Thirty years on Nick Enright’s play about young men and youths callous disregard for the fairer sex continues to resonate. Trash talk and surf culture go hand in glove in the fictitious seaside working-class suburb of Blackrock. After 11 months away, arrogant Ricko (Bailey Griffiths) – who others look up to – returns and resumes his mateship with Jared (Fletcher von Arx). In the interim, Jared has taken up with his first serious girlfriend, Rachel (Sabrina Rault).
But everything goes pair shaped at Rachel’s brother Toby’s (James Parker) 18th birthday party. That is when several of the boys take advantage of a 15-year-old girl who is brutally gang raped and murdered. As the net closes in, the pressure mounts on Jared. What did he see, what did he do or not do? The stress and guilt get to him and he closes down – cutting himself off from his mother and girlfriend. Ricko prevails upon Jared to do right by him, but Jared is torn. An overture to his estranged father doesn’t help.
How Ricko treats Tiffany (Isabel Dickson), who has long held a torch for him, speaks volumes. The youngsters’ parents are having their own issues as their sons and daughters are spreading their wings and trying to deal with their grief. The close-knit community is being torn apart. These are ugly times in Blackrock.
This remains an incendiary theatrical production, with morality very strongly in play. Lunatix’s 12-strong cast has done a fine job breathing life anew into the potent script. Sabrina Rault is outstanding as the student who is not afraid to stand up in the face of the outrageous act. She is fierce and razor sharp in her portrayal of Rachel. Fletcher von Arx transitions Jared well from knowing which was is up to moody and distant. Bailey Griffiths captures the air of superiority (and disdain) that positions Ricko as the leader of the pack. What the cast as a whole does well is capture the different personalities that Enright wrote about.
What is abundantly clear is that boys go from trying it on with the girls to frequently crossing the line. The lessons in the dialogue are beacons of machismo abused. Directors Grace Mclaughlin and Maddie Richards has ensured that the action keeps moving at pace, with one sharp scene after another. This includes a number when not a word is spoken. The actors enter stage left and right from behind black curtaining, exiting the same way.
The static staging – wooden pallets strew about the floor, corrugated iron and fish nets on the walls – plus a handful of props, utilised as appropriate, suit the piece. Carla Grcic’s lighting design and Patrick Spencer’s sound design elevate the offering. I applaud the company for ensuring that the vitriol and spirit imbued in Enright’s story live on.
Sadly, I am far from convinced that society is in better shape than when the work was conceived. If anything, trolling and social media have made things worse. Domestic violence continues to proliferate and gender equality remains conceptual. These are just a couple of reasons that Blackrock needs to keep being performed.
Alex First
Other reviews you might enjoy:
- Cutting Onions (The MC Showroom) – theatre review
- Untitled Three-Hander (The MC Showroom) – theatre review
- Villainy (The MC Showroom) – musical 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.
