Fourteen — Shake & Stir Theatre Co

Overview

When it premiered at Brisbane Festival 2022, Fourteen gave the fest one of its regular big stage premieres with local relevance (see also: Boy Swallows Universe in 2021 and Love Stories when 2024's event rolls around). Missed it the first time? Keen to see it again? The production is also making a comeback this year from Wednesday, June 6–Saturday, July 7.

Once again, Shannon Molloy's memoir heads to QPAC, bringing the journalist's time as a queer teenager at an all-boys Catholic school in regional Queensland to the theatre. The play is returning to the Cremorne Theatre, too, still exploring growing up gay in the centre of the Sunshine State in the process — and Brisbane-raised actor Conor Leach (Sequin in a Blue Room) is still starring as the onstage version of Shannon.

Even if you haven't lived the same experience, you can likely imagine it. The year is 1999. Rugby is an obsession. And coming out would change Shannon's high-school years forever.

Given the time that it's set, Fourteen features everything from Shania Twain and the Spice Girls to S Club 7 on its soundtrack. A 90s-era coming-of-age tale wouldn't be complete without them.

Molloy's memoir comes to the stage courtesy of Shake & Stir Theatre Co, continuing an impressive run of page-to-stage adaptations alongside past versions of Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights, Dracula and Jane Eyre.

Images: David Fell.