Review: Gia Ophelia (JB Theatre Co)
Gia Ophelia is for all the artists who exist perilously on the verge of a crisis
Struggling actor Gia wants to play Ophelia in Hamlet once more. Her determination and desire is fierce and pulses through the entirety of this magnificent one-woman show about womanhood, motherhood and the arts written by emerging Australian playwright Grace Wilson. Gia Ophelia is for all the artists who exist perilously on the verge of a crisis.
Following a world premiere at the Sydney Fringe Festival last year, where it was nominated for Best in Theatre and director Jo Bradley won the Emerging Artist Award, and a subsequent encore season at KXT on Broadway, Gia Ophelia arrives in Canberra for a one-week run.
The funny and tragic script is expertly brought to life by a wonderful team of artists. Wilson’s writing is superb and performer Annie Stafford is a real force of nature. I’d eagerly see Stafford play Ophelia or Hamlet or any other Shakespeare heavyweight in future.
Each creative element comes together seamlessly under Bradley’s smooth direction. In particular, Holly Nesbitt’s lighting design and Otto Zagala’s sound design and composition greatly compliment Stafford’s performance. The oppressive nature of the drumming present in the music creates a strong tension in the show.
Gia Ophelia delivers as expected on the tragedy front, particularly in relation to her struggles reconciling with motherhood and fertility. I would expect nothing less from a play loosely inspired by Hamlet, one of the greatest tragedies of all time. To me the greatest tragedy is that we still live in a theatrical world where an actress’s dream role is not even the protagonist of her own story. The biggest dream available to a woman is still second-billed. Gia is granted this power in a way many female theatrical roles are not—her show gets the usually male-coveted privilege of taking up space and being all about me, myself and I.
In an age of endless reboots and remakes, where some shows cannot think of one remotely engaging thing to say, Gia Ophelia strikes the perfect balance as a new show with something distinct and interesting to investigate, while also paying homage to the themes and ideas of Hamlet which made it great.
All theatre is influenced by that which came before it—quite literally in this case as I did indeed see Bell Shakespeare’s production of Hamlet at the same theatre I saw Gia Ophelia—but this show does not get dragged down into soulless retell territory. While Shakespeare’s women are very interesting, particularly for the time and context in which he wrote, Wilson has identified an ample area of growth within his story from which to create something new and riveting.
Like the best black box theatre productions, Gia Ophelia uses the smaller scale of the show to its advantage. This is best evident through how the one-woman aspect of the show is delivered, written by Wilson and performed by Stafford. Throughout the show, Gia describes several other characters through her own lens—crypto currency start up founder boyfriend Dan, RADA-graduate workshop facilitator Dot, 21-year-old Lorna Jane-wearing Con grad Sadie—in a distinct way that would not in fact be enhanced by additional performers. This is Gia’s story and we see these characters exactly as she paints them for us. Stafford does an excellent job of bringing each of them to life in way that makes it clear they are both distinct from Gia but still unreliably shaped by her opinion of them.
The beauty of life is in the details and I greatly enjoyed playwright Grace Wilson’s commitment to examining all the intricacies of the Australian arts scene, spotlighting Sydney in particular. References abound to the slew of theatres who live at the Wharf, Gia’s one-eyed obsession with the works of Bell Shakespeare and the humorously and intricately woven web of prestige between studying craft at the Con, AFTRS and TAFE.
Rating: Highly recommend
Play: Gia Ophelia
Writer: Grace Wilson
Theatre: JB Theatre Co and Canberra Youth Theatre
Director: Jo Bradley
Starring: Annie Stafford (Gia)
Dates and venue: The Courtyard Studio, Canberra Theatre Centre until 11 July 2026