre: EMERALD CITY, COLDER THAN HERE, THE QUEEN’S NANNY & TOUR, SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER, CLYDE’S, MR BAILEY’S MINDER. Australian Brandenburg Orchestra: INFERNO. Australian Theatre for Young People: SAPLINGS, SHACK. Belvoir: SONG OF FIRST DESIRE, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, NAYIKA: A DANCING GIRL, SHITTY (25A). Essential Workers: COLLAPSIBLE. Hayes Theatre Company: TURN OF THE SCREW. National Theatre of Parramatta: GIRLS IN BOYS CARS, A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO SELF-DEFENCE. Opera Australia: BARBER OF SEVILLE & TOUR. Pinchgut Opera: DIDO AND AENEAS, LA SERVA PADRONA. Redline Productions: CLEANSED. Sugary Rum Productions: ANATOMY OF A SUICIDE. Video Designer: Ensemble Theatre: UNQUALIFIED, A LETTER FOR MOLLY. Sydney Chamber Opera: APHRODITE. Assistant Lighting Designer: Opera Australia: PHANTOM OF THE OPERA ON SYDNEY HARBOUR. Associate Lighting Designer: Sydney Theatre Company: DRACULA.
Daniel Herten
Ensemble Theatre: THE HALF-LIFE OF MARIE CURIE. Belvoir Theatre: GRIEF IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS. Darlinghurst Theatre: LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. ERTH Visual & Physical Inc: ARC. Essential Workers: COLLAPSIBLE. Griffin Theatre: THE LEWIS TRILOGY, WHITEFELLA YELLA TREE. Hayes Theatre: MURDER FOR TWO, RIDE THE CYCLONE, FLAT EARTHERS THE MUSICAL, THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE. National Theatre Of Parramatta: FADE. Redline Productions: THE CHAIRS, HAND TO GOD. Sydney Festival: WILLIAM YANG: MILESTONE, SET PIECE. Sydney Theatre: CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION, RULES FOR LIVING. Michael Cassel Group: THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (BROADWAY TOUR). Awards: THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A PLAY NOMINATION, TONY AWARDS), THE LEWIS TRILOGY (BEST SOUND DESIGN AND COMPOSITION OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION NOMINATION, SYDNEY THEATRE AWARDS).
Zoe Davis
Belvoir Street Theatre: THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHTTIME. Force Majeure: GURR ERA OP (Development). Ground Floor Theatre Company: THREE PLAYS. Melbourne Theatre Company: SUNDAY (with Sydney Theatre Company) Sydney Theatre Company: HAPPY DAYS, 4000 MILES, INTO THE SHIMMERING WORLD, RBG: OF MANY ONE (Rehearsal), IS GOD IS (with Melbourne Theatre Company), ON THE BEACH, DON’T GO GENTLE, HUBRIS AND HUMILIATION. Training: The National Institute of Dramatic Art.
Renata Beslik
Ensemble Theatre: HOW TO PLOT A HIT IN TWO DAYS, TRUE WEST, EMERALD CITY, ARIA, UNCLE VANYA, MASTER CLASS, ULSTER AMERICAN, SWITZERLAND, ALONE IT STANDS, THE GREAT DIVIDE, THE MEMORY OF WATER, SUMMER OF HAROLD, MR BAILEY’S MINDER, BENEFACTORS, RHINESTONE REX AND MISS MONICA, THE CARETAKER, PHOTOGRAPH 51, THE ONE, OUTDATED, CRUNCH TIME, BABY DOLL, FOLK, LUNA GALE, and many more. Bell Shakespeare: HENRY V, THE WINTER’S TALE, MACBETH. Belvoir St Theatre: FANGIRLS. New Theatricals: DARKNESS. National Institute of Dramatic Art: THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR, STAY HAPPY KEEP SMILING, THE TEMPEST, WOYCECK, A LIE OF THE MIND, PORT, THE THREESOME. Pinchgut Opera: THE FAIRY QUEEN, JULIUS CAESAR, RINALDO, MÉDÉE, PLATÉE and many more. Sydney Festival: BETTY BLOKKBUSTER RE-IMAGINED. Australian Chamber Orchestra: THE NUTCRACKER.
It was January 2023 when the Artistic Director of Ensemble Theatre, Mark Kilmurry, emailed us an article about an Australian pilot named Deborah Lawrie. He asked if we’d be keen to write a play based on her story believing we’d bring a sense of “the comic (and dramatic) to this woman’s great struggle.”
The article, which spoke of Deb’s fight against Reg Ansett to become Australia’s first commercial airline pilot was compelling. But it was the fact Reg believed women were “old boilers” by age 28 and that their menstrual cycles made them “unsuitable” to fly planes that convinced us we may indeed be the right “old boilers” to tell this story.
We ended up down a rabbit hole; amazed and dumbfounded not only by what Deb had been through but also that we were not aware of this incredible woman. We emailed Mark and said that if we could have genius director Janine Watson along for the ride we were up to the challenge of trying to write this; inspirational, sprawling, legal, political, personal play that would require a cast of fifty actors. He replied, “You can have five!”
Over the last few years, we have had the privilege of getting to know Deb Lawrie. In the late 70’s, at just 25 years old, she withstood the most unbelievable pressure for more than 18 months to become the first person to win a case under the Sex Discrimination Act. Her win paved the way for all Australian working women. Deb is a trailblazer in the true sense of the word. She has also been gracious and abundantly generous in sharing her story with us.
We would like to thank The Commissioner’s Circle, Deb for trusting us and Mark Kilmurry for his unwavering support.
Genevieve Hegney and Catherine Moore
Catherine Moore and Genevieve Hegney have been acting, singing, teaching, producing, directing, devising, coaching and improvising across film, television and theatre for over 25 years.
They have been involved in numerous creative developments across Australia including Inscription’s New Australian Works project under the guidance of Kristin Linklater and Edward Albee. They have also workshopped and performed in new works by Alana Valantine, Susie Miller, David Williamson and Tony McNamara.
As a writer and creator Catherine self-devised and performed in A JAQUES BREL CABARET and WEILL WOMEN which won Pick of the Fringe at the Melbourne Fringe Festival and earned a Green Room nomination.
Genevieve co-wrote, co-produced and acted in short film THE AMBER AMULET which won numerous awards worldwide, including THE CRYSTAL BEAR at Berlin International Film Festival and an AWGIE for Best Screenplay in a Short Film.
In 2018, Genevieve and Catherine were encouraged by Artistic Director Mark Kilmurry to co-write and co-star in their first play UNQUALIFIED for the Ensemble Theatre. This two-woman show enjoyed a sold-out season and they were commissioned to write the 2022 sequel, STILL UNQUALIFIED. They subsequently received funding from Screen West and Screen Australia to adapt UNQUALIFIED for the screen.
Genevieve and Catherine’s third play and latest collaboration, FLY GIRL, was commissioned by Mark Kilmurry at Ensemble Theatre and supported by The Commissioners Circle. FLY GIRL won the Blake Beckett Trust Female Playwrights Award in 2025. Their next collaboration will be an adaption of FLY GIRL for the screen.
Audio Described
- Thu 13 Nov 11am
- Sat 15 Nov 3.30pm
Q&A Sessions
- Tue 4 Nov 11am
- Fri 14 Nov 7.30pm
Free Teen Night
- Wed 19 Nov 7.30pm
To book, please contact the Box Office on (02) 8918 3400 or email boxoffice@ensemble.com.au