Strong is the New Pretty turns the AFLW’s origin story into a victory lap

Suzie Miller’s Strong is the New Pretty has premiered at Brisbane Festival, bringing the formation of the AFLW to the stage at a moment when the AFL is facing renewed scrutiny over sexism and misogyny.

Directed by Sarah Giles, the 80-minute, five-chapter production features an all-female cast of eight. Its characters are lightly fictionalised versions of figures including Sam Mostyn, Jan Cooper, Bec Goddard and sports journalist Samantha Lane, whose 2018 book Roar also covered the people and events surrounding the league’s creation.

The play moves from the characters’ experiences of sexism through the 2015 televised exhibition match and the AFLW’s inaugural competition in 2017, building towards the Brisbane Lions–Adelaide Crows grand final. Its story addresses misogyny, racism and body shaming alongside the commercial and institutional barriers faced by women’s football.

In its review, The Guardian described the production as brisk, heightened, satirical and crowd-pleasing. The production uses live sound, dance, physical comedy and choreographed football sequences, with the cast often remaining on stage together.

The Guardian also found that the play’s triumphant structure can simplify the history it dramatises. Setbacks are repeatedly overcome, creating a fairytale momentum that delivers cathartic comedy while leaving less room for the sport’s unresolved questions around pay equity, sexism and racism.

Strong is the New Pretty is not a definitive history of the AFLW, but a theatrical account of real events shaped by Miller’s interest in gender, power and institutional change.