A passion for storytelling has taken Sandgate local Grace Spinks all the way to the Queensland Conservatorium and beyond, with the singer-songwriter launching her debut musical earlier this year.
The former Sandgate State School and St Paul’s Anglican School student wrote and directed The Middle Room, a musical “loosely based” on her own family.
“I actually thought I wanted to be an author when I was younger – I went to the Brisbane Writers Festival a lot – but then I realised I loved music, and the storytelling aspect of music,” Grace said.
“I started writing The Middle Room four years ago at the end of high school.
“During my third year at the Conservatorium, I decided it was going to be a musical, and then it became a study project for my honours year in 2025, and I started workshopping it with actors.
“It was about six months after that that I thought it would be good enough to put it on as a real show.”
Sold-Out Success and What’s Next
The Middle Room is a contemporary musical that tells the story of a home, and the countless lives interwoven within it. It’s been described as “deeply nostalgic, quietly devastating, and a beautifully intimate piece of theatre”.
Grace said seeing the musical finally being performed on stage was “one of the most amazing, crazy days of my life”.
“The show is multi-layered, and I wanted it to be that way – there’s a lot of heavy family themes in there, but it’s also funny,” she said. “If it’s not funny in some parts, then people aren’t going to have a good time; you don’t want your audience to be miserable.
“Ideally, anyone can relate to all of the characters at any point in their life. You see yourself in various stages.”
The Middle Room played two sold-out night shows at the Pip Theatre in Milton, and Grace added a matinee to keep up with demand, which was also sold out.
She plans to stage the show again later this year locally.
“I’m currently applying for different opportunities to tour the show, I’m casting the net wide and I definitely want to bring it to Sandgate,” Grace said.
While she finishes her honours program at the Queensland Conservatorium, Grace has some simple advice for any young people wanting a creative career.
“You have to love it,” she said.
“And you have to be making art all the time. It can be hard to find the space in between the business side of things, and the social media and the study, which is all important, but you have to be making your own art as much as possible.”
The Middle Room will be part of the Moreton Bay Anywhere Festival in May, with three shows in Redcliffe. Get tickets here.
To keep up to date with Grace’s career here.
You can follow The Middle Room on Instagram.
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