Dear Evan Hansen

From the very first moment of the STC and Michael Cassel Group’s re-conceived production of Dear Evan Hansen, when we see Evan released from the short sleeved blue polo shirt that has been his uniform in every other production of the show, we know director Dean Bryant is not going to stick to the traditions of the West End/Broadway or (current touring) productions of the show. In that release is also a freedom for the play that beguiles and overwhelms from the first beat of the music.  Using modern technology that has been improved since the original version in 2016, this is an Evan Hansen for 2024 and beyond in so many ways.

This production is breathtaking in its originality, its daring and its cast. Everything Dean Bryant and his team have created is awe inspiring. Australia has waited a long time for a full production of this play. It would have originally arrived probably three years after Broadway in a carbon copy production, so to have this new, free, unique and original local production is a gift from the gods. Thank you Michael Casssel & Co. Artistic genius is rare, but in every moment of this show, every inch of this production,  it is on display.

This brilliant but tight package is a tale of the sad claustrophic world of a lost, lonely teenager. Evan’s story has already resonated with so many millions of teenagers. In a time of crisis Evan tells a lie which he feels will help the grieving Murphy family whose son, Connor, has died. What he creates as the lie runs away from him is the central focus that drives the play. We watch in humour and then horror as the ramifications of this lie grow and grow till they  slowly close in on him.

The plot of the show has always been strong enough to stand alone as a dramatic play, but the music sweeps in and gives beat and tempo to an original story based in part on fact. This new production adds extra technology and a sense of urgency that defies the sentimentality inherent in part of the text. It is a tremendous achievement. This production is emotional and raw and also at the same time as uplifting as any theatre you are likely to see now or in the future.

Suffice to say this is a beautiful and graceful tragedy demonstrating the way this generation is bombarded and dictated by the strength of the internet and how it leads a young innocent as he tells a lie, for all the right reason, into potential destruction. Yet,  there is  also great humour in this story and ultimately there is redemption and there is hope.

By the middle of the second act the sound of silence in the audience is palpable as we see Evan destroyed by both his naivety and his avoidance of what he has allowed to be created. His world becomes like a nightmare flanked by screens and images (there are moments that strikingly resemble the new Sunset Boulevard on Broadway and some of Kip Williams best work). This is truly an “Evan” for today.

Bryant knows what he is doing with this show from the utterly superlative casting to his technologically unique set, to the tiny squashed apartment of the Murphys that squeezes its occupants slowly as good intention turns to deceit.

The production boasts an exquisite cast; there are no false notes, everyone is so utterly at one with their roles lead by the remarkable Beau Woodbridge as Evan. His Evan is a very young naïve innocent, yet totally sympathetic even in his worst moments. This is, in itself, a great achievement as the script tends to work against Evan at times. The film version of two years ago did much to destroy the show and make Evan almost unlikeable. No such mistakes here.

Woodbridge’s voice is something to behold, his melismas and phrasing are superb, his singing like his performance is always totally in control.  This is a role that barely leaves the stage and builds to a climax that is almost impossible to watch, yet you do watch as Woodbridge holds his own as he moves into the demanding “Words Fail” and from that moment till the end of the show the audience is held by a spell unlike anything I’ve seen for a long time. His partner in this climax is the wondrous Verity Hunt Ballard as his mother.

Ballard builds slowly in Act One, then finally it is her time to speak and react to what has been happening. This is classic experienced acting at its best. She is the only person who can top what Woodbridge creates at the end, but it is almost a duet of true honest unsentimental emotion as she comforts and holds her son in her arms during the mighty “So Big/So Small”. These two are one hell of an act  as the play reaches its climax, this is rare theatre , we are in the hands of two masters -one young, one mature, both totally at one and in full control.

Martin Crewes gives another of his balanced, perfect, superbly realised performances as Larry Murphy. His quiet strength balances Natalie O’Donnell as his agonised wife. This role can often be one dimensional as the mother of a suicide victim, where the requirements are either grief or neurotic need, yet O’Donnell works well against stereotype and creates a rounded, sensitive performance. Georgia Laga’aia is a solid Zoe, the daughter of the Murphy family and the object of Evan’s muddled desire. Laga’aia's performance is tough one moment, tender the next, she exhibits great skill in her first major role.

The roles of the two friends who represent the rest of the school community are played by Carmel Rodrigues (as Alana) and Jacob Rozario (Jared).  Both are characters that often can be both jarring and quite obnoxious. These young actors use their skill to make Alana a comic source of reason and Jared a delightful figure   of solid, sarcastic truth.

Finally, there is Harry Targett as Connor, whose suicide early in the story sets off the train of events that frame the play.

Connor, in Targett’s more than capable hands is always haunting as he challenges and manipulates Evan at every turn. Here Targett, with his obvious dance skill, uses his voice and his body to invest the character with a form of delightful malevolence. It is a true Fosse-esque performance and it is superlative. He is the dark passenger Evan cannot lose.

Technically the show is a wonder of the most advanced technology; Jeremy Allen’s set design is like a dark blue tomb that encompasses Evan and then all the cast, releasing only in the final scene.

Matt Scott’s lighting design and special effects are beyond amazing especially when they reach their climax in the whirring cyclone of the pivotol song “You Will be Found”.  Also the regular use of the front scrim is a unique effect, the audience are watching much of this a little at a distance, like the screens of phones and computers that dominates lives today.

Zara Stanton handles the music and it is exquisite and Andrew Poppleton’s sound design sharpens every moment  flawlessly.

Unquestionably the best production of this year and perhaps this decade.

Les Solomon

Photographer: Daniel Boud

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