Healthy relationships should have a natural ebb and flow, built on mutual respect and equality, but power dynamics can be easily skewed. Then if you add in the confusion of coming of age, among teenage hormones, peer pressure and a recent tragedy, this is where we meet our protagonist, Ophelia.
Charlotte Davies performs in the titular role. A naïve young woman in her formative years, already laden down with the teenage pressures modern life brings, Ophelia is thrown all out of whack by the sudden death of a parent. The play begins shortly after the funeral. Matt Domingo plays the enigmatic bad boy Hamish, clad in a grungy black leather jacket with a rebel-without-a-cause attitude reminiscent of the 1950s toxic masculine culture. The audience has a sickly-sweet intoxicating view of him, as his slithers his way through the story until a single act causes a shift in perception.
Ophelia’s brother is played by Harrison Everingham. Leo is a complex character in his mid-20s, who, through circumstances, returns to the regional city he grew up in – thrust into a father-like responsible role, all the while navigating the foibles of maturing into a man. His right to grieve is repressed by duty and the masculine norms of society.
The Chorus of Grace Meyers, Lillian White, Maya Hassall and Tess Wilson provide moments of light, dark and every shade between. The exuberance of youth is shown during a night out at a club featuring numerous Gen Z laden emoji slang text message conversations.Â
Costume design by Simona Cosentini is effective as it highlights each character’s personality. Ophelia’s clothing shows the pressures put on teenagers, especially young women, and reveals how their worth depends on outward appearance. Fittingly, Hamish is styled in a versatile all-black outfit, while Leo’s clothing shows his confusion about what his life is now to be. The chorus is dressed in distressed natural green tone dresses.
Set designer Simone Tesorieri has designed an elaborate set that apparently all fits into a single suitcase. Two segmented blind-like drapes are used to section off different areas of the play’s world. Paper-thin, but solid enough a canvas for the projection artist to visually augment the audience’s experience. In the centre of the stage is a black Perspex circle that has upon it a couch and ottomans that are used in versatile ways.
Bernie Tan-Hayes’ lighting design is naturalistic for the most part, dimming in stages to augur foreboding tension during female spirit interludes, while Will Hughes’ sound design includes effective acoustics of pattering rain, a flowing creek in a rainforest backdrop, as well as night club noise.
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The final words from Ophelia sink deep into our gut and we are left with lots of questions, yet one definite answer is clear: violence is never acceptable.
O, Ophelia
Co-presented by JUTE Theatre Company and Overall Arts
Bulmba-ja Arts Centre, Cairns
Playwright and Director: Amber Grossmann
Dramaturg: Kathryn Ash
Directorial Intern: Claudia Harms
Stage Manager: Aaron Jeffery
Set Designer Simone Tesorieri
Costume Design: Simona Cosentini
Lighting Designer: Bernie Tan-Hayes
Lighting Design Mentee: Cate Harbert
Sound Designer: Will Hughes
Sound Design Mentee: Jordan Locke
Projection Design: Russell Milledge
Cast: Charlotte Davies, Matt Domingo, Harrison Everingham
Chorus: Grace Meyers, Lillian White, Maya Hassall, Tess Wilson
O, Ophelia was performed from 7-15 March 2025 at Balumba-ja Arts Centre, Ipswich from 20-21 March and Toowoomba on 24 March. It will tour to Bundaberg from 27 March and Yeppon from 29 March.
