Stallion of Death

A review for the production of 'Stallion of Death', currently running at Darlinghurst Theatre. Upon arrival at the quaint and inviting Darlinghurst theatre to see Stallion of Death I was unsure of what to expect, a play within a play maybe? What I found was so much more than that. Stallion of Death, set around the 1890's in outback Australia, in a time that Australia was creating its own character. Where anyone who's anyone is in Melbourne and anyone who's not is looking for ways to put their town on the map. That’s when a starving drover, Buck (played by Gibson Nolte) along with a landowners debutante daughter Gemima (played by Kate Worsley) concocts a story about the Stallion of Death who marauds the countryside, killing all in its path. In the hope they can make some money and stave off boredom. With the help of travelling bush poets (played by Drew Farley and the hilarious Sean Lynch) the yarn reaches The Bulletin, when the widow (played by Diane Smith) also hears of the Mythical Creature, musters ensue to catch the murderous beast. The story also reaches England and the Queen and her men are on their way. Meanwhile the stories of the Stallion have been conviently been used for a series of murders of the natives about town. This play jumps between past and present and shows how serious, present day townsfolk, take the stories of the Stallion. The plot of Drew Farley’s masterpiece, although witty, original and very funny is a little patchy in parts as it is hard to understand entirely what it going on. As with the Australian way, to cover serious issues with rip roaring laughter the dialogue is littered with brawly comedy which at times I felt was unnecessary as it added to the confusion and didn’t add to the story. The sparse sets and understated score, gave way to the fantastic cast however, with all actors, including playwright Dew Fairley, playing at least 2 characters throughout the show. All, but especially Sean Lynch have fantastic comedic timing which made for a great night. As posted on Artshub