It's 1892 on the mean streets of Sydney. Unwed 18-year-old mother, Amber Murray, cast aside by the child's rapist father, and out by her parents, sleeps rough in the reserve, with her beloved babe-in-arms, Horace.
The Hayloft Project’s fresh, exciting new take of The Suicide may occasionally veer towards overindulging its particular brand of humour at the expense of its narrative, but is nevertheless a relentlessly entertaining piece of theatre.
A gifted embroider of words, Friel combines soft lyricism and hard meaning in his play, a tragical comical historical pastoral on a spree and spoiling for a spirited spar.
In the care of Pinchgut Opera’s director, Erin Helyard, this music, formulaic as it indeed is in some respects, sprang off the page into an experience rich in emotions.
Iolanthe and Janet Anderson work in cosmic, comedic accord, characterisation charismatic, timing impeccable, delivery precise, together a tour de force that ascends the cliché.
Blind faith and rational belief are always sparring partners in dramatic conflict and so it is here with the power play tinged with superstition and salaciousness.