Griffin Theatre Company presents Purple tape productions’ Afterglow

Griffin Theatre Company is thrilled to premiere the 2026 Griffin Lookout season with Afterglow a tender musical rom-com from Purple Tape Productions penned by the brilliant Sheanna Parker Russon and Lillian M. Hearne at Downstairs Theatre, Belvoir St Theatre, from 9 – 25 July 2026.

From the profound musical minds of Russon (No Love Songs for Lady Basses) and Hearne (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812), Afterglow is performed in four-part acapella harmony, giving the audience a true barbershop experience.

Afterglow follows the bi-annual Barbershop Singing National Championships, where the men gather for the traditional “afterglow”. Whisky flows, dickie-bows are loosened and quartets sing booze-soaked harmonies into the small hours.

Then, at the 2012 afterglow, Michael meets Tom. One is a barbershop purist with something to prove. The other is a first timer with a messy suit, a bass voice and a quietly radical outlook: Why aren’t women allowed to sing at barbershop competitions too?

Over eight years, their heated debate turns tender, sweet and complex as the two singers journey through their twenties and encounter some major awakenings. But barbershop has rules, both musical and social. And as Michael and Tom change, so might their place in the chorus.

Afterglow features a cast and creative team bursting with trans excellence, including Sheanna and Lillian, co-director and performer Cassie Hamilton (winner of the APRA Professional Development Award in 2025 for her musical A Transgender Woman on the Internet, Crying) and Nic Prior (Belvoir’s Orlando, Queensland Theatre’s Tiny Beautiful Things). They are joined by Nat Jobe (Hayes Theatre Co’s Phar Lap: The Electro-Swing Musical) and Lincoln Elliott (Melbourne Theatre Company’s My Brilliant Career). Sheanna Parker Russon said: “We have aimed from the beginning to bring a unique trans story to the stage that shows the raw complexity of trans womanhood.

There is a historical rigidity to voice types and the roles that we play within musicals that is very gendered and heteronormative. This works as a fascinating microcosm of society more at large. My hope with this work is that it will open people’s ideas to the roles people can play, how we can represent both trans and cis people on stage, and by queering the form in such an intimate setting give the audience a new and expansive perspective of trans people.”

Lillian M. Hearne said: “We're thrilled and honoured to be supported by Griffin Lookout. Griffin are doing vital work sharing and platforming the work of marginalised artists. Especially in the current political climate, the importance of humanising marginalised communities cannot be overstated. Through sharing our stories with audiences we can cut through the propaganda that demonises us and connect with wider community, building empathy.”

Griffin Artistic Director, Declan Greene said: "With Lillian’s formative history as a barbershop singer, she and Sheanna are probably the only two playwrights in the world who could have written this play. It’s a gentle, luminous study of change and quiet personal revolutions, scored to the sweetest harmonies you could imagine.”

Griffin Lookout offers Sydney’s most exciting independent artists a season to bring their stories to life, alongside artistic and production support from the Griffin team. Afterglow is one of two 2026 Lookout productions, together with lacuna by Eric Jiang.

Past Griffin Lookout shows include notable works such as SISTREN by Iolanthe, Birdsong of Tomorrow by Nathan Harrison, UFO by re:group, A is for Apple by Jessica Bellamy, Mother May We by Mel Ree and Jali by Oliver Twist. Afterglow promises to have audiences humming long after the lights go down.