Venue: Flight Path Theatre (Marrickville NSW), Jul 19 – Aug 5, 2023
Playwright: Mike Lew
Director: Dan Graham
Cast: Thom Blake, Amy Victoria Brooks, Holly-Jane Cohle, Gemma Dart, Keira Fairley, Rocco Forrester, Chloe Ho, Dean Nash
Images by Andrea Magpulong

Theatre review

When Richard decides to campaign for class president at his high school, it is as much an indication of his ambition, as it is of a thirst for revenge. Based on Shakespeare’s Richard III, Mike Lew’s Teenage Dick transposes the anti-hero to a contemporary context, turning the protagonist into a much younger man, but retains his narrative of disability. This excellent update from 2016, like the original, is both comedic and tragic, brilliantly constructed to have us shifting in our attitudes regarding the problematic central character. With its sophisticated methodology for advocacy, depictions of disability in Teenage Dick are never patronising, with Lew demonstrating an immense capacity for presenting humanity in ways that resonate deeply, without relying on cliché and convention.

Directed by Dan Graham, we are transported convincingly to Roselands High School somewhere in the United States, where the teenagers are delightfully rambunctious and disarmingly bright. Lights by Casey-Moon Watton and sound by Dean Nash are prudently rendered, to bring dramatic emphasis to key moments. Set and costume design by Holly-Jane Cohle are vibrant and whimsical, wonderfully charming with the visuals aspects being established for the staging.

Additionally, the aforementioned Nash and Cohle leave remarkable impressions playing Richard and Buck respectively, both accomplished and endearing as performers, on a stage that buzzes with constant energy. Amy Victoria Brooks as teacher Elizabeth, and Rocco Forrester as bully Eddie, are memorable for the accuracy they bring to their roles. Gemma Dart and Chloe Ho tell meaningful stories, about the challenges faced by girls as they prepare to grow into their womanhood. Thom Blake and Keira Fairley are endlessly amusing with the boisterousness they introduce, to remind us of that characteristic anxiety involved in navigating teenage life.

Our cultures seem very accustom to portrayals of disadvantaged members of society, as either long-suffering and noble, or despicable and Machiavellian. In Teenage Dick we are urged to consider our marginalised as being thoroughly human, with as many virtues and faults as anyone thought of as normal. We understand that Richard could have done the right thing, or the wrong, because the ability to go either way, is thoroughly and disappointingly, the truth about who we all are.

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