Entertainment
22 February, 2026
Play will split audience
THE four-time Matilda Award–nominated new Australian work ‘Crossing the Divide’ will arrive in Cairns later this month for three performances only at Bulmba-ja Theatre on 25 and 26 February.
Fresh from four 2025 Matilda Award nominations, including best independent production, best ensemble production, best sound design/composition and the Lord Mayor’s award for best new Australian work, the production is presented by Gold Coast–based Shock Therapy Arts.
Crossing the Divide follows Liam, a scholarship student from the Torres Strait, on a high school history trek across the Great Dividing Range.
As the group revisits the 1813 expedition of Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson, tensions rise when Liam’s friend Max refuses to see how European settlement created anything but “a pathway to progress” and to acknowledge the First Nations’ history that Australia’s history books leave out.
Each performance runs for 60 minutes with no interval, followed by an optional post-show Q&A with cast and creatives.
Written, directed and performed by Sam Foster, Hayden Jones and Benjin Maza, the production features three actors portraying 13 different characters.
It combines humour and live music while posing questions about what is included, and importantly left out, of Australia’s national story.
The show features original sound design and composition by Dobby, who describes the work as powerful for its use of wit, humour and respect to reveal a true conversation between Indigenous Australia and settler-colonialism. Music is by Sam Foster, Benjin Maza and Dobby.
After premiering in 2024, Crossing the Divide will play Brisbane’s QPAC before heading to Far North Queensland, with Cairns one of only a handful of regional stops ahead of performances in Mackay and Toowoomba in March.
In Cairns, performances are scheduled for Wednesday 25 February at 6.30pm and Thursday 26 February at 10am and 1pm matinees. The production is suitable for grades 7 to 12 (ages 12-17) and adults.
For tickets visit www.bit.ly/4rsOduO
