‘Nihilistic Optimism on Trampolines’ is undoubtedly one of the most unusual plays I’ve seen this year. Whilst heavy on the nihilism (and light on both optimism and trampolines), it was an original and genuinely imaginative reworking of the supposed origins of the classic novel ‘Frankenstein’.
The production blended text from Mary Shelley’s novel with excerpts from her personal journals adding some emotional depth to the relationships depicted. It also set the whole thing, hilariously, in ‘Trampoline World’ a place of suffocating monotony and lacklustre job prospects. The cast threw themselves into the story with enthusiasm and full physical commitment and for the most part the chemistry between them worked well. The performance of Mary (played by Gabrielle Ward) was a standout, but honourable mention should go to the comic relief of Byron (Eleanor Golding), who brought some levity to the darker moments.
While the production lacked polish, any real production values and occasionally slipped into feeling a little improvised, it also aimed high. Reworking a classic text is extremely difficult to do with originality unless you commit fully and take creative risks. To their credit both the writer and cast were clearly swinging for something clever and nuanced.
Where the show really excelled was in its depiction of the sheer monotony of customer facing work. The endless repetitive conversations. The glazed interactions. The joy of mopping up vomit while being surrounded by screaming children and huffy parents. Much of the audience would have recognised their own flashbacks to those teenage jobs where commitment was low, wages even lower and the tangled crushes and camaraderie among staff were the only things getting you through the shift.
Where the show struggled was in clearly communicating the heart of the story. My theatre partner had not read Frankenstein and most certainly was not aware of Mary Shelley’s dramatic Geneva holiday with Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron and Mary’s sister, Claire. Which means he also had no reference for the dark emotional chaos that surrounded Mary’s relationship with Percy at that time, nor that the trip, (and her recurrent horrific nightmares), became the impetus which inspired her story – so those little nods to that experience, though explored in the play, were far too easy to miss.
As someone who has read the novel, seen the films and even watched ‘Rowing with the Wind’ a period film which dramatises the strained and sometimes unhinged relationships between the four (suggesting, as it does, that much of it was fuelled by both drugs and rather free sexual relationships between them all), I had a much easier time connecting the dots. For audience members without that context, I imagine the play would feel disjointed and confusing. The plot is fragmented and sometimes hard to track even for those who do know the backstory. The jumps between contemporary speech and period speech and the sudden segues between the tangled lives of the staff of Trampoline World and the feverish imaginings in Mary’s mind were not always smooth. Despite solid acting the heart of the play felt obscured under the sound effects, jarring lighting shifts and literal jumping around. In reference to the trampolining side of things, I would note that there wasn’t a whole lot of trampolining in the show and none of it was of a particularly entertaining or acrobatic nature – I was expecting something a little more exciting in that respect.
On a final positive note, the live band deserves acknowledgement. Their music added atmosphere, drive and emotional colour to the play and helped anchor scenes that might otherwise have floated away completely.
Ultimately this one was a swing and a miss for me, but with the recognition that it was highly original, and original thinking should always be applauded.
To book tickets to Nihilistic Optimism on Trampolines, please visit https://www.theatreworks.org.au/2025/nihilistic-optimism-on-trampolines.
