Ever wanted to kill someone? Not in a real way, perhaps. But in that dark, late night, half-joke way you confess only to your closest friend. Last night at the Old Fitz Theatre, Tonsils + Tweezers began with that very question hanging in the air.
The audience was greeted by one of the actors on stage playing a guessing game with them, only to realise the game has a significant weight in the premise of the show. What followed was not just a story about violence, but about male friendship under strain. The kind built on shared history and private language. The kind that can survive anything, until it cannot.
Tonsils + Tweezers had its world premiere in 2016 with Black Swan State Theatre Company in Perth under the direction of Will O’Mahony, who also wrote the play. It then came to Kings Cross Theatre (KXT) in Sydney with Jackrabbit Theatre in 2018 and was met with glowing reviews.
This third iteration marks the debut for Sharehouse Productions, bringing O’Mahony’s script back to Sydney at a time when we need it most. The play sits in a growing canon of Australian works discussing masculinity, loyalty and the cost of emotional repression.
Two boys, Tonsils and Tweezers, are best friends, a duo as inseparable as Wham! or toothbrush and toothpaste. But late one night, ten years ago, everything changed.
Now, in the present day, on the day of their high school reunion, Tweezers pulls out a gun and asks the question that frames the evening. Around them circle Beth and Max, in a subplot about Macbeth that fuels the subtext of the whole piece.
From the outset, O’Mahony captures the way young men talk when they are circling fear, pain or grief without naming it. The banter is sharp and funny. The jokes land. Yet beneath the humour is a steady thrum of dread. I left the theatre shaken but hopeful. This is a play that understands how platonic love between men can be both fierce and fragile.
Ariyan Sharma’s Tonsils is exuberant. From the moment we are greeted by him as we enter the theatre, he is lively, endearing and, most importantly, on our side. He sees us watching and speaks to us as the story unfolds.
There is one shift, when we flashback to that dreadful night, which Sharma plays to perfection; his switch gets us to empathise with both boys’ plights and makes us wish they could talk to each other before it all goes away.
Victor YZ Xu as Lewis, also known as Tweezers, is emotionally reserved until the dam waters break at the climax. His determination kept me guessing whether he had a phantom gun or a real one. Together, Xu and Sharma create a wholesome yet charged dynamic, where their shared history is believable.
Caitlin Green as Beth grounds the production with clarity and intelligence. Her storytime readings are funny in a deeply unsettling way, and her interactions with Max are a mixture of both care and frustration. Toby Carey’s Max adds texture and tension, his presence complicating the emotional geometry between Tonsils and Tweezers.
Director Lucy Rossen keeps the action taut and focused. The staging never distracts from the performances, allowing the relationships to remain central.
The design team supports the emotional arc with a fine eye for detail. Matthew Phillips’ sound design underscores the tension beautifully, and Poppy Townsend’s lighting design plays with shadows – as well as our heartstrings.
In the intimate space of the Old Fitz Theatre, there is nowhere to hide. Every flinch is visible, and every silence feels like a lifetime.
As producers, Caitlin Green and Victor YZ Xu have shepherded a bold and confident debut for Sharehouse Productions. Tonsils + Tweezers is a fierce look at male friendship and the damage left by unspoken grief. It is a blistering portrait of love, loyalty and the cost of silence.
Tonsils + Tweezers is presented by Sharehouse Productions and runs to 27 February at the Old Fitz Theatre as part of their Late Night programming. 129 Dowling Street, Woolloomooloo NSW 2011.
Tickets: https://tickets.iwannaticket.com.au/seller/old-fitz-ad9r
Website: https://www.oldfitztheatre.com.au/tonsils-tweezers
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/sharehouseproductionco/
Photo credits: Nicholas Warrand
