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Happy-Go-Wrong
SHOW DETAILS:
25 – 29 June 2025
duration: 65 minutes
opening night & post show Q&A: Thursday 26 June
times:
Wednesday – Saturday 7:30pm
Sunday 5pm
ticket price: $35 – $45 + booking fee
bookings: 03 9662 9966
warnings: Nudity, low level flashing lights, haze
a note on access: fortyfivedownstairs has level access to the theatre space only (via Spark Lane, off Flinders street). The gallery, where the box office is located, is only accessible by stairs. If you are coming to Happy-Go-Wrong and require ground level access, please contact us. We need to know 24 hours before the event in question, or by 5pm on Friday if it is a weekend event. Click HERE for further access info.
post show Q&A: Thursday 26 June
Auslan interpreted show: Friday 27 June
Powerhouse performer Andi Snelling is in the fight of her life, stuck behind ‘the fourth wall.’ Little does she know, she is about to orchestrate her own rescue and return to the stage with a second chance at life.
Based on the true story of a life-changing tick bite, Happy-Go-Wrong is a visceral physical theatre odyssey that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and preciousness of life. Showcasing Snelling’s unstoppable no-holds-barred performance style, this rollercoaster show aligns the personal with the universal, and makes visible the invisible experience of chronic illness like you’ve never seen before.
With unflinching rawness, gut-punching comedy and a heavenly twist, Happy-Go-Wrong blends clowning, poetic existentialism, otherworldly movement and rollerskating with a spellbinding brown paper set that moves with Andi in striking visual metaphor.
In a remarkable parallel journey to Andi’s own recovery from Lyme disease, Happy-Go-Wrong truly is the little show that could. Since its humble beginnings at Melbourne Fringe 2019, it has garnered five awards, countless standing ovations, 5-star reviews, and toured main stages across Australia. Now in its ninth season, this “highlight of the year” (The Age) returns to Melbourne for one very special homecoming that is not to be missed.
★★★★★ “A necessary show” – The Advertiser
★★★★★ “Phenomenal. One of the best physical theatre works I’ve seen” – The Guardian
★★★★★ “Pushes the boundaries and bravely bares her soul” – InDaily
★★★★★ “Life-affirming” – Barefoot Review (#4 of Top Ten Theatre Shows in South Australia, 2022)
“A love of life might not have been better depicted on stage” – Witness Performance
Image by Cameron Grant
Supported by the City of Melbourne Arts Grants
Created, Performed & Produced by Andi Snelling
Original Development Direction by Danielle Cresp
Dramaturgical Support by Fiona Scott-Norman
Sound by Caleb Garfinkel
Lighting by Sidney Younger
Tech Operated/Stage Managed by Jacinta Anderson
Production Support by Ezel Doruk
Ticket Prices:
Full: $45
Concession: $35
Group 6+: $35
Restricted view (only available for purchase at the door): $30
Concessions:
Pensioners/Full-time students/MEAA members
Ticket sales are subject to a booking fee of $3.00 per ticket plus any merchant charges for payments by American Express
Ticket fees are charged reluctantly. As an unfunded CBD located venue, our expenses continue to rise. If fortyfivedownstairs is to survive, we are obliged to increase our revenue without inflicting costs on already struggling artists. Without support, we risk losing artists or having to close our doors. We do hope for your understanding!