Awake

White Rabbit Theatre

7 October - 10 October, 2026

Presented by HOTA

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Awake

White Rabbit Theatre

Presented by HOTA

Both theatre show and ritual gathering, AWAKE invites audiences into an intimate, gently held space where they are given a front-row seat to the often hidden and surprising face of grieving. We follow the story of The Widow, and witness her meeting the challenges of the practical side of death, alongside her private experience of grief. We see her confronted by real moments, and escaping into imagined ones.

Supported by a small ensemble of players, and underscored by beautiful Irish music created live on stage by award-winning multi-instrumentalist Victoria Falconer (Greenroom Award Winner: Musical Direction My Brilliant Career MTC, Once Darlinghurst Theatre, Co-Artistic Director Hayes Theatre Sydney), audiences experience the many facets of grief and loss; from the awkward to the surprising, the heavy to the hilarious, the small to the absurd. Combining storytelling, reflection and plenty of humour, this work places the audience in a unique configuration that allows them to be both in the action, and outside it.

Pour yourself a whiskey. Grab a sandwich. You can bring your grief with you, or you can just bare witness to hers.

Session Times

6:30 PM

Bio

LISA SMITH | WRITER & DIRECTOR

Lisa Smith is a theatre maker, director, actor and writer. She founded White Rabbit Theatre in 2012 and is CoArtistic Director alongside Ainslee Palmer. Lisa is passionate about collaboration and creating new work for theatre; thus far WRTE has developed original works including ‘The Grand’ by Victoria Carless (Director/Producer), which was subsequently published by PlayLab Australia, ‘Slide Night’ by Victoria Carless (Director/Actor) presented as part of Bleach* Festival, ‘Pocketful of Pebbles by Victoria Carless, Lisa Smith and Tammy Weller (Director/Co-writer) presented at HOTA Home of the Arts, and ‘Love Means Nothing in Tennis’ Various Playwrights presented at Dust Temple. Lisa was commissioned to create a new immersive puppetry work ‘Agnes & Earl’ for the 2018 Commonwealth Games Festival 2018, and directed ‘The Woman in Black’ by Stephen Mallattrat at HOTA Home of the Arts for their Youth Theatre initiative. She was also an Artist in Residence at Bleach* Festival in 2022 where she created a work a solo theatre work called ‘A Heart Stops Beating’ and an ArtKeeper at HOTA in 2025 where she developed AWAKE with collaborator Victoria Falconer. She directed ‘Ready or Not’ by Ainslee Palmer in 2025 that was subsequently nominated for Five Matilda Awards, including Best Direction and The Lord Mayor’s Award for Best New Australian Work.

VICKY FALCONER | MUSICAL DIRECTOR & PERFORMER

Victoria Falconer (she/her) is a multidisciplinary creative, performer and mentor of Filipino-English heritage. Recent commissioned works include Smashed: The Nightcap (Sydney Festival 2024), The Sight (Dark Mofo 2023), and The Vali Myers Project (Adelaide Cabaret Festival, 2022 Frank Ford Award winner). As a cabaret artist, Victoria has performed on stages including Soho Theatre, Southbank Centre London, Club Cumming NYC, Edinburgh Fringe and Glastonbury Festival. She has also hosted large-scale events at Victoria’s Pride, Sydney WorldPride, and Bi Pride UK. Her recent work as a musical director includes My Brilliant Career (Melbourne Theatre Company, 2025 Greenroom award winner Music Direction) In The Heights (JRP at Sydney Opera House), Ride The Cyclone (Hayes), and Once (Darlinghurst Theatre). Victoria has received two Adelaide Fringe Best Cabaret Awards, two Green Room Awards, and two Sydney Theatre Award nominations. She was recently named one of the 40 Under 40 Influential Asian-Australians in Arts and Culture (2024), and is co-Artistic Director of Hayes Theatre Co in Sydney alongside Richard Carroll.

AINSLEE PALMER | MOVEMENT DIRECTOR & PRODUCER

Ainslee Palmer is an Actor, Theatre Maker, and Movement Director with a passion for play, dark humour and artistic curiosity. After graduating from the University of Southern Queensland with a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Theatre/ Acting) in 2013, Ainslee moved to New York City where she worked as a teaching artist and performer with Tectonic Theatre Project, The Viewpoints Collective and New York Cares. Ainslee formed a strong collaboration with White Rabbit Theatre in 2018 as a Performer - ‘Agnes & Earl’ (Festival 2018), ‘The Welcome Party’ (Bleach* Festival 2018), ‘Love Means Nothing in Tennis’ (Dust Temple 2019), FISH! (Development at HOTA Home of the Arts 2024). As Movement Director - ‘The Woman in Black’ (HOTA Youth Project 2018), CARNIVORE (Development supported by Experience Gold Coast; Bleach* Festival Big City Lights 2023/24), AWAKE (Art Keeper outcome showing at HOTA Home of the Arts 2024) FISH! (Commissioned Creative Development HOTA Home of the Arts 2024/25) . In 2019 Ainslee joined the company as Associate Director and in 2024 became Co-Artistic Director alongside powerhouse Director Lisa Smith. Ainslee debuted her Matilda Award winning one-woman show ‘Ready or Not’ which took place as a Pilot Season at HOTA Home of the Arts in April 2024 and premiered at Bulmba-Ja in Cairns as part of a Regional Tour in late 2024 and went on to be nominated for 5 Matilda Awards including Best Lead Actor and Best Independent Production. Recently Ainslee worked with Shake & Stir Theatre Company as Movement Director on My Two Blankets which premiered in Toowoomba at the University of Southern Queensland in September 2025.