wagaye
A character driven drama set in Melbourne’s inner west.
A story about care, obligation, and the cost of belonging.
The Story
Wagaye is a café owner who has quietly become the emotional and practical anchor of his community. Behind the espresso machine, he fixes problems the system ignores. He lends money. He mediates conflict. He protects those with nowhere else to go.
When a violent incident inside the café draws police attention and threatens the fragile world he has built, Wagaye is forced to confront the cost of carrying everyone else. The series follows the collision between informal care and formal systems, asking how much one person can hold before something breaks.
Key Characters
This series looks at community not as comfort, but as pressure. Care becomes an obligation. Loyalty becomes weight. Each character is shaped by what they owe, and by what they refuse to abandon.
Wagaye
A café owner in his early thirties. Calm. Observant. Relentlessly responsible. He has built a sanctuary for others while neglecting his own limits. His strength is also his flaw.
Misrach
Wagaye’s employee. Quiet. Watchful. She carries the weight of her sister’s survival and tightly controls her own desire. Loyalty shapes every choice she makes.
Selam
Misrach’s younger sister. Brilliant. Volatile. Living with addiction and constant risk. She brings chaos into spaces that demand calm and exposes the cost of looking away.
Nazret
Wagaye’s partner. Practical. Grounded. She understands systems and boundaries in ways Wagaye refuses to. She loves him but sees the danger of his self-sacrifice clearly.