Written by Grace Wilson. JB Theatre Co in association with Bakehouse Theatre. KXT on Broadway. 11-15 Feb, 2026.
What’s the appeal of actors playing actors on stage? What do plays about plays tell us? Is this just “write what you know”, or some kind of catharsis, an exorcism of your creative demons? Whatever it is, it’s bloody good theatre.
Which brings me to Grace Wilson’s well-observed Gia Ophelia. After hitting at Sydney Fringe in 2025, the production gets a short second life at KXT on Broadway, and it’s worth rushing to see.
What begins as a comedy about the life of a young actor descends into melancholy & madness as Gia (Annie Stafford) fights to pursue her dream of playing Hamlet’s doomed love interest.
Stafford gives a complete 360-degree performance as Gia, a 29 year old struggling actress at a crossroads. She has a youthful connection to Ophelia, a role she feels she can really embody if someone would only cast her. Meanwhile day-to-day life stuff like paying the bills, auditions, maintaining a relationship, are starting to scream more loudly in her ears. Her partner wants to have a child and settle down – but Gia wants to be playing the tortured Ophelia, not the maternal Gertrude, and she’s not ready to give up just yet.
The first two thirds of this sharp, 60 minute play are caustically funny as playwright Grace Wilson pokes at the foibles and insecurities of life in the performing arts. But the writing never descends too far down the “actor speak” rabbit hole. Wilson keeps things accessible while still leaning into the specificity. It’s a very entertaining blend of sarcasm and sincerity, love and loathing that propels the work.
In the final third the penny drops. Slight spoilers ahead for anyone who hasn’t read the synopsis online. Gia is running away from the commitment of her relationship because she has learnt that she is infertile. As her mind wraps itself around the implications of this fact, Gia bounces from impulse to impulse pushing her way through stages of grief that may drive her insane.
It’s here the energy drops (depression will do that to you) and the story flounders for a moment. For about 5 minutes of stage time I worried the production had lost its spark. But I was wrong – it has merely morphed into a new form to deliver its final blow as Gia embodies Ophelia is ways she didn’t predict.
Director Jo Bradley brings this all to life by keeping Gia almost always on her feet – moving around the stage with a nervous energy – till the moment she hits a wall. Stafford is ever engaging as she brings us into the world from Gia’s point of view, and Bradley has crafted the performance for maximum momentum.
Gia Ophelia boasts genuinely excellent lighting (Holly Nesbitt) and sound design (Otto Zagala) worthy of a much larger production. I’m assuming this is a perk of moving from “fringe” to “independent” theatre – a space with more resource. This short run has a level of polish and technical storytelling that amplifies the already excellent writing and performance. I’d be intrigued to see what this production team could do with even more time, and more money – but to be frank, they don’t need it. This works perfectly as it is.
If you’re wondering whether to see or not to see (see what I did there), I’d implore you to book ASAP and jump in. With only a handful of performances left don’t wait.
Cultural Binge 
Leave a comment