The Placeholder at fortyfivedownstairs

The Placeholder is a bold new queer Australian play by trans playwright Ben MacEllen, premiering at fortyfivedownstairs.

In a regional town, grief holds a group of women together after the death of Barb. Their bond is fragile — some close, others linked more by memory than friendship. When one of their own announces his transition, the circle begins to fracture. Loyalties splinter, old wounds reopen, and the meaning of identity and belonging is fiercely contested.

Funny, sharp, and deeply human, The Placeholder explores how feminism, friendship, and chosen family collide — and how love is tested when those closest to us change in ways we never expected.

Directed by Kitan Petkovski (The Inheritance) and performed by an extraordinary ensemble, The Placeholder is a fearless and emotionally charged work about the radical act of living truthfully in a world that resists change.