37
This small coastal town's footy team has spent so long at the bottom of the ladder they might as well be welded to it. This year, hope arrives in the form of the Marngrook cousins, named for the Aboriginal game that inspired AFL, and match-fit to bring home the team's first flag in years.
Footy fan or not, 37 is a laugh-out-loud, powerhouse new Australian play, sweary, sweaty, and as sharp with its social commentary as it is with its laughs.
Set in the era of Adam Goodes's war cry and named for the number he immortalised, 37 throws ten actors into a world of blood and sweat to explore the values behind a national obsession: community, identity, and the price of winning.
Written by Nathan Maynard, twice named Tasmanian Aboriginal Artist of the Year and directed by Isaac Drandic (The Birthday Party, ABC's Cleverman), 37 also marks AACTA winner Ngali Shaw's return to the stage after his celebrated turn in Jacky.
37 is a reminder that honest conversations are more than a ball toss. It matters where you stand.