17–20 Sep
LEGENDS
(of the Golden Arches) JOE PARADISE LUI | MERLYNN TONG
This funeral will be the death of them.
Theatre
“A giddy, witty journey into a phantasmagoric hell” The Guardian
A rip-roaring ride plunging two best friends into the depths of the Chinese afterlife, crossing genres, realities, and theatrical convention with infectious zest. Co-created by Joe Paradise Lui and Merlynn Tong (Golden Blood), LEGENDS draws on the unique talents of many theatre artists from Australia’s Asian diaspora. It’s a powerful, deeply personal examination of the Chinese cultural experience and the enduring power of friendship, revealed through a hilarious yet subtly moving lens.
DURATION 75min
Accessibility Auslan Interpreted & Audio Described Performance Sun 20 Sep, 6:30pm
CONTENT WARNING
Contains loud noises, haze, flashing lights, adult themes, sexual references and frequent coarse language. Recommended for age 16+.
Director’s Note
LEGENDS began with a shared desire to reconnect with the cultural traditions that shaped us, and to understand what happens when memory, migration and time place distance between us and the worlds we once knew. For Merlynn, that world was the dazzling spectacle of Singapore’s Hungry Ghost Festival, where glittering GeTai stages appeared across neighbourhoods to entertain both the living and the dead. For Joe, it was losing the overwhelming “re nao” of ritual and community: the sounds of cymbals and drums, the scent of incense, the presence of gods, ancestors and collective remembrance. What once felt ordinary, even taken for granted, became precious with distance. Over the years, our friendship has become the space where these shared histories could be rediscovered. Through countless conversations, long walks, unforgettable meals, moments of laughter, heartbreak and celebration, we found unexpected parallels in our lives and a common desire to explore the traditions we had inherited, questioned
and, at times, left behind. Together, we began revisiting half-remembered stories, rituals and beliefs, searching for connections between who we were, who we are now and who we are still becoming. LEGENDS is the result of that search. It is an invitation into a kaleidoscopic underworld shaped by friendship, memory and imagination: a place where the sacred and the absurd coexist, where ancestors sit alongside old ghosts, and where longing can transform into celebration. We are grateful to the extraordinary artists who have brought their talent, generosity and imagination to this work. It is a privilege to create alongside them. Most of all, we hope LEGENDS encourages you to reflect on your own connections to the people, traditions and stories that came before you. And perhaps, if we’re lucky, a few ancestors might join us in the front row.
JOE PARADISE LUI & MERLYNN TONG
The Team Co-Creators, Co-Writers, Co-Directors and Performers
Joe Paradise Lui and Merlynn Tong
Outside Eye and Rehearsal Director
Marcel Dorney
Set Designer
Cherish Marrington
Costume Designer
Nicole Marrington
Video Artist and AV Designer
Wendy Yu
Touring Lighting Designer and Head Technician
Matthew Erren
Composer
Joe Paradise Lui
Lighting Designer
Kate Baldwin
Production Manager
Harry Dowling
Stage Manager
Catherine O’Donoghue
Assistant Stage Manager
Teddy Waddingham
Assistant Costume Maker
Rose Finlay
Set construction and scenic
Black Swan Production Facility
Producer
Performing Lines
Cover Photo Credit
Matsu Photography
Other Photo Credits
Jessica Wyld
About the Artists Performing Lines Performing Lines is a national organisation that produces provocative contemporary performance by Australia’s most audacious independent artists. We curate a portfolio of work that is propelled by pressing questions and new ways of seeing the world. We champion the unconventional, the marginal, the rebellious and the new. @performinglines performinglines.org.au
Joe Paradise Lui
Co-Creator, Co-Writer, Co-Director, Performer and Composer Joe Paradise Lui is a theatre-maker, director, writer, performer, and designer, and makes experimental theatre and performance works as Renegade Productions. Joe works across directing, writing, sound design, and lighting design, and is the undisputed Winner of the 2013 Spirit of the Fringe Award. Joe has won no awards since. Their independent directing work includes Whitesnake3000, presented by Co3. Joe’s multidisciplinary practice is driven by a commitment to bold, contemporary performance and innovative theatrical storytelling.
Merlynn Tong
Co-Creator, Co-Writer, Co-Director & Performer Merlynn Tong is a writer and actor whose plays include Congratulations, Get Rich!, Golden Blood, Antigone (adaptation), and Blue Bones. Her work has been produced by leading companies including Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, Queensland Theatre, Griffin Theatre, and La Boite. As a performer, she has appeared on stage in works including The Poison of Polygamy, White Pearl, and her own productions, and on screen in Top of the Lake: China Girl, In Our Blood, and Disney’s Nautilus. Her writing and performance work has received multiple national awards and nominations.
Marcel Dorney
Cherish Marrington
Marcel Dorney is an award-winning playwright, director, composer, dramaturg, and educator. He is co-founder and coartistic director of Melbourne theatre company Elbow Room, whose productions include We Get It, Prehistoric, and Joe Paradise Lui’s Enlightenment.
Cherish Marrington is a Perth-based artist and designer working across theatre, film, and visual arts. A graduate of WAAPA’s Design for Live Production program, she has designed extensively for stage and screen, with credits including The Dustwalker, It Only Takes a Night, Unnatural, LEGENDS (of the Golden Arches), and Blue.
Outside Eye and Rehearsal Director
His writing has been commissioned and produced by organisations including Queensland Theatre, Malthouse Theatre, Griffin Theatre, La Boite, and Merrigong Theatre Company. Marcel holds a Master of Performance Creation from the University of Melbourne and has worked extensively as a script consultant and dramaturg. His work has received multiple Green Room and Matilda Awards for directing, writing, and ensemble performance.
Set Designer
Known for creating evocative environments that support narrative and atmosphere, her work explores the relationship between visual storytelling and human experience. Marrington is Director of Chinoiserie Fine Art and cofounder of Carpark Projects, an experimental gallery and project space.
Nicole Marrington Costume Designer
Wendy Yu
Video Artist and AV Designer
Nicole Marrington is a Perth-based costume designer, coordinator, and maker working across theatre, dance, live performance, and film. Her recent design credits include Manifest (STRUT Dance), Beneath the Music (Performing Lines), Song Circle (Perth Festival), Las Hormigas/ The Ants (PICA), At the End of the Land (Too Close to the Sun Theatre), SITU8:CITY (STRUT Dance), Homeward Bound (Lazy Yarns), The Ugly (Renegade Productions), and Savage Grace and JULIA (Steamworks Arts). Her practice combines strong visual storytelling with a collaborative approach to creating distinctive costumes for performance.
Wendy Yu is an Australian interdisciplinary artist working across dance, new media, and digital design. Her practice combines choreography, motion capture, projection, and immersive technologies to create story-driven works for public spaces, galleries, and stages.
Matthew Erren
Kate Baldwin
Tour Lighting Designer and Head Technician Matthew Erren is a lighting designer and associate lighting designer based in Western Australia. Matthew works across theatre, dance, and exhibitions. He is a three-time Performing Arts WA Award for Outstanding Lighting Design. Recent credits include; At What Cost (Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company), The Trial (Lost and Found Opera), Scenes from the Climate Era (WAYTCo), Blue (Black Swan State Theatre Company), and various independent productions. His associate lighting design credits include Steel Magnolias (Gooding/Woodward), RENT (LPD Productions) and Strong is the New Pretty (Sydney Theatre Company). His exhibition work, developed with Peter Young through Young & Erren Designs, includes major WA Museum projects and international exhibitions.
Her projects have been presented internationally, including at projection festivals in Europe and the United States, and in a year-long installation at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. For live performance, she has designed projection and media scenography for Performing Lines WA, Bushnell Performing Arts, and Greendoor Theatre Company. Her ambition is to give more people access to movement understanding through immersive media design.
Lighting Designer Kate Baldwin is a disabled JapaneseAustralian lighting designer based on Wangal Country, working extensively across Australia’s contemporary theatre sector. Since graduating from NIDA in 2019, she has designed lighting for productions including Lose to Win (Belvoir), Nothing and Guards at the Taj (National Theatre of Parramatta), Top Coat (Sydney Theatre Company), and seven methods of killing kylie jenner (Darlinghurst Theatre Company). Kate was Design Associate (Lighting) at Sydney Theatre Company in 2021 and 2022 and has also undertaken residencies with PACT and Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre through Ka-llective.
Harry Dowling
Catherine O’Donoghue
Harry Dowling is a freelance production manager based in Naarm/Melbourne. He has worked across production and stage management roles for organisations including Malthouse Theatre, RISING, Sydney Festival, Australian Theatre for Young People, Belvoir, and Yirramboi, alongside extensive work in the independent sector.
Catherine O’Donoghue is a production and stage manager based in Boorloo (Perth), and is currently Production Manager at Spare Parts Puppet Theatre. She has experience across theatre, puppetry, festivals, and national and international touring, and has worked with leading Australian arts organisations including Performing Lines, Melbourne Theatre Company, The Last Great Hunt, WA Youth Theatre Company and Sensorium Theatre. Catherine enjoys bringing creative ideas to life and creating practical, supportive processes that help artists and teams do their best work.
Production Manager
Harry is also co-founder of Fever103 Theatre, where he has produced new Australian work at venues including fortyfivedownstairs, Meat Market, and Northcote Town Hall. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Performance from Monash University and is committed to supporting innovative contemporary performance.
Stage Manager
Teddy Waddingham
Rose Finlay
Teddy Waddingham is a Meanjin-based stage manager, technician, and multi-disciplinary technical designer. With an interest in contemporary theatre and new Australian works, they are committed to supporting artists through collaboration and experimentation. As a stage manager/ assistant stage manager, Teddy has worked alongside Queensland Theatre Company, La Boite, Brisbane Powerhouse, Brisbane Festival, and Playlab. Recent stage management credits include Second Coming (La Boite & Playlab, 2026), Dark Mofo (2026), and Brisbane Comedy Festival (2026).
Rose Finlay is a Perth-based freelance costume maker whose career began in the fashion industry, where she developed strong technical and design skills. Working across theatre, ballet, opera, film, and fashion projects, she combines creativity with practical expertise to create costumes that support performance and storytelling. Passionate about costume construction, Rose enjoys transforming concepts into finely crafted garments and values the collaborative process at the heart of live performance. Her work reflects a commitment to detail, functionality, and the artistry of costume-making.
Assistant Stage Manager
Assistant Costume Maker
Brisbane Festival Team
Ebony Bott
Artistic Director
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Dr Jane Wilson AO Philip Bacon AO Kim Challenor Andrew King Mirusia Louwerse Amanda Newbery Jonathan Perry Sophie Robertson Graeme Wikman
LEADERSHIP TEAM Michael Adams Bella Ford Claire Hooper Tim Pack Justine Robins
DEVELOPMENT Lyndsey Black
Xandy Blue Jared Cameron Jodie Gordon Warrick McDonald
FINANCE
Rhoisin Elwell-Sutton Lorelle Edwards
Charlie Cush
Chief Executive Officer
Chair Deputy Chair
Emily Barclay Persephone Hitzke-Dean Sasha Iwanick Sabrina Ryan Ella Winten
Aunty Bridget Garay Aunty Raelene Rallah-Baker Ben Graetz Danielle Ah Boo Luke Peacock Sharnee Hegarty
Chief Impact Officer Program Director Chief Financial Officer / Company Secretary Technical Director Administration Manager Development Coordinator – Philanthropy Development Administrator Development Coordinator Development Manager – Philanthropy Development Manager – Partnerships Financial Accountant Finance Assistant
MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS Nadia Jade Okorn Mark Sutton Lucy Andrews
INDIGENOUS ADVISORY GROUP
Marketing Manager Brand and Content Manager Marketing Officer – Media & Comms Ticketing Lead Ticketing and CRM Manager Marketing Officer – Content & Engagement Brand Coordinator Marketing Officer – Digital Lead
Chair; Kemer Kemer Meriam Nation Yuggera, Birri, Girramay Nations Malak Malak, Kungarakan, Muran Clan, and Torres Strait Islands Samsep, Dhoeybaw, Maluligal, Kulkalgal Samsep/Meriam Gunggari, Wulkurukaba
PROGRAMMING Stefan Greder Sanja Simić Adeline Shaddick Renee Place Michelle Morgan Consultant Genevieve Trace Darcy Boyd
TECHNICAL Richard Clarke Andrew Haden Henry Manning
Senior Producer Creative Producer Associate Producer Education Consultant Community Engagement Program Manager Production Coordinator Production Manager Technical Manager Technical Coordinator
GIVING COMMITTEE
The Honourable Justice Thomas Bradley Courtney Talbot Philip Bacon AO Andrew Baker Heidi Cooper Anna Palmer Prue Pateras Paul Taylor AM Dr Jane Wilson AO
NEXT GEN GIVING COMMITTEE Ashleigh Mansfield Alissa Bermingham Xanthe Lowe-Brown Bianca Wylie Phoebe Zavros
Chair
Chair Deputy Chair
Acknowledgements
Produced by Performing Lines, this project has been assisted by the Australian Government’s Major Festivals Initiative (MFI), managed by the Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body, in association with the Confederation of Australian International Arts Festivals Inc., commissioned by Perth Festival, RISING and Brisbane Festival. Additional project investment provided by Creative Australia. The creative development of LEGENDS was supported by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body, the MFI and the WA Government through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries. The initial script development was supported by Black Swan State Theatre Company. Presented by Brisbane Festival in association with Queensland Performing Arts Centre.
brisbanefestival.com.au