FALL
by Michele Lee
Directed by Beng Oh
A world premiere. One night. Three people.
And no easy way out.
(on sale soon, stay tuned)
Northern Laos, 1975. A country is falling apart. And three people are running out of time.
As the Communist takeover closes in, an Australian teacher preparing to leave Laos is unexpectedly reunited with Mai, his former student — a young Hmong woman fleeing persecution. For one night, their fragile sanctuary becomes a place of refuge, memory and uneasy trust.
Then an unexpected guest arrives.
As tensions rise and long-buried truths surface, Paul and Mai are forced to confront what they owe each other, and what they are willing to do to survive.
Written by award-winning playwright Michele Lee and directed by critically acclaimed Beng Oh, Fall is a gripping historical drama exploring love, loss, identity, and the lasting human cost of war. Intimate, suspenseful, and deeply moving, this powerful three-hander asks what we owe one another when the world is falling apart.
Content warning: This production contains themes of war, racism, ethnic persecution, sexual violence, physical violence, murder, grief, refugee displacement, alcohol use, and discussions of trauma. Recommended for mature audiences.
Creative Team
Director: Beng Oh
Writer: Michele Lee
Production Manager/Marketing coordinator: Lansy Feng
Stage Manager/Assistant Production Manager: Yang Xiao
Set/Costume Design: Silvia Shao
Lighting Design: Shane Grant
Sound Design: Josh Mitchell
Publicist: Emma Drysdale
Tech Operator: Riley Pento
Cast: Gabriel Partington, Rebecca Vincent, Henry Vo
Michele Lee
Michele Lee is a multiple award-winning Hmong-Australian writer for stage, screen, audio and live art, with work presented in Australia and overseas. She is under commission from Griffin Theatre and Melbourne Theatre Company and was a recipient of the prestigious Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship (2022-23)
Across her creative work, she aims to centre the stories of those historically on the margins—women, people of colour, working-class people, and people from her community, the Hmong.
Michele has been nominated or won some of Australia’s most recognised awards such as the Australian Writers’ Guild Award and Griffin Award. We are thrilled to be working with Michele.
Beng Oh
Beng is a critically regarded director and theatre maker who has staged a wide range of productions. He’s passionate about diversity, new work and queer theatre. He trained at the Victorian College of the Arts and is a member of the Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab in New York. He is co-artistic director, with playwright Jane Miller, of 15 Minutes from Anywhere Inc. Recent productions include Handel’s Serse and the Australian premiere of Missy Mazzoli’sSong from the Uproar: the Lives and Deaths of Isabelle Eberhardt (both for Lyric Opera of Melbourne), Soul of Possum by Brodie Murray (Fortyfivedownstairs), Mr Big: aka Tatay, A Transwoman and That Tiring Tune! by Dax Carnay-Hanrahan (Tayotayo Collective), Soldier Boy by Anthony Hill (Theatre Works) and Fuel by Robert Reid (Motley Bauhaus). More information at bengoh.com
This production is proudly supported by Maribyrnong City Council’s 2023-2026 Triennial Arts Partner funding and The Bowery Theatre.
We thank Hop Nation Brewing Co. and Jen Pfeiffer Wine for their generous donations to our bar for this production and Boilerhouse Theatre Company for tech equipment support.
Silvia Shao is a set and costume designer with a passion for conceptual and abstract art, always eager to explore new creative possibilities. She completed a Master of Design for Performance at the Victorian College of the Arts in 2022, the same year she made her professional debut with set and costume design for Caught (Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre). Her most recent work includes the set design for MSC’s Romeo & Juliet.
Though formally trained in set and costume design, Silvia thrives on collaboration across disciplines. She believes there is no boundary to what she can do, either as a ‘designer’ or as a ‘human’, an ideology carrier. Silvia is proud to be a 2025–2026 Melbourne Theatre Company Future Creative.