Critically Acclaimed Indie Play ‘Gia Ophelia’ Returns to Lane Cove

Gia Ophelia returns to Lane Cove as part of Sydney Fringe Festival’s ‘Best of’ Week for just two nights at Pottery Lane Performance Space on 25 and 27 September. Gia Ophelia is a critically acclaimed one-woman show starring Annie Stafford and directed by Jo Bradley, Sydney Fringe Festival 2025’s ‘Best Emerging Artist’.

Gia Ophelia was nominated for ‘Best in Theatre’ for its world premiere season at Sydney Fringe last year and has since had critically acclaimed seasons at KXT on Broadway and Canberra Theatre Centre. Writer Grace Wilson believes Gia Ophelia’s success is “because we, frankly, put what theatre doesn’t want you to see on stage. We sold out our Fringe season and then sold out our return at KXT on Broadway at the start of this year because of that.”

The plot centres on Gia, an actress who is ageing out of the arts as she struggles with infertility and a stalling acting career. Gia just wants to play Ophelia one last time. However, when a disastrous acting residency sends her dream spiralling out of control, she is forced to look at her priorities while she goes through the conflicts of motherhood, infertility and a youth that is quickly passing her by. Gia is forced to reckon with her identity as a woman and an artist. It’s her last chance to take on Ophelia and this time she’s going to get it right. She has to.

The play focuses on the universal experience of chasing your dreams even when the world keeps them just out of reach. Grace Wilson stated, “I’ve always found the obsessed artist trope fascinating, especially through the lens of women.” I expect this is an experience almost every person can relate to, especially women as they age or go through motherhood. The belief that a woman can have it all has been heavily criticised over the last few decades, with many believing it sets unrealistic expectations and puts heavy pressure on women as they juggle careers and other responsibilities. Jo Bradley stated that while this is a play about the performing arts industry and the pressure on female actors to stay young forever, it is fundamentally about “what happens to dreams when they aren’t fulfilled and how they can haunt you.”

As cost-of-living pressures have risen, we’re asked to compromise more and more. Our dreams and ambitions are put aside for stability. As Grace Wilson put it:

Gia Ophelia balances scathing wit that will have you laughing along with a devastatingly intimate portrayal of a woman ageing out of the arts. Jo Bradley felt audiences found “themselves in a drama not quite realising it’s a drama and then it is,” because Gia is “very funny… she’s hitting you with jokes and you’re laughing along but then things happen to her that are upsetting.”

The one-woman format emphasises this, with Gia speaking directly to the audience. As the only character on stage, Gia is someone the audience gets to know very deeply. Jo Bradley discussed her love of smaller casts: “I haven’t done a really big cast play but you simply can’t be that detailed when there’s ten people in your cast.” The character of Gia, played by Annie Stafford, promises to draw you in completely. Bradley had many compliments for Stafford, saying “it’s literally all her. She’s got nowhere to hide and so that is a big draw.”

Please let yourself have the opportunity to meet and get to know Gia on 25 and 27 September at Pottery Lane Performance Space, and watch a play that, as Jo Bradley put it, has “genuinely the most exciting, up and coming young female playwright in Sydney with a brilliant actor.”

If you want to find yourself laughing and then being brought to tears, you can find tickets for Gia Ophelia on the Sydney Fringe website.