REVIEW: Factory Made

"A Musical Comedy" 

Factory Made - A Musical Comedy

Phoenix Ensemble, Beenleigh

Friday 12th June 2026

Creatives

Writer /Director - Douglas Berry

Composer / Lyricist /  Musical Director - Alex Smith

Choreographer / Costume Designer - Jemma Crowhurst 

Cast 

Phoebe Imberger - Pru

Alex Smith - Stu

Jemma Crowhurst - Tess / ensemble

Rae Rose - Deeandra

Emma Erdis - M.A.X / Ensemble

Liam Hartley - Dr Machina / Ensemble

Torin Cook - Gregorious / Ensemble

Oliver Catton - Domingo / Ensemble

Daniel Lelic - Rookie / Shareholder Four / Ensemble

Abi Pineda - Robot Assistant / Ensemble 

Crew

Factory Made is a triumph in community theatre. 

Douglas Berry and Alex smith have created something truly special. A story that manages to tackle the current state of affairs when it comes to corporate choke-holds, A.I. and profit over people (in this case robots) and then rebels against it with self-referential, a-mile-a-minute comedic brilliance. 

Images by Anderson

I genuinely had a smile on my face the entire time and laughed so much it hurt. Every new musical number I found myself saying "this is my new favourite". 

Douglas Berry’s story of hope and resilience in a world that thrives on corporate greed is of the incredibly likeability titular character "Pru" played so with perfection by Phoebe Imberger whose vocals and comedic timing are a genuine stand-out. The sincerity she brings to Pru that keeps the emotional core of the show grounded.

Pru manages to escape her Robotic Servitude at the hands of the corporation "Ocean Six" when she ends up in a shipping box sent to the home of "Stu" played by Alex Smith whose characterisation of Stu felt based in such honest lived experience as a musician using his voice to tell a story with meaning. What ensues is a story about friendship in the face of adversity as Stu’s preconceived notions about robots are challenged by Pru’s wholesome inner heart and wit. 

Paralleled by the story played out at Ocean Six with the no nonsense Deeandra (played by Rae Rose who commands the stage) at the helm, backed by her right hand / brain man Dr Machina (Liam Hartley whose range of elasticity  between his roles is a pleasure to witness) and the quartet of business stockholders (Hartley, Catton, Cooke and Lelic) whose only interests are keeping cashflow high and their secrets safe. When it's found out that Pru is rogue and their dastardly dealings could be exposed OceanSix sends out its secret weapon, an ass-kicking robot called M.A.X. (Emma Erdis) Erdis's physicality as M.A.X. was foreboding and their vocal control while maintaining the character's robotic precision is a real skill.

Images by Anderson

The musical numbers created by Smith are consistently high quality, crossing genres and content tones with ease and humour were tackled incredibly by the cast. Paired perfectly with Jemma Crowhurst's choreography which was high energy, dimensional and made fantastic use of the space. 

The lighting work of Maddy Bosansko helped create the world building, from the neon robotic cold lights to warm softness in more tender moments and some well timed blackouts used to comedic effect. Sound Design by Ben Cooke and Angelina Mustafay helped add some hilarious sound effects to the production that furthered the comedy and world building. Some microphones unfortunately suffered the dreaded delayed levelling issues that made a handful of lines get lost but didn't detract the enjoyment. 

Factory Made took a small stage and minimal set and filled it with an outstanding cast. Ensemble members took on multiple roles, switching between with ease and fantastic characterization with Props and Costuming (also by Crowhurst) helped tell the story with some genuinely clever interaction that left the audience in stitches and cheers. You know you have something special when the audience feels invested and loudly cheers in triumph for the good guys.  

This show has it all, tap dancing? Check. A barbershop quartet number? Check. Oversized Guns? Check. But what it has in droves is razor sharp wit, an outstanding cast, banger after banger musical number but most of all heart. 

I could genuinely see just how much every single person involved in this show put into it. "Community" theatre at its finest. I could gush about this production for a thousand more words, the laughs were numerous, the vibes were impeccable and suffice it to say if they get the chance to produce it again I would buy tickets again in a heartbeat. I’m holding out for a cast recording so I can relive the laughs over and over. 

For all news on the factory, make sure you follow them at instagram.com/factorymademusical

Photography by Images by Anderson

Reviewed by Tamzen Hunter

Tickets for this show were purchased by Tamzen Hunter, all thoughts contained herein are the author's genuine feelings and not influenced in any way.