
FESTIVAL EVENTS

FUSE
Why do we gravitate towards one another?
Welcome to FUSE. The flicker of a light. An almost touch. Held eye contact. Someplace where light is the connector of souls, and bodies and minds merge together into one.

Hot Girls Don’t Poo
Hot Girls Don’t Poo! These bowel-busting beauties are breaking boundaries and blowing asspirations sky-high! Get a wiff of our absurd world where Hot Girls Don’t Poo is law!

Horse Play
Part political thriller, part ghostly haunting, Horse Play tells the tale of the Melbourne Cup gone horribly wrong.

LOOK UP: Opening Night
Immerse yourself in a vibrant constellation of live performances and connect with fellow creatives at Backbone’s free Opening Night party.

BIOS - INFERA
BIOS - INFERA (Life Below) is a meditative performance, journeying into the unseen worlds below. Residing from the Seven Hills Bushland’s tangled root systems, we connect to the memory, spirit and life held within the layers of Earth.

Family Fun Day
Looking for a day of free, exciting activities for the whole family? Bring the kids, and come along to our Family Fun Day! We've got a fantastic lineup that’s sure to delight the young and the young at heart.

A Night for the Teachers
Join us for the exciting launch of Backbone’s 2026 Education Program and the world premiere of a new Australian Gothic work for classrooms, Rate of Decay by Xanthe Jones.

Rate Of Decay
Rate of Decay is an original Australian Gothic play for youth performers, told through a tapestry of haunting vignettes. Set against dry riverbeds, abandoned towns, and scorched earth, it traces the unraveling of people, places, and systems—and what lingers when everything breaks down.

DOPPELKLANG
In this immersive, multi-sensory performance, each dancer moves to a different soundtrack, and audience members select which dancer’s music to follow, shaping a unique, personal experience.

Katie is a Marker Sniffing Lesbian
Katie’s on track to dux - until she starts selling glow-in-the-dark Sharpies out of her locker. What begins as a low-stakes side hustle at an all-girls Catholic school spirals into a full-blown empire. The deeper she goes, the blurrier the lines get between ambition and obsession, friends and enemies, reality and Florence Nightingale.

Terms and Conditions Apply
Bella, Laura, and Tyla have been housemates for years, navigating the highs and lows of their twenties. But when a lease renewal comes up, it unravels that maybe there are more issues than just the dirty dishes.

DYA TAKEOVER
Our friends at Digi Youth Arts are taking over the Seven Hills hub for a full day of Backbone Festival.

Make Me Better Ma
MAKE ME BETTER MA is a one-woman autobiographical coming-of-age that encapsulates the struggle of Chinese children growing up with overbearing Tiger Mothers. Written by a powerful new Asian-Australian voice, MAKE ME BETTER MA is the culmination of 13 years of secret scribbling by Jazz Zhao.

Survival on a Strange Planet
Following an unplanned crash landing into an earthling’s apartment, a stranded and incompetent interstellar traveller must carefully plan their first steps into the outside world. Their only points of reference are an unresponsive human body and a collection of sci-fi movies.
Instructions Enclosed: A Life in Memoriam
Instructions Enclosed: A Life in Memoriam is an anthology of stories exploring the legacy we leave behind once we’re no longer there to shape how we’re remembered. Join a cast of eclectic misfits as they try to unravel the eccentric Kal by tugging on the loose threads he left behind.