TW: Discussions of sexual assault, child abuse, and death/suicide

Sydney is privileged to have a top-class theatre scene. Many times will an avid theatre goer in this city be blown away by the quality performance of a bona fide star or the work of those who elevate them. But even so, it is rare for a performance to create a truly lasting impression; one that transcends the space in which the work was performed and sticks with the audience subliminally. This requires the evocation of a visceral emotional reaction from those watching that only an exquisitely constructed work performed to the highest standard can produce. Tiny Beautiful Things is a work that satisfies all of these criteria and does so in a unique and novel way. It is an extraordinary work and without doubt, one of the strongest to come to Australia in recent years. 

The play is based on Cheryl Strayed’s self-help-style book of the same name, which has since also been adapted into a television miniseries. It follows the life of Strayed through the letters received by her online persona ‘Sugar’, who writes an ‘agony aunt’ style column about the tribulations of life through the lens of her own personal experiences. While this may seem like a relatively dry and trivial subject matter for a full-length play, what follows is a profound reflection of human life in all its manifestations; loss, love, grief and bravery. 

The play uses an epistolary structure to convey its narrative. This is effective as it allows the personal anecdotes that are used to thread the storyline to really shine. Immediately, Strayed’s persona confronts the death of her mother at a formative age before dealing with increasingly heavy topics such as child sexual assault and abuse. These are particularly graphic and confronting but are incredibly powerful, conveying the atrocity in a highly emotional manner. But perhaps most emotional is a letter towards the end of the play where a father confronts the loss of his son through a list of numbered points, as writing a letter is too painful. Sugar responds to every point, creating a seeming emotional catharsis before sharply pulling it away. It is expertly done and makes it even more gut-wrenching.

As brilliant as the source material is, the play would not be the masterpiece it is without the incredible performances of the four actors on stage. Mandy McElhinney is incredible as Sugar, as she strikes the difficult balance required to weave the incredibly powerful and emotional personal anecdotes she shares through the mundanities of life (the story takes place in her house as she completes household chores). The three supporting characters, Stephen Geronimos, Nic Prior and Angela Nica Sullen all did a fine job of maintaining the emotional landscape that McElhinney set and when needed, brought their own characters to the forefront as well. 

The direction was incredibly clever as well, with gradual costume changes used to signify the changing of character. It was also wise that the play did not include an intermission as this would have broken the dramatic flow considerably. The music was tasteful and nicely supported the action on stage. The only slight issue was that a large part of the action took place on the far sides of the stage which meant that audiences (seated in amphitheatre style seating) often needed to crane their necks depending on where they were seated. But otherwise, the performance was flawless from start to finish. 

This performance was everything that a play should aspire to be. It strayed from the traditional theatrical form but did so in a way that felt necessary to the story rather than superfluous. It touched on very difficult themes but in a way that never felt gratuitous, which was a definite risk in a play so focussed on tragedy. But most importantly, it felt real and genuine and deep connection to all the actors on stage was felt by everyone in the audience, evidenced by a full crowd standing ovation. This is, without doubt, the strongest play I have ever seen on the Sydney theatre scene, and I cannot recommend it enough. If this is not a multi-award-winner I do not know what is. 

Rating: ★★★★★

Tiny Beautiful Things plays until 2^nd March 2024. For more information, click here. 

Photo credit: Brett Boardman