SUPERHEROES presented by Bodysnatchers

Diane Cilento Studio, Queensland Theatre, Brisbane

7 Nov – 22 Nov 2025

Dr Gemma Regan

A well executed production of a harrowing tale of two women in conflict

Bodysnatchers has delivered a moving and simply executed iteration of SUPERHEROES, an Australian play that won both the Patrick White and Griffin playwriting awards in 2019, plus Best Production in the 2022 Matilda Awards. It is a challenging tale of two women in two cities on opposing hemispheres, both suffering from conflicts in November 2017.

Playwright Mark Rogers created the two-stranded narrative in 2018 while eagerly awaiting his impending fatherhood. However, it is not a play for the faint-hearted with potentially triggering subjects, with a flyer included with the program for Audience Care giving a list of helpline contacts.

Despite the play only having three actors and four characters on stage, the small ensemble is adroit in guiding the audience through a harrowing time in the lives of two young women.  In Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Jana (Milena Barraclough Nesic) is exposed to the reality of the aftermath of the European refugee crisis with two heart-rending experiences while shopping.

Meanwhile, Emily, energetically played expertly by Rachel Nutchey, is near Wollongong in New South Wales, grappling with her conflicts of interest around her boyfriend Simon (Ethan Lwin).

The play opens with the response of Jana’s family to witnessing Slobodan Praljak’s public suicide at The Hague, whilst being accused of war crimes. 

Nesic speaks in Bosnian with dialogue and translations above the scene for each character. It is a hard-hitting but confusing opening, thrusting the audience into a dialogue with little context. As the play progresses, more context unfolds, portraying dramatic insights into the European conflict, with director Sanja Simić being a daughter of refugees from the former Yugoslavia.

Nutchey is a red-headed Aussie feminist conflicted by her feelings for her daggy ex-boyfriend and the life growing within her. Her kick-ass attitude causes further conflicts within as she rails against the norm whilst idealising her potential future family. 

The scenes flicker between the two women who are simultaneously experiencing conflicts. The scenes are mostly dark, with an empty stage, two chairs and a few props used throughout. Both actresses are spellbinding in telling their tale, using their physical presence to act out each scene whilst also narrating.

Lwin plays the two male characters convincingly, with Simon, the AWOL boyfriend, pretending to be the good guy and Dino, a refugee that Jana causes a conflict with on the bus. Both Nesic and Nutchey work well with Lwin, seamlessly convincing the audience of each situation and character.

SUPERHEROES is a confusing play about people claiming responsibility for their own actions, which I do not feel either female did. The quote "No one’s going to tell you the right thing to do ” hangs over the narrative like a carrot that is never grasped. It is written about female conflicts, but I was unconvinced that either female character would have responded that way in reality. 

The writer Rogers gives a male perspective on how each woman would react in certain female-oriented situations. It causes a disparity in the characters that heightens the impact of each conflict, making it seem fictional.

Overall, Bodysnatchers produced an excellent and harrowing depiction of two women at their breaking point, both actresses displaying exemplary storytelling skills without the need for any bells or whistles.