Into The Shimmering World (Sydney Theatre Co) ★★★1/2

Written by Angus Cerini. Sydney Theatre Company. Wharf 1 Theatre. 2 Apr – 19 May, 2024.

Another in Sydney Theatre Company’s line of elegiac visions (Do Not Go Gentle, On The Beach, Fences, The Seagull, The Visitors etc) Angus Cerini’s Into The Shimmering World uses a seemingly simple man to raise a lot of questions.

Ray (Colin Friels) and Floss (Kerry Armstrong) are resilient country folk who’ve lived off the land, raised two kids and seen boom and bust go by, but they’re not getting any younger. Time is catching up to them and their acreage is getting harder to maintain as the harsh climate and changing economic fortunes hits them from all angles. Still very much in love, it’s clear they are in decline and at risk of being swept away.

There is a lot of unfulfilled promise at the heart of Into The Shimmering World. Ray’s idea of the future hasn’t come to pass, as his sons have no desire to take up farming life. His neighbour is a crook, and the land is subject to more flood and drought. His way of life seems to be unwanted. A stubborn, stoic battler, he has no intention of backing down to anything life is throwing at him even though he knows he can’t stop the forces at work around him. Floss looks after him, works at the hospital and gently challenges him from time to time. 

Despite the set-up this is a surprisingly low-stakes, narrative-less drama. At a perfect 90 minutes though, I’m fine just hanging out with characters without the need for a linear “plot” to drive things. Thankfully Colin Friels is such a welcome presence he softens Ray’s cranky edges into an irascible charm, and Kerry Armstrong fills Floss with warmth and strength – the human distillation of a good cup of tea. They pass understanding in their silences. The ever wonderful Bruce Spence brings his innate Bruce Spence-ness, which is always welcome if underused here. Renee Lim and James O’Connell both shine in a variety of roles.

Playwright Angus Cerini’s Wonnangatta was one of the first pieces of theatre I saw back in Australia after returning over Covid, with its dark Australian-gothic tones, fever-dream-like pacing and focused central performances – I loved it. With Into The Shimmering World, his characters are more laconic but through their limited use of vocabulary and repeated phrases, Cerini plays with rhythm and subtext. One of the funniest scenes see’s taciturn Ray being coaxed into saying “I love you” by his adult son, that turns into a Meisner-esque struggle of intention, repetition and very human comedy. It also marks the divide between his university educated son and himself.

This is where that sense of “unfulfilled promise” extends to the play and production itself. The advance write up for Into The Shimmering World promised a “gothic and dreamlike take on the Australian landscape” and “the glorious expanse of an extended Wharf 1 Theatre,” neither of which are completely accurate. The play is “dreamlike”, I’ll grant it that. Time passes at a fluid rate in a series of short scenes (Nick Schlieper’s excellent lighting does a lot of work keeping moments clear). But the promised rural-gothic sensibility is missing, this is a domestic drama scratching at the existential. David Fleischer’s set design, a country kitchen and porch floating in a sea of black space feels ethereal but not “expansive”. Clemence Williams’ sound and music are evocative, giving us a sense of environment lacking in the black void of the set, but they are both a little overbearing at times. 

With constant hints at future violence plus a burgeoning sense of rebellion and renewal, Into The Shimmering World shows there is life in Ray yet as his grief gives way to action. His pivot from battling to giving back ultimately sets him free.