12 - 27 September

Guguburra Studios presents

WAY BACK WHEN

Written by Dylan Van Den Berg

Directed by Ryan Whitworth-Jones

A WORLD PREMIERE

“I’m gonna tell it straight. The ugly bits and the soft bits and the bits that make ya heart sing.”

Set in an imagined post-colonial Australia—where the settlers lost and scurried home—Way Back When follows three Aboriginal women who meet by chance and keep each other warm with fire, stories, and sharp humour. Tib and Nel are arguing over firewood when Duncan, a stranger with a stolen settler name, emerges from the dark. Reluctantly, they let her stay. To pass the time and calm their nerves, they stage a play-within-a-play: a Gothic reimagining of colonisation, where the land itself rises in defence of its people. The fire roars, the truth flickers, and lines between performance and memory begin to blur.

At once comic, brutal and moving, Way Back When is a fierce and poetic interrogation of survival and truth-telling. It reveals the strength of First Nations women, the resilience of culture, and the power of reclaiming narrative in the face of ongoing colonial scars.

Griffin Award Winner 2020 | Winner of the Rodney Seaborn Playwriting Prize | Finalist for the Brentwood International Playwriting Prize

Cast and Creative Team

Producing Company: Guguburra Studios

Writer: Dylan Van Den Berg

Director: Ryan Whitworth-Jones

Dramaturg: Amy Sole

Photographers: Erica Dixon & Tayla Jackson

Cast (of 3): TBC

This listing is updated as cast/creatives are confirmed in the lead-up to the production, and if there are changes to the team.

Special Thanks to Darkinjung, Dharug, Wiradjuri and Palawa communities.

Dates + Ticketing

Season: 12/09 - 27/09 (previews 12/09 & 13/09, opening night [invitation only] 14/09)

Times: Tues-Fri 7pm, Sat 2pm & 7pm, Sun 5pm

Ticket Prices:

  • Previews: $29.70 + booking fee

  • Cheap Tuesday: $38.50 + booking fee

  • Adult: $49.50-82.50 + booking fee

  • Concession: $38.50-60.50 + booking fee

+ WAY BACK WHEN is offering an allocation of complimentary tickets to First Nations peoples. Please contact Virginia at boxoffice@oldfitztheatre.com.au to claim.

Approximate Run Time: 95 minutes

Content Warnings: Way Back When contains references to colonial violence, racism, and intergenerational trauma. The work includes strong language, depictions of physical violence and threats, as well as themes of grief, death, and psychological distress. There are also references to cultural erasure, child loss, supernatural elements, and vivid descriptions of fire and destruction. These themes are explored through a First Nations lens and may be confronting for some audience members.

Note: ticketing for Mainstage productions at the Old Fitz Theatre operate on a Dynamic Pricing model. This system means prices increase in line with audience demand (determined by capacity targets), and ensures we are able to provide cheaper tickets for a period whilst also making sure artists - who are often contracted on a profit share basis - get paid. In the interest of full transparency, the structure of the model can be viewed in full on our Welcome page. Concession tickets will never exceed $60.50, and previews and Cheap Tuesday’s will be capped at $38.50 and will not scale.