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My Brilliant Apocalypse Part I: The Return of Barry Brilliant
RETURNS to Melbourne IN 2026
Fresh from our 2024 Melbourne Fringe season, My Brilliant Apocalypse Part I returns this August to the beautiful and historic Bluestone Church Arts Space in Footscray.
We are assembling a largely new ensemble to help shape the next evolution of this bold, genre-fusing work — an opportunity to join a distinctive Australian production at a pivotal moment in its life.
For the 2026 stage season and ongoing audio play, we are seeking passionate, emotionally committed performers who resonate with the world of My Brilliant Apocalypse and want to leave their mark on a unique and ambitious story.
CASTING OPPORTUNITIES:
Author - Lead (Male)
Pete - Supporting (Male)
Auntie - Supporting (Indigenous Female)
Bruv - Supporting (Male Indigenous)
Claire - Supporting (Female)
Macca - Supporting (Male)
Jacinta Brilliant/Therapist - Supporting (Female)
Zara Brilliant - Supporting (Female)
Antonio E. Christo/Voice-Over - Supporting (Male)
With over 100 characters populating the world of The Return of Barry Brilliant, all cast members play multiple roles as part of this bold, ensemble-driven production
(see detailed role breakdowns below)
AUTHOR - LEAD (MALE 40+)
Brilliant creative or paranoid delusional?
Riddled with self-doubt and insecurity, mellowed by fatherhood, the Author reconnects with his best friend and muse, Pete, during a therapy session — who just happens to be deceased.
With creativity bursting inside him, the Author laments abandoning his Magnum Opus — the tale of Sir Barry Brilliant — in order to focus on getting his life together and raising his child.
Until one day, he comes face-to-face with his creation…
ADDITIONAL SUPPORTING ROLES:
DAD (AT FREEDOM RALLY) - minimal lines
MEN’S GROUP (MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY) - minimal lines
(pictured below)
SECURITY (MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY) - minimal lines
CROWD (MCG)
NEW YEAR’S REVELLER
PETE - SUPPORTING (MALE 40+)
Pete appears to his old best mate the Author from beyond the grave. Is he a spectre? Or an aspect of the Author’s consciousness represented by Pete.
Either way his presence ’s channels the voice of the Muse, goading and inspiring the Author to create again.
Pete is a moving, poignant role with its fair share of wit and pathos.
He is on stage for most of the show, as observer, confidant and occasional antagoniser.
ADDITIONAL SUPPORTING ROLES:
NICHOLAS (LORD’S CRICKET WORLD CUP FINAL) - minimal lines
MARK DE BONO (BARRY’S RIGHT HAND MAN) - minimal lines
WOKE SPECIALIST (MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY) - minimal lines
FRATER (DARK BROTHERHOOD) - minimal lines
(pictured below)
MEN’S GROUP (MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY) - minimal lines
(pictured below)
CROWD (MCG)
NEW YEAR’S REVELLER
FREEDOM RALLY PROTESTER
DARK WRAITH
AUNTIE - SUPPORTING (FEMALE INDIGENOUS 30+)
Auntie and Bruv appear on the streets, having looked after Barry for years. Witty and cheeky, they tease throughout The Return of Barry Brilliant that it is no accident they stumbled across old Barry in the first place.
Often the voices of wisdom and sanity, Auntie and Bruv strongly suggest that their presence on the land is deliberate — and no small act of rebellion.
Embodying communal spirit and collective remembrance, Auntie and Bruv are introduced in Part I but play a significant role throughout Barry’s universe as the series unfolds.
ADDITIONAL SUPPORTING ROLES:
CROWD (MCG)
TIK TOKER
TOURIST
CATT TEAM - minimal lines
NEW YEAR’S REVELLER
Bruv - SUPPORTING (MALE INDIGENOUS 30+)
Bruv and Auntie go by these names as they are mythic in nature, and are not bound to a single, specific Country within the world of the story. As Barry attempts to navigate his way back to his world, Bruv and Auntie appear at the doorway of his imagination, offering the lessons that years on the streets should have taught him.
Does Barry need one final lesson to connect with the heart and soul his Indigenous and homeless families have been gifting him all along?
(The performers playing Bruv and Auntie also double as the CATT Team by design.)
ADDITIONAL SUPPORTING ROLES:
AUSTRALIAN CAPTAIN - minimal lines
MCG ATTENDANT - minimal lines
TIK TOKER
TOURIST
CATT TEAM - minimal lines
NEW YEAR’S REVELLER
MEN’S GROUP (MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY) - minimal lines
(pictured below)
CLAIRE - SUPPORTING (FEMALE 20+)
More hardened by the streets than her fiancé Macca - and fiercely protective as a result. Claire sleeps with one eye open, driven by a sense of duty of care.
Claire’s strong maternal instincts come to the fore when the Author meets Barry. To Barry’s street family he is ‘Old Mate’, and she makes it clear that respect and understanding are not optional.
ADDITIONAL SUPPORTING ROLES:
BEGGAR - minimal lines
CROWD (MCG)
INTERROGATION OFFICER - minimal lines
TIK TOKER
TOURIST
ORDERLY - minimal lines
THUG - minimal lines
LIAM’S MUM (FORTUNATE HEIR) - minimal lines
MACCA - SUPPORTING (MALE 20+)
Wide-eyed, with child-like curiosity, Macca hasn’t let living on the streets harden his heart. His love for his fiancé Claire no doubt plays a big part in that.
Very fond of his good mate Barry - even if he struggles to recollect his exact name. Open, generous, and disarmingly honest, Macca delivers many of the show’s great one-liners — winning hearts and big laughs night after night.
ADDITIONAL SUPPORTING ROLES:
ENGLISH CAPTAIN - minimal lines
BEGGAR - minimal lines
CROWD (MCG)
INTERROGATION OFFICER - minimal lines
MALE NURSE - minimal lines
FRATER (DARK BROTHERHOOD) - minimal lines
(pictured below)
ORDERLY - minimal lines
THUG - minimal lines
MEN’S GROUP (MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY) - minimal lines
(pictured below)
JACINTA BRILLIANT + THERAPIST - SUPPORTING (FEMALE 30+)
Jacinta is Barry’s eldest, most long-suffering “Sister” - and the voice most likely to penetrate his belligerence. The Brilliant “Sisters” have three hilarious appearances in The Return of Barry Brilliant, teasing their presence in future episodes.
The Therapist plays a straight bat in the Author’s sessions, holding up a mirror and inviting him to unpack his complex experiences. This pairing of roles makes sense across the wider context of the play and offers a rich, rewarding opportunity for a strong female character actor to sink her teeth into.
ADDITIONAL SUPPORTING ROLES:
AUTHOR’S MUM - minimal lines.
DOCTOR 1 - minimal lines.
SPECTATOR 2 - minimal lines
SPECIALIST - sanity checking Sir Barry’s “rehabilitation”
PRESS 2 - minimal lines
TOURIST
REVELLER
PROTEST CROWD
RECEPTION - minimal lines
ZARA BRILLIANT - SUPPORTING (FEMALE 20+)
Barry’s younger “Sister” - not-so quietly his favourite, but loudly susceptible to being let down by “Big Brother”. Zara appears with the other three “Sisters” in - appropriately - three farcical cameos.
Combined with two separate tv personalities - Elizabeth and Gretchel, as well as one of Barry’s institutional carers (Psychiatrist) - this combination of roles is perfect for a female performer of wide range and large presence, ready and willing to chew the scenery and steal her scenes.
ADDITIONAL SUPPORTING ROLES:
ELIZABETH CAMPBELL - television current affair host. Interviews Sir Barry.
GRETCHEL BLURTER - enthusiastic host of Barry’s reality tv show “Fortunate Heir”.
POLICEWOMAN - minimal lines
PSYCHIATRIST - tasked with Sir Barry’s “rehabilitation”
TIK TOKER
TOURIST
PASSER BY - minimal lines
PROTEST CROWD
RECEPTION - minimal lines
ANTONIO E. CHRISTO/VOICE-OVER - SUPPORTING (MALE 40+)
The charismatic and mysterious Antonio E. Christo appears in our second Act. Fronting a press conference to field questions about an advertising controversy, the Chairman of Christo International turns out to lead a double life.
Why is Barry’s presence in the Author’s Universe of interest to the Christo family? And how much influence does Antonio in reality actually have?
In combination with the Voice-Over/Narrator, who sets the scene for each “Beat” as our story travels time and space - operating as potential instigator and unseen architect of the journey.
ADDITIONAL SUPPORTING ROLES:
NASSER HUSSAIN (LORD’S CRICKET WORLD CUP FINAL) - minimal lines
ANNOUNCER (MCG)
CRICKET COMMENTATOR - minimal lines
RING ANNOUNCER - minimal lines
PASSER BY - minimal lines
ANNOUNCER (FOR THE “WHO WHAT WHERE”) - minimal lines
MEN’S GROUP (MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY) - minimal lines
(pictured below)
SECURITY - minimal lines
GROUPs APPEARING In mY BRILLIANT APOCALYPSE PART I
by featured role performer:
MCG CROWD (AUTHOR, PETE, CLAIRE, MACCA)
TOUR PARTY (AUNTIE, BRUV, JACINTA, ZARA, CLAIRE)
DARK BROTHERHOOD (PETE, MACCA)
NEW YEAR’S EVE REVELLERS (AUTHOR, PETE, AUNTIE, BRUV, JACINTA)
FREEDOM PROTEST (PETE, JACINTA, ZARA, ANTONIO)
MEN’S GROUP (AUTHOR, PETE, BRUV, MACCA, ANTONIO)
“Do you want to tell me about the Voices in your Head”
BARRY CAN’T WAIT TO WORK WITH YOU!
CONTACT THE SHOW’S PRODUCER DIRECT AT:
barry@mybrilliantapocalypse.com