BACKSTAGE AT FRINGE with Natalie Frijia & Tess Walsh | Go / No Go

In today's 'Backstage at Fringe', we spoke to Natalie Frijia, writer, and Tess Walsh, director, of Go / No Go, which opens on October 14 at Theatre Works as a part of our Fringe 2025 season.

Back when NASA was still dreaming up what kind of person might best survive the extremes of space, one unexpected idea was floated: circus performers. Acrobats. Aerialists. Daredevils. Who better for zero gravity? But that notion was quickly grounded in favour of test pilots, and the circus world’s chance at the stars disappeared. Until now. GO/NO GO catapults that connection back into orbit. This is high-energy, genre-defying performance for lovers of space, science, spectacle, and anyone who’s ever dreamed of defying gravity and going to the Moon.

Q: Take us back to the start. When did this show first drop into your head? How did it get to where it is now?

A: The start started nearly 10 years ago. I (playwright, Nat) decided to spend part of my summer riding my bike around Iceland. I ended up in a town called Husavik, which is a little over 50km from the Arctic Circle (the furthest north I’ve ever been!). The landscape of the surrounding region was out-of-this-world! So much so that in the 1960s, this is where NASA sent Apollo astronauts to train for lunar missions. (Fun fact: it’s called a lunar analog site! That means a location on Earth that shares similar geological characteristics with the Moon, which makes it a good place to train new astronauts!)

In the tiny town of Husavik, there was a Museum of Exploration, with an entire exhibit dedicated to the space program, and Iceland’s role in getting us to the Moon. At the end of the exhibit was a little plaque commemorating the various unsung roles women played in the space race - from computers to engineers, to even prospective astronauts, like the First Lady Astronaut Trainees.

Now, a thing about me: I am obsessed with space. As a kid, I wore out two VHS copies of Apollo 13, and as a thirteen-year-old, my favourite movie was The Right Stuff. I thought I knew the story of how we got to the Moon inside and out. And I had never even once heard of the First Lady Astronaut Trainees.

The museum docent recommended a book that she had just finished (Martha Ackmann’s The Mercury 13) and I was hooked on their story. The way this group of women were all passionate about flight and space, abundantly qualified, willing to put themselves through the most invasive tests just for the chance to prove that women could be astronauts.

And how despite all of this, the one industry to happily hire them as pilots, was the circus.

The whole idea for the show flew from there.

It’s had a long development: from script workshops in Canada (where I’m from), to an artist residency in Iceland, to developments with the cast in Australia (La Mama Theatre’s Explorations Program in 2023, Geelong Arts Centre’s Launch Pad and Gasworks Premiere in 2024), to our exciting Melbourne Fringe season at Theatre Works. We can’t wait to share this story with everyone!

Q: What will audiences find in your show that they won't find anywhere else in fringe?

A: Go/ No Go successfully brings the worlds of circus and theatre together, which is rare outside the kids show genre. Not only showcasing circus in a unique way with the incorporation of songs and dialogue, this show is based on true stories, real people, and the actual crossover of women astronauts and circus artists. You are unlikely to find another show in the Fringe that wows you with high level circus, serenades you with music of the 60s and 80s, and tells you the story of the history of the First Lady Astronaut Trainees.

Q: What will surprise audiences about this work?

A: What’s surprising about GO/NO GO is how few people know this story. In the 1960s, a group of extraordinary women pilots secretly underwent the same gruelling astronaut tests as NASA’s Mercury 7 men, and passed them, but were never allowed to fly. Our show brings this hidden history to life through circus and theatre. It’s a mix of grit, spectacle, and playfulness, celebrating not only the women who were denied their chance in space, but also those who lifted up the next generation. Audiences might expect a history lesson, but they’ll get a thrilling, funny, and moving ride that makes space history feel urgent, personal, and unforgettable.

Q: You're on a blind date. Nervously, you walk into the bar. Across the smoke and pool tables you see them - there they are. Your exact target audience member, personified. Can you describe them?

A: They’re wearing some sort of vintage NASA tee or space-themed outfit. They’ve probably got a book, and they’ll probably tell you all about it. They know both their favourite planet or moon, and why among all bodies in our solar system, it’s the coolest. They’re a big fan of multi-artform works - like circus mashed up with theatre! - and really like a good story. Especially if that story expands their understanding of key historical moments. They’re probably a self-described ‘nerd’ in some capacity, with their fair share of “this would make an excellent Fringe show, why is this person / place / event / thing not much more well known!” moments.

Also, they’ve seen Hidden Figures (or read it - it’s a book first! By Margot Lee Shetterly), they’ve watched the Sally Ride documentary, they’ve maybe even read The Six (Loren Grush). They can’t wait to learn more.

Q: What has been the most memorable moment in your process to this point?

A: There are two! In the show development, the most memorable was getting to write a draft of the script while being in a place literal Apollo astronauts trained! Then in our season at Gasworks last year, a few of us did a talk at one of their VIP nights. Someone in the audience came along with a typewritten letter from a friend, who wanted to come see the show but was unable to. The letter was part of a journal she’d kept as a young women, detailing the time she met Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space. She said it was great to see more representations of the role that women played in the space race - which we think is a pretty fantastic response!

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Go / No Go plays at Theatre Works from October 14-18. Stay tuned to the Theatre Works Backstage Blog, where we have loads more Backstage at Fringe content on the way!

Click here to get your tickets!