Following a sold-out season at Ensemble Theatre, this heart-warming Australian comedy, is now on tour! Click below for full list of venues.

Overview

WORLD PREMIERE

Appleton is a small country town being forced into the present with a recent influx of wealthy city slickers, treechangers and refugees. Simmering tensions come to a head when new GP Penny Anderson discovers that the famous Appleton Potato Race awards $1000 prize money for the men, and a measly $200 for the women. When Penny decides to take steps to restore gender parity and coax Appleton into the 21st century, little could she have anticipated the spiralling, hilarious culture war that would follow.

Inspired by real life events, THE APPLETON LADIES’ POTATO RACE is a funny, honest and heart-warming story about upsetting the potato cart and standing up for your principles. Featuring a cast of five fabulous women including Sharon Millerchip (SHIRLEY VALENTINE), Valerie Bader, Merridy Eastman (A HISTORY OF FALLING THINGS), Sapidah Kian and Amber McMahon (TRIBES), this brand new Australian play will be brought to life by director Priscilla Jackman.

SOLD OUT

Ticket Prices

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Prices correct at the time of publication and subject to change without notice. Exact prices will be displayed with seat selection.

SINGLE TICKET PRICESPreviews & weekday matineesEvenings & weekend matinees
Adult$73$80
Seniors$70$77
Pensioners$66$71
Under 30s & Full-time students$38$43
MEAA members$43$43
Groups 10-19$70$77
Groups 20+$66$73
School groups$25$25
Reviews

★★★★★ "Pure theatrical rambunctiousness which will tumble you into the night with sore hands and uplifted spirits" ArtsHub

★★★★ "Melanie Tait's sparkling new comedy... with a light touch and crisp dialogue.... Priscilla Jackman directs with energy a strong all-woman cast." Sydney Morning Herald

★★★★ "Playwright Melanie Tait has written a shrewd, big-hearted love letter to the women of country New South Wales... it’s near-impossible to resist being charmed." Time Out

★★★★ "A very Australian, effervescently entertaining, laugh-out-loud funny new play with serious things to say and a gentle way of saying them." Limelight Magazine

★★★★½ "A must-see. There are no downsides to this polished, measured, and punchy work that says so much with such style. The Music

★★★★ "A gentle comedy with a sting in its tail... Recommended." Stage Noise

"Funny, passionate and rousing, an uplifting romp that many will find irresistibly delightful." Suzy Goes See

"Warm-hearted yet piercing, Melanie Tait’s comedy totes weighty issues over the line and makes light work of it... I can see this race being run in regional theatres for years to come." Audrey Journal

"Director Priscilla Jackman shows great confidence in her cast and has a marvellous appreciation of what is comical and treasurable in this very funny, and ultimately very moving, new play." Stage Whispers

Cast & Creatives
Melanie Tait

Melanie Tait

Playwright
Priscilla Jackman

Priscilla Jackman

Director & Dramaturg
Felicity Nicol

Felicity Nicol

Assistant Director

Felicity is an award-winning Performance Director and Artistic Director from Sydney, Australia. A graduate of NIDA, she has gone on to work with some of the most prominent artists around the world, including Ontroerend Goed (BEL), Punchdrunk & Gecko Physical Theatre (UK), Illutron (DEN) and Mammalian Diving Reflex (CAN). Felicity holds a particular interest in working with young people, specifically queer young people & young people experiencing mental health issues. This interest has led her to working with Australian Theatre for Young People (AUS), Mit Ohne Alles (GER), The Torontonians (CAN) and Company3 (UK).

Felicity’s mission as an artist is to interrupt people’s assumptions about the world and the people we share it with in order to bring these assumptions into question. She does this through humour, debate, gaming dramaturgy and play. These take their forms through a combination of social media, projection, drag (dress-ups), physical theatre, dialogue and virtual reality technologies.

Her favourite career highlights include directing at The Sydney Opera House, creating a one-on-one performance for audiences in a moving car, and directing a non-verbal performative memorial via clowning, beer and a slide-show.

Jane Fitzgerald

Jane Fitzgerald

Dramaturg

Jane is a freelance Sydney dramaturg. Recent work includes THE BIG DRY by Mark Kilmurry (co-production Ensemble and ATYP) and M.ROCK (coproduction ATYP and Sydney Theatre Company). She is one of Ensemble Theatre’s Literary Co-ordinators (shared position). For ATYP she has been a Mentor/Dramaturg for the Fresh Ink writers’ program and at the National Studio, and she has worked on National Script Workshops for Playwriting Australia. For Sydney Theatre Company she has worked as Literary Manager, Artistic Associate and Administrator of the Patrick White Playwrights’ Award as well as Dramaturg on mainstage productions including THE HERBAL BED, VOLPONE and A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM. She was also a dramaturg on STC’s Blueprints new writers’ program and has worked as a script reader for the Royal Court London, ANPC, Playworks and STC Young Playwrights’ Award. She also works as a Mentor with Year 12 students on HSC creative writing projects.

Valerie Bader

Valerie Bader

Cast
Merridy Eastman

Merridy Eastman

Cast
Sapidah Kian

Sapidah Kian

Cast
Amber McMahon

Amber McMahon

Cast
Sharon Millerchip

Sharon Millerchip

Cast

Sharon returns to the stage after recently stepping out of the spotlight to work as Resident Director/Choreographer on the Disney blockbuster ALADDIN and Baz Luhrmann’s STRICTLY BALLROOM: THE MUSICAL. Sharon was last seen at the Ensemble Theatre in the smash hit one-woman show BOMBSHELLS, A PICASSO and LAST OF THE RED HOT LOVERS.

Other main stage roles include Roxie Hart in CHICAGO, Meg Giry in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s LOVE NEVER DIES, Belle in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, Anita in WEST SIDE STORY, Charity in SWEET CHARITY, Catherine in PIPPIN, Meg Giry in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, Velma Kelly in CHICAGO, Columbia in ROCKY HORROR SHOW, Sonia Walsk in THEY’RE PLAYING OUR SONG, Demeter in CATS, and Cordelia in FALSETTOS and Little Red Riding Hood in INTO THE WOODS for the STC.

Sharon has received many awards for her performances, including three Helpmann and Sydney Theatre Awards.

Michael Scott-Mitchell

Michael Scott-Mitchell

Set Designer

Michael Scott-Mitchell is regarded as one of the most outstanding designers and educators in Australia. His extensive credits in opera, theatre and special events, include set design of the State Opera of South Australia’s production of Wagner’s RING CYCLE, WORLD YOUTH DAY – STATIONS OF THE CROSS and the Cauldron & Ceremonial Stage for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Recent and upcoming designs include DR ZHIVAGO on Broadway for which he won the 2015 APDG (Australian Production Design Guild) Award, STORM BOY, ARMS AND THE MAN, ARCADIA, SWITZERLAND and STILL POINT TURNING for Sydney Theatre Company; TOSCA, LÉLISIR D’AMORE and CARMEN for Opera Australia; THE MERRY WIDOW for Opera Conference; and FREEZE FRAME for Debbie Allen Dance Academy in LA and at the Kennedy Centre, Washington DC. At NIDA, he was Head of Design (2008-2017), Director Undergraduate Studies (2011-2017) and Deputy Director/CEO (2016-2017). In 2017 he was appointed Adjunct Professor of UNSW.

Genevieve Graham

Genevieve Graham

Costume Designer

Genevieve graduated from NIDA in 2016 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Design for Performance), and went on to complete her Masters of Fine Arts (Design for Performance) degree in 2017. Her design work focuses on the character and the actor as the starting point, placing the designer/actor collaboration at the forefront of her costume design process.

In 2016, she undertook a placement on the set of ‘Alien: Covenant’ by renowned director Ridley Scott, assisting in both art department, and wardrobe. She was also awarded the William Fletcher Foundation Grant for the development and advancement of talented young Australian artists. In 2017 Genevieve co-designed the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra’s ‘Handel’s Messiah’ and was costume designer on The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra’s ‘Bittersweet Obsessions’, a new Opera combining the works of Monteverdi and Bach.

In 2017 Genevieve was production designer on NIDA’s production of Eurydike and Orpheus, a new Australian work, part of NIDA’s Nick Enright season. She was also production designer on NIDA’s production of ‘Fraternal’, a new Australian play. Genevieve has just completed her Masters thesis paper on the ‘Collaboration Between the Designer and the Actor in the Development of Character’.

Karen Norris

Karen Norris

Lighting Designer
Tegan Nicholls

Tegan Nicholls

Composer and Sound Designer
Nicole Robinson

Nicole Robinson

Stage Manager
Alira McKenzie-Williams

Alira McKenzie-Williams

Assistant Stage Manager
Hannah Lobelson

Hannah Lobelson

Costume Supervisor
DIRECTOR'S NOTE

THE APPLETON LADIES’ POTATO RACE is a comedy about our relationship to both history and change.  Through the lens of five female characters living in rural Australia we look in on ourselves as a nation. It’s a funny play with a huge heart that is not afraid to pack a punch. It is about rejection and acceptance; seeing the world as it really is, warts and all, and at the same time, daring to ask if it can be something more.  We’ve been dreaming big through our little play.

In the 21st century, we, as Australians, are continually stepping-up to participate in global conversations, around privilege and gender parity – THE APPLETON LADIES’ POTATO RACE gently provokes conversation around owning and celebrating our past while continuing to question our relationship with generational and social/political change.

This is a play that will entertain, reflect who we are and also ask questions about who we are becoming as Australians. More than anything though, THE APPLETON LADIES’ POTATO RACE will be a cracking great night at the theatre!

Priscilla Jackman – Director

PHOTOS
DOWNLOAD THE PROGRAM

Our downloadable program is filled to the brim with THE APPLETON LADIES’ POTATO RACE info! Check out Melanie Tait’s insightful writer’s note, synopsis, photos and more.

DOWNLOAD THE PROGRAM (PDF)

WATCH THE VIDEO