Presented by Smiling Bear as part of State Theatre Company South Australia’s SPARK program, Adelaide writer Anthony Nocera’s debut full-length play Log Boy will receive its world premiere at the Adelaide College of the Arts Main Theatre in October.
The horror comedy sees two generations of gay men come face to face with the ghosts of their past on the eve of a friend’s funeral. The dark comedy is inspired by the hilarious and deeply scandalous weekly conversations shared by Nocera’s late fiancé Jamie Anderson and his long-time best friend Justin, which ultimately informed the story about two men grappling with the ghosts of AIDS, loss and grief.
“When I sat with both of them, I was in stitches,” said Nocera. “They were the funniest, smartest and most entertaining people I’d ever met. But their conversations were always inevitably tinged with loss and the experiences they shared living through the height of the AIDS crisis.”
“There was a haunting quality to that time. I realised that my experience of that time was theoretical – experienced through the lens of horror movies and murderous leather daddies from William Friedkin’s Cruising. So, I started writing a big, scary play that saw three gay men haunted by a spectre of a murderous Leather Daddy.”
When Anderson unexpectedly passed away in 2022, Nocera experienced this grief-first hand, transforming Log Boy into a much more personal work that enabled him to process his grief, while also keeping the memory of Jamie alive.
“Grief is a slippery thing. A scary thing. When you lose someone, you live among ghosts,” says Nocera. “I wrote Log Boy after work every night, often with Jamie sleeping next to me. Writing it and having his words woven through the script felt like I was able to hold onto him in a small way.”
“Working on Log Boy in the months immediately after he passed were the first time that I really laughed, which is the best way to navigate trick emotional terrain, I think,” said Nocera.
Directed by Riley Spadaro (La Cage Aux Folles), Log Boy brings together a celebrated cast including Chris Asimos (A View from the Bridge), Paul Capsis (House of Rot), Elena Carapetis (Treasure & Dirt), Anthony Nicola (The Normal Heart) and Paul Reichstein (Clock for No Time).
In development since 2021, Log Boy had its first public reading in 2025 as part of State Theatre Company South Australia’s Great Australian Bites initiative. The script has also been shortlisted for the Jill Blewett Playwright’s Award and longlisted for the Theatre503 International Playwriting Award.
It is the second production from State Theatre Company South Australia’s inaugural SPARK program, designed to support independent South Australian theatre-makers and bridge the gap between independent and mainstage practice.
Nocera, who balances writing with a career in arts marketing and publicity, started his career at State Theatre Company South Australia in 2018 and notes the importance of the SPARK program for the development of new South Australian voices.
“It’s such a huge honour to be returning to State as an artist and very surreal. And to be given the license to really pop off and lean into the more ridiculous aspects of the work is something we’re pumped about. It’s going to be vicious and fun and totally killer,” said Nocera.
Camp, kinky, and emotionally ferocious, Log Boy is a riotous collision of horror, humour, and heartbreak – a love letter to leather queens, nelly bottoms, and anyone who’s ever been ghosted by grief.
Director: Riley Spadaro | Featuring: Chris Asimos, Paul Capsis, Elena Carapetis, Anthony Nicola, Paul Reichstein | Composer: Jason Sweeney | Set & Costume Designer: Meg Wilson | Lighting Designer: Chris Petridis | Sound Designer / Production Manager: Lachlan Turner | Stage Manager: Bridget Samuel | Writer: Anthony Nocera
LOG BOY
Main Theatre – Adelaide College of the Arts, 39 Light Square, Adelaide
Season: 1 – 10 October 2026
Information and Bookings: www.statetheatrecompany.com.au
Image: Log Boy – photo by Claudio Raschella