Vampires, werewolves and witches will come to life in an immersive supernatural participatory theatre work Monsteen making its premiere presentation as part of RISING from 6 – 14 June 2026. Transforming the City of Melbourne’s dedicated youth space, SIGNAL into a fictional supernatural high school, participants aged 13 – 17 years-old are guided to create their own monstrous teenaged characters who make allies, break hearts or unleash havoc.
Created by contemporary performance company Infinity, Monsteen was developed as part of Arts Centre Melbourne’s PLAY program, where rehearsals, play tests and creative developments took place at creative learning hub The Channel in 2024 and early 2025. Young audiences helped to test gameplay and provided feedback for story arcs.
Monsteen is inspired by youth culture – cosplay, gaming and live action roleplaying (LARPing), to provide an alternative to a risk-averse parenting styles and screen time. It provides an opportunity for young people to take social risks amongst their peers in a playful, dynamic and safe environment.
A group of up to 20 participants, with no prior acting experience are led through different scenarios, navigating class politics, meetups at secret hangouts, boring dinner with parents and choosing sides in ugly friendship battles. As the game progresses, players must try and come to terms with their monstrous side.
Throughout Monsteen, players are introduced to spells and magic that can influence pathways throughout the game. Infinity cast members such as Zara Nawaz (15) act as guides throughout the game. They function as custodians of the work and make sure players understand the mechanics of the game to keep them engaged.
Based out of Naarm/Melbourne and Djilang/Geelong, Infinity is led by Artistic Director Jackson Castiglione who is passionate about the process of working with young people and creating work that’s meaningful to them. Their work is centred around youth culture, and is driven by the perspectives and interests of its core team – five young leaders who co-devise, perform and provide guidance to other young artists.
Run by Arts Centre Melbourne’s Creative Learning team, PLAY is a unique suite of public program workshops, masterclasses and artist-in-conversation events. For more information about PLAY visit artscentremelbourne.com.au.
Image: Jason Lau
