The Exact Dimensions of Hell

Bridget Mackey has penned a very unusual story in that she prioritises the perspective and fantasies of a teenage girl and fully indulges them. Bored by life in mundane Australian suburbs, the fourteen-year-old girl (Matilda Gibbs) has strong fantasies about becoming a witch. While online she finds an older man (Daniel Schlusser) who claims he can teach her how to practice witchcraft. 

The opening sequence of this show is particularly strong. The large screen shows their internet exchanges and the ways in which their conversation descends into very dangerous territory. The dialogue is particularly astute and captures the teen angst perfectly. The set and lighting also contribute to enhancing a distinct tone of ominous eeriness. However, as the performers inhabit the stage this is initially done in a manner that settles very quickly into realism. This tends to break the spell that had been so effectively set up. The performers adopt sometimes naturalistic and sometimes abstract performance styles. When they are practicing incantations, this is created through very stylised movement, sound, and gesture. The often-electric sexual energy and tension between the two characters is distilled via their mutual obsession with magic.

While this play focuses its attention on the intensity of the teen mentality and takes these unusual but forceful desires seriously, there is very little insight into the occult or the rituals which they enact. These elements remain largely obscure and undeveloped, and this leaves the audience with little to latch on to in terms of the characters’ strange psychological journey. These powerful supernatural forces are clearly incredibly attractive and absorbing for these characters, but the production tends to indulge in this aspect of the story.

There are undoubtedly intriguing and important themes in this play that definitely warrant unearthing. However, this needs to be done in a manner that is equally alluring and engrossing for the audience. Gibbs and Schlusser provide strong and passionate performances, but they are often obscured by the more esoteric elements of the show. This production makes very creative use of set and lighting to effectively invoke an extraordinary ethereal atmosphere. It would be good to see that exploited more, and to go deeper into the dimensions of hell it wishes to explore.

Patricia Di Risio

Photographer: Darren Gill