Trophy Boys

One thing we all know from experience is that teenagers do not fully consider the consequences of their actions. So, what if those teenagers were also from powerful, privileged backgrounds and following a well-known grooming ground to becoming tomorrow’s leaders via the private school debating team? Written from her own experience in the world of debating, Emmanuelle Mattana was only 20 years old when Trophy Boys was first produced. It makes for a rich theatrical experience, taking in the playwright’s gleaned lesson about the power of language and how it can be twisted to suit any scene – perfect fodder for this win-at-all-costs debating team of friends – or are they? – as they tackle today’s topic in the affirmative: ‘Feminism has failed women’. The ensuing drama is both hilarious and scary as the boys blindly showcase their over-confidence, their arrogance, and their limited knowledge of the reality of the topic, despite their ability to quote case studies and play with semantics to further their argument. But the conflict is not just with the impending clash with the girls’ school debating team; these boys have machinations of their own caste system to contend with too. Into this mix is thrown a (no spoilers) bombshell that threatens to undermine everything. This theme creates a dramatic peak that is whisked away, but doubles back later – a little unnecessary and the only glitch for me in this otherwise streamlined 70-minute script. 

I have to confess that I was blissfully clueless of Trophy Boys’ success and was apprehensive about spending theatre time with fictional toxic teens from St Imperium School. However, there is a clever twist in the casting that added yet another layer to this piece. Myfanwy Hocking (How to be a Person When the World is Ending) plays scholarship brain, the always right, reliable Owen; Leigh Lule (SUB30: Now This) is charismatic know-all David; Gaby Seow (Celebration Nation) is the energetic, nice-but-dim Scott, who trades on the fact that his Dad is a wealthy lawyer; and Fran Sweeney-Nash (Cactus) is quick-witted Jared, seemingly the only one of the troupe to have a long-term girlfriend, and determined to live up to his mantra of ‘loving women’. It’s such a joy to see these performers – who are also writers and theatre makers – having extreme fun with these roles, with some funky moves aided and abetted by Katie Sfetkidis’s lighting design and Ben Andrews’s sound design which add to the drama and humour.

Marni Mount has directed this play from the get-go in 2022, so this is a sharply honed production. Trophy Boys is one of those dreamed-about ‘runaway success’ productions, but it illustrates the importance of safe development spaces in independent theatre. This play started at La Mama and 45 Downstairs in Melbourne and became a hot ticket show, winning awards that paved its way to an off-Broadway debut at the MCC Theatre. It has recently been included in the Victorian school curriculum too, and is certainly a conversation starter. This short Brisbane season is the last leg of a national Trophy Boys tour. I’m sure the world is waiting to see what the performers, writer and director will do next. Don’t miss seeing this award-winning play featuring some of today’s brilliant talent.

Beth Keehn

Photographer: Ben Andrews

BUY THE PLAY SCRIPT