Fairies, Fantasy and a Few Thrust Issues
A saucy new comedy marks the beginning of an ambitious new theatre company with big plans for Byron’s stage.
There’s a new theatre company taking to the stage in Byron Bay, and it isn’t planning on making a quiet entrance.
This August, The Darling Theatre Company will present its first production at Byron Theatre: Thrust Issues, an original comedy written and directed by actor Joshua Sasse.
After a career spanning theatre, film and television around the world, including leading roles in Galavant and No Tomorrow, Sasse has turned his attention to building something closer to home: a professional-minded theatre company where actors can train, rehearse and perform together in the Byron Shire.
And for its opening act? A saucy fairy fantasy, a seemingly ordinary book club and a pair of Shakespearean troublemakers.
From Shakespeare to Saucy Fairy Fantasy
Thrust Issues takes its inspiration from two characters in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, transporting the mischievous world of the fairies into the unlikely setting of a contemporary book club.
“The play is essentially a follow-on of two characters from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream - the fairies Puk and Peaseblossom who are constantly getting into trouble; this time being sent to watch over a book club who have started reading a fairy fantasy novel (which is a hugely emerging - and very saucy - literary style).”
The result is a fast-moving farce in which fantasy and reality begin to collide, with the book club’s increasingly steamy reading material opening the door to much more than literary discussion.
For Sasse, the idea grew from both his love of British comedy and a conversation with a friend.
“I love farce comedy. I grew up on a diet of Monty Python and shows like The Vicar of Dibley and The Young Ones, which really lean in to that fast, witty, ridiculous dialogue set in the highly mundane and ordinary; and that was what got me onto the subject of the play. A friend of mine mentioned she was in a ladies book club - but that they read 'fairy fantasy' - and for me the juxtaposition of what could be quite a commonplace, unspectacular group, drenched in highly naughty ridiculous and, frankly - eroticised material - really tickled me and off I went!”
More Than a Laugh
While Thrust Issues promises plenty of mischief, its comedy masks something more vulnerable.
Underneath the fantasy, outrageous conversations and escalating farce is a story about loneliness, relationships and the private realities people conceal beneath everyday conversation.
Sasse says he is as interested in making an audience uncomfortable as he is in making them laugh.
“I embrace the gasps as much as the laughs. There was a theatre practitioner in New York called Sanford Meisner who was responsible for more Hollywood and Broadway stars than you could name - and one of his famous lines within his ‘method’ is that “words are liars”. We all lie to ourselves - and each other - we convince ourselves and one another of the story we craft for ourselves - when the chap at the checkout counter in Woolies asks “how are you doing”, what do we say? We say we’re “ok”. But we’re not; most of the time were dealing with death and divorce, mortgage and marriage, parenthood and pain - so I just liked the forum of a book club where people could just lay it out and be candid and unapologetic - its a book club that acts more like an un-anonymous AA.”
It’s this collision of the ridiculous and the real that gives Thrust Issues its bite. The characters may have gathered to escape into fiction, but it’s their own lives that ultimately provide the biggest plot twists.
Actor, writer and director Joshua Sasse launches a new theatre company in the Byron Shire with a wickedly funny original comedy: thrust issues - about fairies, fantasy, loneliness and the stories we tell ourselves.
Building a Theatre Company in Byron
Thrust Issues marks the beginning of Sasse’s larger ambition for The Darling Theatre Company.
Having started his career on the London stage before working internationally across film and television, Sasse wanted to bring something of the traditional touring theatre model to the Northern Rivers.
“I think any actor will tell you their greatest memories are rehearsing and performing in plays. I was so fortunate to be able to work with seasoned actors and practitioners from a variety of methods when I started out which, I think is the key to an actor really growing. I wanted to bring some of the old traditional touring theatre style - where actors learn as they perform - to Byron.”
At the heart of the company is the idea of “learning as we rehearse”, combining actor training with the experience of developing work for a live audience.
“I really value the traditional acting methods I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by in England - and I wanted to share the parts of those I have found practically useful in a professional sense. Before moving to America and working on screen, I toured for about eight years with a variety of companies when I started out - as all actors in the UK used to after Drama School - but the combination of learning and practicing your craft simultaneously, is, I think, the best way to put what you learn into practice with directors that know you and understand you and can tailor the methods to your own needs.”
For Sasse, talent alone isn’t enough. His ambition is to create an environment where Northern Rivers performers have the opportunity to develop their skills consistently and turn creative potential into sustainable craft.
“The same thing that excites me concerns me; because no matter how much talent we are blessed with - its worthless without skill. And in my experience, hard work outplays talent every time. So while I see a huge variety of talent, what I wish for more than ever is to try and be a part of a process that can hone it and craft it into something lasting and far-reaching, because I think Byron has the chance to be a huge theatrical hub in Australia if its talent is nurtured consistently. I hope we can do that.”
What Comes Next
With Thrust Issues opening the company’s first chapter, Sasse is already looking ahead.
The Darling Theatre Company operates on eight-week training cycles, with actors completing a course before becoming company members. Its second original production is already slated for the end of the year.
“Our next production is another new piece of writing called Playboy Girl - we are thrilled to premiere at the Byron Theatre in December about two Englishmen arriving from Margaret Thatcher’s grey London drizzle to the golden glow of Paul Hogan's 80s Australia.”
Ultimately, Sasse sees the potential for something much bigger: a theatre culture that develops local performers while attracting established actors back to the stage.
“What I would love more than anything is for Byron to occupy the same space as Bristol does in England one day. Bristol is the other side of the country from London, but because its drama school feeds actors into its theatre and it has stars returning to perform there after leaving, it has remained that way. I want to keep writing original plays for performers in the Byron Shire and be able to draw actors from major cities here to join and perform with us.”
For now, that vision begins with a book club, two mischievous fairies and a comedy that promises to be anything but restrained.
Thrust Issues premieres at Byron Theatre from 19–22 August 2026.
What happens when a quiet book club opens more than just a book? Where does fantasy end and reality begin? And what secret desires have been waiting to escape the page?
The Darling Theatre Company presents the premiere of Joshua Sasse’s bold, riotously funny new comedy. What begins as a seemingly innocent classical book club soon becomes devoted to an outrageously steamy fairy fantasy - quickly turning into something far more unexpected. As fantasy and reality blur, a tight-knit group of women (and man), discover that the real plot twists belong to the people reading the story.
Beneath the laughter and glitter, the story gently reveals the quiet isolation we each carry; the private worlds, the unspoken struggles, and the secret longings that sit just beneath the surface of ordinary life. As the women (and man) gather to escape into fiction, their relationships deepen in shocking and surprising ways; reminding us that connection often begins where pretence ends.
With razor-sharp dialogue, unapologetic humour, and just the right amount of mischief; this sparkling new production delivers big laughs with genuine heart and a knowing wink at modern relationships, marriage, friendship, and the stories we tell to survive them!
Irreverent, fast-paced, and wickedly self-aware, this is not just a “girls’ night out” it’s a smart, gutsy comedy for anyone who’s ever loved, lost, or ever felt alone in a crowded room.
Cheeky, clever, and just a little bit naughty - this is theatre with bite!
Performance Dates:
Wednesday 19 August – 4pm & 7.30pm
Thursday 20 August – 7.30 pm
Friday 21 August – 7.30 pm
Saturday 22 August – 1pm
Written and Directed by:
Joshua Sasse