Picnic at Hanging Rock (Sydney Theatre Co) ★★★★

Written by Tom Wright. Adapted from the novel by Joan Lindsay. Sydney Theatre Company. 17 Feb – 5 Apr, 2025.

Disquiet. Two worlds are colliding, and the space is filled with an air of disquiet. The land refuses to conform to the will of the humans on its surface.

Tom Wright’s adaptation of Picnic at Hanging Rock is told more through sound than vision. Composer and sound designer James Brown creates a universe of possibilities in the darkness, with the cracking of rocks, the rush of wind, and the never-ending movement of Mother Earth. It is this soundscape that evokes an unceasing sense of unease, permeating Ian Michael’s eloquent and sinister production.

You’re probably already familiar with the story from Joan Lindsay’s gripping 1967 novel, Peter Weir’s stunning 1975 film, or the 2018 TV miniseries. It’s a tale that has haunted our national imagination for generations. On Valentine’s Day in 1900, a group of schoolgirls go on a picnic at the nearby ‘Hanging Rock’, or Ngannelong, as the native Kulin people call it. At the picnic, four of the girls – Miranda, Edith, Irma, and Marion – explore the natural monolith, despite being forbidden to do so. When Edith returns in hysterics, with no memory of what happened, a search party is sent out. But there is no trace of the missing girls, or their teacher Miss McCraw.

Determined to find the girls, an Englishman, Mike Fitzhubert, sets off on his own to search the rock, only to be found later dazed, alongside the recovered Irma. As more and more tragedies unfold at the rock and in the town, the question of what happened lingers in the air.

I’ll be honest – I was initially disappointed by the absence of a giant rock in Elizabeth Gadsby’s set design. However, that feeling was soon dispelled by the evocative darkness and the looming threat of the giant, white shape hanging above the stage. Like a ghostly monument, always present in the lives of the townsfolk, it gives the story an extra touch of otherworldliness. At times, this production of Picnic at Hanging Rock veers toward horror or science fiction.

Wright’s script incorporates elements of the novel’s posthumously released “missing final chapter,” without offering any hard and fast explanations. The subtext conveys a constant sense of the land and the spiritual force it holds – a power that cannot be taken by the European descendants on the surface.

The cast of five – Olivia De Jonge, Kirsty Marillier, Lorinda May Merrypor, Masego Pitso, and Contessa Treffone – move between roles as they both dramatise and recite events. Their collective sense of fear brings to mind the more frightening moments of The Crucible. All five are extraordinary, weaving their roles together seamlessly.

But it is Ian Michael’s vision that is the showstopper here. With an all-encompassing, anxiety-inducing atmosphere, marked by some stunning breaks (I won’t spoil how, but you’ll know them when you see them), the show is an achievement in tone and storytelling. 

Picnic at Hanging Rock plays out like a supernatural horror film with an intense, existential dread for the unrelenting 85-minute running time. Or perhaps it is a revenge thriller, with the land taking its tribute from the people above. Either way, you might need a drink afterwards.