Oliver Hetherington-Page to perform his show ‘The No Bang Theory’ in Townsville for NAFA
Self-confessed 26-year-old virgin Oliver Hetherington-Page is hitting Townsville with a cabaret that pulls no punches — tackling autism, love, and life with humour and heart.
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Speaking openly about topics some may shy away from, Oliver Hetherington-Page is bringing his ‘humorous’ and ‘honest’ cabaret show to Townsville.
A self-confessed 26-year-old virgin who is autistic, Mr Hetherington-Page is discussing topics such as Tinder dates, heartbreak and being autistic in today’s society.
The Brisbane-based performer said the show was born at the beginning of Covid.
“The show started development in 2020 and I had just graduated from uni.” he said.
“I was doing what so many young artists did that year, thinking ‘what can I do?’ because I wanted to work.”
Mr Hetherington-Page said he wanted to create a show based on his lived experiences with autism.
“That was something I always wanted to do; I just hadn’t figured out how to do it,” he said.
“So then I came up with his idea of talk about how autism representation in shows like The Big Bang Theory is not true for everyone and how autism affected my dating life, hence the name.”
Debuting in 2021, the show was recently performed at BrisFest and across other Australian cities.
Mr Hetherington-Page is set to perform this weekend at the Northern Australian Festival of Arts at The Parlour in Strand Park.
With musical numbers and dances, the cabaret show is hoping to break the mould on what people think of autism.
“One of the things my director and I talked about very early on is that we didn’t want it to be like a 60-minute TED Talk,” he said.
“The conversations are hard, but we were aware that we had to take audiences on a journey.
“Using my love of musical theatre, I am able to show audiences a different world and show them how I view the world through music and performance.”
He said the idea of using humour and music to talk about the sometimes tough topics made it more inviting for people to be open.
“There is so much truth to comedy, and I think the funnier you are, the more truthful you are,” he said.
“That’s why comedians are so successful.”
Performing in the Australian art scene, Mr Hetherington said he has many autistic and neurodivergent friends in the arts and, having seen their struggles considers it a privilege that he can perform his show across the country.
“I’ve had people come up to me after seeing the show and tell me that they think they might be autistic,” he said.
“They’ve just never had the language or understood why they felt different and didn’t know how to explain it. I love doing this show because I know it can make a difference.”
The No Bang Theory show will be performed on September 27 and 28 at 7pm at The Parlour, Strand Park.
For tickets and more information visit the NAFA website.
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Originally published as Oliver Hetherington-Page to perform his show ‘The No Bang Theory’ in Townsville for NAFA
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