The Things I Could Never Tell Steven

This night left me confused. First, where to find parking with Church Street closed for the light rail redevelopment?  Then once inside the Riverside Theatre, why is the first musical Sydney has seen for six months being staged by a theatre company only known for plays?

Ah yes, the writer Jye Bryant is from western Sydney - that is why at the National Theatre of Parramatta is staging his work. Well we haven’t seen any of Jye’s musicals staged at the Hayes Theatre – in the eastern suburbs - so maybe the strength of the work is the drama rather than the musicality I pondered?

I settled into my seat – well distanced from other audience members. Goodness what a gorgeous looking set. Sitting behind me was the writer Jye Bryant – he too was impressed and noted that the actors were socially distanced. The four characters were neatly separated into four capsules for the mother, the father, the wife and the boyfriend.

Each one sang about the elusive Steven, who we never see. He is the unreliable son who doesn’t show up for dinner at his mother’s place, is distant from his wife, disappoints his father and frustrates his boyfriend - who feels that their relationship is only about sex.

The National Theatre of Parramatta only got the greenlight to stage the musical two months ago and did not have a cast. But as every actor in Sydney was ‘resting’ they were blessed to have the pick of anyone they wanted.

Ian Stenlake was rock solid as the father, Elenora Rokobaro passionate as the wife, Adam Rennie randy as hell as the boyfriend and Helen Dallimore an absolute scream as the mother.

It was like the role was written for Helen. The funniest scene in the whole musical is when the mother discovers a secret box of gay paraphernalia in Steven’s bedroom. Her capacity for avoiding the truth is hilarious. I have to admit also (blush) being a little confused about what the various implements she found in the box are used for.

My preconceptions were swept aside. The one act musical set a lively and engaging pace. It had compelling drama, humour and strong songs. I was interested in the characters. There were nice tunes in there and entertaining lyrics. 

It dawned on me that this was more developed than many new Australian musicals that have been staged at the Hayes (to be fair this was the seventh season of the work rather than being brand new). Even so, it felt like the Panthers beating the Sydney Roosters in the grand final!

So for musical starved fans in Sydney get along (early) to see this short season and for those outside, you can tune in for a digital performance on Wednesday the 11^th.

David Spicer

Images by Noni Carroll