Brought to you by the Arena Theatre Company and recently nominated for a Helpmann Award for Best New Australian Work, this play is highly charged, emotive and intimate, inviting viewers into the clandestine world of adolescent Sebastian played by Thomas Conroy.

Q: Describe ‘Moth’ in 5 words? Losers, bullies and apocalyptic moths.

Q: What are some subjects that ‘Moth’ focuses on and what do you expect audience reactions to be? Set within a high school environment, it explores issues of bullying - both in real life and on the internet. It also looks at mental illness, and religious ideology. Although it deals with full-on topics, the brilliant writing by Declan Greene and the great direction by Chris Kohn both allow for plenty of humour to come through. It’s been amazing to see the varied reactions from both younger and older audience members as there are different things that each respond to.

Q: The plot seems quite surreal, what was that like to be part of? Even though there is definitely a metaphysical element that comes to play in the show, it is still quite naturalistic and is worked in to the plot in such a way that is easy to follow and understand. The emotionally intense energy is a wonderful thing to be a part of and I feel extremely lucky to explore such a huge spectrum of emotions in the play.

Q: What have you learned about yourself as an actor by being part of this production? It really required me to knuckle down and not allow myself to get distracted by the bullshit that can cloud your work as an actor, all that ego stuff and self-criticism that can sometime come into play if you have a lot more time to think. It was probably the shortest and longest two weeks of my life.

Q: Have you drawn on any real life experiences to play the role? I’ve thought a lot about the isolation and loneliness I felt at times when I was a teenager. I certainly wasn’t bullied like Sebastian was, but I think every adolescent feels misunderstood and alone as they struggle to come to terms with how they fit into the world, and not always having the emotional maturity to be able to express that.

‘Moth’ is on at the Brisbane Powerhouse from Wednesday August 3 – Saturday August 6.