Entertainment
28 November, 2025
Twisted survival story
A NEW JUTE Theatre Company production exploring tragedy, media scrutiny and community folklore will premiere at Bulmba-ja Arts Centre on Friday 28 November and Saturday 29 November.
‘Cooked’, written by award-winning playwright Kathryn Ash and directed by Amber Grossmann, will feature graduates from JUTE’s Actors Studio Pathways program and is presented in partnership with Overall Arts.
Described as a dramatic comedy set in a small Queensland town, Cooked follows the ‘Electric Five’ – the survivors of a freak lightning storm that killed 17 young locals.
One year on, the group is reunited for a glossy television documentary billed as a celebration of resilience.
Instead, the cameras expose fractured truths, media manipulation, spiritual unease and the rise of a cult-like religious movement.
JUTE executive artistic director Chris Kohn said the work offered “a hearty serving of heartbreak and hilarity” and an “unnervingly relevant reflection of contemporary Australia”.
“Cooked dives into what happens when personal tragedy becomes a public spectacle and survival becomes a brand,” Mr Kohn said.
“This work digs into the fault lines beneath a community in crisis – the stories we cling to, the ones we rewrite and the ones that refuse to stay buried.”
Ms Ash said the collaboration with director Amber Grossmann, founder of Overall Arts, had brought the production to life through an ensemble of six early-career performers.
“Together, the characters create a vivid cross-section of young regional Australians – from Max, searching for meaning in the storm’s aftermath, to Wiggy, whose dark humour shields deep physical and emotional scars. The cast is extraordinary. It’s a beautiful example of JUTE’s pathways program and the magic that happens when young artists are supported to step into their power,” she said.
The production marks the latest outcome from JUTE’s commitment to developing emerging performers and offering new regional work to local audiences.
Cooked will be staged at Bulmba-ja Arts Centre, 96 Abbott Street, Cairns, at 7.30pm on Friday 28 November and Saturday 29 November.
Tickets are $25 or $18 concession, available at www.bit.ly/4rr5N2E
