This June, The Sutherland Pavilion will make a significant theatrical debut, presenting the Helpmann Award-winning play Toy Symphony, written and directed by Michael Gow.
Presented exclusively for the venue’s 50th anniversary, the production marks the first professional Sydney staging of Toy Symphony since its acclaimed 2007 premiere at Belvoir Company B, where critics praised Gow’s “superbly crafted” script (Variety) and its “inventive, original, cheeky, mature, funny” plot (Stage Noise).
In a rare playwright-as-auteur moment, Gow returns to his most autobiographical work to direct it professionally for the first time, reclaiming the text in the very location that shaped it. Like the play’s protagonist Roland, Gow revisits the emotional and physical memories of the Sutherland Shire in an act of creative homecoming that mirrors the play’s central theme: no matter how far an artist travels, it’s the quiet gravity of childhood imagination that constantly tugs on your creative voice.
Toy Symphony follows writer Roland, first introduced in Gow’s earlier work Furious, as he grapples with crippling writer’s block. Through sessions with his therapist, Roland is propelled between present reality and memories of his childhood in the Shire. The play interrogates the fragility of creativity – what happens when inspiration falters, and how an artist reconciles the noise of life with the act of making art.
Award-winning actor Sam O’Sullivan takes on the demanding role of Roland, bringing credits across stage and screen including productions with Ensemble Theatre, Belvoir St. Theatre and Sport for Jove, along with appearances in NCIS: Sydney, Home and Away and The F-Ward.
The play’s namesake references the 18th-century composition, Toy Symphony, a whimsical work of long disputed authorship, originally composed for strings and children’s toy instruments. Its playful dissonance becomes a poignant metaphor within Gow’s drama: the delicate, sometimes chaotic orchestra of memory, creativity and identity.
“It is a rare opportunity to direct one’s own work, let alone in the suburbs where it was born,” says Gow. “The Sutherland Shire played a pivotal role in my creative upbringing, and many of the stories within the play are set here. Returning now, not just as playwright but as director, feels like completing a full circle.
“This work is deeply personal and asks what happens to creatives when the ideas suddenly stop. In a post-COVID arts landscape increasingly dominated by safe IP, reinventions and AI-led entertainment, I hope audiences will reflect on what it still means to be truly creative in 2026, and how we rediscover meaning in what we make.”
First staged in 2007, Toy Symphony went on to win the Helpmann Award for Best New Australian Work (2008), alongside Best New Work and Best Mainstage Production at the Sydney Theatre Awards (2007).
This landmark new production positions Toy Symphony not only as a celebrated Australian classic, but as a timely reflection on authorship, originality and artistic identity – staged where its story began and shaped by the voice that first imagined it. In keeping with the production’s spirit of creative homecoming, members of the cast will be selected from emerging and established performers within the Sutherland Shire, ensuring that local artists are at the heart of this major Sydney return. Full cast details to be announced in May, 2026.
Toy Symphony will run from 18-20 June, 2026 at The Sutherland Pavilion. Tickets go on sale Thursday 5 March, 2026 at: tickets.thepavilionarts.au
About the Production:
Billing: Pavilion Presents: Toy Symphony, Written and Directed by Michael Gow
Tagline: A Creative Homecoming
Dates: June 18-20, 2026
Location: The Sutherland Pavilion – 30 Eton Street, Sutherland NSW 2232
Tickets: $80 – Adult, $70 – Concession, $55 – Under 30s
Link: tickets.thepavilionarts.au
About Toy Symphony:
Toy Symphony is the eleventh play by Michael Gow, revisiting the character of Roland Henning, first introduced in Furious. Now, Roland has writer’s block. It’s not that he lacks ideas – he’s just frozen, trapped by every artist’s worst fear: the inability to put pen to paper.
Guided by his therapist, Roland moves between past and present, revisiting key memories from his childhood in the Sutherland Shire and confronting the experiences that brought him to this juncture. Funny, fiercely articulate, and disarmingly honest, Toy Symphony captures the frustrations, absurdities, and quiet triumphs of personal creativity. Shire-born playwright Michael Gow returns to this Helpmann Award-winning work to direct it professionally for the first time, exclusively for The Sutherland Pavilion’s 50th Anniversary.
About Michael Gow:
Michael Gow is one of Australia’s most acclaimed playwrights, known for landmark works including Away, Furious, Toy Symphony, The Kid, On Top of the World, Sweet Phoebe and Europe. He translated Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children for Belvoir, and has held senior artistic roles as Associate Director of Sydney Theatre Company and Artistic Director of Queensland Theatre Company. Gow has directed extensively for major Australian theatre companies, as well as Opera Australia and international programs including Lincoln Center’s New Visions New Voices. His awards include two NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, two Sydney Theatre Critics Circle Awards, and an AFI Award for the ABC miniseries Edens Lost.
About Sam O’Sullivan
Sam is an award-winning writer and actor who has worked with the likes of Ensemble Theatre, Belvoir St. Theatre, Outhouse Theatre, Darlinghurst Theatre, Griffin Independent, Mophead Productions and Sport for Jove. He was nominated for Sydney Theatre Awards for his performances in Punk Rock and Journey’s End. Other theatre credits include, Constellations, Kill the Messenger, My Zinc Bed, No End of Blame, The Norman Conquests Trilogy, Nearer the Gods, Midnight Murder at Hamlington Hall and Consent. His screen credits include the feature films Mad Extravagant City and Crossing Paths and television series The F-Ward, NCIS: Sydney, The People Vs Robodebt, Class of 07, Amazing Grace, Black Comedy, On the Ropes, Packed to the Rafters, Wonderland and Fast Tracks, among others.
