A quietly devastating Australian work is returning to the stage this May, with Red Sky Morning set for a limited run at Theatre Works in St Kilda.
Running from 6 to 16 May, Tom Holloway’s award-winning play brings its focus back to the small, often unspoken moments that shape family life in regional Australia. First recognised with the 2008 Green Room Award for Best New Writing and the 2007 R.E. Ross Trust Development Award, the work has not been staged in Victoria for more than a decade.
Set over the course of a single day, Red Sky Morning follows a woman, a man and a girl living under one roof. What unfolds is not driven by plot in the traditional sense, but by pauses, gestures and the things left unsaid. It captures early mornings, long silences and the kind of care that sits just beneath the surface.
Theatre Works Executive Director Dianne Toulson said the decision to bring the play back now felt timely.
“We were excited to include this work in our 2026 programming because it speaks so quietly and so truthfully about what people carry when the ground beneath them feels uncertain,” she said.
“It felt especially relevant given what regional Victoria has been through recently with devastating fires after years of drought, followed by more fires again. These events don’t just disappear once the news cycle moves on. The impact lingers through families, businesses, and whole communities and that felt incredibly resonant, particularly in regional contexts where mental health services are limited and people tend to hold things in rather than speak them aloud.”
Directed by Lyall Brooks, the production leans into that restraint, with a creative team focused on rhythm and atmosphere rather than spectacle. The cast includes Alpha Kargo, Izabella Day and Emma Choy, supported by a design team spanning lighting, sound and set.
Following its Melbourne season, the production will tour regional Victoria later in May.
For Theatre Works, which has spent more than 40 years championing independent theatre, it’s another example of the kind of work that asks audiences to sit with complexity rather than look away.
More information and tickets available here.
