The Phoenix Theatre Company’s current production is a revival of Louie Nowra’s play, ‘The Marvellous Boy’, the second and strongest play in his Boyle family trilogy.

Luke, the marvellous boy of the title, is the fall guy in a battle royale struggle between his father Malcolm, a highly successful property developer and his ex mistress, community activist and left wing radical, Esther. Malcolm is determined to go ahead on his newest and biggest project, the one that he believes is destined to guarantee him a place in history. Esther, a leading community activist is determined to block the project, and rallies a lot of support behind her. Malcolm believes that her recalcitrant attitude stems from her resentment and anger at their break-up. Malcolm gets his hard man Ray to put pressure on his son Luke to lean on Esther to change her mind.

Nowra’s play is brimming with drama and tension. Andrew Castle’s production for the Phoenix Theatre Company doesn’t do Nowra’s dark play justice. The director has gone for a pared down, minimalistic approach which fails to bring the play alive. The set merely comprises one long wide table with the stage floor painted. The actors worked hard but I couldn’t feel any sparks flying at the Zenith. Even the play’s dramatic ending felt just a little tame.

In the end, maybe I was a bit spoilt. I saw the original production of ‘The Marvellous Boy’ at the Stables Theatre directed by David Bethold and with amongst others Danny Adcock and Toby Schmitz, and it was a great night in the theatre- all the play’s intrigue and darkness came across. Castle’s production pales in comparison.

‘The Marvellous Boy’ plays the Zenith Theatre, Chatswood until October 31.