On The Beach (Sydney Theatre Co.) ★★★★1/2

Adapted for the stage by Tommy Murphy. Based on the novel by Nevil Shute. Sydney Theatre Company, Roslyn Packer Theatre. 18 Jul – 12 Aug, 2023.

On The Beach opens with a tableaux of 60s beach-side bliss, all pastels, buff bodies and short shorts. Soak in the eye candy because things get darker from here. Tommy Murphy’s adaptation of Nevil Shute’s novel gives us a mid century take on the ‘post-apocalypse’ world delivered with style – this is an existential Eames Lounge Chair of doom.

In the aftermath of a nuclear war, the Northern Hemisphere is an irradiated wasteland with no survivors. Australia is pinning its hopes on the equatorial winds to keep the fall out from moving south. In Melbourne, scientists are studying the environment looking for signs of hope. When they suddenly hear garbled morse code coming from a naval base near Seattle, one of the last remaining US nuclear submarines that happened to be based in Australia is sent to investigate. If there is a survivor in the midst of this holocaust, then maybe there is hope for them all.

Written in the 50s (and adapted into a film starring Gregory Peck in 1959) On The Beach is focused on the story of two couples. Peter Holmes (Ben O’Toole), an Australia naval officer brought in to support the US crew, and his wife Mary (Michelle Lim Davidson) who is left to care for their newborn girl; and Dwight Towers (Tai Hara), the American captain of the submarine, and Moira Davidson (Contessa Treffone) a rambunctious local girl with eyes on the captain. They are joined by a young CSIRO scientist Dr John Osborne (Matthew Backer) with no illusions of their chances.

Following on from the beautiful production of Do Not Go Gentle, On The Beach is another tale of dignity and despair told with elegance. Director Kip Williams knows how to create an image on stage, a moment of awe. Who knew the simple act of watching a sheer curtain wash over the stage would evoke such calm and wonder – like watching a wave crash on an expansive beach. On The Beach is filled with such moments of visual grace, where the work of the design team: Michael Hankin (sets), Damien Cooper (lighting), Jessica Dunn (sound) and Mel Page (costumes) coalesces into something truly stunning. 

You’ll find many familiar tropes of the post-apocalyptic genre. The last ditch mission in the search for hope, and maybe a cure, residing in a child who is immune to the radiation. The mix of hedonism and denial in society at large as it faces the potential end. The ghosts of our mistakes that haunt us. The mid-century setting heightens the optimism as well as the sorrow.

On The Beach is an elegy for the human race, centred on Australia. You’d have to be a fool, or a member of the Coalition, to miss the subtext here. Sure, the context may be that of a 60s cold war turned hot and the inexorably arrival of clouds of radioactive death, but only the deliberately ignorant would fail to see the clear silhouette of the climate crisis. Humanity has created its own demise, but how would you face the last days? 

Williams has balanced out this existential dread with beauty, be it beautiful human forms, abundant blooms of flowers, some magical quick-changes or a gorgeous towering tree (yes, this is another stunning tree from STC). Things may be grim for the most part, but there is a majesty to the storytelling – like attending a very stylish funeral. The presence of a child on stage only makes the gut-punch of a message more painful. 

Which makes it frustrating that, for me, one of the central performances didn’t hit the mark. While everyone else was delivering nuanced depictions of people dealing with grief, one performance felt frankly false and performative – lacking in actual heart. Surrounded by naturalistic, honest work, they were play-acting emotions.

I’ve been thinking about On The Beach all night since seeing it. It tapped into my own fears for humanity, and unease about the futility of our fight against the future. I was triggered, and I hope more people are as well, because we’re going to need everyone to be to make the big changes ahead.

Sydney Theatre Company has had a near flawless first half of 2023. I’ve seen all bar one (I missed The Poison of Polygamy sadly) and I’ve not hit a dud yet. Shows like Julia, Do Not Go Gentle and Fences definitely deserve a life beyond their original limited runs, and On The Beach is another addition to this must-see list.