Manes, meltdowns and masculinity collide in this unhinged equestrian brom-com road trip!
Format: Stage
Genre:Comedy
Performers: 3
Runtime: 60 mins
Status: In development
Quinn is a middle-aged dressage diva in distress. Loyal groom and live-in lover to top rider Randall James Beaumont-Smythe III, Quinn’s idyllic Daylesford life is shattered when Randy dumps him for a younger model on the eve of the National Dressage Championships.
Enter Keegan: a happy-go-lucky bogan from Bundaberg with a mullet, a dream, and a bombshell claim: he’s Quinn’s long-lost brother from another mother…
Escandalo!
Fuelled by heartbreak and hot chips, Quinn ropes Keegan into an increasingly deranged road trip up the East Coast, navigating family ties they never asked for while surviving a gauntlet of deranged strangers, botched makeovers, and unresolved daddy issues.
Narrated by Nutmeg, a loose-talking gelding with a taste for toxic stallions, Men on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is a gloriously absurd new comedy unpacking the egos, insecurities, and emotional mess of modern manhood – with just the right amount of unhinged pony drama.
Starring Alexandra Aldrich and Lyall Brooks in a wild carousel of characters, this chaotic new comedy from award-winning playwright Adam Fawcett (Become The One, Every Lovely Terrible Thing) is for anyone who’s ever found themselves dumped, disappointed, or dangerously close to a breakdown in a paddock.
★★★★★ “Brave, fast, and doesn’t let you off the hook. We need more of this on our stages!” – Theatre People on Become The One by Adam Fawcett
“Endlessly surprising and enigmatic. Fawcett loves spectacle and reveres aesthetic.” – Australian Arts Review on Every Lovely Terrible Thing by Adam Fawcett
- Long List - 2024 Griffin Award
- Finalist - 2024 Midsumma Playwriting Award
Creative Team
Playwright Adam Fawcett
Director Sharon Davis
Movement Director Rosa Campagnaro
Set + Costume Design Harry Gill
Lighting Design Sidney Younger
Sound Design & Compositions Jack Burmeister
Choreographer Michael Ralph
Stage Manager Jordan Smith
Cast
Alexandra Aldrich
Lyall Brooks
This project is proudly supported by The Robert Salzer Foundation through the Australian Cultural Fund.
Promo images by Stupid Old Studios.