What a special moment it was to tread the boards — even for just a few moments — at La Mama Theatre last Friday. On October 10th, we had the privilege of presenting what we’ve been developing as part of our six-month La Mama Residency: Wing Attack, Here If You Need.
The residency, driven by myself and fellow artist and award winning writer Lisa Dallinger, has been a rare and beautiful opportunity to create something new — something that speaks to the experiences of women in their forties with honesty, humour, and heart.
The seed of this project came from a simple text message between my sister and me. We’d often end our chats with “WA” — shorthand for Wing Attack, a position in netball where players often call out “Here if you need.” While rarely needed in the actual game, those three words carried a quiet power: they meant “I’m here,” “I’ve got you,” “You’re not alone.”
That sentiment became the foundation for our new work — a comedy-drama exploring the invisible shift women experience as they move into their forties. It’s a time of transition that can feel both hilarious and heartbreaking: bodies shifting, identities unravelling, kids growing up, parents ageing, careers reshaping. So many women feel unseen during this phase, and we wanted to write something that says, “We see you. We’re with you. We’re here if you need.”
Because both Lisa and I are now regional artists, La Mama kindly supported a flexible structure for our residency. Over six months, we split our time between La Mama HQ and our hometowns — brainstorming weekends in Carlton, writing workshops with Perri Cummings from Cinema Viscera, and plenty of coffee-fuelled weekends in Warrnambool and Bacchus Marsh, where we immersed ourselves in local netball culture.
Our creative process included surveys and conversations with women in their forties — many of whom had lived experience with netball, whether as players or mothers cheering from the sidelines. Their voices helped shape our characters, storylines, and themes, grounding the play in authenticity and community.
By the end of the residency, we’d developed a full draft of Wing Attack, Here If You Need — now in its second version — and a strong sense of the tone, rhythm, and world of the piece.
For our final presentation at La Mama, we wanted to bring the spirit of community with us into the room — so we started with a raffle. It felt like the perfect way to pay homage to La Mama, whose generosity and support made this project possible, and to honour one of the core ideas of our piece: the sense of belonging that lives within every country netball or football club across Australia.
After the raffle, we shared a short excerpt from the beginning of the play to give our audience a glimpse into the world we’ve built — the tone, the characters, the humour, and the heart.
As a netball game is played in four quarters, it naturally became the perfect structure for our play. Instead of “acts,” we have “quarters,” with each one unfolding in a familiar part of the club — the change rooms, the court, the canteen, and the clubrooms. It’s within these spaces that we see our seven women navigating the big and small moments of their lives, both on and off the court.
We also explored how netball-related movement and sound could weave through the play — bringing rhythm, momentum, and the sense of team energy that underpins the story.
With a quick blow of the umpire’s whistle, we were off! But the presentation could only have happened thanks to the incredible Friends of GAG — Sophie Lampel, Clare Pickering, Ruth Katerlos, Carolyn Masson — who came along, jumped in, and played with us and the script.
We kicked things off with a vocal warm-up led by Lisa Dallinger, followed by a quick group theatre game to get everyone moving, connecting, and laughing. From there, we dove into the world of Wing Attack, exploring the characters and scenes while proudly wearing our netball bibs.
As a director, it makes my life so much easier (and far more joyful) when actors come prepared and open to playing with the story. And having a pool of talented, generous women to draw from is an absolute bonus!
Thank you, ladies! Your energy, your curiosity, and your willingness to dive in made the day — and the work — so much richer.
Our time at La Mama was everything we hoped it would be — generous, inspiring, and grounding. The residency gave us space to think, laugh, grieve, and create, without the pressure of perfection.
We now move forward with a clear script, a clear heart, and a strong sense of the story we want to tell.
Wing Attack, Here If You Need is a love letter to women in their forties, to community sport, and to the people who stand quietly by your side saying, “Here if you need.”
We’re excited to keep developing this work — and can’t wait to share what comes next.
