Special Melbourne homecoming for life-saving physical theatre show
Andi Snelling is no stranger to the spotlight. A multi-award-winning performer, writer, and director with credits ranging from the BBC’s PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK to the West End stage, she has long mastered the art of transformation. But in HAPPY-GO-WRONG, the transformation is all too real.
Inspired by the true story of a life-altering tick bite and her subsequent battle with Lyme disease, HAPPY-GO-WRONG is a visceral, genre-defying solo physical theatre odyssey. In it, Snelling plays herself – and everyone else – as she navigates the brutal, beautiful, bewildering landscape of chronic illness and the resilience it demands.
Stranded behind “the fourth wall” in a metaphorical limbo, Snelling finds herself quite literally fighting for her life. What follows is a gripping theatrical experience that fuses poetic existentialism, clowning, rollerskating, and raw physicality with sublime precision. It’s a performance that doesn’t just break the fourth wall – it shatters it.
With a set crafted from brown paper that folds, crumples, and transforms along with her body, the visual metaphors are both tender and haunting. The result is a rollercoaster of form and feeling – from laugh-out-loud absurdity to quiet, gut-wrenching moments of surrender.
But don’t mistake this for a show about defeat. Quite the opposite. HAPPY-GO-WRONG is a celebration of second chances, of clawing one’s way back into life with grit, grace, and glitter. There’s a heavenly twist that we won’t spoil – but suffice to say, transcendence comes not in spite of pain, but because of it.
Making Happy-Go-Wrong saved my life. 7 years ago, I lay on a rehearsal room floor in Preston and unwittingly dreamed up what would become a career-defining show that has had a profound impact on so many audiences on so many stages, big and small. The longevity of this show and my own healing through performing it, is testament to the power of art to transform the impossible into possible. It is my deep honour to bring this special show back to my hometown where it all began for one, final hurrah. – Andi Snelling
Since its humble debut at Melbourne Fringe in 2019, the show has evolved into a critical and cultural touchstone. Garnering five awards, countless standing ovations, and five-star reviews, HAPPY-GO-WRONG has toured major stages across Australia, resonating with audiences from all walks of life. Now, in a deeply personal full-circle moment, it returns to Melbourne for its final farewell season – one last triumphant homecoming before the curtain falls.
Snelling’s journey is not just artistic – it’s alchemical. From physical collapse to creative resurrection, she has turned the invisible weight of chronic illness into something vivid, vital, and – above all – seen.
Alongside HAPPY-GO-WRONG, Snelling continues to make waves with her one-on-one poetry experience type-a-poet and her work as a speaker, creative coach, and facilitator. An alumna of the Creative Australia Arts Future Leaders program and graduate of London’s Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, she blends classical training with radical vulnerability.
Her past roles – from Brinda in NEIGHBOURS to voicing Qatar Airways inflight announcements – might seem a world away from the paper-and-pain-filled universe of HAPPY-GO-WRONG, but they all share the same throughline: a performer unafraid to be wholly, astonishingly human.
In the end, HAPPY-GO-WRONG isn’t just a show. It’s a lifeline – for anyone who’s ever felt trapped, for anyone who’s ever lost their voice, and for anyone still hoping for their second act.
Don’t miss your chance to witness the little show that could – and the unstoppable artist who did.
