WORLDS ALIVE 2026
Scene Theatre Sydney celebrates contemporary global voices.
Eight professional actors perform five acclaimed plays never before seen in Australia.
Directed by Elaine Hudson, as dramatic moved readings
With Alan Faulkner, Christopher Brown, Tiang Lim, Seth Eren, Micah Doughty, Madison Chippendale, Paul Williamson, Ruba el-Kaddoumi
Friday March 13 and Saturday March 14 at 7 pm, 2026
Walsh Bay Arts Precinct (wheelchair access)
Map, transport and dining options are here.
Scene Theatre Sydney, by arrangement with DALRO (Pty) Limited, presents
KUNENE AND THE KING
by
JOHN KANI
From South Africa
Kunene and the King
by living legend, John Kani, OBE
Kunene and the King premiered in 2019 at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon. An elderly Englishman in South Africa is trying to remember the lines to King Lear. Kunene, the King’s black carer, helps him and interprets Lear in a new way. They are an odd pair as their comic spats finally lead to mutual respect. It is highly entertaining.
From Brazil
Miss Margarida’s Way
by Roberto Athayde
This comic monologue has been produced in more than thirty countries, including on Broadway. We ‘ve selected an entertaining 10-minute section. Set in a classroom, teacher Miss Margarida is determined to ensure her students understand how the world really works. It’s realism-with-humour.
From The Philippines
An Evening at the Opera
by Floy Quintos
The play portrays the disquieting power of the elite. A tense husband-vs-wife tête à tête ends the play, but never ends the story of power anytime, anyplace.
From Indonesia
The Struggle of the Naga Tribe
by W. Rendra
The play triumphantly opposes the forces of modernisation to maintain cultural identity. The village protects their copper-rich sacred mountain from the ogres (westerners) when a corporation bribes the tribe’s Queen. There is good and bad on both sides. As always! The play brings a universal story to life with villagers, tribal royals and ogres all entertaining us.
From Korea
The Sound of Rain Falling
by Sue Ja Joo
This short lyrical work captures how the smallest sounds — rain on a roof, silence between words — can stir longing, connection and unexpected insight. Poetic without being precious, the play presents a gentle respite from our complicated world.
Playwrights
John Kani was born in 1942 in South Africa. He is a playwright, actor, director and producer. He joined The Serpent Players (a group of actors whose first performance was in the former snake pit of the zoo, hence the name) in Port Elizabeth in 1965 and helped to create many plays that were performed to a resounding reception. In the United States in 1975, after appearing in Athol Fugard's anti-apartheid play Sizwe Banzi Is Dead (which he also co-wrote), Kani returned to South Africa. His many starring roles include T'Chaka in the Marvel blockbusters, Captain America: Civil War and Black Panther.
Kani is the founder and director of the John Kani Theatre Laboratory and chairman of the National Arts Council of South Africa. John Kani has honorary doctorates from the University of Capetown, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, the University of Witwatersrand and the Da Vinci Institute. In 2023 he was awarded an Honorary OBE from the British Government for services to drama.
W. Rendra was an Indonesian poet, activist, actor and director. After studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, he founded the Bengkel Teater in 1967. He brought his Western experience into the traditional Indonesian theatre forms to merge them into something new. His productions are an enormous influence on the artistic variety of Indonesian art to this day. During the 1970s, his plays such as Mastodon, The Condors, The Struggle of the Naga Tribe and The Regional Secretary were often banned because they criticised Suharto's development programs. He was imprisoned for 6 months. Rendra has translated Aristophanes, Sophocles and Brecht into Indonesian, then performed and staged them.
Brazilian Roberto Athayde is a playwright, poet, director and producer for stage and screen. His plays have been translated into many languages. At age 21, he wrote his most popular play Miss Margarida’s Way. He says “I have made the physical presence of the actors the central focus, the basic idea behind all my plays.”
Novelist, poet and playwright, Sue Ja Joe was born in Seoul, lived abroad for 23 years in France, Switzerland and the United States, and returned to Korea in 1998. In 2013, she became the first recipient of the Insung Park Mini-Fiction Literary Award, which recognises her achievements in popularising this genre in Korea. She is at the frontier of a new literary genre, 'Smart Fiction' which merges poetry and short fiction.
Florencio Louis “Floy” Antonio de la Cruz Quintos was born in Manilla in 1961. He wore many hats, writing plays and sometimes acting in them, and was also a screenwriter, a journalist, and an expert in antiques. With a gift for storytelling, he crafted narratives that delved into the complexities of the human experience, challenging social norms. Among his most notable creations are Fluid, An Evening at the Opera, Suor Clara, Collection, Ang Nawalang Kapatid, The Kundiman Party, and The Reconciliation Dinner. He died in 2024, age 63.
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Elaine Hudson, Director
Elaine is a NIDA trained actor, director and teacher. Acting credits Sydney Theatre Company, New Theatre, Belvoir, Griffin, Windmill Theatre, Queensize Productions, Cumulus Productions, Tamarama Rock Surfers, Teatro Cortile (Italy), Theatre X (Tokyo), Pop-Up Theatre and Stable Theatre. Film and Television acting credits are too numerous to list. Directing credits include Endgame (Lookout Theatre), The Lady from Dubuque (Belvoir), Poles Apart (Stables Theatre), The Death of Peter Pan, Relative Comfort, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, GrossIndecency, The Importance of Being Earnest and Seven Little Australians (New Theatre), The Man Who Came to Dinner (Genesian Theatre), A Touch of Paradise (Belvoir), Vice and Acts of Faith (King Street Theatre), There Were Trees That Are Dancers (La Mama , Melbourne), Tovarich (Redfern Actors Studio), Pope2Pope (Hunters Hill Theatre) and Wilderness, Votes for Women, The Shepherd and the Hunter and Mischief on the Air for Players in the Pub.
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Christopher Brown
Originally from Melbourne, Christopher discovered his passion for acting while living in Europe. With a background in writing and performance coaching, he brings a strong presence and depth to the stage, particularly in roles of conflicted authority. Christopher made his Australian stage debut in 2023 as the enigmatic Pope Pius XIII in the world premiere of Pope2Pope (directed by Elaine Hudson), a performance that met with critical acclaim. In 2024, he delivered a brooding and layered portrayal of Detective Arthur Gerard in Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train at the Genesian Theatre. Last year Christopher performed the role of Earl of Salisbury in the Sydney Shakespeare Company’s production of Henry VI. Committed to refining his craft, Christopher continues to explore multi-disciplinary and experimental approaches to performance. Kunene and The King marks his debut with Scene Theatre Sydney.
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Micah Doughty
Micah is an English Australian performer who draws upon his skills and interests to fuel unique and engaging performances. Growing up, Micah tapped into his love for performance through music, dancing, singing, theatre, and circus performing. He trained at Sydney Actors School where he performed in The 39 Steps as the clown and the lead in Separate Tables. Recently Micah performed in Bittersweet’s productions of Gosforths Fete and The Potboiler, and Seed Hunters IScene Theatre Sydney). He is driven and keen to bring life, laughter and hope through the arts and making someone’s day just a little bit brighter.
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Paul Williamson
Paul is a playwright, director and producer. He attended the Bathurst Summer School for Singers. He studied mime, comedia del arte and acrobatics at Ecole Le Coq Theatre (Paris) and Shakespeare at the Original Shakespeare Company (UK). He is graduate of Actors Centre Sydney. Paul has appeared throughout Australia, Britain, Europe and the U.S. in theatre, film and opera as a soloist, including for Opera Australia. Film credits include What Next? (as director and producer), A Nice Guy with Jackie Chan, Golden (Harvest Films), The Call of Cthulhu and A Night on the Town TV2 (Holland). His many TV roles are too numerous to list.
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Madison Chippendale
Madison is a performance maker, actor and director. A graduate of the University of Wollongong (BCA Performance), she was the 2013 recipient of the BBM Award for Theatre, which enabled her to undertake internships in Belgium and the UK. She has directed Precious Little Talent and Much Ado About Nothing (sweet creatures), both presented at Sydney Acting Studio in 2025. Madison co-devised the new comedy musical Hemlines (Moon Bureau) which toured to the Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Prague Fringe Festivals, as well as the Etcetera Theatre in London and most recently in Townsville for the North Australian Festival of Arts. Recent credits include Sarah in Seed Hunters (Scene Theatre Sydney),Gladys Smith & Miss Allie in The Shark Arm Case (Deadhouse Productions), Lou in WALLY (Moon Bureau/KXT), Olivia in Twelfth Night (Whale Chorus) and 30-50 Feral Hogs at the Real Festival in Penrith (Q Theatre). Film credits include indie feature film To The Tooth and the award-winning shorts Lost (Jury Prize Winner at the MMI Screening Awards) and Ground (Winner of the Best Cinematography award at the Sony Catchlight Festival 2024).
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Seth Eren
In 2019, Seth began training at the Sydney Acting Studio and has been steadily building a diverse body of work on stage. In 2025, he played Rohan in Dating App Cr-App (dir. Rena Akhtar), which reached the semi-finals of Short+Sweet with Arcadia Productions, and Clay Tuttle in Mischief in the Air (dir. Elaine Hudson) with Players in the Pub. That same year, he made his RaCreate Productions debut with Another Round, a new play by Roy Wallace-Cant and Samuel Walsh, in which he played Alex—a deeply rewarding experience that challenged and expanded his craft. Through each project, Seth continues to refine his storytelling, drawing on years of training, collaboration, and lived experience to bring honesty and depth to his performances.
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Tiang Lim
Tiang was a businesswoman, educator and nurse in Sydney. She then turned to theatre where she succeeds in both comedy and drama. Her theatre roles include Paw Paw in a Chinese Christmas, BOOM, Radar and Donald’s Inferno. Tiang’s films include Free Money, nominated in St Kilda Film Festival, AACTA and SXSW and screened at COMICORN in San Diego, Suka, Paper Daisies, $2 and University student films. She appeared in the series Coach Dayum, Grouse House’s Pedo San and Coconutface’s Who Invented Moussaka? and Boxing Day. She wrote and performed DANDELION - When do you stop being a migrant?, a sell- out show at the Sydney Fringe Festival. She was NSW State finalist in Raw Comedy 2025.
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Ruba el-Kaddoumi
Ruba was born in Sydney. She moved to Bathurst NSW, to complete a Bachelor of Communications in Theatre/Media before relocating to the USA to complete her training as an actor. Ruba trained at the Art of Acting Studio (Los Angeles) and at The Stella Adler Studio of Acting (New York City). Most recently she was part of the ensemble in The Laramie Project (The New Theatre) and was the female lead in the short film Blank Night (directed by Millie Hall). She appeared in two productions in The Euripides Summer Festival, and as Andromache in A Time To Live (On-wheels Production). A few other theatre credits includeTovarich (Sydney Acting Studio), Home Chat (Genesian Theatre), 000 (Melbourne Creatives). Ruba played Meftune in the Short film Postcards From The Orient, which won best experimental at Melbourne Short Film Festival (2021) and has been selected for an Honorable Mention Award at the Women's Voices Now Festival (LA), alongside being selected into The Beirut International Women Film Festival (2021).
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Alan Faulkner
Alan’s theatre career spans the Antipodes and the Old Dart - including roles in John Bell’s Australian Shakespearean productions, the UK Royal Shakespeare Company, Endangered Productions (Sydney) and Scene Theatre Sydney. Alan is a regular performer for Players tin the Pub in Glebe.
This is our second year presenting World Plays
Quotes from reviewers of WORLDS ALIVE in 2025 ….
The actors were all fantastic. I loved the variety. I loved all the plays. WORLDS ALIVE wonderfully invited us to think globally and act locally through the power of storytelling. Brett Martin, VP, United Nations Association of Australia (NSW)
The performances were well received by an enthusiastic audience. Sydney Arts Guide
Great acting and a good range of plays! Maggy Franklin, Theatre Time Sydney
The plays were performed with commitment and vibrancy. Sydney Arts Guide
The performers were brilliant. Margaret Gray
I loved all the plays and having a child actor added to the rich diversity. Dorothy Guterres
Wheelchair accessible