Venue: Old Fitzroy Theatre (Woolloomooloo NSW), May 23 – Jun 15, 2025
Playwright: Amy Herzog
Director: Rachel Chant
Cast: Di Adams, Sophie Bloom, Isabel Burton, Eloise Snape, Janine Watson
Images by Phil Erbacher
Theatre review
Mary Jane is about a single mother and her medically complex 2-year-old, trying to make things work in Queens, New York. It is a challenging life to say the least, and playwright Amy Herzog certainly goes to great pains, in a work of sobering realism, to ensure that we see how her central character barely survives the ongoing ordeal.
Although not entirely humourless, this staging of Herzog’s 2017 piece is intensely dour. Directed by Rachel Chant, the depiction of despondency for the mother and son in Mary Jane, is almost suffocating with its moroseness. Leading lady Eloise Snape brings a valuable believability to the story, and is admirable for the unaffected naturalism she is able to maintain. Set design by Soham Apte too is focussed on delivering authenticity, leaving a remarkable impression with a scenic transformation that demonstrates considerable inventiveness.
Some art is more difficult than others. Mary Jane may not be an entertaining experience, but it does draw attention to issues that we routinely look away from. We can observe and try to think up solutions. We can ponder on how predicaments like this could be avoided. We can simply be present and witness something truthful, if only as a reminder that nobody has to be alone.
Suzy Goes See 