Creating a new musical is a massive challenge. In 2017, Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall made a brilliant addition to the Australian musical theatre canon with their inspired stage adaptation of Muriel’s Wedding, which premiered at Sydney Theatre Company and then toured nationally, produced by Global Creatures.

Their follow-up musical comedy Bananaland premiered at the 2023 Brisbane Festival, where it was co-produced with QPAC. Now Sydney Festival is presenting that production.

Featuring a book by Nuttall, and music and lyrics by Nuttall and Miller-Heidke, Bananaland certainly has its moments and a strong message, but it doesn’t come across as a completely satisfying whole, largely because the plot calls for three distinctive musical styles, only one of which really draws you in.

Maxwell Simon, Max McKenna and Georgina Hopson performing as Kitty Litter in Bananaland, Sydney Festival, 2024. Photo © Wenell Teodoro

The story centres around Ruby Semblance (Max McKenna), an idealistic 21-year-old who wants to make music that will change the world. She is the lead singer of a punk rock protest band called Kitty Litter, which performs aggressive, angry songs with titles like Consumerist Pig, The Trial of...