The Midnight Gang

Ironically, after a year of COVID lockdown in Melbourne, one of the first theatre productions to hit the boards is set in a hospital and deals with sickness. But in contrast to the past twelve months of mask wearing, this production is a breath of fresh air. The Midnight Gang is perfect for the first-time young theatre goer. From lights up the audience fell silent and remained transfixed, hanging off every word throughout the hour-long performance. This wasn’t due to boredom either. Conversely, they were in awe of the actors’ skilful portrayals, the brilliant storytelling, scenic, costume, lighting and sound design. The cast of five, three of whom performed multiple roles, seamlessly changed costumes and personas.   

The brilliant use of hospital beds, portable privacy screens and clever lightning design (including silhouettes) created a sense of space, danger or movement throughout the hospital.  

The characters include twelve-year-old Tom (Alex Beauman) who lands in hospital after a cricket ball hit to the head. There he makes friends with Amber (Emma Kew) who has four broken limbs from falling out of a bunk bed, George (Nicholas Starte) who is waiting to recover from eye surgery and Sally (Sarah Greenwood) who is undergoing cancer treatment. Porter (Mathew Lee), whose face was disfigured at birth, has worked at the hospital for decades and secretly lives in the basement. Even though the story sounds grim it is far from it.  

At midnight on three occasions in the story, The Midnight Gang set out to have adventures to fulfil childhood dreams whilst stuck in hospital. With the help of the kind Porter, their wishes become reality. 

The scene where George’s wish doesn’t quite turn out as planned had the audience in stitches! Nelly (Sarah Greenwood), a very elderly patient is carried off by a massive bunch of helium balloons, crashing through the hospital windows and is seen flying through the night sky. My two grandsons (13 & 16 yo) and I were almost on the floor from laughing so hard. The scene was so brilliantly constructed it deserved its own applause!  Even though each cast member was equally enthralling, the character of the evil Matron (also played by Sarah Greenwood) was my favourite. I particularly loved her maniacal laugh and how she breezed through the ward singing the opening notes to the Jaws theme. Very clever!  Her harsh treatment of the children brought back memories of when I was in a children’s ward under the care of an evil matron who also confiscated my chocolates!  The final scene, where cancer patient Sally gets to enjoy living the ‘big, beautiful life’ that she deserves for a day, was very touching and left the audience in pieces.

This story hits all the right emotions and brings hope to children in a world where the future can sometimes be uncertain. The Midnight Gang proves that dreams really can come true.   

Jonathan Cox

Photographer:  Heidrun Lohr