Australian playwright Suzie Miller has “a way of capturing current, contemporary issues and bringing them in an accessible form onto the stage, which affects the way people think,” says Virginia Hyam, Head of Programming at Surfers Paradise multi-arts venue, HOTA (Home of the Arts).
Hyam is part of the team that secured a Gold Coast season of Miller’s RBG: Of Many, One, a compelling portrait of the late US Supreme Court judge, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a global feminist icon.
Ginsburg was a trailblazer in the US judiciary and a fierce advocate for gender equality and reproductive rights. Her death in 2020, during the last weeks of the Obama administration, resulted in President Donald Trump (in his first term) replacing Ginsburg with a more conservative judge – a move that arguably led to the overthrow of Roe v. Wade, ending the Federal constitutional right to abortion across the US.
Miller’s one-woman show – an acting masterclass performed by Heather Mitchell (a popular Australian actor who has appeared in films such as Muriel’s Wedding and TV programs like SeaChange) is “one of the strongest pieces of theatre that I’ve seen in the last few years,” Hyam says.
“I’m incredibly excited to be able to bring it to the HOTA stage. It’s the first time that we’ve actually had an STC production here and that’s completely in line with the aims at HOTA and [tourism, events, education, and arts and culture organisation] Experience Gold Coast to present high-profile, popular works that are also rich, gutsy, powerful examples of storytelling here on the Gold Coast,” Hyam tells ArtsHub.
The partnership with STC has been several years in the making, and is one of a series of conversations Hyam has been having with a range of major Australian performing arts companies.
“We’ve had loads of conversations to encourage STC to think about HOTA as another place to present their work … it’s a really important relationship to nurture; we’re currently in conversation about hopefully continuing that relationship,” she says.
“I’m also having these conversations with a number of our state national companies, saying, ‘This is the calibre of work that we want to see here’.”
The original STC production of RBG: Of Many, One premiered in 2022 and was praised as “a supreme achievement” by ArtsHub reviewer Anna Westbrook in her 4 ½-star review of the play. That production, “virtuosically performed” by Mitchell, proved so resonant that it was reprogrammed by STC in 2025 (the current encore season concludes on 23 March); it’s also toured to Melbourne and Brisbane.
Miller’s command of one-woman shows exploring hard-hitting themes is well-established – she won the 2023 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play for the earlier work, Prima Facie, which was staged at London’s Harold Pinter Theatre in 2022. But what is it about Miller’s writing that so appeals to Hyam?
“Suzie happens to have a strong relationship with the Gold Coast,” Hyam replies. “She’s lived up here and worked a lot of local artists, so it’s been really exciting to watch her gain international recognition through Prima Facie. And it’s been absolutely wonderful to watch that journey.
“She is actually going to be coming up for one of the HOTA matinees, and then we’re doing a post-show Q and A with her and Heather, which [Radio National’s] Sarah Kanowski is going to be facilitating. That’s going to be a really insightful afternoon … and we’re really excited that Suzie will be here for it.”
The in-conversation will be attended by a wide range of audience members, but Hyam is hopeful that seeing both the play and the in-conversation will inspire younger audiences in particular, including students – perhaps even sparking a life-long love of theatre as either a career choice or a passion.
“There’s a big theatre audience here on the Gold Coast. There’s a constantly changing demographic, and lots of people who’ve moved from the big cities… So, it’s really important for HOTA to be able to offer the sort of work that you would only normally see on the mainstages of our capitals,” Hyam explains.
“And I do know that we’ve got some university students that are coming along to the production. And I think what’s beautiful and wonderful about RBG: Of Many, One is that it crosses all ages and all demographics – and there will be more productions like that coming up later this year, and even more in 2026,” she teases.
Catch Suzie Miller’s RBG: Of Many, One at HOTA from Thursday 3 to Saturday 5 April 2025. Learn more about the production and how to book.
