My Brilliant Career: A Fired Up Version Of Our Most Enduring Coming-Of-Age Story

Some stories never really leave you, and sit somewhere under your skin. That’s what My Brilliant Career was for me, after reading it as a teenager. 

That’s the power of Miles Franklin’s novel, and why it remains one of Australia’s most enduring coming-of-age stories. It follows Sybylla Melvyn — a fiercely independent young woman determined to carve out her own path in a world intent on limiting her. It’s a story of ambition, class, gender, and the complicated cost of choosing yourself.

Now, Melbourne Theatre Company’s stage adaptation is arriving in Sydney after a lauded Melbourne run.

And while the bones of the play remain familiar, it’s louder and more alive than you might expect from a novel first published in 1901.

Director Anne-Louise Sarks says the story’s staying power lies in its universality. 

“This story still resonates with audiences because it’s about unlocking your purpose, being true to yourself, and finding your voice,” she explains. “That’s not just something that artists and creative types face; these are the struggles and questions that we all grapple with.”

With an actor-musician ensemble, live instrumentation, and a distinctly modern theatrical language, the adaptation has been described as a high-energy, all-singing, all-dancing rock ‘n’ roll version that feels as much like a gig as it does a period drama.

And that energy starts with Sybylla herself.

For Kala Gare, stepping into the role has meant embracing the chaos. “Sybylla is such a joy to inhabit as she is the epitome of impulse and discovering how she is feeling in the moment,” Gare says. 

“She is… a beautiful representation of the Aries fire sign,” she laughs. “It’s this tenacity that makes audiences love her, as well as fondly recognise the beautiful chaos of teenagehood.”

Sylbylla is not polished, and not always likeable – which is why I, and so many other women, idolised and/or saw ourselves in her. She’s fearless, impulsive, complex. Y’know — A Difficult Woman™, as our Prime Minister might say.

“I love how messy and difficult Sybylla can be, but then equally how brave and mature she is,” says Sarks. “I wanted to make sure we honoured Sybylla in her fullness.”

The creative team — including writers Sheridan Harbridge, Dean Bryant and Mathew Frank — have kept the emotional core intact, while building a world around it that pulses with immediacy. The performers sing, play instruments, move fluidly between roles; the play feels like a living breathing being.

And audiences are identifying with it all. 

“I think a gorgeous surprise within this production has been its impact on such a wide range of audience members,” Gare says.

From younger audiences seeing themselves reflected on stage, to parents who studied the text at school, to unexpected emotional responses across demographics — the reach has been broader than anyone anticipated.

“I’ve had quite a few audience members come up and share that this made them feel deeply proud to be an Australian,” she adds.

That idea — of pride, identity, of who gets to claim space in a complicated national story, both historical and modern — sits just beneath the surface of My Brilliant Career. It always has.

“This is an iconic Australian story and it’s important culturally that we look back at who we were, as we look to who we want to become,” Sarks says.

My Brilliant Career doesn’t feel like a period piece being dusted off, but a conversation that never quite finished — and one that Sybylla is still right in the middle of, still arguing, and still refusing to be quiet.

My Brilliant Career is on 21 March – 3 May at Roslyn Packer Theatre.