The much-anticipated adaptation of Trent Dalton’s bestselling debut novel has made its world premiere at QPAC as part of Brisbane Festival 2021, after a 12-month postponement due to COVID-19. Adapted for the stage by Tim McGarry and directed by Sam Strong, Boy Swallows Universe captures the big heart of Dalton’s book and delivers it with inventive stagecraft and cinematic flair.

The cast of Boy Swallows Universe. Photo © David Kelly

Set in the outer suburbs of Brisbane in the 1980s, Boy Swallows Universe is the story of 13-year-old Eli Bell. He barely remembers his dad, his mum is in jail, his stepdad is dealing heroin, his babysitter is a convicted killer, and his brother August refuses to talk, preferring to write cryptic messages in the air with his finger. Eli dreams of becoming a journalist and moving to The Gap but there are a number of things in his way, including local crime king Tytus Broz. The audience follows Eli on his journey from boyhood to manhood as he navigates a world of drugs, incarceration, and violence, and asks what it means to be a good man. Based...