How to Plot a Hit in Two Days
Writer: Melanie Tait
Director: Lee Lewis
Ensemble Theatre
August 29 – October 11, 2025
More than two million people tuned in to A Country Practice to watch Molly Jones’s final moments, in a heartbreaking scene that is widely considered to be the saddest Aussie TV death ever. Forty years later, playwright Melanie Tait imagines what it might have been like in the writer’s room when the show’s writers were tasked with creating a fitting goodbye to one of the show’s most popular characters.
A lifelong fan of A Country Practice, Tait uses this hypothetical scenario to pay homage to the creative brilliance of the actual writers of the show and their significant influence on Australian culture. Georgie Parker, who has appeared in A Country Practice many times, plays a writer renowned for her ability to write an award-winning death. Parker’s character is inspired by real-life writer Judith Colquhoun, who wrote the famous episode where Molly dies and was “known to do a lovely death,” and Parker brilliantly captures the dilemma of a writer tasked with killing off an audience’s favourite character.
Tait creates richly nuanced characters, and all five writers feel real and complex. The humour of each writer remains robustly authentic to their character throughout the play. This is in no small part because Tait’s razor-sharp dialogue is in the hands of a wonderfully talented cast. There is Sean O’Shea as a gag writer with a passion for Mozart and Genevieve Lemon as a playwright reeling over a bad review. Amy Ingram is a boisterous ex-convict who loves making “good telly” and Julia Robertson plays the role of the team’s diligent medical expert. The comedic timing of the cast is impeccable, right down to Ingram slamming wild plot suggestions on the corkboard. The entire ensemble is electric, and the result is a masterclass of comedy.
The scenes flow effortlessly between moments of irreverent hilarity and moving sincerity. A Country Practice often conveyed public health messages and challenged societal norms, and the play beautifully mirrors this, raising topics such as gender roles and the stigma surrounding AIDS. These topics are discussed by the cast with sensitivity and yet their conversations remain realistically grounded in the prevailing attitudes and language of the time. While the set looks like a cosy writer’s room littered with chairs and bean bags, smart direction by Lee Lewis enables the cast to make effective use of the tight space as they move swiftly from the irreverent to the sincere and back again.
As someone who did not grow up in Australia, I had wondered if the play would resonate with me. However, set designer Simone Romaniuk has cleverly added headshots of A Country Practice cast members to the back wall. These visual cues allow anyone to follow along as the writers debate potential plot lines. The play is a delight for both long-term fans of the soap opera and those completely new to the show like me.
How to Plot a Hit in Two Days is pure comedic brilliance from start to finish – truly a must-see!
