A love letter to fandom, friendship and growing up queer wins emerging playwright commission
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The winner of Canberra Youth Theatre’s 2025 Emerging Playwright Commission is Western Sydney-Dharug based playwright Sarah Carroll, for her play, Meet You At The Barricade.
A bold new Australian stage-play, Sarah’s work explores stan culture, digital identity, and the messy magic of finding your people online.
The winner was announced at a special event as part of the Canberra Writers Festival.
This queer coming-of-age story follows two teen fangirls and a wild chorus of pop stars, servo poets, and motel prophets on a cross-country road trip to see their idol, pop sensation Luna Nova. Their destination: an exclusive, no-phones-allowed concert in the heart of regional Australia – a journey that blurs the line between fandom, friendship, and self-discovery.
As young people, particularly queer and culturally diverse teens, continue to grow up online and find the internet both a sanctuary and a stage, Meet You At The Barricade is a joyful and music filled reminder that finding your people (and yourself) is still possible – even if it takes a detour through the desert.
Winning playwright Sarah Carroll
The screenplay follows Mele and Lana, two chronically online besties who meet IRL for the first time to road-trip across the Aussie outback to an exclusive concert by their pop idol, Luna Nova. It will be a vibrant ensemble piece and a love letter to stan culture, queer friendship and the messy magic of finding your people with lots of memes, sparkles and bubblegum pop energy.
“I’m beyond excited to write a play for young people and with young people as collaborators. The inspiration comes straight from my teenage years, a time spent living online, fangirling over Katy Perry, and finding myself through music and being part of a fandom,” says Sarah.
“At a time when digital connection is both more vital and more disorienting than ever, Meet You at the Barricade feels urgent. It’s a reminder to young audiences, especially those navigating queerness, culture, and identity that finding your people (and yourself) is still possible. Even if it takes a detour through the outback. It’s also my way of screaming from the rooftops that it’s ok to be part of a fandom, to be a stan – to be absolutely, unapologetically obsessed.”
Sarah’s play was selected from over 40 submissions from every state and territory in Australia. The commission, supported by national law firm Holding Redlich, offers an emerging playwright $17,400 to create a new full-length work that brings the voices and stories of youth to the stage. The other finalists, Iolanthe (NSW), and Blake Hohenhaus (VIC) will also receive $1,500 each to support their writing practice.
Luke Rogers, Artistic Director and CEO of Canberra Youth Theatre, says “Over five years since we began the Emerging Playwright Commission, we have received 226 proposals submitted from every state and territory. We’ve had Fifteen finalists. Four winners. Two full productions. One remount and tour to Sydney. Welcomed over 1,400 audience members who experienced these new works. And more than 100 young people directly engaged in the creative process—through workshops, creative developments, and productions that employed emerging artists across all areas of theatre-making.
“But behind every statistic is a human story—an emerging writer finding their voice, a young performer discovering the power theatre offers them, an emerging director and designer refining their craft, and a young person in the audience seeing themselves reflected on stage for the first time.”
Luke says the program has a proud history of “nurturing a generation of writers, giving them confidence, skills, and professional pathways into an industry that can be incredibly difficult to break into.”
Sarah Carroll is an award-winning Pasifika, queer and neurodiverse producer, writer, performer and proud fangirl based on Dharug Land (Western Sydney). Sarah has created two acclaimed solo shows, Cherry (Sydney Fringe Award Winner, Hollywood Fringe Nominee) and Unkissed (Shopfront – ArtsLab). Their debut play Fekei recently premiered at Qtopia Sydney. Their writing is published with ACON (Stories Out West) and The Writing Zone. Sarah strives to champion underrepresented voices with lots of sparkle and sass
Holding Redlich’s partnership with Canberra Youth Theatre is part of the firm’s long-standing support of the arts, which also includes sponsorship of Salon des Refusés in New South Wales.
Elizabeth Carroll, ACT Managing Partner of Holding Redlich congratulated Sarah on her win.
“We are delighted to support exceptional new talent and help emerging voices make their mark on Australian theatre. As a firm committed to supporting the arts and promoting creative expression, we’re proud to stand with Canberra Youth Theatre in championing innovation, diversity and the power of bringing new works to life. We will continue to support the Commission and Canberra Youth Theatre in years to come.”
Canberra Youth Theatre provides a platform for writers, performers, designers, directors, theatre-makers, and cultural leaders to gain invaluable professional experience, develop their craft, and find their own creative voice. The winner of the annual Emerging Playwright Commission receives ongoing dramaturgical support, collaborates with an ensemble of young artists, participates in a series of creative development workshops in Canberra, and sees their script come to life in a staged reading of their work.
