There’s one inevitability we all share. We will die. The thought-provoking Do Not Go Gentle, by the much-lauded Patricia Cornelius (My Sister Jill, Runt), juxtaposes two realities – one where the Antarctic explorers in Captain Robert Falcon’s Scott’s ill-fated expedition go through their adventurous ordeal, and the other where the residents of an aged care home deal with the inevitable deterioration of mind and body.
It’s well documented that Scott’s team all perished after reaching the South Pole and finding that a Norwegian team had beaten them there. But what does that story have to do with a group of people in a home whose view of reality is diminishing as they struggle to deal with their sterile surroundings and loss of agency?
This is where the genius of Cornelius reveals itself. Switching from one scenario to the other, the question put is what any of us hopes to achieve before the inevitable final moment on this Earth. While we might not end up going on a courageous, ultimately doomed trek that finds its way into the history books, we might want to do something memorable or leave something worthwhile behind. And we will all probably have regrets.
Queensland Theatre’s production is brought to life by director Heather Fairbairn, with stunning performances by its mainly elderly cast. The play opens with the mesmerising singing of former opera singer Marilyn Richardson, who at 89, plays Serbian immigrant Maria, a woman confused by why she’s in the home and even why she’s in this country.
We’re then in the early 20th century Antarctic, as well-known TV actor William Zappa, in his QT debut, plays expedition leader Scott. Trudging through the snow and ice, he encourages his team to keep going against the odds. Jennifer Flowers plays optimistic team member Wilson as well as Mary in the nursing home.
Bruce Spence is Antarctic team member Oates, as well as home resident Titus, who seems to be imagining a boy or a beast – it’s hard to tell for a while as he’s not sure himself. Steven Grives is explorer Evans and Taffy, who sadly realises that all of his dreams of changing the world when he was younger have amounted to nothing.
QT stalwart Christen O’Leary is cast as Bowers and home resident Birdie, who has early onset dementia and can’t bear to be confronted by certain facts about the life she’s terrifyingly forgetting. Andrew Buchanan also appears in a number of smaller roles.
Set and costume designer Simone Romaniuk, has created two very different worlds that cleverly make way for the other. The Bille Brown Theatre corner stage works well for the metaphorical journey in the Antarctic setting, with white gauze and distorted mirrors representing snow, tents and ice. Then, doors open to reveal the soulless bright lights and decor of the aged care home. The starkly contrasting settings both concern the landscape of the mind.
In 2011, the play won the NSW Premier’s Literary Award for Drama and the Victorian Premier’s Louis Esson Prize for Drama, and it has held up well. The title comes from the Dylan Thomas poem, Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night, with the poem’s opening summing up the spirit of what unfolds on stage: Do not go gentle into that good night. Old age should burn and rave against the dying of the light.
It is on at Bille Brown Theatre until 30th August, 2026.
Vicki Englund
Other reviews you might enjoy:
- Queensland Theatre 2024 season – a preview
- Queensland Theatre 2022 season
- Don’t Ask What the Bird Look Like (Queensland Theatre) – theatre review
Vicki Englund is a film, TV and theatre reviewer, a credited TV screenwriter on shows including The Bureau of Magical Things and Home and Away, and a film screenwriter with several projects in development. She was the daily TV reviewer for The Courier Mail for 11 years and has reviewed films and TV for Rave Magazine, Time Off, The Courier Mail and Daily Review.
