Kate Miller-Heidke’s next musical asks: what if a punk band accidentally becomes the Wiggles?

‘A very beautiful collaboration’ … Singer-songwriter Kate Miller Heidke (left) and actor Max McKenna have teamed up again for a new musical, Bananaland, premiering at the Brisbane festival. Photograph: Dan Peled for the Guardian Australia

Looking for actors funny enough to cast in their new musical Bananaland was a tricky task for the composer Kate Miller-Heidke and her writing partner and husband Keir Nuttall.

“There is a lot of ridiculous slapstick in this show, but it’s also packed with music,” Miller-Heidke says. “It took a long time to cast because everyone has to be really genuinely funny – with funny bones.”