Piles of shame spirals stack up around the city. Smash them up. Devised by The Amateur Collective.

Sneaky Little Bugger shines a high voltage mega-light on the judgment, secrecy and silence of shame. A kaleidoscopic concoction of physical and verbatim theatre that mixes live and recorded audio. A show that spirals and devours as it draws on real-life interviews and conversations, myth and memoir.

A dynamic cracking open of this primal and all too pervasive emotion.

Laying face down on a rug, ordering McDonalds delivery twice in one day, watching porn, that disastrous first date. A torrent of familiar stories unfold in a sound-scape of the everyday as we speak what hates being spoken.


Sneaky Little Bugger will also be livestreamed on Friday, Aug 30, 7.30pm. Livestream playback will be available for 72 hours after the show.


Content Warnings: References to eating disorders, abortion, suicide, alcohol and drug use, mental health issues, shame, references to homophobia/ transphobia, abrupt/loud noises, haze.

Created and performed by Ophelia Marriott, Dustin Waters and Tess Nethercote Way

(Due to unforeseen circumstances this work will now be a two-hander. Amended cast list: Dustin Waters and Tess Nethercote Way)

Producer: Tess Nethercote Way

Stage Manager/Operator: Kelly Harris

Lighting Designers: Olivia Fisher and Georgie Wolfe 

Sound Designer: Will Newsome 

Deakin Technical Production Interns: Lauren Treloar, Daisy Paxton-White, Dylan Talbot, Shani Glenn-Ward

Image by Darren Gill


Access Information:

Visual rating 50%: Events are partly subtitled or include dialogue, background music and/or sounds, so d/Deaf and hard of hearing audiences can have some engagement with the event.

Aural Rating 50%: Has both sound and visual components, but sight isn’t essential to be able to engage with the event.