THE DEVIL IN HER UNDIES - PROGRAM
A BIG DOG THEATRE PRODUCTION
7-8pm | PREVIEWS: 19 & 20 MAY | SEASON: 21 - 30 MAY | THE MOTLEY BAUHAUS, CARLTON, VIC
Big Dog Theatre and The Motley Bauhaus present The Devil in Her Undies: a creative development outcome for Big Dog’s residency at the Motley.
This darkly surreal new comedy explores the toll of never feeling certain, and the radical act of giving yourself permission to fail, to fall, to be “bad,” and to get up and keep going anyway. Somewhere deep in the algorithm serves a flaming hot chicken with an identity crisis, and The Devil is eating it up. Her soul may just be sitting at the bottom of her email inbox. Blending humour with digital chaos, this is a fast, playful dive into the pressures of self- image, online performance, and the absurdity of trying to stay whole in a world that never stops watching.
This darkly surreal new comedy explores the toll of never feeling certain, and the radical act of giving yourself permission to fail, to fall, to be “bad,” and to get up and keep going anyway. Somewhere deep in the algorithm serves a flaming hot chicken with an identity crisis, and The Devil is eating it up. Her soul may just be sitting at the bottom of her email inbox. Blending humour with digital chaos, this is a fast, playful dive into the pressures of self- image, online performance, and the absurdity of trying to stay whole in a world that never stops watching.
CONTENT WARNINGS: Discussions of Mental Health with particular reference to OCD. References to Sexual Harassment, Drug and Alcohol References, Images of Needles, Discussions of Religion - Christianity
ARTISTIC STATEMENTS
DIRECTORS STATEMENT - MAXINE PALMERSON
Directing 'The Devil in Her Undies' has been such a gorgeous and terrifying experience. I feel so honoured to have been trusted to guide and shape such a personal story. Being in residence at The Motley Bauhaus, having space and time to explore, has been such a gift. It has been, at times, difficult to know the best way forward, as our process is often so chaotic until we find what is sitting underneath. This time we worked backwards, bringing chaos to a fully formed story. I feel like I am watching Big Dog Theatre grow and change in real time, and it excites me to imagine how we and our process will continue to evolve and grow.
I will let Ivy express what this work means and where it began, but for me, this show is an ode to all the women I know, who have shown me what it means to try, to fail, to trust and to find joy in a world that, especially now, has us constantly under a microscope. I am so lucky to have so many of you. Thank you Ivy for all the lessons you and your writing continue to teach me. Although we met in our 20’s, I can’t help but feel like we’ve been dancing together for our whole lives.
WRITERS STATEMENT - IVY CRAGO
I first started writing this play in my second year of Uni, at the start of the covid lockdowns, when it honestly felt like the world was on fire around me. I related deeply to that meme of the dog sitting with a coffee in a burning house, quietly insisting “this is fine” while everything is clearly not fine and, in fact, on fire. My theatre degree had moved onto Zoom, and we were tasked with an online story project. It quickly spiralled into “what the fuck is happening with my life?” - It was a period of intense introspection and questioning about who I am and I gravitated towards comedy as a lifeline.
I wanted the work to be a Big Dog play: surreal, chaotic and existential. I love working with Maxine, she brings out the best in me and understands my brain in a way no one else can. I trust her wholeheartedly with my writing.
This play is of an age, a time when my mental health was at it's lowest, and I began to realise that in order to get any better, I had to confront a part of myself I felt deeply ashamed of. One of my best friends gave me Dolly Alderton’s memoir, and that’s where the story really began to expand: why couldn’t I write about my own life like she did? Hopefully, someone else can relate, and hopefully I can bring celebration and joy to a discomforting topic.
The work also draws on themes of isolation and distance through a hyper-connected social media lens, and how that lens can distort the most vulnerable parts of yourself. I avoided writing about my mental health, but through many drafts I realised that this is what the show is about and what I want to talk about: the mental exhaustion of young women and LGBTIQA+ communities in the face of the digital gaze and constant online scrutiny.
This play is a howl of recognition. It reflects how women and LGBTIQA+ folk are constantly visible, yet rarely seen for who they truly are. 'The Devil in Her Undies' asks how we hold onto who we are in the face of online pressure, trolls and social-expectation, and what it means to grow up inside and around it. The Devil could be anyone. Not evil, not malicious, not malevolent. She is overwhelmed, overexposed, and trying desperately to hold herself together.
You can laugh at this play, in fact, I want you to. It’s the only way I got through.
DRAMATURGY STATEMENT - MADDI FORMOSA
Please don’t ask me what dramaturgy is because even though I’ve done it twice and have a (very expensive) piece of paper that says I trained in theatre I still really don’t know. All I know is that I enjoy doing it because I like to ask too many questions and nitpick the hell out of my friend’s work! Is it back seat driving? Could be. A researcher? A fact checker? A ‘what do you mean by this-er’? If I’m wrong, leave me alone. Take it up with your friends over drinks after the show. Sorry I didn't mean this statement to get hostile. I get self conscious, like most people. Like I’m getting my entire life wrong and everyone else knows but isn’t telling me but they’re all secretly laughing behind my back and if I just need to find the perfect self help book the perfect instagram reel the perfect pair of shoes the perfect weight and if someone wanted to have sex with me then maybe just maybe I’ll be able to come within a hair’s breadth of who I’m truly meant to be. The intense proliferation of the online world only intensifies this feeling. I don’t want to be here to say ‘technology bad internet bad go milk cows and bear eight children’, but I think we’re coming to a point in ~society~ where we are realising that it really is that damn phone! Something that has absolutely been a positive and valuable part of our modern life, that has given us the opportunity to connect, share and bear witness has simultaneously been tearing the closest of us apart! In this case, Ivy explores the impacts of these external forces onto someone who thinks it’s all coming from within. You will learn everything you need to know about love and being young from this viral memoir! It’ll change your life! That targeted ad was definitely a sign from the universe! Magical overthinking in the real world is torturous enough. With the support of a carefully designed internet algorithm it can exacerbate it tenfold. I have had a lot of fun helping to bring this vision to life, in all its technological, glittering, run around glory. I hope you can see where we’re going with this one. Oh yeah, it's a creative development showing. Did this sound intelligent? I’ve never written an artist’s statement before. Well I have. Just not one for public readership. ‘Tis from the heart. Isn’t that what all good art is? (Yes, you nod and agree with me). I’ll write another one later this year most likely. You can read that too.
CAST AND CREW
Written by Ivy Crago
In Collaboration with Maxine Palmerson
Directed by Maxine Palmerson
Dramaturgy by Maddi Formosa
Outside Eye by Lauren Swain
Produced by Jess Lu
Event Photography by Yaameen Al-Muttaqi
Written by Ivy Crago
In Collaboration with Maxine Palmerson
Directed by Maxine Palmerson
Dramaturgy by Maddi Formosa
Outside Eye by Lauren Swain
Produced by Jess Lu
Event Photography by Yaameen Al-Muttaqi
The Devil performed by Ivy Crago
Karen with the Boobs, the Flaming Hot Chicken performed by Maxine Palmerson
Daria voiced by Maxine Palmerson
Mum voiced by Maddi Formosa
Mecca performed by Maddi Formosa
Karen with the Boobs, the Flaming Hot Chicken performed by Maxine Palmerson
Daria voiced by Maxine Palmerson
Mum voiced by Maddi Formosa
Mecca performed by Maddi Formosa
IVY CRAGO (she/they)
Ivy is a VCA Alumni and Theatre-Maker, Writer, and Producer based between Melbourne/Naarm and Sydney/Gadigal Country. She is a romantic and a pantser, with a strong focus on storytelling and theatre as a shared experience. Their work explores the absurdity in the mundane and the whimsy of everyday objects, creatures, and critters that are ordinarily unobserved. Her practice centres joy, imagination, and care. Ivy has written three works with Big Dog Theatre: 'The Frog' (2024/2025), 'Conversations with a Fried Egg' (2025), and 'The Moon and the Conspiracy' (2025) for Brooke Arlblaster’s OFF-LEASH Festival. She is excited to bring 'The Devil in Her Undies' (2026) to the stage as part of Big Dog’s 10-week Motley Bauhaus Residency.
Alongside Ivy's creative practice, they have worked across Arts Programming, Marketing and Digital Communications. She brings a thoughtful and strategic lens, with experience in both campaign delivery and community engagement.
MAXINE PALMERSON (she/they)
Maxine is a neurodivergent theatre maker from Narrm/Melbourne and a co-founder of Big Dog Theatre. In her work with Big Dog, Maxine is hell bent on turning every adult back into a child, one audience at a time.
Their multidisciplinary practice spans dance, physical theatre, music, textiles and even video game design. Her solo work primarily focuses on gentle, slow time and mental health.
Recent credits include 'This World of Mine' (designer/developer, Melbourne Fringe 2024), 'The Frog' (Fly/ Deviser, Big Dog Theatre, 2024 and 2025 for MICF), and 'Conversations With A Fried Egg' (Co-Writer/Deviser//Designer/Performer, Big Dog Theatre, 2025).
JESS LU (they/them)
VCA Alum Jess Lu, is a performer and producer across the theatre, film and games industries. As an actor they’ve featured across the screens in Bad Behaviour (Stan), Of An Age (Roadshow), and Better Man (Paramount).
They’ve been on stage at Red Stitch, MTC, and at Melbourne, Adelaide and Edinburgh Fringes. When not on stage, they’re producing theatre and events, including A Dance of Ribbons Live Action Role Play event from 2023-2025, and shows in Midsumma and Melbourne Fringe Festival. Jess is keenly interested in making intersectional art for all communities. They champion compassion and playfulness in creativity, and seek the weird and fantastical.
They’ve been on stage at Red Stitch, MTC, and at Melbourne, Adelaide and Edinburgh Fringes. When not on stage, they’re producing theatre and events, including A Dance of Ribbons Live Action Role Play event from 2023-2025, and shows in Midsumma and Melbourne Fringe Festival. Jess is keenly interested in making intersectional art for all communities. They champion compassion and playfulness in creativity, and seek the weird and fantastical.
DARCIE CAMPBELL (she/her)
Darcie is a multi-disciplinary artist and VCA Alum from regional NSW. She has been deeply involved in the arts since a young age. She has attained Cert III qualification in technical services with Hothouse Theatre and The Arts Centre Melbourne. Works include lighting design for shows such as “Conversations With a Fried Egg” Big Dog Theatre Co. 2025, “Knows, Nose, Nos” written by Alice Ridgeway (2025, 2024, 2023). She also is a lover of performing and writing.
MADDI FORMOSA (she/her)
Maddi Formosa (she/her) is a theatre-maker, performer and playwright. Previously, she dramaturged ‘A Figure in the Yellow Wallpaper’ (Theatre Works, Melbourne Fringe). Maddi is also a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts. Recently, she worked with Pummel Squad in ‘How the King Learned to Live Forever’. Her debut play ‘Big Religion’ will premiere at Theatre Works this year.
A BIG THANK YOU TO (in no particular order);
Lauren Swain Naomi Crago, Spencer Rich, Davydd Griffiths and Bridget Van Deuren from The Flemington and Kensington Bowls Club, Brhyeton Hall, Frazer Shepherdson, Savier from The Motley Bauhaus, Samantha Chew and the staff at the Victorian Pride Centre.
A special shoutout to Yaameen Al-Muttaqi for photography throughout the whole process!
We are so grateful! Without you all, this show wouldn't be possible. We are inspired, always, by those around us.
FEEDBACK: If you came to the show and had any feedback for us, we would love to hear it before we take The Devil to Sydney Fringe, September 2026. Please complete this Google Form (2mins, anonymous) to help us develop the work further.
