World premiere play 37 tackles Australia’s greatest obsession: Footy

A new play about a down-and-out regional football team, set within the era of Adam Goodes’ heartfelt war cry during an AFL Indigenous Round match, will have its world premiere at Southbank Theatre with previews beginning on 2 March.

Deftly written by Nathan Maynard – twice named Tasmanian Aboriginal Artist of the Year – 37 is the fourth collaboration between Maynard and director Isaac Drandic (The Birthday Party, ABC’s Cleverman), and a return to the stage for recent AACTA Award Winner Ngali Shaw (The Twelve) following his acclaimed turn in Melbourne Theatre Company’s 2023 production Jacky.

This production, named after the number Goodes immortalised, 37, follows a disheartened football team as their fortunes start to change when new recruits the Marngrook cousins – named after the Aboriginal game that inspired AFL – join the team, but tensions off the field start to dash any hope of them capturing the flag.

Packed with laughs, this powerhouse production explores the physical and psychological demands that a football team faces under the Friday night lights. Featuring an ensemble of 10 performers, this highly physical play is co-choreographed by the award-winning Waangenga Blanco, who spent 14 years as senior dancer with Bangarra Dance Theatre.

“37 is a searing piece of social commentary and we’re proud to have commissioned this new Australian play through our NEXT STAGE Writers’ Program” says Melbourne Theatre Company’s Artistic Director & CoCEO Anne-Louise Sarks. “Is there a greater national obsession than AFL? From major cities to the regional centres, playing, watching or even avoiding football represents an unparalleled cross-section of Australian life and makes the game the perfect setting for a story of community, identity and reconciliation.”