Caligula

 

Caligula by Albert Camus.  Performative Theatre Company at The Hub, Causeway Hall, Kingston, Canberra.  July 1 – 4, 2026.

Reviewed by Frank McKone
July 1

Written by Albert Camus
Directed by Isaiah Prichard
Set Design: Kathleen Kershaw
Cast: Mischa Rippon (Caligula), Tash Lyall (Caesonia), Amy Gottschalk (Cherea) with Alex Ellwood, Dan Fonn, Tigerlily Gledhill, Anabelle Hansen, Tom Neil, Sam Odgers, Paris Sharkie, Robert Weardon.

If you really want to understand how a youthful ancient Roman dictatorial emperor understood his freedom to have absolute power – which you might apply to a few political leaders today – this excellent production of Camus' play, written during World War 2, will have you shaking your head in wonder.

Mischa Rippon’s performance of the title role is remarkable for creating a philosophical intellectual, emotionally bound up in his search for the essential truth that the universe is not rational (or is simply random, as we might say today), and therefore he can love or kill anyone at whim.

Camus’s play does not bring in the modern discussion of what may have been the cause of the real Caligula’s erratic behaviour, such  as epileptic psychosis (he suffered “falling sickness” as a child), but it places the surrounding senators in impossible positions, because he actually does have autocratic power.  The cast, whether roles are played by women or men, very successfully create for us the growing horror, knowing in the end there is no way out except for them to kill him – as they did in real history.

The success of the presentation is suggested by the name of this new company: Performative.  It means that the set design, the use of a weird array of costumes, and the choreographed movement style, and the manner of speaking means we are aware we are being told a story, not just of these individuals, but about us, if we just think about how others or even we ourselves apply our power to, or experience the power of others.

And we even, at times, find ourselves feeling sorry for Mischa’s Caligula.  As the women realise, he is too young to take on such a responsibility, or to understand empathy in relationships.  I’m not sure, if you compare his Caligula with his character in L’Etranger whether Camus would have expected this, but I think Mischa’s variety of moods, as well his capacity to make clear the abstract philosophy of this Caligula is a great strength of Performative Theatre’s production.

It’s good to see another Canberra company taking on such worthwhile theatre.

 

Mischa Rippon as Caligula, with Alex Ellwood.                                                     Photo supplied

 

 

 

 

CALIGULA

 

 

Caligula by Albert Camus.

Directed, produced and marketed by Isiah Pritchard. Belinda Lawrence — Assistant Director. Co-Stage Managers: Erin Lesnie and Laura Byrne. Set Designer: Kathleen Kershaw . Paris Scharkie. Composer: Euan Tregurtha. Lighting Designer Alex Ellwood. Costume Designer: Elizabeth Barnes. Sound Operator: Jill Young.  Intimacy Coordinator: Archie Simpson. Stagehands: Ty Advani and Dan Fonn Prichard.  Assistant Marketing Jack Dent — Photographer. ACT HUB. July 1-4 2026. Bookings: ACTHUB.COM.AU

Cast: Misha Rippon, Tash Lyall, Amy Gottschalk,Annabelle Hansen, Paris Sharkie,Dan Fonn Prichard, Alex Ellwood,Thomas Neill, Robert Wearden, Sam Odgers, Tigerlily Gledhill

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

 

Mischa Rippon is Caligula in Albert Camus' Caligula

Performative Theatre Company has made an impressive debut on the Canberra Theatre Scene with a highly commendable production of Albert Camus’ Caligula. The young cast, I suspect, of mainly university students has made a challenging choice in deciding to present Camus’ philosophical treatise on Caligula’s descent into madness after the death of his sister and lover, Druscilla. Her death has no meaning in Caligula’s mind, lending credibility to Camus’ philosophy of absurdism, where Caligula’s pursuit of logic to its ultimate end through conflict and indifference leads to the desperate quest for the moon in his hand or the impossible. What emerges in Mischa Rippon’s charismatic performance of the tortured emperor is a profound self-loathing expressed in tyrannical response to Drusilla’s meaningless death. 

Annabelle Hansen as Patricius. Marscha Rippon as Calligula 

Camus’ Caligula is transformed from a kind and gentle Caesar, loved and respected by his citizens into a soulless tyrant who sees death as an expression of freedom, and his only comfort in contempt. It is therefore an act of love to kill the son of ? or deprive the poet Scippio (Alex Ellwood ) of his father or force poison into the mouth of Mereia (Paris Sharkie) . “To govern is to kill” he tells his obsequious right- hand man Helikon (Dan Fonn Prichard). What we see is the eventual dehumanization of a tragic hero and the absurdity of humanity’s existence. Meaninglessness permeates the very absurdity of Caligula’s search for meaning. His indifference to love and life is expressed in his abuse of power and the absurd poetry competition, a game of intellectual gladiatorial contest.

Dan Fon Prichard (Helikon). Mischa Rippon (Caligula)
Tash Lyall (Caesonia)

In the realm of philosophical discourse and interpretation, Performative Theatre Company under the astute and intelligent direction of Isiah Pritchard gives Camus' ideas clarity and believability. Written in 1938 just after Hitler's rise to power and before the outbreak of World War 1 and then re-written in 1944 as Hitler faced inevitable decline and his absurd suicide, Performative Theatre’s timely production of Caligula has recognizable resonance with the tyrannical abuse of power and self-aggrandizement in our time. It is not possible to view Camus’ play and Performative Theatre’s carefully staged production without a reminder of the fragility of life’s existence and meaning.

Mischa Rippon and Amy Gottschalk (Cherea) in Caligula

I commend Performative Theatre highly on their courage to choose Caligula and their ability to project a stylized expression of the absurdity of Caligula’s actions, and yet the plausibility of his motivation, the ultimate contradiction of reason versus logic. Kathleen Kershaw’s flexible setting overlooked by an enormous crack-lined bust of Caligula in the Roman tradition both sets the scene and lends a dominating Big Brother and controlling presence to Caligula’s unassailable power. Paris Sharkie’s subtle composition reminds us of the ominous threat that silent indifference poses. In Caligula Camus prophesies an inevitable resistance to tyranny. In 41 BC conspirator Cherea (Amy Gottschalk) and the citizens ultimately restored freedom in the deaths of Helikon and Caligula. Caligula’s wife Caesonia (Tash Lyall) had already been murdered. Caligula’s logic to the end and longing for freedom was realized in his assassination.

Misha Rippon and Alex Ellwood (Scipio)

Performative Theatre is to be applauded for staging this rarely produced play and illuminating our understanding of Caligula’s irrational behaviour in the context of Camu’s philosophy of Absurdism. The production is tight and imaginatively directed by Prichard. The cast are young actors of varying experience and there is still scope for the development of vocal technique, but there is real commitment to the themes of Camus’ thought provoking examination of the human psyche.  

The poisoning of Mereia (Paris Sharkie)

Central to the success of this production is the actor playing the demanding role of the tortured Caligula, determined to change the world order in his nihilistic obsession. Director Prichard’s choice of Rippon to play the role is inspirational. Rippon is a young actor destined to make a real impression on the art of theatre. His performance is gripping, rarely off the stage and totally inhabiting the complex nature of a character driven to the edge of insanity. He is the glue that binds the production together, rollercoasting from grief to delusion, fantasy to vanity, lust for power to vicious cruelty and cold logic to madness. Rippon is supported by a dedicated cast, who have staged a fascinating and uncomfortably entertaining play under Prichard’s insightful eye, Kershaw’s simple but appropriate setting and Sharkie’s atmospheric musical composition.

 Paris Sharkie (Mereia) Annabelle Hansen ( Patricius)
Robert Wearden (Cassius) in Caligula

It is left to audiences to consider parallels and one needn’t look far to see the truth of Camus’ prophetic warning, absurd as it may seem to the indifferent eye. Performative Theatre Company has a very short season at ACT HUB and the company has provided an excellent and rare opportunity to see a production of Camus Caligula. I look forward with interest to Performative Theatre Company's next production. Caligula has been a very satisfying introduction to this new and promising company.

Photographs  Jack Dent

 

THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD

 

The Playboy of the Western World by John Millington Synge.

Directed by Caitriona McLaughlin. Set and costume design by Katie Davenport. Lighting by James Farncombe. Sound Designer Adrienne Quartley. Composer Anna Mullarkey. Movement director. Sue Mythen. Starring Nicola Coughlin, Siobhan McSweeney, Eanna Hardwicke. Lyttleton Theatre. National Theatre of Britain. NT Live. Sharmill Films. Dendy Cinema. Until July 1 2026

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

Two striking thoughts occurred to me as I watched NT Live’s screening of the National Theatre’s production of John Millington Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World. One; that I wished I was watching this powerful staging of Synge’s classic live and two, thank goodness for NT Live that enables audiences thousands of miles away to become immersed in such outstanding theatre. In the comfort of intimate Cinema 6 at Dendy in Canberra, Catriona McLaughlan’s authentic and evocative production of The Playboy of the Western World loses some of the impact and visceral response of sharing a live performance with a theatre full of audience riveted by the production and the performances of an amazing cast under McLaughlan’s direction. It loses none of the drama and the lyrical power of Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World.

The cast of NT Live's The Playboy of the Western World

 In 1907 when was first performed in Dublin’s famous Abbey Theatre, Ireland was experiencing a literary revival. However, today it is difficult to understand why the Abbey performance should have provoked riots by people who felt that it portrayed immorality and cast a slight against Irish patriotism. In 2026 the plot, so skillfully woven by Synge with drama, suspense and surprise appears far less outrageous, rather a revealing depiction of Irish cultural and social life in a rural village in Ireland. Today it reveals the vacillating inconsistency of the human condition, set against a background of parochial isolation and human frailty. The plot, at times seemingly implausible is a reminder of humanity’s predilection to impulse without reason and the need for love and belonging.

Nicola Coughlin as Pegeen Flaherty

 McLaughlan’s production opens with a parade of widows, clothed entirely in black and traversing the back of the stage through sheets of rain. The procession is funerial, pagan in its ritualistic procession, a village rite of religious absolution. They are accompanied by a fiddler (Erin Hennessey). Is this the fate that will befall all who suffer the isolation of loss and loneliness? It is ironic that The Playboy of the Western World should be regarded as unpatriotic or an offense to public morality.

Éanna Hardwicke as Christy Mahon

Synge constructs a relatively simple plot. The play is set in a tavern owned by Michael Flaherty (Lorcan Cranitch) and run by his barmaid daughter Pegeen Flaherty (Nicola Coughlan ) in a small rural village on Ireland’s west coast. Also at the tavern are Pegeen’s hopeful betrothed Shawn Keogh (Marty Rea ), and farmers, Philly Cullen (Matthew Forrest) and Jimmy Farrel (Naoise Dunbar). Christy Mahon (Eanna Hardwicke) enters seeking refuge and claiming to be fleeing the police after he had killed his father. Much to Shawn’s distress, Pegeen and Christy fall in love and Shawn entreats Widow Quin (Sioban McSweeney) to seduce Mahon away from Pegeen. Old Mahon (Declan Conlon) arrives with a bleeding scalp, but alive and seeks his son. Widow Quin sends him on a wild goose chase and Mahon becomes a hero when he wins a mule race on the slowest horse, much to the amazement of the villagers and the women who hail him as their hero. Things take a rather implausible turn for the worse when Old Mahon reappears, is chased into the fields by Christy and struck again. The village then turns against Christy for murdering his father and attempt to lynch him, urged on by the disillusioned Pegeen. In yet another melodramatic turn of events, Old Mahon reappears, more battered than before but surprisingly alive and he and Christy depart with a parting comment by Christy to Pegeen that he will continue to search out new villages to become their hero. A distraught Pegeen sinks to the floor with a heart wrenching wail, “I have lost my Playboy of the Western World” as the curtain falls.

Eanna Hardwicke (Christy Mahon) and
Nicola Coughlin (Pegeen Flaherty 

In the promotion before the movie begins Benedict Cumberbatch promises audiences the best seat in the house and the camera draws us in to the character and the action. Wide shots and closeups alternate to reveal Katie Davenport’s set design with its authentic recreation of the tavern in which the action takes place. Close ups draw us into the relationships, capturing the intimate moment, yet always maintaining the theatricality of the production. NT Live is a theatrical experience captured on film and yet expressing all the drama of the play upon a stage, as Cumberbatch promised. It allows us to enter the lives of the characters to witness the simpleness and complexity of their lives. Catriona has retained the period in a production that is thoroughly authentic, engrossing and entertaining. The performances too are entirely authentic, transporting us to the world of characters, creating a world long past and people who suffer and survive as people have for all time, ordinary folk trying to survive and cope with what life throws at them. Pegeen seeks escape. Christy seeks love and adulation. Flaherty finds relief in alcohol. Widow Quin seeks companionship and Shawn seeks the comfort that convention and conformity can bring.and conformity can bring. 

Shawn Keogh (Marty Rea) and Widow Quin (Siobhan McSweeney)

McLaughlan's’s direction is clear and insightful. Every moment of the production captures the spirit of Synge’s play, its themes of the human need for belonging, love, freedom and security. An extraordinary cast breathe fresh life into Synge’s century old play. As Pegeen Flaherty McLough reveals a young woman desperate for love and the promise of a better life. Hardwicke gives an extraordinary performance as the complicated Christy Mahon, caught in a myth of his own making. Cranitch’s crusty alcoholic father perfectly portrays his search for salvation to one’s meaningless life that alcohol provides. There is pathos in McSweeney’s Widow Quin, and the pain of unrequited love in Rea’s Keough. There is excellent support from Conlon’s Old Mahon and the ensemble of widowed mourners doubling as the village maidens.

Lorcan Cranitch as Michael 

Lorcan Cranitch as Michael Flaherty

It is the authenticity of the National Theatre’s revival of Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World that is so impressive. It may take a short time to tune in to the lyrical rhythm and accents of Synge’s text and the actors’ Irish dialect, but Synge’s power as a dramatist, forging a new tradition and his affection for and understanding of the Irish folk and the excellent performances by the cast in a production that will capture your imagination and rekindle passion for a play that inspired a theatrical revolution. NT Live’s screening of the National Theatre’s production of The Playboy of the Western World is a gift not to be missed.  

 

 

Arthur Boyd: Tapestries

Visual Art Exhibition Review | Brian Rope

Arthur Boyd: Tapestries | Curated by Adam Lindsay and Elspeth Pitt

National Gallery of Australia, Level 1, Gallery 12 | 20 June – 18 October 2026

 
In this major exhibition, the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) is presenting the complete series of twenty monumental tapestries by renowned Australian artist Arthur Boyd. He is one of Australia’s most celebrated artists, whose long career encompassed multi-genres including painting, printmaking and ceramics. Until now his tapestries have received relatively little attention.

Boyd has said that art is a journey to unknown destinations and that the more we embrace the unknown the richer our journeys become. That resonates deeply with all creatives as it beautifully expresses the essence of artistic exploration. These tapestries are only one part of his extensive artistic exploration of the life of Saint Francis of Assisi.

Through the 1950s and into the 60s, Boyd’s interest in Saint Francis arguably became obsessive. In 1965, he exhibited a series of pastel drawings exploring Francis.

Despite not selling many of those artworks, he later chose twenty and sent high quality images of them to the famous Portuguese tapestry workshop Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre commissioning them to make these tapestries – which were acquired by the NGA in 1975. Fifty years later the twenty tapestries are all being exhibited together for the first time anywhere.

We’ve all heard of Saint Francis, for there have been movies about him and he has been written about more than most people. But some of us know more about him than others. And many of us may not be aware of, or appreciate, what made him so interesting to Boyd. Francis is said to have devoted his life to poverty, piety and prayer and he founded the Franciscan Order. He also loved nature. Pope Gregory IX canonised him two years after his death in a chapel near Assisi.

Boyd drew on biographies, figures and stories regarding Francis for both personal and universal reflections. Some of his artworks absolutely reflect accounts of events in the Saint’s life. Others show imagined events mostly based on Boyd’s explorations of biblical and literary sources. The works explore universal human conditions.

At 2.5 by 3.4 metres, each tapestry is a scene in the Boyd’s retelling of the life of Francis. Woven at a scale more than 20 times larger than Boyd’s original source images, and each containing between 4 and 8.5 million stitches, the finished textiles are a testament to the collaborative process of artistic creation.

The 20 textiles, known as the Life of St Francis (1970–74), inspire awe in their vision, scale and artistry. They are shown here alongside lithographs, pastels and drawings that demonstrate the creative and technical processes involved in their translation across media. And there is a beautiful accompanying publication which unpicks this textile cycle’s fascinating context and weaves together the story of their creation.

Installation view, Arthur Boyd: Tapestries, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, 2026, Arthur Boyd’s work reproduced with the permission of Bundanon Trust

Unsurprisingly, the works in this St Francis series are rich in musical associations. Listening to classical music whilst painting was central to Boyd’s creative process. Indeed, during an interview in 1980 he said the music was ‘as important as the actual brushes’.

Walking into the first room of the exhibition, visitors are confronted by a huge portrayal of the weaving process via a film in which weavers using the same techniques as those used to create Boyd’s tapestries check their work at the end of the day. It wonderfully sets the scene for everything else that will be seen as we move through all the spaces.

Weavers at Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre, Portalegre, Portugal, 2025. Courtesy the Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre.

Going further we see so much more than just 20 marvellous tapestries. There are lithographs, pastels and drawings. There are weaving drawings, masses of written information explaining what is in each room, and an excellent documentary video about the installation of the exhibits and Senior Curator Elspeth Pitt visiting Portugal and Assisi. And there are visitors clearly astounded by what they are viewing, exploring individual pieces closely and pointing out particular things to their companions.

Elspeth Pitt, Senior Curator, Australian Art, National Gallery with Arthur Boyd: Tapestries, installation view, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, 2026, Arthur Boyd’s work reproduced with the permission of Bundanon Trust

Arthur Boyd, Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre, Lurdes Branquinho (draughtsman (intermediary)), St Francis holding St Clare's hair, 1974, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1975, Arthur Boyd’s work reproduced with the permission of Bundanon Trust

Arthur Boyd, Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre (tapestry workshop), St Francis lying in the flames, 1972, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1975, Arthur Boyd's works reproduced with the permission of Bundanon Trust

Installation view, Arthur Boyd: Tapestries, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, 2026, featuring: Arthur Boyd, Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre, St Francis turning Brother Masseo, 1973; St Francis being beaten by his father, 1973; St Francis blowing Brother Masseo into the air, 1973, purchased 1975, Arthur Boyd’s work reproduced with the permission of Bundanon Trust

When we emerge there is a large, constructed loom display, a wall showing Boyd’s life timeline, the opportunity to participate in workshops, and more. Whether or not tapestry has ever been one of your interests, this is an exhibition not to be missed.

This review is also available on the author's blog.  

THE DEEP BLUE SEA

 

The Deep Blue Sea by Sir Terence Rattigan. 

Directed by Tony Knight. Assistant director and costumes  Ylaria Rogers. Design by Michael Sparks. Art works: Leigh Penton and Kerry Wode/ Lillian Vickery and John Vickery, Lighting and Stage Management: Disa Swifte. Sound: Neville Pye. Composition: Paris Sharkie. Properties and Medical Consultant: Yanina Clifton. Intimacy Consultant: Jill Young. Rehearsal Prompter: Michael Cooper. Marketing Support: Karina Hudson. Chaika Theatre. ACT HUB. June 12-27 2026

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

Jenna Roberts is Hester Collyer in The Deep Blue Sea

I was unable to attend Chaika Theatre’s outstanding production of Terence Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea until the final night. It is too late for me to encourage all theatre lovers and theatre workers on or behind the stage to do whatever is necessary to see this remarkable performance. What I witnessed on the closing night was a Master Class in direction by Tony Knight and a Master Class in acting by Knight’s phenomenal cast. Chaika’s production of Rattigan’s drama of love, loss and the fragile soul, played in the intimacy of the ACT HUB theatre is a testament to the professional quality of the work that is staged at ACT HUB and its worthiness to be played on any professional stage. Sadly, the ephemeral nature of theatre must condemn a production as fine as Chaika’s The Deep Blue Sea to the catalogue of past programmes. For those unfortunate enough not to have seen Chaika’s rare production of The Deep Blue Sea, let me recount its virtue. If I wax too lyrical, it is to do this production justice.

Sol Mason is Freddie Page in "The Deep Blue Sea"

There are three key elements that make up a production as excellent as Chaika’s The Deep Blue Sea. They are the playwright, the director and the cast. Playwright, Sir Terence Rattigan (1911-1977), wrote The Deep Blue Sea in 1952. Originally the two central characters were male and Rattigan’s play was partly autobiographical and explored the painful plight of two homosexual characters at a time when homosexuality was illegal between consenting males. Rattigan changed the central characters to be heterosexual and created the tormented vulnerable Hester Collyer (Jenna Roberts) and her lover the caddish, self-centred and troubled Freddie Page (Sol Mason). 

Sol Mason (Freddie) and Jdnna Roberts (Hester)

Rattigan’s play is a gift to the actor. His characters are skilfully drawn to reveal the complexity of human nature, honestly and with an eye that peels back the layers to expose the dreams, the fears, the hope and the despair. Even the minor characters are drawn in an ink that colours their character and makes them real. His text is rich in its passion and pragmatic in its common sense, scaling the heights of emotion and imbuing each character with an individuality that makes them appear absolutely real in their behaviour. It is not often that I see a production where the director and cast so completely embrace the playwright’s world and give it such vitality.

Jenna Roberts (Hester) and Michael Sparks (Sir William Collyer)

Director Tony Knight elicits fully fleshed performances from main and supporting characters alike. Even the supporting actors in the rather dowdy boarding house that Hester is now living in with her lover Freddie give thoroughly distinctive characterizations under Knight’s precise and perceptive direction. His direction illuminates each character with a keen appreciation of Rattigan’s text and the fragile reality of human failing. Only the decision to play the action with audience on both sides seemed to detract from the play’s appropriate staging on a proscenium arch stage. It does offer an intimacy and an originality, but at times did lessen the clarity of the dialogue when actors played with their backs to the audience. This in no way detracted from the fact that every actor was totally immersed in their character but it did mean that Rattigan’s dialogue was occasionally too softly delivered in the more emotional moments of this searing drama.

Karen Vickery (Miller) and Jenna Roberts in The Deep Blue Sea

It is a rare achievement that each actor is able to shine in his or her moment on the stage. It is the true accomplishment of ensemble acting. Kate Blackhurst is imposing as the landlady of the boarding house, simple but plain speaking although inclined to gossip. Jack Shanahan and Meaghan Stewart as  married couple Philip and Ann Welch and tenants of the boarding house portray honest working-class Londoners who become involved in Hester’s failed suicide attempt. Blue Hyslop as Jackie Jackson is every bit the British lad and Freddie’s good friend and fellow RAF compatriot. By casting Karen Vickery as the de-registered  medical practitioner and a Russian resident in England for the past thirty-eight years, Knight has made the fearsome Miller a more significant character in Hester’s eventual redemption and an angel of hope in Rattigan’s emotionally charged drama.

Jenna Roberts and Kate Blackhurst (Mrs. Elton)

Newcomer to Canberra’s theatre scene, Sol Mason gives a caddish performance as the former air pilot, with whom Hester falls in love and leaves her wealthy, older husband, judge Sir William Collyer, played with British propriety and certain staidness by Michael Sparks. The frailty of the heart contrasts with his authority as a judge. Mason is the lost soul, desperately confronting his wartime trauma, unable to commit to his relationship with Hester, searching for a solution and resorting to alcohol to drink away his pain. Mason rouses our irritation with his treatment of Hester and his contribution to her attempted suicide at the beginning of the play. There is little regard for the consequence of his actions and Mason makes the most of arousing our anger at one moment and our pity at another.

Meaghan Stewart (Ann Welch) and Jack Shanahan (Philip Welch)

At the very heart of Rattigan’s play is his protagonist, the tortured and vulnerable Hester Collyer, brilliantly portrayed in Chaika’s production by Jenna Roberts. In a play lasting two hours Roberts has very few moments off stage and charts her fragile hold on life with the aching pain of unrequited love and the tormenting fear of rejection. Her performance is terrifyingly real, heart-breakingly raw and our response is visceral as we watch her struggle through attempted suicide and the rejection of all help offered. This is a Hester who could command any professional stage in the English-speaking theatre. And yet, in spite of the pain and the despair and the tortured love, Rattigan gives Hester hope, administered with stern practicality by Miller (there is mystery in Vickery’s portrayal of a Russian immigrant), and we are left with Roberts on a couch, cleansed by catharsis and resolved, it seems, to find redemption in her talent for art. Rattigan reminds us that even in the most desperate of moments there is hope.

Blue Hyslop as Jackie Jackson in The Deep Blue Sea

If Chaika’s production were being played on Shaftesbury Avenue, queues would line the street for tickets and Roberts would be nominated for an award. Sadly, Chaika’s season is too short. One might hope for a revival but for those fortunate enough to have seen Tony Knight’s production for Chaika, you have been fortunate enough to see a production of which Terence Rattigan would have been very proud.

Photos by Tony Knight

TRAVELLING NORTH

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Travelling North by David Williamson. 

Directed and designed  by Cate Clelland. Costume Design Team: Claire Middleton, Darcy Abrahams and Cate Clelland. Lighting Design: Craig Muller. Sound design Neville Pye. Properties Brenton Warren. Canberra Rep Theatre. June 11 – 27 2026. Bookings: 0262571950

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins                       

 

Danielle Spiller as Frances, Margeaux Arundel Williams as Sophie, 
Matilda Millar-Carton as Helen in TRavelling North.

Playwright David Williamson has been described as the storyteller of his tribe. Plays such as Travelling North, currently playing at Canberra Rep provide a glimpse of ordinary middle class Australians at a time in their lives when they are responding to the events within their own lives and the social circumstances of their time. Williamson’s comedies of social manners are witty and perceptive insights into the foibles and follies of human nature, as well as comments on the circumstances of the time. Travelling North was written by Australia’s most successful playwright in 1972 in the declining year of the Vietnam War and the resurgence of the Labor Party under Gough Whitlam. Former Communist Party candidate Frank (Pat Gallagher) and his companion Frances (Danielle Spinner) are celebrating their first anniversary together by seeking out an escape from Melbourne to the far north of Queensland, away from family and friends and in a place where they can begin a life together in their latter years. Frank is in his Seventies, a widower, with a daughter Joan (Stephanie Lieshaut) and a son Martin whom he hasn’t seen in years and Frances is much younger and a divorcee with two adult daughters, Sophie (Margeaux Arundel Williams) and Helen (Matilda Millar-Carton). They have reached a time in their lives when they are both in search of an escape from the old and an embrace of the new.

Danielle Spiller as Frances. Pat Gallagher as Frank

With his keen insight into characters confronting a break with the past and its consequences on family left behind far away in the city and the pressures of growing older and starting a new life with a new partner, Williamson has written a play that is witty, heart-warming, cautionary and an accurate depiction of the human struggle for independence and a fresh start in life. Williamson writes real characters in real circumstances facing real pressures and searching for real solutions. They are wholly human, at times comical, at times absurdly contrary, at times contradictory and at times conciliatory. To the largely senior audience members at Rep’s production, the characters, their arguments and their responses are entirely familiar. It is what makes Travelling North such a touching, funny and accessible play.

Steven Kennedy as Freddy Wicks. Pat Gallagher as Frank.
Danielle Spiller as Frances

I was puzzled by director Cate Clelland’s static production. It seemed that Clelland, an experienced and versatile director, had focused on the thematic nature of Williamson’s work. The themes are explicitly highlighted by a production that avoids any excess theatricality. Freddie, their new neighbor (Steve Kennedy) a supporter of the war in Vietnam, offers a contrasting view to Frank, but retains the Aussie virtue of neighbourly mateship. Frank’s doctor Saul Morgenstein (Adrian Breen) expresses dismay at Frank’s decision to self-medicate after his diagnosis of heart disease. The views and relationships of the younger generation are well depicted by Lieshout and Williams and Millar-Carton as examples of sibling rivalry and family inter-reliance. Gallagher and Spiller truthfully chart the emotional rollercoaster  journey of their new found love, in which romantic love turn to dutiful love, love lost and love redeemed. Clelland appears to have focused on Williamson’s highly naturalistic text and the actors deliver the lines with conviction. Only occasionally do I have a sense of a more complex character beneath the dialogue. As Helen, the younger, more feisty daughter, Millar-Carton gives a silent moment of resentful lack of attention as Frances heaps praise on Sophie.   It is a moment in the production that allows an actor to express a deeper complexity.

Pat Gallagher as Frank and Danielle Spiller as Frances

The flow of the play on stage is hampered by Williamson’s series of short vignettes, easily managed as film but awkwardly presented on stage, which I suspect may have contributed to a production that focused more on the text than the more subtle aspects of the character. There are 13 very short scenes in Act 1 and 20 in Act 2. These are presented between scene changes that interrupt the flow and draw out the performance. Neville Pye’s sound design cleverly accompanies the brown-outs with soothing classical music, but the production remains fragmented and many of the scenes are played at the rear of the setting against a brightly painted sub-tropical plant scene. If Williamson was preparing a film script that would star Leo McKern and Julia Blake, then a stage director would need to adapt the play for the stage and a live audience.

Having said that, I as a senior member of the audience, familiar with the period and the biographical nature of Williamson’s observance of his tribe, was convinced and entertained by the performances but I left the theatre feeling that the production could have taken less time to travel on its journey.

 

  

AN ILIAD

 

 

An Iliad by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare. Based on Homer’s Iliad  and translated by Robert Fagles.

 Directed by Damien Ryan.  Designer: Charles Davis. Lighting Designer: Alexander Berlage. Composer: Helen Svoboda. Sound Designer: Brady Watkins. Associate Director: Ian Michael. Greek Language Consultant: Deborah Galanos. Illusions & Magic Consultant: Adam Mada. Voice & Text Director: Charmian Gradwell. Illusions & Magic Associate: Bruce Glen. Marketing Image: Holly Ward. Cast: David Wenham and Helen Svoboda

Wharf 1. Sydney Theatre Company. Until June 27 2026.

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

 

 The clanging sound of a chain breaks the silence in the dark. The heavy iron door rises slowly revealing bit by bit a figure standing in the shadows. He enters the open black stage and begins his tale. His story begins in the rich tones of the Greek language, urgent and forceful as though it is a drama that must be told. As the narrator David Wenham strikes a vagabond figure in a long grey coat. He rushes to the wall and chalks in Greek letters the names of Achilles on one side and on the other the name of Hector. This is the tale that the poet is compelled to tell, the bitter rivalry between mythical heroes Achilles from Greece and Hector from Troy, a rivalry doomed to death in the Trojan wars, war that continues to echo through Time.

But writers Lisa Peterson and Denis O’ Hare’s An Iliad is not merely a reimagining of Homer’s Iliad, recounting the Trojan Wars. It is a densely textured account of the human propensity to rage and its consequence throughout the deadly conflicts down the ages. Peterson and O’Hare have powerfully and revealingly intermingled the myth of Achilles and Hector with the depictions of age- old wars and contemporary conflicts, all reflected in the inspiration of Homer’s epic poem. Both lyrical and graphic the story is powerfully told by Wenham who gives a performance of heroic stature, riveting in its dynamism, plummeting the depths of human emotion and suffering, and capturing with theatrical might the violence and futility of wars, ignited by rage and fuelled by a fury that can only ultimately lead to destruction. To witness Wenham inhabit Sydney Theatre Company’s Wharf 1 theatre with such superb command of the ancient art of oral storytelling is to witness one of the country’s finest actors transport us in mind and heart to the very core of human impulse.

Suddenly the poet exits through the doorway and draws on a cart laden with boxes, paraphernalia and a large double bass with bow. From beneath the pile a hand emerges, then an arm and finally the body of musician Helen Svoboda. She is the Muse, accompanying the poet’s story with the haunting sounds of the bow across the strings or the heart-rending wails of grief from a slumped form upon the floor. It is the pain borne by women who must suffer the loss of their men in the horrors of war, and be left at home to rage against their unjust fate. Svoboda and Wenham merge into the action supporting each other with the fluid business of the play. Both Wenham and Svoboda immerse themselves entirely in the telling of the tale.

Director Damien Ryan’s weaving of the action and emotional impact of the play is meticulous. The rhythm of the business punctuates the story. At times Wenham is caught up in the relentless drama of his narrative, running around the stage to a state of exhaustion. At one time he is transfixed by Achilles’ rage at the horrific death of his lover Pantoclus. At another he stands in reverent stillness to recount the countless conflicts through history. At another he holds aloft a wood carved puppet of Hector’s young son and with only the text describes the cruel murder of the young child at the hands of the Greeks. There is no need for the violence on the stage. It is in the power of the language of Peterson and O’Hare’s text and the brilliant performances of Wenham and Svoboda in collaboration with Ryan’s sensitive and intelligent direction. Ryan directs with impeccable skill, inspiring the imagination and gently guiding the changing rhythm of the drama.  Wenham and Svoboda are unified in their connection with the story and their individual skill in telling it. To watch them unfold the play is to watch two performers create magic.  

The poet retreats to the doorway. He has endured the agony of the song that he had hoped he would never have to sing, a song sung over and over through the ages. It is the song of rage, told in the stories of endless wars. An Iliad is not an anti-war play, although it will provoke the dismay at humanity’s endless inhumanity to man. It is a play that will stay with you because it impels us to confront an urge deep within our psyche. Nor is it confined to war, although war is the ultimate expression of the rage. Dylan Thomas invokes us to “rage against the dying of the light”. Whitlam invited his supporters to “maintain the rage” and on Saturday mornings the ABC screens the music programme Rage. An Iliad shows us the result of rage from Homer’s Trojan sands to the beach of Gallipoli and the seashore of Gaza. In doing so, the Sydney Theatre Company has staged a brilliant production that provokes us to hold An Iliad’s mirror up to Nature and witness our image in the glass.

Photos by Daniel Boud.