Drizzle Boy

Drizzle Boy presents an enormously appealing tale of one young man’s struggle to succeed in life, in love, and at university — and in the biggest dream of all: to build a working rocket.  And it does so with great warmth, humour, and verbal dexterity, on a set that itself deserves some prizes for the thought that went into its high-tech design.  The stage, built in potentially revolving concentric circles, in fact didn’t move, but the characters sure did; in fact, it was surprising how many different portals the play’s thirteen characters (played amazingly by just three actors) used to enter and exit the set.

Aside from a couple of music pieces with unintentionally harsh upper harmonics, the play does feature a few loud sounds potentially disturbing to neurodivergent audience members; but the play incorporates great care to alert audience members to them, and none in the audience with me seemed bothered by them.  In fact, the teenaged members of the audience, who comprised the majority, were obviously very taken by the full range of relationships between Drizzle Boy and those around him, relationships adversarial and collegiate, filial and romantic, and by the various ways in which Drizzle Boy strives, thrives, and arrives finally at a resolution that feels very much like a life being lived fully.

These Queensland Theatre actors played their parts to perfection.  Judy Hainsworth, variously appearing in rapid succession in six roles, and Anthony Gooley, in five, donned costumes, voices, and personalities so distinct that anyone could be forgiven for imagining that multiple actors were involved.  Daniel R. Nixon, the actor playing the central character (known only as Drizzle Boy), briefly slid into a second role on stage, his only costume change being adoption of a pair of glasses; and his versatility too immediately made him a different character.  But his portrayal of Drizzle Boy was a triumph.

The play is not a musical, and nobody sings; but it does entail some dancing by Drizzle Boy and his girlfriend, Juliet — and the dancing was terrific and drove especially the younger audience members to spontaneous cheering.

It’s no wonder that Drizzle Boy won the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award for 2022–23 and two Matilda Awards for 2023 and is a hit with audiences.  Its playwright, Ryan Enniss, himself “neurodivergent”, set out to convey one man’s authentic experience of autism and has succeeded wildly; and Nixon is also “neurodivergent”, which may have been a key to his performance’s authenticity and depth.  The play’s success undoubtedly owes a great deal also to its capable director, Daniel Evans, who from a fine script has baked a superb production acted with great finesse.

All in all, a heartfelt, funny story perfect for the whole family.  Very fine entertainment indeed.

John P. Harvey.

BUY THE PLAY SCRIPT HERE.

Image: [L–R] Daniel R. Nixon and Anthony Gooley, in Drizzle Boy.  Photographer: Morgan Roberts.