La Mama lines up two sharp and funny May shows with STUCK and GAG REFLEX

La Mama is set for a lively and darkly funny May, with two new productions bringing very different kinds of comedy to its Carlton stages.

Running across the month, STUCK will play at La Mama HQ from May 6 to 24, while GAG REFLEX will have its Australian premiere at La Mama Courthouse from May 7 to 23. Together, the two shows offer a strong snapshot of the kind of original, boundary-pushing work for which La Mama is known.

The first, STUCK , is a new black comedy by playwright Megan Twycross, whose previous work includes Smudged, and Cluster. Set in a small-town supermarket deli, the play centres on two nameless women working beneath fluorescent lights and the constant hum of refrigeration, slicing meat while cutting each other down.

According to La Mama, the story is a battle of wit, will and survival, with “Old One” clinging to the old rules and “Young One” longing for something more. The future may be hers, the blurb suggests, if she can survive the present.

The production is directed by acclaimed theatre-maker Susie Dee and stars Caroline Lee and Eva Seymour, two performers with strong credentials across independent and mainstage work. Twycross said bringing the work to the stage after two years of development had been especially meaningful.

“Set in regional Australia, and shaped by my own journey through motherhood, explores how strongly women are influenced by the stories and expectations they grow up with,” she said.

Director Susie Dee said the script’s honesty was what first drew her in.

“The play asks what it means to be and challenges the assumption that people can always just choose differently,” she said.

Notably, STUCK has also been selected for the 2026 VCE Drama playlist, giving it an added profile for students and teachers as well as general audiences.

At La Mama Courthouse, GAG REFLEX promises something more chaotic, awkward and openly outrageous.

Written by Flick and directed by Tansy Gorman, the new comedy follows three Year 12 best friends who decide that the easiest way to make enough money for a great summer is to enter and win an erotica writing competition. The catch, of course, is that they have absolutely no sexual knowledge to draw from.

What follows, according to La Mama, is “mayhem, hilarity, and the vulnerability that comes with being a teenager smashing into an adult world.”

The production comes from the creative team behind SLUTNIK and SLUTNIK 2: Planet of the Incels, and appears set to continue their interest in tackling taboo subjects with humour and irreverence.

Director Tansy Gorman said the work was ultimately pushing for more open conversations around sex with young people.

“What GAG REFLEX does underneath its plea for better, more open conversations around sex with young people is refuse to shame curiosity and desire – instead, it encourages it,” she said.

For La Mama audiences, the two productions offer very different moods but a shared commitment to sharp writing and uncomfortable laughs. One is a tightly wound workplace black comedy, the other a teenage sex farce with something more pointed underneath.

STUCK runs from May 6 to 24 at La Mama HQ, while GAG REFLEX runs from May 7 to 23 at La Mama Courthouse. •