An Irish story of land, ownership, murder and simmering resentment is coming to Brisbane Festival in September, with Cork-born writer, director and choreographer Luke Murphy bringing his acclaimed dance-theatre work Scorched Earth to Brisbane Powerhouse.
Described as part crime drama and part psychological thriller, Scorched Earth explores what Brisbane Festival calls “a dark but fundamental question of the Irish psyche”: what right do we have to the land beneath our feet — and what are we willing to do to keep it, or take it?
The starting point is unmistakably Irish. Murphy’s work is inspired by John B. Keane’s celebrated play The Field, the powerful 1960s-set drama in which land ownership, obsession and violence become inseparable.
But Scorched Earth is not simply a modern staging of Keane’s play. Murphy takes its themes and transforms them into a contemporary mixture of theatre, dance, physical movement and visual storytelling.
The story begins with a murder and an interrogation. A detective reopens an unsolved case 12 years after the crime, bringing a suspect back under questioning. As the two revisit the past, memories, fantasy, ambition and resentment begin to blur together. Five performers inhabit this unsettling world, with Murphy using movement as much as words to explore the psychological forces driving the characters.
For Murphy, the question of land has particular resonance. The work grew from a period when Ireland was increasingly focused on development and progress, while the question of how land is used retained what he has described as an almost gravitational significance. His development of the work included residencies and support in Cork, Galway and elsewhere in Ireland.
Murphy is himself a product of Cork’s vibrant arts scene. Originally from Cork City, he founded Attic Projects in 2015 as a company working across dance, theatre, film and installation. He has created more than a dozen dance-theatre works and has worked internationally as a performer, including with the renowned Punchdrunk and Belgian company Ultima Vez.
He has also maintained strong links with his home city. Murphy was Cork City Dance Artist in Residence at Dance Cork Firkin Crane from 2024 to 2026 and previously held a Dance Artist in Residence position at Uillinn West Cork Arts Centre. His company continues to develop work in Cork as well as internationally.
Murphy’s previous work Volcano was a major success, winning four Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards, including Best Production. It also proved popular with Brisbane audiences when it appeared at Brisbane Festival in 2024.
Scorched Earth is his latest and largest work, co-produced by Attic Projects, Dublin Dance Festival and Galway International Arts Festival, with support from the Arts Council of Ireland and Dance Cork Firkin Crane. It has already toured to Dublin, Galway and New York before arriving in Brisbane for its Australian season.
For Irish audiences, there is plenty here beyond the murder mystery. Beneath the thriller is a distinctly Irish preoccupation with land, inheritance, ownership, belonging and the old resentments that can linger between neighbours and generations.
And while Murphy’s production uses the language of contemporary dance, its roots are firmly planted in Irish soil.
Scorched Earth runs at Brisbane Powerhouse from 17–20 September as part of Brisbane Festival 2026. The 80-minute production is suitable for audiences aged 12 and over and contains adult themes, strobe lighting, haze and smoke effects.
For Brisbane’s Irish community, this is a chance to see a contemporary Irish artist take one of Ireland’s oldest and most enduring questions — who owns the land, and what would you do to keep it? — and turn it into something visceral, unsettling and very much of its time.
Scorched Earth — Brisbane Festival 2026
Dates: 17–20 September 2026
Venue: Powerhouse Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse, 119 Lamington St, New Farm
Duration: 80 minutes
Tickets: $79.90–$89.90, plus a booking fee of up to $7.20.
Performance times:
- Thursday 17 September — 6.30pm
- Friday 18 September — 6.30pm
- Saturday 19 September — 1pm & 6.30pm
- Sunday 20 September — 1pm
Tickets: Book Scorched Earth – Brisbane Festival
There is also a free Brisbane Festival/ABC Radio discussion on 13 September, Talk of the Town: True crime, death and the live body, featuring Luke Murphy. Full details here: https://www.brisbanefestival.com.au/events/talk-of-the-town-2
Irish Queenslander 