Queensland Theatre presents the world premiere of L’Appartement, a dramatic and occasionally absurd comedy by acclaimed and prolific Australian playwright Joanna Murray-Smith, who is also making her directorial debut. Set against the backdrop of a chic Parisian apartment, the work paints a painfully real portrait of a marriage, and attempts to explore questions of privilege, culture, ignorance, and hypocrisy.

Pacharo Mzembe, Melanie Zanetti, Liz Buchanan and Andrew Buchanan. Photograph © David Kelly

Australian couple Meg and Rooster (Liz and Andrew Buchanan) arrive in Paris for a lavish getaway – 10 days in the city of love and lights without their three-year-old twins, staying in an apartment that is as impractically beautiful as it is expensive, enjoying all the food, wine, and romance that Paris has to offer. But upon meeting their departing Airbnb hosts, high-flying and accomplished young French couple Serge (Pacharo Mzembe) and Lea (Melanie Zanetti), their romantic idealism begins to unravel and tall poppy syndrome sets in. When Meg unwraps a mysterious package delivered to the apartment, the couple’s passive aggressive bickering descends into full-blown chaos that comes to a head with the return of their hosts.

The work addresses the idea of...