THE DAPTO CHASERS Will Come to Ensemble Theatre
This is Mary Rachel Brown's black comedy about greyhound racing and family, directed by Anna Houston and starring Peter Carroll.
Ensemble Theatre will present the quintessentially Australian play by award-winning playwright Mary Rachel Brown, The Dapto Chaser, a black comedy about chasing dreams, racking up debts, and the cut-throat world of greyhound racing, showing from 29 June - 25 July 2026.
THE DAPTO CHASER was commissioned and originally produced by Merrigong Theatre Company. Directed by Anna Houston and starring Australian legend Peter Carroll (Honour, The Survivors) The Dapto Chaser is a quintessentially Australian play capturing the highs and lows of two brothers taking a gamble on life, where every win is a fleeting victory and every loss tastes like stale kibble. For the Sinclair family, the cut-throat world of greyhound racing is a religion. And their beloved dog Boy Named Sue is more than a greyhound; he's their heart and soul on four legs. However, with the odds stacked against them, the Sinclair's riskiest bet might not be on their champion greyhound — but on each other.
Director Anna Houston said, “Mary Rachel Brown's big-hearted play The Dapto Chaser is a wonderfully dark, funny and surprisingly tender underdog story. It's about what happens when we take a gamble on ourselves and on each other, when we kick the table over and back our dreams against the odds. I'm thrilled to be working with an incredible cast of actors making their Ensemble Theatre debuts – and I can't wait to share this wildly funny and deeply moving story with Ensemble audiences very soon.”
Alongside Peter Carroll, the cast and crew features Marco Chiappi (Wentworth, Holding The Man), André de Vanny (Bay of Fires, The Nightingale), and Justin Rosniak (Mr Inbetween, Colin from Accounts).
Set and costume design by Simone Romaniuk (How to Plot a Hit in Two Days, True West), lighting design by Matt cox (The Social Ladder, Benefactors), Sound and Composition by Madeleine Picard (Dial M for Murder, 84 Charing Cross Road, Emerald City), Stage Management by Christopher Starnawski.
It's gritty, it's raw, and it's laugh-out-loud funny, but at its heart, The Dapto Chaser is about the lengths we'll go to for a chance at happiness. Don't miss this dark, warts-and-all Australian comedy.
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