Last week William Winter sat down with Sean Landis, artistic director of Fruit Box Theatre and director of their upcoming production Cruise. Written by Jack Holden and nominated for Best New Play at the 2022 Olivier Awards, Cruise is an intergenerational monologue spanning a four-decade period in the heart of London’s queer club scene. Below, Sean runs us through some of the production process, talks us through the story behind Fruit Box, and shares his personal connection to USyd arts and revues.

Sean Landis, the director of the Australian premiere of Cruise at Sydney’s KXT on Broadway, sat down with Theatre Thoughts to discuss the Olivier Award Winning script and how Fruit Box Theatre are bringing their version to the stage.

Founded by Madeleine Gandhi and Sean Landis in 2021, Fruit Box Theatre is an independent LGBTQIA+ theatre company based in Sydney/Gadigal. They’ve been in the building this week for the third development of Felicity Nicol’s new show Sex. Riot. Repeat. We’re proud to support Fruit Box Theatre and to help usher in the new wave of queer Australian storytelling.

We chatted to Fruit Box Theatre about the show - which shines the spotlight on Australian Queer History - and the importance of independent theatre within the wider theatrical ecosystem.

It’s been nearly two years since Sean Landis became an Out For Australia 30 Under 30 winner, and since then his passion and talent for showcasing LGBTQIA+ in theatre has only gotten stronger. In fact, after graduating from university, he joined forces with Madeleine Gandhi to create Fruit Box Theatre. Created in March just last year, this Sydney-based theatre company is a hub for writers and performers to share their stories—and will showcase its hard work at Sydney WorldPride.