With housing affordability reaching crisis point across Australia, a bold new comedy is set to turn the spotlight on the people at the centre of it all – real estate agents.
Blending satire with sharp social commentary, The Agent dives headfirst into the absurdities of Australia’s property market. It is a fast-paced, unapologetically wacky spy spoof that asks: what if your real estate agent thought they were the hero of their own spy film?
And it’s just one of the treats at this year’s Anywhere Festival. From electricity substations, warehouses to houses, libraries to galleries, wine cellars to laneways, botanic gardens to the planetarium – anywhere in Brisbane becomes the stage this May for the 16th annual Anywhere Festival.
Anywhere Festival is Brisbane’s annual opportunity to discover nooks and crannies of Brisbane and experience the joy of live music, theatre, comedy and dance. There will be just under 300 performances from May 1 to 31 at more than 50 venues around Brisbane. The venues are often not what you’d expect because the Anywhere Festival generally happens anywhere other than a traditional theatre.
It is Brisbane’s unique home-grown festival where you can intimate shows while exploring Brisbane – all without breaking your budget, according to Anywhere Festivals’ artistic director Paul Osuch.
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The variety of shows on offer is dazzling and it’s a chance for new work to shine and a chance for people like playwright and actor Meryn Cooper to strut their stuff. Her show, The Agent, a punchy 60-minute affair, was “born out of my own frustrations with the housing market, first as a tenant and then as a first-home buyer”.
“It can be humiliating and dehumanising to the point where, if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry,” Cooper says. “So, I decided to channel those frustrations into a farce for stage.”
Behind the comedy lies a biting truth. With rising house prices, increasing mortgage stress and rental costs outpacing incomes, Australians are feeling the squeeze – and those on the frontlines of the property market are often caught in the middle. The Agent explores this tension with humour, heart and just the right amount of chaos.
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A former journalist, Cooper undertook extensive research while developing the work.
“I pored over news articles, listened to industry experts and fell down a rabbit hole of data comparisons and affordability reports,” she says. “But the real gold was in the anecdotes. Nine times out of 10, when I mentioned I was writing about home buying and real estate agents, people had a story to tell.”
At the centre of the play is Michelle Schrödinger (played by Cooper) – ambitious, self-obsessed and determined to be crowned Real Estate Agent of the Year. With her loyal and slightly clueless assistant Brad, and tech-savvy Joan by her side, Michelle sets out to dominate the market. But between a rival agent, a problematic property and the smooth voice of radio announcer Jock Lovegrove, her mission quickly spirals out of control.
The play also flips traditional gender dynamics, placing a powerful, unapologetic female character at the centre of a genre typically dominated by men. In doing so, The Agent playfully interrogates representation, power and perspective, without losing its sense of fun.
The Agent premieres on May 20 at Warehouse 25, Milton, as part of the Anywhere Festival.
There is a plethora of other shows on offer. Back from an epic 92-performance run at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, KMak and Angel Strings return to the planetarium Mt Coot-tha for a spectacular feast of music as you sit back and explore the universe.
The Artful Dodgers return with the hilarious Shakespeare and Star Wars mash up, this time taking on Episode V, otherwise known as Bard Wars Chapter The Fifth: The Empire Striketh Back.
There’s also Ruth Apelt’s Homage to Janis Ian at the Saturday Supper Club, held in a gorgeous West End Queenslander – and so much more.
Anywhere Festival takes place across Brisbane throughout May and is proudly supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland and Brisbane City Council.
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