REBIRTH AND RECKONING IN A LOVE LETTER TO EARTH: LA BOITE THEATRE AND PLAYLAB THEATRE PRESENT SECOND COMING

La Boite Theatre and Playlab Theatre will stage the world premiere of Second Coming, a new tragicomedy of galactic proportions, at the Roundhouse Theatre from 6 to 22 August 2026.

True to La Boite’s reputation for putting the whole world on show, Second Coming is a love letter to Earth that turns one of the biggest questions of our time - what does the future look like? - into courageous, heartfelt theatre.

Set in 2065, the play follows geneticist Evie and the crew of the ARK MARK II as they race to rescue every species they can, two by two, for a new beginning on Mars.

Behind the mission is GENESIS, a corporate superpower selling salvation through a slick marketing campaign, with lions, Javan warty pigs and creatures of all kinds bound for purpose-built biomes in 'The Second Eden'.

Everything unravels when Evie discovers she is pregnant, followed by a shocking truth that forces the crew to question everything they thought they knew.

Award-winning playwright Kathryn Marquet, returning to La Boite for her third production, brings the environmental passion that drives much of her writing.

"Second Coming is big, funny and a little bit ridiculous, but underneath it is a serious question about how we treat the only home we have," Marquet said.

"I want people to laugh, then catch themselves thinking about Earth, about responsibility, about the kind of future we are actually building. After all, if we cannot get it right here, Mars will not save us."

The stellar local cast features Ashlee Lollback as Evie, alongside Gideon Mzembe, Anthony Standish and Merlynn Tong.

Lollback returns to Marquet's work after appearing in Pale Blue Dot, this time leading the company as a woman holding the fate of every living thing while her own world tips upside down.

"Evie is fierce, funny and completely out of her depth, which is exactly what makes her so easy to love," Lollback said.

"This show throws everything at you: big laughs, real stakes and a question you cannot shake on the way home. That is the kind of theatre I want to be part of."

Underneath the comedy lies a sharp look at corporate power, oligarchy and the need for new ethics in a world driven by boundless capitalism.

Second Coming brings together a star-studded creative team drawn from the best in the Australian industry.

Director and Artistic Director of Playlab Theatre Ian Lawson said the show's environmental conscience runs through the production itself, with recycled materials worked into its design.

"This is a big, theatrical, genre-bending ride, but it never loses its heart," Lawson said.

"It felt wrong to tell a story about caring for the planet and then send a set to landfill at the end of the run, so sustainability has shaped the way we have built it.

"We want audiences to leave entertained and a little bit changed."

Set and costume designer Bill Haycock, composer and sound designer Wil Hughes and lighting designer Geoff Squires bring their extensive creative expertise to the process to help bring the story to life for audiences.

Second Coming plays La Boite's Roundhouse Theatre from 6 to 22 August 2026, with its opening night on Saturday 8 August.