What does it take to push a disenchanted young man over to the dark side? That question is answered in all its destructive ugliness in the incendiary play Blackpill: Redux. It is a reworked expansion of a production that captured the imagination at Theatre Works’ more experimental venue, The Explosives Factory, last April.
Eli (Oliver Tapp) has just been fired from his sales job after a series of vitriolic online posts in his private life with a woman in whom he had a romantic interest. Clearly aggrieved, Eli blames her – Carina (Eleanor Golding) – for sharing the messages with his employer. And now that Eli has been given the flick, try as he does repeatedly to contact Carina seeking answers, she isn’t responding.
That is when he turns to the dark web and forges a new “friendship” with a radical, misogynistic incel (involuntary celibate) in Canada who sprouts hate speech. Naz, as depicted in an imposing, frightening, big bad wolf black mask with distorted, loud, megaphone vocalisation, implores Eli to toughen up. He (as played by several of the cast, including Bailey Griffiths) calls on Eli to hold Carina to account by any means necessary.
For his part, Naz is preaching revolution for he is intensely angry with the world, maintaining that no one has ever shown even a passing interest in him. Matters are destined to come to a head. In the process, Eli ostracises his family, including his entitled, annoying, share trader older brother Murphy (Conagh Punch). Mind you, Murphy isn’t exactly leading a morally righteous life either.
One of the contentions raised in the script is that your fate is sealed at birth. You are either a high value Alpha male (as again realised by Bailey Griffiths) or you are destined for a life of rejection and despair. Blackpill: Redux is distressing theatre with polish and bite. In other words, the content is alarming and hugely impactful. It holds a mirror to society today … at the extreme measures some disillusioned radicals are prepared to take.
Horrifyingly, I note that most of the content in Blackpill: Redux is based on material writer and director Chris Patrick Hansen found on incel forums. A 12-strong cast ensures the contention raised weaves its way into the audience’s psyche, where it gains a foothold and clings on for dear life. Included in the repertoire are well choreographed, loud workout sequences. A large video screen with a surfeit of electrified cords hanging from it provides a striking backdrop.
Blackpill: Redux is impassioned, bold and belligerent theatre that needs to be seen, for, as much as I don’t want to contemplate it, the darkness if becoming pervasive. Two hours, including interval, it is on at Theatre Works until 17th January, 2026.
Alex First
Other reviews you might enjoy:
- The Anarchy (1138-53) at Theatre Works – theatre review
- Every Lovely Terrible Thing (Theatre Works) – theatre review
- Alphabet Soup (Theatre Works) – theatre review
Alex First is the editor of The Blurb. Alex is a Melbourne based journalist and communications specialist. He also contributes to The Blurb on film and theatre.
