OBSERVER: Smoke


Hugo Gutteridge’s dark comedy Smoke will debut for a strictly limited season at the Theatreworks Explosive Factory, St Kilda from November 18-28.
Directed by Bagryana Popov and starring a host of young Melbourne-based actors including Sam Buckley (37), Lachlan Hamill (Berlin), Cassidy Dunn (Beyond the Neck) and Hugo Gutteridge (Death of a Salesman), Smoke is written in the voice and style of Melbourne’s youth.
An early morning in an inner-city club starts to meld into the surreal as its smoking area becomes a stage for ghosts of the past, inter-dimensional drug dealers and existential dread.
Smoke is said to reflect the feelings of young adults of the city’s nightlife in the 21st century – to reveal the anxiety, the apathy and confusion, as well as the hope and the desire for connection and love.
Playwright/producer Gutteridge says, “It is a love letter to Melbourne’s club culture and to those hours before dawn when almost anything could happen.”
Performance Season: November 18-28
Venue: TheatreWorks Explosive Factory, St Kilda.
Duration: 90 minutes without intermission
Bookings: https://www.theatreworks.
org.au/2026/smoke
Cheryl Threadgold

Pictured: From top left: Will Hall, Tyrie Aspinal, Cassidy Dunn, Shamita Siva and Oriana Morris-Johnson in Smoke.