By Little Ones Theatre after Oscar Wilde, Presented by La Mama and Midsumma Festival, 2017, Griffin Theatre Company, 2019 and La Boite Theatre Company, 2020.

Little Ones Theatre presents a new theatrical work based on Oscar Wilde’s iconic fairy tale, The Happy Prince.  Created especially for the 2017 Midsumma Festival, this adults-only parable of a selfless swallow and a golden statue reveals the betrayal inherent in perceptions of gender, beauty, sex, and class.

“As he is no longer beautiful he is no longer useful”

Memorialised in living death as a golden statue, a happy prince convinces a swallow to deliver jewels to the poor until, eventually, each of their hearts is broken.  Little Ones Theatre transposes this moral and social allegory of Victorian oppression into the world of contemporary homo-sexual iconography.

Presented by Little Ones Theatre, whose gender-bent queer re-imaginings of Psycho Beach Party (Midsumma 2013), Dangerous Liaisons (Melbourne Theatre Company Neon) and Dracula (Theatre Works), have brought positive representations of sexuality to audiences all over the country, The Happy Prince was the company’s first collaboration with the iconic La Mama Theatre and their second investigation of Oscar Wilde’s devious poetics.

The Happy Prince was presented as part of the 2017 Midsumma Festival for La Mama, January 18th-29th to a sold out season and critical acclaim. It was also nominated for five Green Room Awards in 2018 including: Best Production, Best Director, Best Set and Costume Design, Best Lighting Design, and Best Sound Design. It won two Green Room Awards: Best Director and Best Set and Costume Design.

The show went on to perform a critically acclaimed 2019 season at Griffin Theatre Company, Sydney and was to be presented as part of La Boite Theatre Company’s main stage season in Brisbane, 2020. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, this season was sadly cancelled.

Following its 2019 season, The Happy Prince went on to win a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Lead Female Performer (Janine Watson), and was nominated for a four further awards, Best Production, Best Director, Best Costume Design and Best Lead Female Performer (Catherine Văn-Davies).

With: Janine Watson and Catherine Văn-Davies

Director: Stephen Nicolazzo
Set and Costume Design: Eugyeene Teh
Lighting Design: Katie Sfetkidis
Sound Design: Daniel Nixon
Producer: Jo Porter

★★★★½ “A flawless little jewel of theatre” Cameron Woodhead, The Age.

★★★★1/2 “This is Wilde, respected and adored” Judith Greenaway, Reviews By Judith

★★★★ "Tremendous" Cassie Tongue, Time Out.

★★★★ "The Happy Prince is an achingly lovely hour of theatre." Jason Blake, Audrey Journal

★★★★ "The shadows, shapes and illusions of the Stables stage is the perfect space for this wistful and occasionally macabre tale... It’s made memorable by Janine Watson’s cerebral stillness and tangible depth, while the contrasting bright energy of twirling, soaring Catherine Davies is exhilarating." Diana Simmonds, Stage Noise

“Detailed, sumptuous, and authentically sensuous.” Chris Boyd, The Australian

“Extraordinary staging. Poetic, with a sublime beauty that transcends all manner of convention" Suzy Wrong, Suzy Goes See.