Venue: Roslyn Packer Theatre (Sydney NSW), Sep 1 – 19, 2026
Book, Music & Lyrics: Kevin Murphy, Laurence O’Keefe (based on the film written by Daniel Waters)
Director: Andy Fickman
Cast: Conor Beaumont, Emma Caporaso, David Cuny, Zoe Gertz, Calista Nelmes, Mel O’Brien, Abigail Sharp, Amélia Rojas, Nic Van Lits
Images by Cameron Grant
Theatre review
Veronica’s alliance with the school bullies proceeds from that timeworn logic: if you cannot defeat them, join them. Heathers, drawn from the 1988 cult film, is a satire of social Darwinism in which human decency has become a forgotten currency. To navigate the minefield of high school, its teenagers abandon morality entirely, embracing instead the brutal metrics of popularity and hierarchy—a dynamic that now reads as an early parable of neoliberal self-interest.
Andy Fickman’s direction is exuberantly playful, rich with a camp sensibility that proves genuinely delightful. Yet the dramatic tension never fully tightens; despite visibly escalating stakes, the production struggles to secure our emotional investment as the narrative unfolds.
The score is broadly enjoyable, though sound engineering too often lacks vibrancy—a noticeable shortcoming. The production, however, boasts considerable compensations. Gary Lloyd’s choreography is consistently crisp and wittily executed, while Ben Cracknell’s lighting design is inventive and relentlessly dynamic.
Leading the cast, Emma Caporaso proves highly impressive, commanding attention through both vocal precision and sharp comic timing. Her innate likeability as Veronica becomes crucial: she sustains our engagement with the narrative’s moral weight even as the production’s energy flags, particularly in its latter half.
Conor Beaumont’s J.D., by contrast, leans too far toward innocence, lacking the cunning and menace the role requires to cohere as a genuine threat. A deficit of charisma compounds the problem. Calista Nelmes delivers plenty of swagger as the head Heather, though she never quite convinces as an actual teenager. Particularly noteworthy are Nic Van Lits and David Cuny as the obnoxious jocks Kurt and Ram; their comic synchronisation is faultless, and their every appearance injects welcome energy into the proceedings.
Heathers ultimately delivers a dark lesson: we live in an era where defeating our enemies may require becoming what we most despise. Moral clarity would insist on doing only what is right; yet the musical suggests that some battles can only be won by speaking the language of power and brutality—the only dialect, it seems, that our adversaries understand.
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