Explore the Plays of Marty MonStar

The Sedition Files

Melbourne, 1923. When more than six hundred police officers abandon the streets, the city descends into rioting, looting, fire and political paralysis. Private detective and seditionist Joan Archer unites rival underworld figures, agitates the strikers and turns public disorder into a weapon against those in power. But after Chief Commissioner Alexander Nicholson is executed in a laneway, suspicion begins closing around her. Inspired by the Victorian police strike, The Sedition Files is a sweeping historical crime thriller about lawlessness, political manipulation and the dangerous moment when an architect of chaos loses control of her own rebellion.

The Rumble

Sunshine, Melbourne, 1979. Rival groups of teenage girls move towards a violent confrontation as taunts, loyalties and the need to protect their reputations turn an ordinary dispute into an organised rumble. Lizzie Green and Sandie Mellow lead opposing gangs whose members are caught between friendship, fear and the pressure to prove themselves. As the appointed hour approaches, bravado begins to conceal vulnerability and choices acquire lasting consequences. Told through raw humour and distinctly Australian voices, The Rumble is an energetic youth drama about bullying, identity, peer pressure and young women fighting to find power in a world that routinely dismisses them.

Whistles in the Dark

Liverpool, May 1941. As German bombs fall during the May Blitz, strangers crowd into a public air-raid shelter and wait for the all-clear. Fear, prejudice and long-held resentment divide the group, while the continuing bombardment forces them to depend upon one another for survival. Personal histories emerge, loyalties are tested and unexpected acts of courage challenge assumptions about nationality, religion and belonging. Whistles in the Dark is a tense ensemble drama that places the audience inside the claustrophobic uncertainty of wartime Liverpool, exploring displacement, community, trauma and the fragile humanity that survives amid destruction.

The Whitlocks

In a contemporary northern-suburbs home, the Whitlock family agrees to place their mobile phones inside a lockbox. What appears to be a simple experiment soon removes the distractions that have allowed them to avoid one another. Without their screens, sibling rivalry, loneliness, online identities and long-suppressed emotional needs begin to surface. Humorous, recognisable and increasingly revealing, The Whitlocks examines a family attempting to reconnect in an age of constant digital communication. It is a contemporary comedy-drama about technology, isolation and the difficult truth that being permanently connected does not necessarily mean being known, heard or understood.

The Ransom Letter

Melbourne, 1922. Private detective Joan Doris Archer is drawn into a dangerous kidnapping when Prime Minister William Howie receives a ransom demand for his missing son. Guided—and frequently challenged—by the ghost of her detective father, Jack, Joan enters a shadowy world of criminals, political influence and buried family secrets. As the proposed exchange approaches, every ally becomes a suspect and the truth grows increasingly dangerous. The Ransom Letter is an atmospheric Australian noir mystery exploring corruption, betrayal, grief, revenge and one woman’s determination to deliver justice in a city governed by powerful men.

He Died Alone

Goodhaven, October 2023. Drew “Whitey” Whitebridge lies trapped beneath a fallen tree in an isolated forest, seriously injured and beyond the reach of his mobile phone. Realising that nobody knows where he is, Whitey speaks directly to the audience as he calls for help, confronts his approaching death and remembers the people who shaped his life. Love, regret, humour and hallucination accompany his final struggle to remain conscious. He Died Alone is an intense dramatic monologue about family, masculinity, mortality and the terrible consequences of one ordinary man’s attempt to prove that he can manage alone.

The Reunion

Near Dunolly, April 1986. Maggie, Lucy and Kyle return to an isolated bush campsite and abandoned gold mine ten years after events that changed their lives. What begins as an uneasy reunion filled with nostalgia and remembered friendship gradually exposes resentment, trauma and secrets that have never been resolved. Cut off from the safety of the outside world, the three are forced to confront competing versions of their shared past—and the danger still buried within it. The Reunion is a tense psychological drama about memory, betrayal, guilt and the destructive consequences of believing that the past can remain hidden forever.

The Accidental Hero

Forgotten surfing champion Bryan Mathers becomes the unwitting subject of both a current affair s program 'Focus Point' and a chaotic television tribute on 'This Was Your Life'. Host Red Carson promises celebration, but badly chosen guests, awkward revelations and increasingly desperate production decisions turn the live program into public humiliation. As cameras roll and the audience is encouraged to applaud, the television studio’s cheerful machinery exposes a darker appetite for embarrassment and exploitation. The Accidental Hero is a fast-moving theatrical satire of celebrity culture, manufactured nostalgia and disposable fame, asking what happens when entertainment values a sensational story more highly than the dignity of the person whose life it claims to honour.

Madrina

Coburg, Melbourne, 1976. At Sydney Road Used Cars, Paloma—known as Madrina—has established a position of authority within a hard, male-dominated world. Following Simon’s murder, however, his ghost—or perhaps her own troubled conscience—returns to challenge the stories she has told herself about power, loyalty and survival. As past and present collide, staff, customers and remembered figures expose the personal cost of maintaining control. Madrina is a darkly theatrical crime drama combining humour, memory and moral reckoning to explore guilt, ambition, family allegiance and whether anyone can escape the consequences of the life they have created.

My Father’s Story

Eighty-four-year-old Neville sits in his lounge room, sharing the funny, painful and sometimes fragmented memories of his extraordinary life. As stories of wartime childhood, family, marriage, fatherhood, success and loss unfold, it becomes clear that Neville is struggling to accept the death of Dorothy, his beloved wife of fifty-eight years. Speaking directly to the audience as though they are visitors in his home, Neville searches for companionship and meaning through his memories. My Father’s Story is an intimate and moving one-man play about ageing, grief, resilience and the stories that preserve a life.

The Wrong Horse

Melbourne, 2017. Small-time criminals Noddy and Big Ears stumble from a day at the Werribee races into a disastrous criminal assignment. Noddy’s confused decisions and unexpected good fortune are matched by Big Ears’ unquestioning loyalty and spectacular lack of judgement. When a job appears to succeed but leaves the pair marked for death, they flee through Melbourne using increasingly ridiculous methods to avoid the criminals pursuing them. The Wrong Horse is an irreverent comedy-drama about friendship, disability, crime, fear and survival, following two hopelessly mismatched offenders who may be far more fortunate than they are competent.

The Hang-Up

Coburg, 2018. Fifty-three-year-old Mario Cutza lives with his demanding Italian mother and struggles with grief, loneliness and an intense desire to be loved. After dating sites and awkward attempts to meet women fail, Mario opens his old address book and telephones women he believed were his girlfriends thirty years earlier. Each increasingly uncomfortable conversation reveals a different version of their shared past before ending with the inevitable hang-up. Funny, confronting and unexpectedly tender, The Hang-Up is a comedy-drama about isolation, family, memory and one socially awkward man’s desperate search for companionship and happiness.

Sir Percy's Conquest

England, 1774. Charming aristocrat Sir Percy Cavendish enjoys a life of wealth and privilege while secretly operating as the elusive “Rose of the Valley.” With corruption spreading through the King’s Court and public executions providing entertainment and profit, Percy assembles his loyal crew for an audacious mission: disrupt an execution, raid the state’s coffers and defend those without power. Blending historical adventure, romance, satire and theatrical advertising, Sir Percy’s Conquest follows a witty gentleman outlaw risking his position and his life in pursuit of justice, freedom and the beautiful Adelaide Blenkinsop.