Failure. Family. Forgiveness.

SPENCER

Gasworks Arts Park is proud to present Spencer by Katy Warner, the brand new Australian comedy-drama from one of Australia’s leading independent theatre companies Lab Kelpie that explores the fate of one gloriously dysfunctional Australian family across a weekend of love, laughs and pain.

Spencer tells the story of a tight-knit family led by single-mum matriarch Marilyn (Jane Clifton)and her three adult children – wayward daughter Jules (Fiona Harris), mouthy coulda-been Ben (Lyall Brooks) and AFL player and golden-boy Scott (Jamieson Caldwell).

About to meet the young son – Spencer – he never knew he had, Scott and the family have returned home to help mark the occasion. With the surprise appearance of the father they barely remember (Roger Oakley), the entire family is forced to work together to clean up both the house and their own fractured relationships as the clock ticks down to Spencer’s arrival.

Employing classic Australian vernacular and the penchant for humour to explore issues of self-acceptance, identity and depression, Spencer asks us to consider how much our family defines who we are, and whether we ever really grow up…

Following rave reviews and audience feedback from its world premiere season in 2017, Spencer was nominated for two Green Room Awards in 2018 for Writing (playwright Katy Warner) and Performance (actor Lyall Brooks, previously seen in Lab Kelpie’s production of A Prudent Man) and comes to Gasworks Arts Park as part of a national tour.

Praise for Spencer:

★★★★★ – The Music ★★★★★ – Theatre People ★★★★1/2 – Lowdown Under

Playwright: Katy Warner
Director: Sharon Davis
Cast: Lyall Brooks, Jamieson Caldwell, Jane Clifton, Fiona Harris & Roger Oakley
Designers: Rob Sowinski & Bryn Cullen