★★★½
Originally performed on the Belvoir stage with a stellar cast, Michael Gow’s Toy Symphony won multiple Sydney Theatre awards. Twenty years later, it returns to the locale that inspired it, the Sutherland Shire, headlining celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the former Sutherland Entertainment Centre – rebuilt as the Sutherland Pavilion.
It’s a homecoming, or perhaps a return to the scene of the crime. For this is a play about writer’s block and a traumatic incident that triggers it; about the stifling of creative thought via coercive attempts to control what is considered outside a perception of ‘normal’. Above all, though, I think it is a love letter to a teacher.
To this end, Gow mines his almost bucolic childhood in Como and a much more fraught experience at Jannali Boys High School, which then had a rugged sporting reputation, and was a difficult place for ‘sensitive’ kids.
Roland (Sam O’Sullivan) has a problem. He knows it but won’t name it. Writer’s Block. He’s seeing a therapist, Nina (Kaitlyn Thor), who suspects the cause is buried childhood trauma, for which Roland is using drugs to cope. His story shuttles back and forth between present day, more recent events, and memories of growing up in The Shire.
As Nina points out, he’s full of articulate words, but they’re just a cover. His sessions with Nina culminate in a furious vow never to see Nina or to write again. Roland begins teaching writing at drama school while attempting to reconcile his demons and reclaim his creative life. He is ultimately redeemed by an act of grace many years in the making.
Gow’s writing is a tour de force of eloquent imagination. From the vivid, very funny two-page metaphor that describes the torture of being a writer, to the giddy childlike thrill in Roland’s ability to conjure up historical figures – for real – it’s quite something.
The play shapeshifts its way through magic realism to brutal reality until, like Roland, it finds a way through. Magic realism can be tricky, but here Gow pulls it off magnificently. We believe because Roland believes, and we want him to believe.
As brilliant a writer as Gow is, I’m not as sure about all his directing decisions. The stage at the Pavilion is an enormous beast, the wings in full view, and for an examination of Roland’s internal life, it needs reining in.
The play opens with Roland and Nina all the way upstage, but the stage is so deep that we’re distanced when we should be engaged. They’re un-mic’d, and Thor, with a softer voice, struggles a little. O’Sullivan projects well and makes a compelling Roland, whose anguish and frustration are all too clear. He is an insightful actor deserving of such meaty roles.
The biggest problem with the unconfined stage is its capacity to lose energy. Trying to fill the space means that on occasion, two actors are speaking from static positions ten metres apart, which diminishes intensity.
Conversely, there are times when the stage works well. I enjoyed watching Roland and Daniel (Kane Herbert) spar on an empty stage lit like a wrestling mat, circling each other in a bout of verbal thrust and parry. And the symphony sequence, as Roland’s creations come to life, has some inspired choices, perhaps born of a tight budget, that relish the space.
The set from Kate Beere is essentially a large white drop sheet at the rear for projected images, and a few props – desk, chairs, and overhead projector (for those who remember them). Various space-altering panels and props are also lowered from the ceiling.
Scene changes are handled slickly. Aron Murray shows imagination with lighting, and sound from Johnny Yang is a scene-setting highlight.
Alex Baum, clearly having fun, plays a number of roles and has a pugnacious presence in all of them with very good comic timing. His weirdo psychiatrist and bullying school principal are highlights.
Georgina Symes is quietly believable and generous as a sympathetic and insightful primary school teacher, Mrs Walkham. She perfectly embodies the nostalgic love many ten-year-old kids had for one teacher.
And, as befits a local production of an iconic Australian play, it’s terrific to see local talent fostered in the form of Thor, Baum and Herbert, who acquit themselves well.
Toy Symphony is one of the great Australian plays. A play that transports us all to our childhoods and the unlimited possibilities ahead, and one that treasures the non-conformity of the creative process. It’s wonderful to see productions of this calibre outside the inner city. More strength to the vision of The Sutherland Pavilion.
Toy Symphony is presented by Pavilion and runs 18 – 20 June 2026 at The Sutherland Pavilion. 30 Eton Street Sutherland NSW 2232.
Tickets are on sale now!
Website: https://thepavilionarts.au/
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/sutherlandpavilion/
Images supplied.
