It feels entirely appropriate that D’arcy Niland’s novel SHIRALEE opened in the same year, as the premiere production of Ray Lawler’s play The Summer of the Seventeenth Doll. Both works were very Australian, in its sense of the vast Australian landscape and in its portrayal of iconically Australian characters.
As all, in both works the main characters are itinerant workers who spend much of their time working in the country. In The Doll, Barney and Roo are Queensland cane cutters who, because of their work, don’t get too attached to women. In SHIRALEE, the main character is Mac, an itinerant swagman who goes from town to town and picks up and drops women, when is his want.
The set up to SHIRALEE, featuring a new stage adaptation by Kate Mulvany, sees Mac visit his ex wife and is distraught by the shambolic way she is living and bringing up their daughter, Buster. Mac is so appalled that he decides that her mum’s care is not good enough, and decides to take her on the road with him. What we then see is a very unlikely partnership between an up till now very free spirited man and his sensitive but smart young daughter.
The cast richly bring Niland’s colourful story to life. Josh McConville plays the leading role, rugged swagman Mac who has lived his life roaming the outback, not used to much responsibility. The start of the play sees him taking over the care of his daughter Buster who has been neglected by her mother. Now being an active father, he has to change his ways
Ziggy Resnick is Buster, a sensitive young girl whose father takes over her care. She toughens up with her experiences on the road. She is like a Paper Moon girl from the famous movie starring Ryan and Tatum O’Neal. At one time, she steals from a corner store cash register.
Kate Mulvany gave a powerful performance in her main role as Buster’s mother, Marge. Mulvany gives a sympathetic performance, conveying her grittiness in struggling through a tough life, dealing with poverty.
Aaron Pedersen, in his main role, gives a striking performance as the inspirational Tommy, a vision impaired indigenous man who Mac and Buster meet on the road, and share s his wisdom and insights with them.
Catherine Van-Davies in her main role gives a touching portrayal as Lily, an attractive, sensitive young woman who Mac has an affair with, and then abruptly leaves her.
Stephen Anderson played a number of men including Danny, Cheetham and Jack who Buster and Mac meet on their journey.
In his man role, Paul Capsis is well cast and gives a typically charismatic as Desmond, a flamboyant poet and storyteller. He plays musical, lightens the mood, and tries to shift Mac’s ‘lone ranger’ of the view.
Lucia Mastrantone plays Bella, Matilda, women and others who offer compassion and a bit of comic relief for the father and daughter.
The work of Jessica Arthur and her creative team is exemplary in its stage craft. Jeremy Allen’s set opens on a floor of bare, wide wooden boards that bring to mind thee shearing shifts if mid-century outback Australia. At one end the floor curves upward, rising like the crest of a dusty ridge. Two towing ghost gums stand like a lookout. They are mounted on castors and easily move around the stage.
Scene changes are achieved very naturally. As an example, the company of swagmen an women reposition beds, aa grocery counter, campfires or the corner of a boxing ring, weaving the story’s movement from the city to the outback.
Trent Suidgeest’s lighting was exemplified in the way he changed settings so well; at one time bathing the stage in the golden glow df the outback and the next an urban neon light of Sydney’s Kings Cross.s
Clemence Williams’ soundscape adds much to the production; there are the sounds of dust- laden winds, distant train horns. Subtle musical motifs shift the emotional tone between the vastness of the outback and the noice and strife of urban life.
Kip Williams, former Sydney Theatre Company Artistic Director, provided dramaturgical support.
A beautifully told story of how what seems like a big burden, a weight in your life, a shiralee, can become a huge blessing in one’s life, Kate Mulvany’s stage adaptation of D’arcy Niland’s classic novel SHIRALEE is playing the Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House until the 29th November 2025.
Production photography by Prudence Upton
