★★★★½
I’m a sucker for a political drama. I’ve spent probably too many nights binge-watching the usual suspects: Scandal or Parks and Recreation. Sydney Theatre Company’s Housework has everything you love about your classic political romp: backroom dealings, deception and a good old-fashioned power play, but with a distinctly Australian twist.
Emily Steel’s new work follows first-time MP Ruth Mandour (Susie Youssef) as she arrives in Canberra ready to introduce her first private member’s bill. Along with her chief of staff (Emily Taheny) and bright-eyed young staffer (Franca Lafosse), Ruth is quickly thrown into the whirlwind of Parliament, wading through a mess of political egos and media frenzies.
You watch each character pick a side of the increasingly blurry line between compromise and completely selling your soul.
The question at the centre of Housework is valid (and juicy): can you actually change a broken system without learning to play the game? Thank God this show never gets bogged down trying to answer it. Instead, you get all the glorious shades of grey.
At around two hours and ten minutes, it’s a seriously hefty run time. But it never drags. No scene overstays its welcome. The pacing is near perfect, and director Shannon Rush has mined Steel’s script for every last drop of comedy.
The play screams to life in its opening few moments. Survivor-esque drumming fills the theatre, and the stage erupts into a montage of the frantic movement of Parliament. Before anyone has really said anything, we know exactly where we are: Canberra, baby.
The design from Ailsa Paterson is deceptively simple. So simple, it’s genius. A huge dark wooden table dominates the stage surrounded by marble pillars, a nod to Parliament House’s facade.
With the help of genuinely stunning lighting design by Nigel Levings, this same space morphs into offices, dingy hotels and even a Chinese restaurant with total ease. Clever use of backlighting transforms the pillars into hallways and cool Canberra evenings.
The attention to detail is key here. This creative team has done their homework. A flicker of parliamentary green light to signal when the house is in session is an especially nice touch.
Then there is the cast, who are exceptional. Susie Youssef as Ruth is a delight. Her comedic timing is impeccable, and she has this beautiful quality that gets the audience onside immediately.
Emily Taheny is this production’s mooring. She just commands the stage with such force. Laurence Boxhall, though, is a standout for me. He takes huge swings with his choices and somehow lands every single one. He is outrageously funny.
Franca Lafosse is charming and shines in the moments when she can flex her physical comedy. A sequence involving her attempting to eat dumplings had me in stitches. Johnny Nasser brings exactly the self-assured swagger required of a powerful Minister for Science.
Indira Naidoo does some of the production’s most generous work. Playing the Prime Minister alongside several other roles, she is the connective tissue holding the world together. The production lands because of her skilful work in the final scenes and utilising her for transitional periods throughout the show is a stroke of directorial genius.
What I love most about Housework, though, is how unapologetically Australian it is. Steel’s dialogue has that incredibly specific Aussie cadence. It feels natural without ever being lazy. No word is wasted.
This show understands the absurdity of our political system, the treatment of women within it and our strange relationship with the people we elect to represent us.
And there is no one better to captain the ship than Shannon Rush. Every single element feels considered, from the performances to the lighting to the slick scene transitions, while still maintaining the sense that everyone on stage is having an absolute ball. That joy is infectious. From the moment I sat down, I was totally consumed by the feeling.
Under Rush’s direction, Housework is a bloody good time. It doesn’t need to reinvent the political drama. Instead, it takes everything delicious about the genre – scandal, ambition, sex, betrayal, ego – and lets Canberra have a crack.
I left the theatre immediately thinking of five people I needed to bring back with me. There is really no better testament to what a truly fantastic piece of work this is than that.
Housework proves to me, again, that this country is bursting at the seams with talent. I’m so glad Sydney Theatre Company is making a space for Aussie voices on the country’s biggest stage.
Housework is presented by Sydney Theatre Company and runs to 17 October at the Drama Theatre. Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point Sydney NSW 2000.
Tickets are available here.
Website: https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/whats-on/2026/productions/housework
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/sydneytheatreco/
Photo credits: Prudence Upton
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