In a dorm room hidden in the rural WA bush, five girls with starkly different personalities become the closest of friends in an unlikely setting: a conversion therapy camp.

Over two intense weeks, they navigate smuggled phones, attempted escapes, betrayal, and the small rebellions that keep them alive. In these moments, they find laughter, love, and a fierce, messy solidarity in one another.

Gal Pals by Sam Nerida is a queer coming-of-age comedy that is grounded in the reality that conversion therapy remains inconsistently legislated across Australia, while refusing to reduce its characters to the injustices they endure.

A love letter to queer solidarity and community, Gal Pals sees the glowing formation of fast friendships and self-acceptance set against a shadowy backdrop of systemic homophobia. These girls will certainly walk away changed, but not in the way the camp flyer advertised.

Runtime: 2h 20m (incl. 10 min interval)

Content warnings: Coarse language, use of smoke/haze, adult themes including sexual references, alcohol, homophobia and religious trauma/sacrilege

Directed by Josie Carroll & Isabell Ni

Produced by Annabel Johnson

Cast

Sloane: Bridget Sinéad Kearney

Kat: Sophie Lewis

Hez: Genevieve Michie

Cassie: Isabella Brambilla Vieira

Zara: Sydney Hure

Crew

Set Designer: Isabella Le

Set Dresser: Bronte Critchley

Stage Manager: Finn Muir

Stage Hand: Nghi Nguyen

Costume Designer: Amelie Yamin

Assisstant Costume Designer: Grace Niu

Photographer: Anirudh Chawla

Videographer: Wendy Lew

Lighting and Sound Designer/Operator: Jasmine Wastell

Wellbeing Officer: Antigone Marchbank

Intimacy Coordinator: Ruby Scott-Wishart

Graphic Designer: Katie Vo

SUDS acknowledges that the University of Sydney and the Cellar Theatre reside on stolen land; the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. As a society that exists to tell stories, it is important to acknowledge that stories were being told on this land for thousands of years before British colonisation. Sovereignty was never ceded – Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land.

Contact the host of SUDS Presents: Gal Pals