Agony (KXT Underground)

Written by Mariika Mehigan. KXT Underground. 16-25 May, 2026.

Note: KXT Underground is a home for low-tech, low-cost, high-risk work giving artists space to hone their work. I’m not giving star ratings to the KXT Underground season.

After a run at Sydney Fringe last year, Mariika Mehigan’s Agony makes the move to the KXT Vault, with most of the original cast, using the sexual politics of the 1970s as the backdrop for dual stories of awakening.

Tanya (Louie O’Carroll) is an agony aunt for Honey magazine, writing sympathetic responses to women’s concerns about sex. This is the ’70s — the sexual revolution and second-wave feminism are still sending ripples through society. One letter is from teenager Bronnie (Laetitia Opie), who’s just had sex with her boyfriend Dean (Sophie Newby) for the first time — it was less than satisfying. Meanwhile, Tanya’s bosses are growing increasingly frustrated by her progressive replies, just as her own sensitive boyfriend Sean (Callum Wilson) is equally frustrated by their lack of a sex life.

The young cast are all doing great work here — being the show’s second run means that, despite it being their very first performance at KXT, most are now clearly comfortable with their roles. Louie O’Carroll has strong “quirky librarian” energy that gives the earnest Tanya a loveable appeal on stage. Her passion for causes and for educating women clashes neatly with Callum Wilson’s Sean, trying hard to be a sensitive new-age man but failing miserably. Sophie Newby is another highlight, bringing a gently rebellious edge to Kay that is magnetic. Laetitia Opie’s Bronnie is sparky but confused — a young woman trying to figure out what she really wants from sex, life and the future.

Mehigan squeezes in a lot of story into the sub-sixty-minute running time, mining the relative sexual innocence of the ’70s, and the awkward aftermath of the sexual revolution, for plenty of comedy — there is a real air of ’70s sitcom about many of the early scenes. The tension between the indie feminist writing and the diffusion of ideas though mass market magazines is a really nice touch. The specifics of the characters feel fresh despite covering familiar territory, the emotional beats land, and the comedy is fun and well-observed — even if it isn’t always well balanced with the story’s emotional drama. Director Izzy Rizzo handles the dual narrative with a sure hand in the small space — the intimacy of the KXT Vault works in their favour as well.

So much story however means that inevitably some characters get short shrift. Tanya’s new gay best friend Roman (Barney Scott) in particular feels either underused or redundant, depending on your point of view, and a decision to double-cast Newby as both Kay (Bronnie’s best friend) and Dean (Bronnie’s boyfriend) is distracting, and detracts rather than enhances the storyline.

As both Tanya and Bronnie come to understand their sexuality from different angles, there is a bittersweet note to their conclusions. Mehigan deserves credit for landing the story here — there is a nuance to the writing that goes deeper than simplistic coming-out storylines with Pollyannaish endings.

Agony is an entertaining and genuinely interesting work from a writer with a solid comic sensibility and real emotional intelligence. A little more focus — either expanding to do full justice to its characters and ideas, or trimming to hit the emotions harder — would help it fulfil its promise.