Wild Abandon is a bold, sensual, multi-narrative drama coming to MELT Festival in 2026. A daring new work by Seán Dowling, Ian Lawson, and Merlynn Tong, it’s a funny, messy, and unexpectedly tender play about sex, intimacy, and the rules we make to feel safe.
Set across a single night in a nondescript hotel room, Wild Abandon follows three couples arriving with three different agendas — all chasing the same thing: permission. Permission to want what they want. Permission to break their own rules. Permission to be seen, without being swallowed whole by shame, expectation, or someone else’s fantasy.
It’s the final night of Lilly’s “free pass” from her marriage when, in a hotel bar, she meets Francis, a trans woman who’s tired of men wanting to test their queerness. Their connection moves fast, and defences come down, leaving them exposed to the worst of each other.
Serene and Jade are past lovers who promised to meet again in this hotel room if they’re single in five years. Sparks fly the moment they lay eyes on each other. However, as truths unravel, old wounds are excavated, and desires are undermined by lies they’ve told themselves.
In a hotel room, Jo is waiting alone. Mik is late. When he does turn up, this Grindr hook-up rapidly goes off-script as they struggle to connect. Facades crack, and maladaptive base instincts come to their defence.
Wild Abandon interrogates patterns we are nurtured into, where every character is challenged to find love for themselves as they desperately seek it in another.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHTS
SEÁN DOWLING is a transgender playwright, actor and editorialist based in Meanjin. Her work blends the tradition of the Seanchaí (pronounced “shan-a-kee”), the ancient Irish clan storyteller, with the modern “Obnoxious Online Opinion-Haver.”
She received the 2025 Varuna Trans and Gender Diverse Fellowship for her upcoming novel Unexploded Ordinance, and has been Playlab Theatre’s Playwright-in-Residence since 2021. Seán writes at the crossroads of sex, gender, politics and pop culture. After debuting with Playlab in 2024 with Unconditional (co-written with Cameron Hurry), Wild Abandon is her second major work.
MERLYNN TONG is a writer and actor whose stage credits include Legends (of the Golden Arches) (Performing Lines WA), The Poison of Polygamy (La Boite), Golden Blood (Griffin), Blue Bones (Playlab Theatre) and White Pearl (Sydney Theatre Company).
Her one-woman show Blue Bones won six Matilda Awards, including the Lord Mayor Award for Best New Work, Best Mainstage Production and Best Female Actor. Her work Golden Blood was shortlisted for a Victorian & NSW Premier’s Literary Award and a Sydney Theatre Award for Best New Australian Work.
IAN LAWSON is a multi-award-winning Director and Dramaturg known for developing and directing critically acclaimed works including Blue Bones, The Dead Devils of Cockle Creek, Magpie, Horizon, Slow Boat, White China and Big Yikes!. Ian was Associate Director at La Boite (2002–08), where he directed numerous productions, including My Love Had a Black Speed Stripe, Last Drinks, The Danger Age, and The Narcissist, and its return season for Sydney Theatre Company.
ABOUT PLAYLAB THEATRE
Playlab Theatre has been challenging perspectives on Australian society through excellence in theatre for more than 54 years. Unique nationally, we develop, produce and publish contemporary Australian stories—keeping playwrights at the centre of the creative process.
Wild Abandon is a Playlab Theatre Production, presented in partnership with Brisbane Powerhouse for MELT Festival. It runs 11 – 21 November 2026 at the Underground Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse.
Tickets are available here.
Website: https://brisbanepowerhouse.org/events/wild-abandon/
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/melt.fest/ and https://www.instagram.com/playlab_theatre/
Images supplied.
WARNING: Please note this production is R18+ and includes coarse language, adult themes, sexual content, and partial nudity.
CREATIVES Director Daniel Lammin Sound Wil Hughes Lighting Steven May Intimacy / Fight Choreographer NJ Price Cast Zac Callaghan, Julian Curtis, Seán Dowling, Jodie Le Vesconte, Anna McGahan, and Merlynn Tong
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