The Brag

Airlie-Jane Dodds and Miles Szanto in Tusk Tusk / Photo by Brett Boardman

Tusk Tusk / Til September 4 / Wharf 1, STC

Polly Stenham is interested in the breakdown of middle class families. In her debut That Face, which Sydney audiences saw at Belvoir earlier this year, she explored the problems of a family with an overly-controlling yet drug-controlled mother. In her follow-up, Tusk Tusk, we see the story of another family being attacked by a drug-affected mother; however this time rather than controlling, she is absent.

Tusk Tusk is the story of three siblings, Cassie (Airlie-Jane Dodds), Eliot (Miles Szanto) and Finn (Kai Lewins/Zac Ynfante), who are left alone just after having moved into a new house. It soon becomes apparent that what might at first seem like a childhood dream – an empty house strewn with exciting unpacked boxes, is in fact more like a prison as the family wait for a phone call. These characters are just kids after all, the oldest a few days away from turning 16.

Cassie and Eliot’s relationship is the main subject here, and Shannon Murphy’s warm production focuses on the love and affection that exists between the two. Stenham’s text could have been taken to quite dark places, but instead Murphy has kept the focus firmly on the comfort and support that sibling relationships can offer.

A co-production between Sydney Theatre Company’s Next Stage program and their neighbours Australian Theatre for Young People, Tusk Tusk is a brave move, demanding strong young leads. However, this decision has paid off with Murphy getting proficient performances out of all of her youthful cast, with 16 year-old Dodds putting in a particularly strong showing as the tortured Maggie. As she dances and slinks about the stage, Dodds finds a playfulness in the 14 year old role that could have so easily slipped into melodrama. Kai Lewins is suitably adorable as the eight year-old younger brother channelling every kid’s Where The Wild Things Are dreams.

4/5

Henry Florence