What happens when theatre leaves the theatre? That’s the question Nathan Schulz has spent his career answering.

As The Drama Merchant, Nathan creates performances that live outside the conventional stage — in forgotten spaces, unexpected venues, and the imagination of his audiences. His work doesn’t ask people to come to the drama. It brings the drama to them.

After cutting his teeth in the Gold Coast community theatre scene, a Best Director win at the 2015 Gold Coast Theatre Palm Awards marked the moment Nathan stopped following the theatrical rulebook altogether. He took his work to Brisbane’s Anywhere Festival, staging original immersive productions in spaces never intended for performance — and never looked back.

Today, his two flagship offerings define The Drama Merchant experience. The Radioplay Hour is a live, retro audio performance combining storytelling, live music, and sound effects — a warmly nostalgic experience that feels entirely new. Co-Stars invites young audiences and their families into interactive storytelling where their voices become part of the show.

From immersive ghost stories in oddities shops to directing classics on community stages, Nathan’s body of work is as varied as the spaces he performs in — united by a single belief that great storytelling can happen anywhere.
The Drama Merchant. Theatre, just not as you know it.