Eyeing the Future - QUT Drama Festival '26
Lachlan Fietz is a Brisbane-based Director, Playwright, Actor and a QUT Bachelor of Fine Arts Drama/Secondary Education fourth-year student. Lachlan has previously worked as the Playwright, Director and Producer for Together Alone at Freshblood Festival (2025), Assistant stage manager for Verum Arts’ Credulous (2025), and Secretary/Head of Relations for Vena Cava Productions (2024). With creative experience both in front of and behind the scenes, Lachlan as the Festival Director for the QUT Drama Festival 2026 seeks to cultivate, coordinate and shape the festival’s overall vision and ensure each production is the future of Australian theatre.
Emma Nebauer is a QUT Fine Arts Drama/Secondary Education fourth-year student. She is excited to be joining the team of the QUT Drama Festival 2026 in her first credit as Lead Producer, planning to utilise skills as a Type-A teacher and theatre artist being driven by her love and passion for theatre. Emma hopes that in this role she will be able to cultivate a collection of theatre shows that are the very best versions of themselves, by supporting and championing the creatives behind them.
Jars
One mother. Three sisters. A reunion. A shocking secret that changes everything.
One mother, three daughters, one unexpected secret, one home. But what happens when home changes? Exploring how Valerie and her family negotiate expectations, emotional repressions, and memories in the name of being the ‘good daughter’, Jars shows us what home really means. When Valerie’s decision creates a storm of problems, what will be left to show for it?
Live performance.
September 28
40 minutes
2pm and 6pm
Director:
Ashlynn NJ
Assistant Director/
Set Designer:
Samantha Welch
Producer/Playwright:
Claire 'CJ' Stockwell
Lighting/Sound Designer:
Trinity Cook
Costume Designer:
Layla Stevens
CAST
Jack: Trinity Cook | Charlotte: Layla Stevens | Valerie: Clare CJ Stockwell | Ellie: Tiffany-Rose Kimeklis
CREW
Ashlynn NJ: Director | Samantha Welch: Assistant Director and Set Designer | Claire ‘CJ’ Stockwell: Producer and Playwright |
Trinity Cook: Lighting and Sound Designer | Layla Stevens: Costume Designer | Tiffany-Rose Kimeklis: Lead Marketer
Thank you to Trinity Flynn for her fundamental role in the early development of Jars.
Unit4
Written By Isabelle Hardwick, Amali Farrer, Azz Buckley-Oldfield
Welcome to our ‘living’ room - Don’t let it grow on you!
Best friends Ari and Paris think moving in together will be the start of their perfect independent life. But rising rent, money troubles, and roommate tensions begin to take their toll. As their friendship unravels and reality starts to distort, something strange is growing inside their ‘living’ room.
Live performance.
September 29
40-45 minutes
2pm and 6pm
Director & Production Design & Makeup:
Azz Buckley-Oldfield
Stage Manager:
Sabina Anneria Santhana Dass
Lighting & ASM & Production Design:
Dylan Pereira
Costume Design:
Amali Farrer
Costume Design:
Isabelle Hardwick
Marketing:
Leah Eve Erskine
CAST
Paris: Leah Eve Erskine | Ari: Neve Lockett | Puppet Voice: Amali Farrer | Puppeteer: Isabelle Hardwick
Before the Bell
Before the Bell rings, the truth comes out.
When 3 year 12 students are summoned to the principal’s office following a school camp, rumours and assumptions begin to unravel. Blending humour with vulnerability, Before the Bell explores the unseen struggles of young people, the consequences of jumping to conclusion, and the importance of understanding, compassion and seeking help.
Live performance.
September 30
30-35 minutes
2-3 pm and 6-7 pm
Producer and Performer:
Arielle Rebgetz
Lighting & Sound Designer, Choreographer & Performer:
Destani Pratley
Director, Dramaturg and Performer:
Kathy Chen
Set, Costume & Associate Lighting Designer, Assistant Stage Manager & Performer
Verity Russell
Head of Marketing, Assistant Director & Performer:
Ben Warren
Playwright & Marketing Associate:
Jenna Blackburn
Acknowledgements:
Paige Elms: Stage Manager (Check out Detritus) | Kathryn Kelly: Unit Coordinator and Dramaturg | Ben Shotton: - Tech Support | Simon Wheeler: Consultant
Detritus
When it gets too hot, will we waste our breath on speaking?
By now we are aware that climate change is here, but we all deal with the climate crisis differently. Perhaps some are more efficient than others.
Live performance (physical theatre)
October 1
50 minutes
2pm and 6pm
Performer, Associate Marketing, Associate Director, Set and props fabricator:
Alicia Green
Director, Performer, Lead set and props fabricator, Marketing, Associate Sound Designer/Composer:
Anabella Gregory
Composer/Sound Designer, Performer, Set Designer, Associate Director, Set and props fabricator:
Andrew Oxford
Lighting Designer, Associate Director, Set and props fabricator:
Aoife Kissane
Performer, Associate Director, Set and props fabricator:
Ben Spalding
Performer, Marketing, Associate Director, Associate Lighting Designer, Set and props fabricator:
Jade-Monet Calleija
Performer, Marketing, Associate Director, Associate Lighting Designer, Set and props fabricator:
Jade-Monet Calleija
Producer, Dramaturg, Stage Manager:
Jai Bofinger
Costume Designer, Performer, Lead props fabricator, Associate Director, Assistant Set Designer, Assistant Stage Manager:
Paige Elms
Three of a Kind
Three siblings. Three secrets. One hell of a storm.
Driven together by the death of their single mother, three siblings reunite at their childhood home. The fractured relationships piece themselves together as they reminisce on their childhoods and a world their mother still inhabited. But when the storm brewing outside traps them together, the siblings must confront the storms brewing within.
Live performance. Play. Scripted play.
October 2
55 minutes
2pm and 6pm
Director/Writer:
Lachlan Fietz
Writer:
Emma Nebauer
Writer/Dramaturg:
Bram Wilson
Lead Designer/
Stage Manager:
Cohen Lloyd
Assistant Designer: Maxwell Wraight
Costume Designer:
Hannah Mackie
Marketing/
Initmacy Coordinator:
Katie Newton
Producer: Kamara Albertson
CAST
Freya: Kamara Albertson | Chris Maxwell Wraight | Kate Emma Nebauer | Sophie Katie Newton | Riley Bram Wilson | Vanessa Hannah Mackie
The QUT School of Creative Arts acknowledges the Turrbal and Yugara as the First Nations owners of the lands where QUT now stands. We pay respect to their Elders, lores, customs and creation spirits. We recognise that these lands have always been places of teaching, research, and learning. QUT acknowledges the important role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play within the QUT community.
