The Queer Kingdom by Tom Ballard, winner of the 2024 QPAS Award. In 2004, a group of radical queer activists boarded a fishing trawler they’d christened The Gayflower, flew 200 nautical miles off the coast of Queensland and landed on a tiny patch of sand and grass in the middle of the ocean. It was here that Emperor Dale Parker Anderson I would plant his rainbow flag and officially declare the claiming of “The Gay & Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands'' – a gay nation independent of homophobic Australia, where there was marriage equality for all, the currency was the pink dollar and the national anthem was Gloria Gaynor’s I Am What I Am.
...what the f**k were they thinking?
Featuring ASH FLANDERS (This Is Living, Get Krackin'), SEON WILLIAMS (White Fever, That's Batman), ZAK PIDD (My Sister Jill, Rhinoceros) and MYFANWY HOCKING (Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes, Byron Bay Writers Festival).
Directed and dramaturged by LYALL BROOKS (The Heretic, The Heartbreak Choir).
Tom Ballard pointing to someone offscreen.
A human enacts the play.
A human enacts the play.
A human enacts the play, pretending to be John Howard.
A human enacts the play. A screen in the background has the words "Chapter Two: The Emperor Cometh".
Two humans enact the play whilst sexy dancing.
One actor is about to lift another actor.
Two humans dance behind one another facing the audience.
A human enacts the play.
A human enacts the play.
Two humans enact the play.
A human enacts the play. A screen in the background shows a boat with the words "The Gayflower".
Three humans enact the play. A screen in the background shows the word "Heaven".
A human enacts the play. They are dimly lit.
Three humans enact the play. A screen in the background shows the word "Yes".
A human enacts the play. They are wearing a costume robe.
Two humans enact the play. A screen in the background shows the words "Declaration of Independence" over a rainbow pride flag with a union jack in the top left.
A human enacts the play. A news article about the "Yes vote" is on the screen in the background.
A human enacts the play.
Two humans enact the play as another leaves through a haze of smoke.
A human enacts the play.
A human enacts the play through a haze of smoke.
A human enacts the play in front of a full progressive pride flag.
A human enacts the play in front of a trans pride flag with the words "Trans rights are human rights".
Four actors are upon the stage. The words "The End" are on the screen in the background.
Tom Ballard pointing to someone offscreen.