37

About the show

Lace up your boots! Whether you’re a footy fanatic or not, the Cutting Cove boys are back. The laugh-out-loud hit of Melbourne Theatre Company’s Season 2024 returns after winning the hearts of critics and audiences alike. The local footy team of this small coastal town has spent too long at the bottom of the ladder. But then a new hope arrives: the Marngrook cousins. Named after the Aboriginal game that inspired AFL, they’re match-fit to bring home the team’s first flag in forever. 37 juxtaposes choreographed sequences of Marngrook and the modern game with the hilarity and at-times questionable banter found within sporting clubs around Australia. Set within the era of Adam Goodes’s war cry – and named for the number he immortalised – 37 asks ten actors to throw themselves into this world of blood and grit to get at the values that drive a national obsession. Community, identity, the price of winning and the meaning of a goal: they’re all up for grabs. Penned by Nathan Maynard – twice named Tasmanian Aboriginal Artist of the Year – and directed by Isaac Drandic (The Birthday Party, ABC’s Cleverman), 37 is a reminder that honest conversations are more than a ball toss. It matters where you stand.