Adapting Alice Pungs award-winning book, writer and comedian Diana Nguyen and director Petra Kalive bring Laurindas schoolyard setting to the stage for a fresh and feisty new work. Like Heathers or Mean Girls with a uniquely Australian flavour, this delightful take on the beloved novel is an incisive, funny study of a woman caught between cultures and class. When 15-year-old Lucy Lam wins the inaugural Equal Access Scholarship to a prestigious private school, the smart and well-liked student is not prepared for the new world shes suddenly propelled into. Its a world of wealth and opportunity, overseen by The Cabineta trio of girls who wield power over their classmates, and even their teachers. But when The Cabinet turn their attention to Lucy she has to make a choice: fit in and succeed, or stay true to herself. Either way, theres a cost. Whether high school is (thankfully) a distant memory or a current reality, this MTC NEXT STAGE commission offers a witty and moving insight into an all-too common experience as well as the inner strength it takes to speak truth to power.