Courier

Benny is a food delivery rider, working through lockdown to deliver fast food and groceries to those confined to their homes. When we enter the performing space, he’s there pedalling on his bike, his mounted phone regularly pinging a recognisable two-tone, and a bright blue insulated box on his back.

We’re quickly drawn into a depressing world of quickfire anonymous deliveries, being in a holding queue for ‘rider support’, and dealing with neighbour kids who ‘just want a few chips’. But mostly, we get to feel the loneliness – of both the delivery rider, and those who are stuck in their houses.

Lockdown feels a long, long time ago. Adelaide was fortunate enough not to have many, nor for very long, but even South Australians recognise the anxiety across Zoom calls of those who were confined to their homes. And there’s plenty of desperation and stories untold just because of the inability to mix with others in person.

The simple set of an exercise bike and a chair allows the otherwise empty stage to be everywhere else, with some great lighting and sound design aiding the audience’s understanding. Mackenzie’s ability to be almost every other character is also key to us working out what is happening: he switches seamlessly between a fellow rider, a nurse, a neighbour, maintaining both sides of the conversation without ever confusing us as to who is who.

Piers Mackenzie wrote this from his own experiences of being a real-life Benny, was originally a short film before a stage piece, and now in an expanded form, is gracing the Adelaide stage after a short season at Perth’s Fringeworld. It blends genres to move from observational storytelling to become mysterious, psychological, and its cleverness is in the subtlety of how the story unfolds, how much is crafted so that what you interpret at the beginning is something else entirely by the end. It’s intelligent writing, a rewarding slow-burn of realisation, and a great performance from Mackenzie.

Review by Mark Wickett

Click here to read our Adelaide Fringe 2025 reviews