Theatre review: The Children, Heath Ledger Theatre, WA

The Children by Lucy Kirkwood is a Black Swan Theatre Company production that dwells on the aftermath of a nuclear disaster in a small town with a nuclear power station, as seen through the eyes of three retired nuclear scientists who worked at that station and lived through the disaster. 

Robin (Humphrey Bower) and Hazel (Nicola Bartlett), a married couple, remain anchored to the town in their retirement. They are visited by an old friend and colleague, Rose (Caroline Brazier), who appears to have ulterior motives for wanting to meet them decades since their last contact. 

The play moves between offering a commentary on environmental catastrophe and exploring the romantic and sexual tensions between two estranged former lovers and the destabilising jealousies and animosity ignited by their reunion. It is a play about marital discord sown by a past revisited, set against the backdrop of an environmental catastrophe. 

The three actors in the play are all stellar performers of the highest calibre. Bartlett does a superb job of portraying the eccentric and nervous Hazel, who is perplexed and disturbed by Rose’s sudden reappearance. Bartlett’s Hazel bristles with neurotic energy and confident domesticity, nervous about the sudden disturbance in her married life, but also disdainful of the others’ pretensions. 

Brazier’s Rose is enigmatic and sultry. Her poise and ability to convey complex inner struggles and emotions surrounding seemingly difficult life choices and the lingering pull of former passions is remarkable. 

Bower’s bellicose yet tender Robin serves as a strong counterpoint to the other two characters. Bower’s energy, effervescence and comic timing lift the play. Bower plays the likeable rogue figure brilliantly. 

The production is distinguished by its set design and lighting design, which emphasise the insularity of the domesticity at the heart of the play. It offers the impression that the internal world of the survivors is the only place that’s safe for habitation, even though the characters go in and out of the home regularly. 

Read: Opera review: The Turn of the Screw, Hayes Theatre

The visual effect created by the cleverly constructed backdrop, representing empty land surrounding a homestead, is stunning, reinforcing the isolation of the home as a nuclear refuge.  

The Children by Lucy Kirkwood
Black Swan State Theatre Company, WA
Heath Ledger Theatre, State Theatre Centre of WA
Director: Mel Cantwell
Set and costume designer: Bruce McKinven
Lighting designer: Matthew Marshall
Composer and sound designer: Rachael Dease
Stage manager: Izzy Taylor
Assistant stage manager: Kira Feeney
Cast: Nicola Bartlett, Humphrey Bower, Caroline Brazier

Tickets: $30-119

The Children will be performed until 15 September 2024.