Award winning playwright Suzie Miller (Prima Facie, Sold, Cross Sections, Reasonable Doubt) doesn’t shy away from writing about the painful parts of life. Her previous plays have been about homelessness, racism in Australia and the traps of selling your soul for materialism. Her latest play, Sunset Strip, continues to tackle some tough themes – grief, addiction, cancer, dementia, and complicated family dynamics.

New Theatre’s opening night of Sunset Strip was an emotional rollercoaster which took the audience into the world of two very different sisters, Phoebe (played by Molly Hadden) and Caroline (played by Erica Nelson). Director Annette van Roden’s interpretation has created a multifaceted story with some harsh, tender and lighthearted moments, sometimes all at the same time.

The set design by Annette van Roden is split into two scenes. There is a living room inside a house, somewhere in a mining town near Broken Hill, and a backyard which used to face a sparkling lake complete with sand and sun, now a dried-up dusty dirt bowl. I thought this could be a subtle interpretation of perhaps the bright and simple joy of childhood yielding into a more complex adulthood, with all the complicated issues that accompany it. Nothing remains the same throughout time.

Caroline, the city lawyer (“the smart one”, as Phoebe relates) arrives home for a visit with her sister and dad. We witness the first signs that all is not what she expects, when Ray (convincingly played by Vincent Melton) does not recognise her. Ray’s dementia leaves him having intervals of clarity between periods of confusion, and when he soon recognises and welcomes her back home after a few minutes, it is clear that Caroline is confused, and realizes that Phoebe has been shouldering their father’s deterioration on her own.

Molly Haddon’s portrayal of Phoebe is outstanding. Phoebe, who is the carer of their dad, as well as mum of two kids who are currently in foster care, is clearly nervous about seeing her sister. Her high energy on stage of being the younger – (less successful, less pretty, the one with the worse hair, according to herself) – sister with some news to break is palpable. She is buzzing, full of words and action whilst Caroline is more stoic, level, and sensible. We soon discover through Erica’s intense portrayal of Caroline, that her recent health experiences have taught her a lot about herself, and that being vulnerable is not something to avoid or run away from.

Through their sister relationship lens, the complexity and pain of life through trauma is highlighted. Though Phoebe seeks an outward desperation for her sister’s approval, it is Caroline who ends up being the one that is counselled by her father and Teddy (played by Shane Davidson). These moments were touching.

Teddy, Phoebe’s fiancé, brings another dimension to Sunset Strip. He has a history with Caroline and the two must work through their past, for the sake of Phoebe, her kids and their future.

This is a play where the audience will be left to ponder what will happen to these characters long after the curtain falls. Multiple themes are conversation starters, and this is one of the highlights of Suzie Miller’s script, and New Theatre’s production.

The beauty of Sunset Strip may not lay in the land and surroundings of this family, but in the rawness of human frailty, the need for connection and the ability for forgiveness.

Sunset Strip is playing at New Theatre, 542 King St Newtown.
Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes (including interval)
10 July – 3 August 2024
Tickets: Thrify Thursdays / New Theatre members $25
Concessions / Groups of 6+ $32
Full $37

Photographer: © Chris Lundie

This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.

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