Emmanuelle Mattana’s Trophy Boys explores toxic masculinity and feminism through the backdrop of high school debating in a private boys’ school. Since its 2022 debut, it has consistently captivated audiences with its dark comedy, selling out crowds, winning Best New Work at the 2024 Sydney Theatre Awards and garnering multiple Green Room Award nominations.
THIS ARTICLE AT A GLANCE
- Mattana’s experience as a school debater informed the play’s setting & themes
- The project was partly inspired by allegations connected to a debating event
- Trophy Boys uses drag to frame masculinity as a learned & performed behaviour
- The script was initially written in a single session and completed later
- Mattana uses a timed writing tool to maintain momentum & avoid self-editing
- The production emphasises collaboration & experimentation in performance
- Estimated read time: 3 minutes
“Trophy Boys is Shameless and brave, and a real pleasure!” – FUSE Magazine
Photo: Emmanuelle Mattana
Blending drag performance with dark comedy, this award-winning show draws from Mattana’s own teenage experiences and real-world political controversies to unpack how young men learn—and perform—gender.
We had the pleasure of interviewing Emmanuelle about her highly celebrated show, Trophy Boys.
I’d love to know more about you. What did you do before Trophy Boys? How did you get into acting and writing?
Once upon a time I was a competitive high school debater. I loved it and I hated it – mostly because I was a huge nerd who was always grateful for the opportunity to passionately argue uninterrupted and call it an extra-curricular. But it was also pretty gross, and I was exposed to some of the most obnoxious teenagers you could possibly imagine. My friends and I would joke about how we’d probably met the next PM, and then we realised it wasn’t a joke, and that was actually a very upsetting realisation.
So as soon as I graduated high school, I ran away to Melbourne and did the Queer artist thing instead. I discovered I was much more interested in using art to change the world rather than politics, and that has been my MO ever since.
Tell me about Trophy Boys. How did you all meet?
So, when I was 15 I went to this national Model United Nations Tournament and it was exactly as nerdy and unpleasant as it sounds. But while I was there, I found out I booked my first ever professional acting gig, playing a soccer tragic named Marnie, on a teen ABC series called Mustangs FC.
Funnily enough, there was a real life ‘Marni’ at this tournament. She was one of the university facilitators who was there to make sure the teenagers all stayed in line and didn’t do anything stupid (Wasn’t an issue. Again, nerds.) She was studying nerdy things down in Canberra but had a secret passion for the theatre and we somehow connected and exchanged Instagram handles.
Then a full 5 years later I wrote Trophy Boys and made a post on my story looking for collaborators. Marni had just moved to Melbourne to do her Masters in Directing at the VCA, we reconnected, and the rest is history. As for the brilliant actors – they auditioned and just absolutely shone. We’re all so lucky we’ve hit it off the way we have.
What kicked the project off?
The Christian Porter allegations, which allegedly took place at a high school debate tournament. There was something that haunted me about the case, the photos… All these experiences I had as a high school debater came back to me, and I felt compelled to revisit them in the only way I knew how – satire, drag, camp comedy.
Why did you decide to gender swap the characters/perform in drag?
Because I truly believe masculinity is a performance. It is something that is taught, and something that is learned. And that becomes dangerous when the people learning are young schoolboys, and the teachers are any awful man on the internet with a wifi connection.
I hope that in presenting masculinity on non cis-male bodies we can see it for what it is – an absurd, heightened and sometimes disturbing performance. And if we can take it off as drag at the end of the night, hopefully we can liberate more men to do the same.
How did you choose the topic of the debate?
It kinda just… came to me. I basically wrote the first half of the show in one manic night, and then put it in a drawer for 12 months before I was like – ‘huh, better finish this…’
Do you have any writing rituals? Any snacks you’ve got to have on hand?
I’m obsessed with this website called ‘The Most Dangerous Writing App’. I never start a session without it. Basically you set a timer and you have to keep writing for that whole time otherwise everything you’ve written gets deleted! It’s unreal. It really puts you into a creative and generative mode and silences the inner critic so you can just get started!
In terms of performing, what do you enjoy about performing together?
I think the drag is a really unique joy. We’ve learned to take up space in new ways, to play shamelessly and bravely, and to really support one another through the highs and the lows of the show. It’s a comedy, so you get to really experiment and have fun, but it also has something to say, and that’s a real pleasure.
What’s something you’ve learned about yourself during the production of Trophy Boys?
I look SO good with a moustache.
One piece of advice for young actors starting out?
Make things! With your friends! Figure out your ‘why?’ – what you want to say, what matters to you. The world is so saturated with nonsense, so you need to lead with what is meaningful to you.
What is something we can look forward to from you? Any other shows on the horizon?
I’m currently adapting Jane Campion’s beautiful film Bright Star for the stage, which will be opening in Melbourne in my favourite independent venue ever – FortyFiveDownstairs. It should be intimate, beautiful and hopefully very moving! You can follow me @emmanuelle.mattana for the latest!
Trophy Boys
28 April – 2 May 2026
The Playhouse
Canberra Theatre
“Shameless and brave, and a real pleasure!” – FUSE Magazine
