Masquerade

The enigmatic Kit Williams wrote Masquerade – a picture book full of mystery and magical characters – to ‘provide food to nourish the soul’. Kate Mulvany has reimagined it for the stage and only deepened the joy, with a play chock-full of warmth and heart.

Joe is ten and battling cancer but lovingly upheld by his harrowed mother, Tessa (Helen Dallimore). Distraction comes from reading a book that quickly has them both enthralled and immersed in a wider reality of vibrant characters, a quest and a riddle to be solved. The harshly lit austerity of a hospital room is strangely warmed as Jack Hare races breathlessly to bring a message of love from the moon to the sun.

Family theatre is tricky. Lovable characters for the kids and some cynical laughs for the adults is the usual fair. Not so with Masquerade, which treads the balance beautifully, dealing genuinely funny lines while keeping enough childlike innocence.

Nathan O’keefe as Jack Hare drives the play with his physicality and comic timing and Zindzi Okenyo is a mean Penny Pockets and very funny Fat Pig. Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen bring an eerie, Baltic soundtrack and their three-handed barbershop quartet almost steals the show.

There is more than a little of Mulvany’s own story here and the end is ambiguous enough for joy to overcome sorrow. This should be the hit of the festival.

Until Jan 17, Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point, $45-65, Family Ticket $180, sydneyfestival.org.au/masquerade.