Picnic At Hanging Rock: A Fresh New Production Of The Unsettling Aussie Classic

‘Picnic At Hanging Rock: A Fresh New Production Of The Unsettling Aussie Classic’ is a review by Irina Dunn of the Sydney Theatre Company’s Picnic at Hanging Rock, on now in the Drama Theatre at the Sydney Opera House.

Joan Lindsay published her original story of Picnic at Hanging Rock in her 1967 novel, which director Peter Weir turned into a haunting, memorable film. 

Where the film could concentrate on the striking images of the schoolgirls dressed in white as they climbed the rock, appearing to float as they moved upwards, such imagery is not really open to a stage production. 

In this version, written by Tom Wright and directed by Ian Michael, five contemporary schoolgirls (played by Olivia De Jonge, Kirsty Marillier, Lorinda May Merrypor, Masego Pitso and Contessa Treffone) retell Lindsay’s unsettling story of the disappearance of three schoolgirls and a teacher on St Valentine’s Day 1900 at Hanging Rock in the Macedon Ranges in Victoria. 

They stand in a straight line across the stage in their uniforms and hats, and are lit by spotlights from the sides of the stage. 

Above them, a large glass case projects headlines in capital letters throughout the play, headlines such as “THE REAL WORLD”. 

As the girls retell the story, they take on the roles of the characters in the story. Masego Pitso becomes the orphaned Sara with her moving cries of anguish, and Olivia DeJonge transforms herself into Miss McCraw and the headmistress Mrs Appleyard. The other girls take on the roles of the policemen and the young men. 

Set designer Elizabeth Gadsby makes do with brown leaves strewn about the stage and, when needed, a table and a chair, a large pot of hydrangeas and a trampoline. 

Lighting designer Trent Suidgeest maintains the air of mystery throughout the production, and the sound designer James Brown cleverly punctuates the drama and ramps up the tension. 

Of course, one cannot escape the metaphysical implications of the Hanging Rock, and the conclusion that the violent incursions of colonialism are being avenged in the disappearance of the girls. 

This was an original conception by writer Tom Wright, and Noongar director Ian Michael gave the young actors full scope to express their talents as the play unfolded. 

In their staged collaboration, Wright and Michael succeeded in retaining all the mystery of Lindsay’s original conception to give their audience the same sense of mystery as the original story. 

Picnic at Hanging Rock at the Sydney Opera House

Sydney Theatre Company’s Picnic at Hanging Rock by Tom Wright is on at the Sydney Opera House until 5 April.