By Michael Gow. Canberra Repertory. Directed by Lainie Hart. Theatre 3, Acton. 5–21 September 2024.
It’s 1967, and three families, whose only connection is their relationship to the local school, meet after the performance of the school’s Christmas play. Roy (Jim Adamik), the school’s principal, makes his end-of-year speech and wishes all a happy Christmas before greeting individual family members. Roy’s embarrassingly aloof and strange wife, Coral (Andrea Close), floats unsociably in the background, attracting unfavourable comments.