La Boite Theatre and Playlab Theatre will stage the world premiere of Second Coming, a new tragicomedy of galactic proportions, at the Roundhouse Theatre from 6 to 22 August 2026.

True to La Boite’s reputation for putting the whole world on show, Second Coming is a love letter to Earth that turns one of the biggest questions of our time – what does the future look like? – into courageous, heartfelt theatre.

Set in 2065, the play follows geneticist Evie and the crew of the ARK MARK II as they race to rescue every species they can, two by two, for a nnew beginning on Mars.

Behind the mission is GENESIS, a corporate superpower selling salvation through a slick marketing campaign, with lions, Javan warty pigs and creatures of all kinds bound for purpose-built biomes in ‘The Second Eden’.

Everything unravels when Evie discovers she is pregnant, followed by a shocking truth that forces the crew to question everything they thought they knew.

Award-winning playwright Kathryn Marquet, returning to La Boite for her third production, brings the environmental passion that drives much of her writing.

“Second Coming is big, funny and a little bit ridiculous, but underneath it is a serious question about how we treat the only home we have,” Marquet said.

“I want people to laugh, then catch themselves thinking about Earth, about responsibility, about the kind of future we are actually building.

After all, if we cannot get it right here, Mars will not save us.”

The stellar local cast features Ashlee Lollback as Evie, alongside Gideon Mzembe, Anthony Standish and Merlynn Tong.

Lollback returns to Marquet’s work after appearing in Pale Blue Dot, this time leading the company as a woman holding the fate of every living thing while her own world tips upside down.

“Evie is fierce, funny and completely out of her depth, which is exactly what makes her so easy to love,” Lollback said.

Second Coming plays La Boite’s Roundhouse Theatre from 6 to 22 August 2026, with its opening night on Saturday 8 August.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit laboite.com.au/shows/second-coming