Experience Cicada at Wollongong Art Gallery from 27–29 August 2026, where immersive theatre, visual art and suburban memory come together in a unique performance.
As the evening light softens across Wollongong, the city's streets begin to slow. The cafés empty, the sea breeze drifts inland, and the galleries prepare for a different kind of audience. In late August, one familiar cultural space will quietly change its character, inviting visitors beyond white walls and framed canvases into a story that unfolds between memory and imagination.
From 27 to 29 August 2026, Cicada, written by Wollongong playwright Tegan Ware, will be presented inside The Chambers at Wollongong Art Gallery as part of Merrigong Theatre Company's MERRIGONGX artists' program. Rather than asking audiences to simply watch a performance, Cicada will encourage them to step inside an artist's life, following a journey that begins in suburban childhood and ends in unexpected isolation.
Blending theatre, installation and visual art, the production promises an intimate experience where the gallery itself becomes part of the storytelling.
Cicada Finds Its Home Inside Wollongong Art Gallery
There is something fitting about experiencing Cicada inside an art gallery rather than a traditional theatre.
The Chambers at Wollongong Art Gallery will become both exhibition and stage, with original works by local artist Steve Tierney woven into the production itself. Visitors will not simply sit in rows watching events unfold from a distance. Instead, they will be guided through the experience by gallery attendants who gradually reveal the life of an artist whose rise and fall have become part of the exhibition.
The setting allows everyday gallery conventions to become part of the narrative. Paintings, objects, lighting and space work together with performance, blurring the boundaries between installation and live theatre.
It is an approach that reflects the spirit of MERRIGONGX, a program dedicated to encouraging artists to explore new forms and creative possibilities while remaining deeply connected to the Illawarra community.
Cicada Explores the Distance Between Childhood and Success
At the centre of Cicada is the life of a young boy growing up in the sun-drenched suburbs of Wollongong during the 1990s.
The audience will meet him long before success arrives. There are dusty backyards, Hills Hoists turning slowly in the heat, neighbourhood streets alive with summer insects, and the familiar rhythms of suburban Australia. These memories form the emotional foundation of a life shaped by creativity.
The boy dreams of becoming an artist.
One day, his work will hang in prestigious galleries around Australia. His name will attract attention. Critics will celebrate his talent. Yet success proves fragile. A scandal follows, his reputation collapses, and he disappears from public life.
Rather than focusing on the scandal itself, Cicada explores what remains after public recognition fades. It asks where identity resides once reputation is stripped away, and whether home can still be found after exile.
These questions unfold quietly, allowing audiences to reflect on ambition, belonging and the complicated relationship between art and the people who create it.
The Sounds and Symbols of Cicada
The title itself carries unmistakable Australian resonance.
Few sounds evoke summer more completely than the chorus of cicadas echoing through suburban trees. Their calls become part of childhood memories across New South Wales, filling long afternoons with a soundtrack that is both familiar and fleeting.
Within Cicada, these insects become more than background noise. They suggest transformation, cycles of renewal and the hidden lives that exist beneath ordinary surfaces.
Playwright Tegan Ware has described the work as bringing suburban nostalgia into a fine arts space, creating an experience where memory and contemporary art exist side by side. That combination gives Cicada a distinctly local identity, rooted in places many audiences will instantly recognise while inviting them to reconsider how those ordinary spaces shape artistic lives.
The inclusion of Steve Tierney's artwork further strengthens this connection, ensuring the production remains grounded in Wollongong's own creative community.
MERRIGONGX Continues to Champion New Voices
Each year, MERRIGONGX provides independent artists with opportunities to experiment, develop and present ambitious new work.
Rather than concentrating solely on finished productions, the program supports the entire creative process, offering financial, technical and artistic resources that allow ideas to evolve over time.
For Cicada, that development has spanned four years, reflecting the careful collaboration between Tegan Ware, Merrigong Theatre Company and Wollongong Art Gallery.
The result promises a production shaped specifically for its location rather than one simply transferred into an available venue.
That relationship between place and performance makes Cicada feel uniquely connected to Wollongong. Local stories unfold within local spaces, supported by local artists, creating an experience that belongs naturally within the city's cultural landscape.
An Evening That Invites Reflection
Some performances conclude with applause and immediate conversation. Others remain quietly present long after audiences leave.
Cicada appears likely to belong to the latter.
Its combination of visual art, memory and live performance encourages contemplation rather than spectacle. As visitors step back onto Wollongong's evening streets after the performance, the echoes of suburban childhood, artistic ambition and the familiar chorus of summer insects may linger a little longer than expected.
In a gallery transformed into both exhibition and confession, Cicada offers an opportunity not only to witness a story but to move through it. It becomes a reminder that places hold memories, that creativity often grows from ordinary beginnings, and that even after silence, some voices continue to resonate – much like the persistent call of the cicada itself.
Event Details
Event: Cicada by Tegan Ware
Dates:
- Thursday, 27 August 2026 – 7:30pm
- Friday, 28 August 2026 – 7:30pm
- Saturday, 29 August 2026 – 7:30pm
Venue:
The Chambers, Wollongong Art Gallery
Tickets:
Reserve your place in advance, attend the performance, then pay what you feel the experience was worth afterwards.
Recommended Age: 16+ (Contains adult themes)
Official Bookings: MERRIGONGX – Cicada Bookings