SHOOK by Samuel Bailey

“This moment in your life, this place here, doesn’t have to define you”
Australian Premiere

Locked up in a dangerous youth offenders’ institution, teenagers Riyad and Cain trade insults, barter for sweets, and dream of their imminent fatherhood. When they meet conspicuously quiet new inmate Jonjo at a parenting skills course, they speculate what kind of crime brought him inside.

Over several months, guided by no-nonsense social worker Grace, the boys take a rare opportunity to explore their masculinity, relationships, and future ambitions. Will they take action to escape the system for good, or remain and stay shook?

The Australian premiere of this energetic, abrasive, and savagely funny drama is a hard-hitting but refreshingly honest tale of the voiceless in society. Winner of the UK Papatango New Writing Prize 2019, Bailey’s play asks if those raised with the odds stacked against them can ever truly break the cycle.

???? – The Times, The Stage, Evening Standard, WhatsOnStage, Sunday Times, The I

“Samuel Bailey’s knockout professional debut rings with fresh truth” – The New York Times

“Astonishingly brilliant…one of the best debut plays I have ever seen” – Saturday Review, BBC Radio Four

Cast & Creatives

Producing Company: Lost Thought

Playwright: Samuel Bailey

Director & Producer: Emma Whitehead

Assistant Director: Atharv Kolhatkar

Assistant Producers: Jack Calver & Ryan Whitworth

Set and Costume Designer: Lochie Odgers

Lighting Designer: Priyanka Martin

Composer: Oran Harkin

Creative Marketing: Becky Matthews

Cultural Consultant: Naser Ali

Prisons Consultant: Philip Greenhow

Cast: Louis Regan, Malek Domköc, Isaac Harley, Edyll Ismail

Content warnings

Shook contains very strong language and loud noises. The production includes references to suicide, self-harm, domestic violence, gangs, and drug use. There are scenes of a violent nature, sexually explicit language, and occasions of homophobic, misogynistic, ableist, and racist language. Age advisory 14+.

Approximate run time

90 minutes (no interval)

Lockout: Please note this production has a hard lockout, and latecomers unfortunately cannot be admitted.

Accessibility: The Substation can only be accessed via a steep flight of stairs. Should you have any concerns about accessing this venue, please contact rniven@qtopiasydney.com.au

An Amateur Production By Arrangement with ORiGiN™ Theatrical, on behalf of Nick Hern Books.