Review by Grace Cassidy
Chaika Theatre’s Picnic at Hanging Rock is an enthralling mystery
Chaika Theatre
ACT Hub
Something spooky is happening at ACT Hub and it has nothing to do with Halloween. Commemorating October 31st is not a long standing tradition in Australia, but the Australian gothic? That most certainly is, and no story epitomises the genre more than Joan Lindsay’s classic 1967 novel Picnic at Hanging Rock.
It’s a story many Australians know well — an eerie tale about schoolgirls disappearing on a picnic, cries of “Miranda!” reverberating through the Victorian bush. It was, most famously, a popular 1975 film. More recently it was a limited TV series, and in 2016, it found its way to the stage. Adapted by the immensely talented playwright Tom Wright (you may be familiar with his play Black Diggers), this fresh take on Picnic at Hanging Rock was first staged at Malthouse Theatre. Now, it has arrived in Canberra, given new life by director Caitlin Baker,
With a set consisting of a chalk board, a dirt ground and the branch of an old gum – a space caught halfway between the bush and the classroom – and costumes that jump discordantly between stiff Edwardian dress, wrinkle-free cotton buttoned up the throat, and modern, plaid school uniforms, this fresh Chaika Theatre work hones in on a key theme of Lindsay’s original text: something has gone wrong with time.
We begin with something like poetry. Five school girls (played by Karina Hudson, Thea Jade, Paris Scharkie, Jessi Gooding and Breanna Kelly) tell the audience about themselves, their imperious teacher Mrs Appleyard and the story of their ill-fated trip to Hanging Rock, with dialogue that slips into dense, floral prose.
It’s not a terribly compelling start, as the dialogue is sometimes opaque and difficult to parse, but this adds to the general feeling of confusion and mystique surrounding the girls’ disappearance. In the end, only one thing is clear. Four of the girls went up to Hanging Rock, along with one of their teachers, and they didn’t come back.
After that, the play quickly finds its feet. In the fallout of the disappearance, we jump between a series of vignettes that explore different moments in the days and months that follow. A detective investigates, interviewing witnesses. Two young men, played by Thea Jade and Paris Scharkie, get caught up in the investigation. Jade gives an endearing performance as Mike Fitzhurbert who is young, mannered, English and increasingly desperate to return home.
While searching for the girls, he grows close with a young Australian man, Albert (played by Paris Scharkie) who is everything Mike isn’t. He’s relaxed, often has a beer in hand and where Mike wears a buttoned vest, Albert seems to view clothes as optional. Scharkie has a charming swagger in the role and crafts a chemistry between Albert and Mike that is electric.
Meanwhile, a girl who didn’t end up climbing Hanging Rock (Jessi Gooding) is trapped in a classroom with the stern and controlling Mrs Appleyard (Karina Hudson). Hudson is simply outstanding as the severe teacher, conveying a ruthlessness and an underlying insecurity that’s enthralling to watch. In the fallout of the picnic, both Jessi Gooding and Breanna Kelly play school girls who have to grapple with the trauma of surviving, effectively capturing the fragility and the fear that their characters hold onto.
The fallout of what happened at Hanging Rock is disjointed. Scenes are cobbled together. One moment jumps jarringly to the next. Sometimes it seems like it’s the year 1900. Other times, it doesn’t. Reality feels intangible, like it’s on the verge of scattering in the wind. It’s not quite spooky, though the question of whether something supernatural is occurring is a constant undercurrent throughout the play. Rather, it’s gripping. It’s exciting. Leaving the theatre after Picnic at Hanging Rock was the first time in a while that I’ve finished a play and found myself wanting more.
As always, Lindsay’s classic Australian gothic is deeply mysterious and it might have audiences asking, are mysteries more compelling when they’re left unsolved?
Picnic at Hanging Rock is at ACT Hub until November 7.
