Fly Girl (Ensemble) ★★★★½

Written by Genevieve Hegney & Catherine Moore. World Premiere. Ensemble Theatre. 17 Oct – 22 Nov, 2026.

With a lightness of touch, Genevieve Hegney and Catherine Moore’s Fly Girl is a colourful slice of triumph over the patriarchy. Based on the true story of Deborah Lawrie’s battle to become Australia’s first female commercial airline pilot, it has all the hallmarks of a feel-good hit of the summer – even if we’re still in spring.

Young Deborah Lawrie (Cleo Meink) has inherited her father’s love of aviation. Training since her teenage years, all she wants is to pilot aeroplanes – the bigger, the better. After earning her qualifications and becoming both a schoolteacher and flying instructor, she is still repeatedly rejected for Ansett’s commercial pilot training programme – despite the fact that her own students have successfully applied. But things change in 1977 with the introduction of the Victorian Equal Opportunity Act. When Lawrie files a complaint mere days after her wedding, she has no idea the case will span years as Reg Ansett and his team use every trick in the book to try to crush one woman’s dream to fly.

There’s a real buzz in the Ensemble Theatre pre-show, as a particularly rambunctious audience are clearly in a good mood. This is opening-night energy (despite the fact it’s a few nights after). The tone is pushed further by the pre-show addition of Ansett stewardesses in the aisles, greeting guests as they find their seats. I’ve not seen the Ensemble Theatre this alive in… well, ever!

And that vibe doesn’t stop. Fly Girl has the energy and optimism of a musical, not a legal drama. Grace Deacon’s set and costumes are an explosion of bright orange. It instantly evokes a sense of joy – and maybe naivety. This is peak 70s. The cast all play up to the campy, comedic tone. Despite the story’s inherent tensions, the mood never dips. We’re here to celebrate Lawrie’s triumphs; the setbacks are like pantomime villains we can boo and hiss at.

Hats off to Hegney and Moore for crafting this outwardly sugary confection of a play, and to director Janine Watson for her excellent sense of timing and tone. Together they mine constant micro-moments of silliness without spoon-feeding the audience – whether it’s the slow pace of dialling a rotary landline or the lack of options in in-flight catering – and there’s a constant undercurrent of reassuring schadenfreude, knowing that Ansett itself will eventually fail. This all combines to let the team have their cake and gleefully smash it into Reg Ansett’s face too.

The excellent cast of five (playwrights Genevieve Hegney and Catherine Moore are joined by Emma Palmer, Alex Kirwan and Meink) play dozens of roles, necessitating a succession of increasingly outrageous costume changes. By Act Two, even the pretence of leaving the stage to switch is discarded – their transformation becomes a public ballet during the scene changes. Each new character is stamped quickly and clearly as their own comic creation.

The real beauty of Fly Girl is that it isn’t just froth and one-liners. Hegney and Moore have a knack for slipping the lessons in under the radar, and Watson lands the emotional heart at just the right moment. It’s rare to see a play that has the audience applauding mid-scene, celebrating Lawrie’s every triumph.

At times, the script does feel like it’s a screenplay (lots of short scenes, a linear narrative of triumph), and I could see this becoming a fun film – anyone in commissioning listening? – or being expanded into a stage musical. (I’m serious: the emotional highs and lows would work well in song, and we have a good, clear villain in Reg Ansett – the positive shout-out to a prominent media mogul might even make fundraising a bit easier.) What it lacks in bite, it makes up for sheer enjoyment – this is as close to a four quadrant hit as I’ve seen on stage in ages.

As the play ended, it became clear why there was an extra buzz in the air: Deborah Lawrie herself was sitting behind me and joined the cast for the bows. Now in her 70s, she’s still an active pilot and a Member of the Order of Australia (AM). Meanwhile, Ansett Airways was liquidated in 2002 after a financial collapse, returning earlier this year as an “AI-powered travel agency” – which sounds horrific. As George Herbert said, “Living well is the best revenge”!