RECALIBRATE was originally commissioned by Queensland Theatre Company for The Scene Project, 2025.

ABOUT THE SHOW

RECALIBRATE provides the springboard into a wild and surreal adventure through multiple realities. Three high school students attempt to reckon with the question at the centre of the play, “what will you do with the rest of your life?”, as they attempt to find a sense of purpose on Earth in 2025.

The students are struggling with subject selection and have been called in for some extra help from the school Guidance Officer; an absurd, “ageless” enigma. As the students discuss their challenges and fears around subject selection, they become curious about a large, mysterious box in the corner of the office...

Be prepared to be sent on a wild and surreal adventure through multiple realities, as they attempt to ‘Recalibrate’ and gain clarity about their futures.

ABOUT THE MAKING OF THE WORK

When the chance came up to carry the torch and write the next play for the scene project, we jumped at it. When creating any new work we always search for a central theme that gives us a clear sense of “why this story and why now?”. In this instance, when we started digging, what kept coming up was the age old question “what do you want to be when you grow up?”. There seems to be growing pressure on young people to commit to a particular pathway, seemingly at a younger and younger age. This struck us as something that can be difficult to answer at any age, but particularly when you are still forming a sense of who you are and what your core values are.

We wanted to create a story that explored the idea of “work” and “success”, how it can define us, for better and worse, and how it can lead us to understand what is important to us. A survey was sent out via Queensland Theatre to students and teachers, and some of those responses helped to inform the ideas and questions that we explored in the script. We also wanted the work to explore some broader existential questions around purpose, intention and meaning. We drew on the wisdom of ancient texts like the Tao Te Ching, the writing of Paulo Coelho and many others including old fables and allegories from various cultures to weave symbolism and metaphor into the narrative and help craft each character’s journey of self-discovery.

Finding a style of writing that suited the themes of the work was an important consideration for us. Due to the existential nature of the script, we lent into absurdism and science fiction as two styles that we felt would fit nicely. We also wanted to deliver these timeless ideas in a way that felt current, relatable and playful. This led us to draw inspiration from some of our favourite contemporary speculative fiction stories from film, tv and literature, such as Rick and Morty, The Midnight Gospel and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. This genre perfectly lends itself to exploring big questions in a way that is creatively free, surprising, at times irreverent, and gives teachers and students lots of scope to have fun and play.