A funny and gritty play about growing up in a mining town, dealing with change and serving fried chicken ...

Jenny lives in a small Queensland mining town: she’s almost finished Grade Ten and is struggling to balance school, her part-time jobs, her wayward sister, her relationships, and everyone’s expectations. When the charismatic Seb flies into town, Jenny’s balancing act is thrown into chaos and her world threatens to collapse around her.

Fly-In Fly-Out looks at how families and communities deal with upheaval and how we strive to adapt. The play examines universal themes through the prism of the mining boom and the influx of fly-in fly-out workers into a small community.

From the makers of the critically acclaimed Snagged and Ithaca Road, Fly-In Fly-Out has been developed in consultation with communities and young people throughout Central Queensland. The show is a must see for audiences of all ages and begins the conversation about what communities can do to develop resilience in the face of change.

“The themes of family, first love, grief, pressure, work/home balance are easily relatable and pose questions for students and teachers to ponder well after the show … it set tongues wagging.” – Natalie Nunan, Brisbane Bayside College

Venue Format
Theatre, Hall, Black Box Venue
Technical Rating
D
Touring Party
6
Considerations

Fly-In Fly-Out contains some coarse language.

Fly-In Fly-Out appeals to metropolitan and regional audiences. The play is set in a Queensland mining town but it's themes are universal.

Creating brilliant new comedies.

Working in Brisbane and Melbourne; touring nationally and internationally, debase has been producing new shows since 1998.

We are committed to telling Australian stories and challenging our audiences to question stereotypes, history and identity. Our body of work includes The Longest Minute (exploring the intersection of gender, race and sport), Chasing the Lollyman (Mark Sheppard’s exploration of urban Indigenous identity), The Clown from Snowy River (the entire history of Australia told by clowns), Spoilt (an examination of contemporary self-obsession) and Fly-In Fly-Out (a young person’s perspective on the mining boom).

In 2019, debase was awarded the Gold Matilda at the Queensland Theatre Awards for outstanding contribution to theatre in Queensland.

Company Website
debase.com.au

Unique Selling Point

Fly-In Fly-Out was published in 2013 by Playlab Press. The production also has extensive teacher’s resources, a DVD of the full production and the published playscript. Production can be linked with community and school workshops. Press images, posters and flyers also available. Fly-In Fly-Out has a broad audience appeal and has played to audiences in metropolitan and regional areas to acclaim. It is a great show for senior school groups.

Community Engagement

Community and school workshops are available.

The workshops unpack the themes and issues around resilience and dealing with change as well as exploring the devising process for Fly-In Fly-Out.

Fly-In Fly-Out was developed in consultation with communities in Central Queensland and Brisbane. This consultation included creative development workshops which valued the lived experiences of young people and communities and helped them find ways to communicate these experiences and feelings into performance.

The workshops that accompany the tour can unpack the themes and issues with audiences. The workshops can also take participants through the Fly-In Fly-Out development process to help them explore and articulate their own issues. The workshops are ideal for school and community groups.