Featuring original works by some of Brisbane’s hottest performance makers, THE DPS LAB is a one-night only theatrical event. Showcasing three new visual theatre works by Dead Puppet Society’s Academy artists, this year’s bill features works Mrs Weaver and the Hare by Margi Brown Ash & Leah Mercer, Homegrown by LOOSE TOOTH THEATRE, and Beneath the Smile of Sisyphus by Charles Ball.

With fresh vibes and beats at The Princess Theatre’s outdoor bar and behind the scenes tours of Dead Puppet Society’s Fabrication Workshop before and after the show, don’t miss this sizzling smorgasbord of unexpected and experimental theatre.

DPS Academy culminates in an artist showcase, THE DPS LAB. With the technical resources of The Princess Theatre at their disposal, Academy artists will present a 20-minute demonstration of their original performance concepts for an audience including the general public, industry guests and DPS Academy alumni.

Mrs Weaver and the Hare by Margi Brown Ash & Leah Mercer

Mrs Weaver, the Warrior of Worriers, takes a stand.

Mrs Weaver is tired of all the bad-trouble stories that rent space in her mind. Through simple storytelling and moments of magic, this extract from "Mrs Weaver and the Hare" explores the importance of friendship, of connection and trust. What you are seeing tonight is but a glimpse into Mrs Weaver’s life, as she tries to make sense of her topsy-turvy world.

"Mrs Weaver and the Hare" is a story-in-development, still only partly written, by Margi Brown Ash and Leah Mercer, in collaboration with Travis Ash, Julie Robson and Charles Ball. David Morton-Paine and Helen Stephens have been integral to the creation of our trickster puppet Hare. Freddy Komp has been our creative technical consultant, and Bill Ash has been our work-in-development producer. As the Hare Company, we wish to thank Genevieve Trace for her generous contribution early in this creative development and Sharon Grimley for her costuming of Mrs Weaver. We also want to say how magical the whole experience with DPS has been—an exquisitely planned program, executed impeccably by Helen Stephens and Kat O’Halloran.

Homegrown by LOOSE TOOTH THEATRE

Letting things fester is the best fertiliser...

Tash and Sophie’s nursery remains vacant but their combined guilt and grief propagates something else; an unidentifiable plant that christens Sophie the attentive caregiver, and Tash, the unsuspecting carrier. The plant grows, while everything else stands still.

Created by Sarah Esser, Grace Longwill and Annabel Gilbert, Homegrown examines the pressures of heteronormativity and 'the nuclear family' on queer households through puppetry and stark, horror-inspired visuals.

Beneath the Smile of Sisyphus by Charles Ball

A dance about rebellion, repression, and the cost of civility.

We are expected to smile beneath the weight of our burdens—yet something stirs deeper. Society demands obedience, but beneath the mask of civility, darker forces begin to press back. When the primal won’t stay buried, we discover that some things are heavier than the boulders we push.

Created by Charles Ball, Beneath the Smile of Sisyphus explores the tensions that arise when animal instinct collides with the absurdity of modern life. Through visceral dance-theatre, mythic imagery and raw physicality expose the quiet violence of conformity—and ask: is the struggle noble, or merely polite?