“I want twenty-five thousand pounds by this afternoon, or I’ll feed him to the sharks.”

In June 1960, travelling salesman Bazil Thorne won 100,000 pounds in the Opera House Lottery.

Five weeks later jubilation turned to tragedy when Bazil’s eight-year-old son Graeme was kidnapped and held to ransom.

On 16 August, 1960, Graeme’s body was found in bushland at Seaforth.

Gods and Little Fishes is loosely based on this tragic event. Rather than a factual retelling, this magical play interprets the story through the lens of a father’s overwhelming grief and a child’s imagination.

Switching from a floating shipwreck to a 1950’s suburban kitchen, the writers tap into Australian theatre’s vaudeville roots to tell a darkly comic tale about one of Sydney’s grimmest tragedies.

Winner of the Silver Gull Play Award, 2020

CREATIVE TEAM

Director Richard Sydenham
Assistant Director Jamie Oxenbould
Lighting Designer Grant Fraser