“Actually, Good won the two most highly-coveted awards at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and it was a surprise to absolutely no one. Gillian is a star who will blow your mind and swell your heart in equal measure.” – Rachel Chant, Festival Director

Gillian Cosgriff is an award-winning musical comedian, actor, writer, composer and self-confessed pessimist. In Actually, Good she makes her long-awaited return to comedy (after three years starring in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), with her hilarious original songs, killer stand-up, and a big book of things that are actually good.

In 2022 she started asking people what they like. Specifically for lists of ten likes, with number one as something they loved – something they considered to be the very best the human experience has to offer. The answers were simple and complex and hilarious and sad and beautiful. Cloves. Fancy hotel foyers. Stairs of perfectly adequate depth and length. A spontaneous mid-week pub visit. When you have a crush on someone and you find out from a third party that they have enquired about you. Seeing a cow and yelling, “COW!” Gill’s always identified as a pessimist, but only for practical reasons. Hope can be a dangerous commodity and should be rationed out like expensive perfume – just a tiny spritz for special occasions.

Now it turns out she might have a secret optimist trapped inside her. Gross. This is a show about stuff you like – all the little things that make the big hard things manageable – and pointing at the bits of the world that make you want to yell, “Oh WOW! Look at this! Isn’t it GREAT?!”

“A thought provoking, imaginative, heart-warming life lesson that will surprise you and stay with you long after you’ve left the theatre.” – ★★★★★ Lilithia

“What a triumph.” – ★★★★★ Chortle UK

“Incredibly affirming and funny Cosgriff’s a whip-smart, quick-witted, confident performer.” – ★★★★½ The Age

“Don’t miss it!” – ★★★★★ Theatre Matters

“Cosgriff’s show stands as my pinnacle, as both the finest show line for line and as the work that best encapsulates comedy’s newly buoyant mood.” – The Saturday Paper

WINNER: Most Outstanding Show, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, 2023
WINNER: Golden Gibbo Award, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, 2023

Times:

Fri 30 June – Sat 1 July 8:30pm SOLD OUT
Sun 2 July 7pm

Accessibility Info:

• This event will be Auslan interpreted on Sunday 2 July.
• There are a number of wheelchair seating locations in our Festival venues. To book accessible seating, please call or email Bondi Festival.
• Seats are reserved for Auslan users to ensure a good view of the interpreters. Customers requiring this service should phone or email after purchasing tickets to reserve seats.
• Bondi Festival accepts Companion Cards. Companion Card holders are required to phone or email their valid Companion Card number and expiry date.
• This is a ‘Sight No Obstacle’ event.
• Click here for more information about accessibility at Bondi Festival.

Presented by:

Writer/Performer Gillian Cosgriff

Meet the Creator:

Gillian is a singer, writer, actor, musician, and comedian who graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) in 2010 with a Bachelor of Music Theatre. Her 2023 solo show, Actually, Good garnered rave reviews at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and was nominated for Most Outstanding Show and the Golden Gibbo Award. Theatre credits include: Harry Potter And The Cursed Child (Sonia Friedman Productions, Colin Callender and Harry Potter Theatrical Productions); Come Rain Or Come Shine (Melbourne Theatre Company); Godspell (Hayes Theatre Company); Vivid White (Melbourne Theatre Company); Company (Watch This); and Loving Repeating (Vic Theatre Company). Television credits: Aunty Donna’s Coffee Café, Comedy Up Late, Upfront Gala, Tonightly, Offspring, House Husbands, Fat Tony & Co., Ricketts Lane, Get Krack!n, and Back In Very Small Business. She has toured extensively with her solo shows as a comedian and cabaret performer, most notably at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and Leicester Square Theatre in London. She co-wrote the opera Lorelei for Victorian Opera with Casey Bennetto and Julian Langdon in 2018, which premiered at the Malthouse Theatre. In 2020 she directed Michelle Brasier’s show Average Bear, which was nominated for Best Show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and has since gone on to play the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Soho Theatre in London, as well as a filmed special released on Paramount Plus. Awards: Best Cabaret (Melbourne Fringe), Green Room Award Writing (Cabaret), Green Room Award Artiste (Cabaret), Green Room Award Original Songs (Cabaret), Green Room Award New Australian Work (Opera).