Award-winning playwright Shane Woon is bringing Chinese mythology, queer romance and footy culture together in Rabbit & Watson, a sweeping new stage production arriving at the Northcote Town Hall Arts Centre this July.
Following the success of A Guide To Being Immortal, Woon’s latest work blends fantasy, Boy Love drama and contemporary Australian life into a story that spans lifetimes. At its centre is Tu’er Shen, the Rabbit God of gay matchmaking, who has spent centuries reconnecting soulmates while endlessly chasing the one love he could never keep.
Now, that lost love has returned in the form of Watson, an emerging AFL player navigating media scrutiny, family expectations and the pressures of masculinity in professional sport. Determined to finally change fate, Rabbit risks everything for another chance at love.
Set between celestial realms, football fields and suburban Melbourne, the production follows the pair from teenage lion dancers to adults trying to reconcile identity, desire and duty. While the play leans into the romantic longing and emotional intensity of the Boy Love genre, it also explores what it means to grow up Chinese Australian in spaces where representation is still limited.
“I wrote this play to provide a platform for Chinese Australian artists, and to invite audiences to see and share in our cultural references, humour, and desires,” says Woon.
“As a high school teacher, I wanted young diverse people to see and share in the experience of having non-dominant identities seen on stage. As a footy fan, I wanted to look closely at the pressures that shape the AFL and how its culture affects ideas of queerness, masculinity, and belonging at different levels of society.”
Directed by Keith Brockett, the production features performances from Sean Yuen Halley, Anton Pan-Cassin, Dr. Cindy Pan, Jesse Vasiladis, Charlie Morris and Gabriel Partington.
Rabbit & Watson runs from 15 to 26 July at Northcote Town Hall Arts Centre, with evening performances Wednesday to Saturday and Sunday shows at 5pm. More information and tickets via Arts.darebin.vic.gov.au
