PERFECT ARRANGEMENT
4 FEB - 7 MAR 2026
“IF I STAY, IT'S GIVING UP THE BELIEF THAT LIFE SHOULD BE BETTER.”
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It’s 1950s America, and a new colour has been added to the Red Scare: lavender. The Lavender Scare saw LGBTQ+ people interrogated, outed, and dismissed from government service in a sweeping campaign of fear and moral panic.
Enter Bob and Norma, two U.S. State Department employees tasked with identifying and reporting “sexual deviants” within their ranks. There’s just one problem: both Bob and Norma are gay, and are married to each other’s partners as a carefully constructed ruse.
Inspired by the early stirrings of the American gay rights movement, this madcap, classic-sitcom setup gradually gives way to sharp, provocative drama, as two “All-American” couples find themselves staring down the closet door and the cost of keeping it shut.
Topher Payne explores themes of fear and the weaponisation of identity, themes that feel just as relevant today.
★★★★☆
"AN EVOCATIVE, DEFT, SLICK PRODUCTION."
SYDNEY ARTS GUIDE
★★★★
"A SERIOUS MESSAGE WRAPPED IN A DECEPTIVELY AMUSING THEATRICAL PACKAGE"
BACCHUS AT THE THEATRE
"RICH, ENERGISING AND VASTLY ENTERTAINING"
THEATRE RED
"SUBLIME TECHNIQUE AND MASTERFUL TIMING.
THIS IS A MUST-SEE"
AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW
"A GENUINELY FULFILLING EXPERIENCE"
CULTURAL BINGE
"AN EXCELLENTLY PRODUCED SHOW - A SATISFYING OFFERING FOR DISCERNING THEATREGOERS"
SOUTH SYDNEY HERALD
"A SHARP, RIOTOUS, RESONANT FARCE LED BY FIERCE WOMEN"
CITY HUB
"KENNEDY'S DIRECTION IS EXACTING - A TREATISE WRAPPED IN THE WARMTH OF A COMEDY"
STAGE WHISPERS
"TRULY A SHOW YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS - EVERYONE IS ON THE EDGE OF THEIR SEATS"
THE SCOOP
"A MASTERCLASS IN LAYERED PERFORMANCE"
THAT SHOW BLOG
"BITINGLY FUNNY, FABULOUS ENTERTAINMENT AND ONE OF THE SAVVIEST PRODUCTIONS I'VE SEEN AT NEW THEATRE"
FAITH IN THEATRES
"THOUGHTFUL AND WELL-CRAFTED"
THEATRE NOW
CAST
