Why Young Men Run At 2am
By Pierce Gordon
6 Oct - 22 Oct, 2022
This play is produced by our Astra Nova youth and scriptwriting division.
About the show
Terry Schmidt Jr, a traveling pawn shop salesman for Schmidt’s Pawn and Laundry. He finds himself working his way down the east coast of Australia. T.J is becoming more and more infatuated with this lifestyle as the months sail on. He's in with the wind one minute and gone with it the next.
The women, the drink, responsibilities only seem to be a construct at the best of times. This all comes to a careening halt when he learns that his father., Terry Schmidt Sr, owner and operator of Schmidt's Pawn and Laundry has disappeared without a trace. Terry Jr is forced to trudge his way back up to Brisbane. And with the help of some colourful characters help get to the bottom of his father's disappearance.
Show Poster
Actors
Creatives & Crew
Reviews
There is something to be said about a piece that doesn’t attempt to reel you in with flashy set pieces or technical grandiosity, that instead lets its script, actors and situations stand for themselves. ‘Why Young Men Run At 2am’ almost feels like an Australian comedy of manners, a drawing room comedy a la ‘The Importance of Being Earnest.’
Liam Hartley - TheatreHaus | Read full review
Why Young Men Run at 2am had a little bit of everything – romance, betrayal, comedy, absurdity, mystery – but at its heart was a story about forging your own path, played out by a cast of memorable, lovably dysfunctional characters with plenty of laughs.
Backstreet Brisbane | Read full review
“Why Men Run at 2am” begins with a bang, or rather banging… and sawing… and drilling … as Knoll (Tom Coyle) reinforces the doors to the pawn shop setting of the dark comedy. The barricading in response to a recent robbery is interrupted by appearance of travelling pawn shop salesman Terry Schmidt Jrn, or TJ (Lachlan Engeler). TJ hasn’t set foot in his father’s shop in months, but is back in Brisbane to help to get to the bottom of his father’s disappearance for days without a trace, with help from the shop’s colourful cast of characters. Thus, the trope of an unseen character sets up the direction of the narrative against the tapestry of its richly detailed setting.
Meredith Walker - Blue Curtains | Read full review
Part of the charm is the Brisbane setting and acutely funny characters with a sharp script generously smattered with laugh-out-loud one-liners. Perhaps growing up in Detroit, Pierce has an outside perspective on hearing the Aussie vernacular and witticisms. He certainly has honed his own unique take on local humour. I love it. And he has assembled a dream cast to interpret his characters.
Beth Keehn - Stage Whispers | Read full review
Behind the Scenes
School Workshops
Ad Astra celebrates a strong, ongoing collaboration with the Queensland Education Community. As a result of the positive responses to our schools’ workshop program for The Laramie Project in 2021, we are continuing to develop targeted workshops for students and teachers of Drama and English. Many of our past and current performers and collaborators have worked as teachers and have first hand experience of the pressures and intricacies of the current curricula. The aims of our schools’ collaborations are:
To offer a real-world experience of live theatre
To support and extend elements of the Queensland curricula and,
To entertain, uplift and challenge you!
Michelle Carey
Ad Astra Executive Team - Education & Industry
Contact Me
For more information about our education programs, please get in touch.