VPLA 2024
Loaded

Title: Loaded

Authors: Christos Tsiolkas & Dan Giovannoni

Publisher: Adapted by Christos Tsiolkas and Dan Giovannoni, from the novel by Christos Tsiolkas.
Loaded was originally commissioned by Malthouse Theatre.

Almost 30 years ago, Christos Tsiolkas’ debut novel Loaded painted a portrait of a young man who is restlessly searching for himself in opposing worlds. To this day, the story resonates with migrant and queer communities as a reminder that you are not alone.

Ari (Danny Ball, A Beginner’s Guide to Grief) is 19 and unemployed — he doesn’t want to be gay and he doesn’t want to be Greek. He doesn’t want to be anything. Drawn by the alluring pulse of Collingwood’s gay clubs, he finds an escape, and a family in the form of drag queens and one-night stands.

First adapted as the award-winning 1998 film Head On, then reimagined as an audio adaptation in 2020, Loaded finally takes the mainstage with director Stephen Nicolazzo (Looking for Alibrandi) joining writers Dan Giovannoni and Christos Tsiolkas (The Slap, Merciless Gods) to present Ari’s anarchic odyssey that sees him travel the four corners of Melbourne.

Honest, raw, and passionate — a lot can happen in a sweaty night at The Peel.

Photography by Sarah Walker

Judges’ report

Skillfully capturing the intensity and nostalgic tragedy of a never-ending night out – its epiphanies and ennui alike – Loaded is a precise, poetic portrait of a man throbbing with life but running from the world. Adapted by Christos Tsiolkas and Dan Giovannoni from Tsiolkas’ debut novel of the same name, the decision to set the play now rather than in 1995 (when it was first published) ensures Loaded thrums with authenticity and contemporaneity. Through language that is by turns vicious, theatrical and accomplished, Loaded paints a portrait of Naarm/Melbourne that showcases the clash between gentrification and tradition and highlights its protagonist’s desire to escape ‘the thousand things people say you have to be’. Both an interrogation of queer masculinity and an exploration of what it means to be caught between two cultures, the play interrogates internalised homophobia, toxic masculinity, and the power and potency of drugs, dance and music in a way that both honours the original novel and ensures Loaded’s absolute relevancy today.

Extract

About the authors

Christos Tsiolkas is the author of seven novels – Loaded, The Jesus Man, Dead Europe, The Slap, Barracuda, Damascus and & 7 ½. Many of his novels and short stories have been adapted for stage and screen, including an adaptation of his short story collection, Merciless Gods, that was produced by Little Ones Theatre and directed by Stephen Nicolazzo and written by Dan Giovannoni. Christos is also a playwright, having collaborated with Patricia Cornelius, Andrew Bovell, Melissa Reeves and Irine Vela on the plays Who’s Afraid of the Working Class?, Fever, and Anthem. He has co-written the play, Non Parlo di Salo, with Spiro Economopoulos, about the life and work of Pier Paolo Pasolini. His other plays include Viewing Blue Poles, Dead Caucasians, and Carburettor. Christos owes his introduction to theatre writing to the encouragement and mentorship of Melbourne Workers Theatre. In 2022 the Adelaide Festival staged Watershed: The Death of Dr Duncan, an oratorio written by Christos and Alana Valentine, with music composed by Joseph Twist. Christos is also an essayist and a film critic and is a regular film reviewer for The Saturday Paper. Along with Clem Bastow and Casey Bennetto, he is a co-host of the 3RRR show, Superfluity. Christos is a patron of Writers Victoria and ambassador for the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. His new novel, The In-Between, will be released by Allen & Unwin in November, 2023.

Dan Giovannoni’s plays for young people, families and adults have been produced across Australia. His plays include SLAP. BANG. KISS. (Melbourne Theatre Company), The Great Un-Wondering of Wilbur Whittaker, HOUSE and Bambert’s Book of Lost Stories (all for Barking Gecko Theatre), Turbine (Malthouse Theatre’s Suitcase Series), Air Race (Arena Theatre), Jurassica (Red Stitch Actors Theatre), and the adaptation of Christos Tsiolkas’ short story collection Merciless Gods (Little Ones Theatre). Dan’s writing has won three Green Room Association awards, an AWGIE and a Helpmann award. He is currently working under commission from Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne Theatre Company and Terrapin Puppet Theatre.