Back to Bilo: Heartfelt Story, Half-Baked Staging

Queensland Theatre’s Back to Bilo is an important work—one that takes the time to honour the story it tells and the real people at its heart. The production serves as a moving reminder of the need for empathy and calls for political reform that resonated clearly and powerfully with the audience.

It was a well-paced work with a tight 70-minute run time, that allowed the weight of the story to be felt without overstaying its welcome.

Performance-wise, the cast delivered thoughtful and grounded portrayals of their characters. Their sincerity carried the story, though they stumbled through caricatured side roles, particularly impressions of political figures such as Peter Dutton. These moments were neither exaggerated enough to land as satire nor polished enough to pass as sharp comedy, leaving them awkwardly flat in contrast to the otherwise authentic character work.

Where Back to Bilo struggled most, however, was in its design and direction.

The set—white walls with central revolving doors — would have been a clear choice for such as vison heavy production. However, projections weren’t mapped well, often uncomfortably zoomed in, blurry, and—when not relying on powerful archival footage—looked distractingly amateur and not what I would expect from a mainstage production, let alone from a state theatre company. The set also required ASM’s to awkwardly dismantle the walls behind actors while in action. An awkward and painfully slow final reveal that felt clunky rather than climactic. 

Lighting did little to rescue matters. Too often dim, unfocused, and generally uninspired, it failed to elevate the story or create atmosphere. 

Costumes and props also did not do particularly well in serving the narrative. Instead, they were brought in and out by actors, extending transition times, and seemed more about keeping the ensemble busy than fulfilling a genuine dramaturgical purpose.

Direction, too, felt underdeveloped. Movement lacked specificity, giving scenes an unfocused quality that undercut the urgency of the play’s themes. Instead of deepening the storytelling, blocking often distracted from it—leaving the impression of a production still searching for its theatrical language. For a story of this weight, the lack of precision in direction felt particularly disappointing.

Not all elements faltered. The inclusion of a Tamil-inspired live score brought welcome authenticity and emotional texture to the piece. Yet even here, the impact was undermined by surrounding sound effects, which were inconsistently mixed—frequently too loud and stylistically mismatched, pulling focus instead of complementing the live music.

In the end, Back to Bilo remains an important, moving, and timely piece of theatre—its message alone makes it worth seeing. But it’s difficult to ignore how much more powerful it could have been with a more sophisticated design and sharper direction to match the weight of its subject.