Type – Satirical black comedy
If you liked – Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Kill Bill, Apocalypse Now
A Very, Very, Very Dark Matter: A production that wants us to be disturbed and disrupted
Many people will know the plays and films of British/Irish writer Martin Mcdonagh (The Beauty Queen of Leenane, In Bruges, The Banshees of Inisherin to name a few). Those who do, will feel no surprise or shock whilst watching this play, but those who don’t had better hang onto their hats and check their outrage at the door.
A Very, Very, Very Dark Matter is indeed dark, provocative and full of what is known politely as ‘adult language and themes’. It’s difficult to describe the plot of an absurdist, heavily ironic play as it just sounds, well, absurd. Let us just say that Mcdonagh’s aim is to hold up the 19th century colonial project upon which white Western wealth and prosperity is built, and smash it down with a large sharp axe.
He executes this through a particularly literary lens. He takes two of the most famous and beloved Victorian era authors, Hans Christian Anderson and Charles Dickens, and reveals that they harboured a dark secret in their attics as to where their wonderful stories were really coming from. Mcdonagh is well versed in the tropes, devices and tactics of modern comedy, and uses as many as he can to expose and puncture the self-satisfied pompous representatives of the perpetrators of colonial atrocities against, in this case, Belgian Congo. The play’s structure is highly allegorical, and Mcdonagh tries to shove so much into it, that the director and cast must give it their all to hold it together around a coherent core.
Katherine Poulsen’s direction makes good use of David Marshall-Martin’s multi-level set, and blocks the action to take account of the unusual L-shaped audience, although some of the ‘box’ scenes are probably a mystery to two-thirds of the audience. The box is key to the play, and is the focal point for the whole performance, so it needs a better sound projection from within.
In keeping with the Victorian theme, Marshall-Martin has created a creepy kind of children’s playroom from a horror movie, with dead-eyed dolls and weird toys, like a giant spider. Kyle Stephens’ lighting is particularly effective, with dull green lamps casting a sickly glow, or revolving stencils on the floor to create fluidity and movement. Vertical breakup gobos create the sense of dappled tropical light.
Suzan Mutesi as Marjory the ‘dark secret’ has a sinuous and engaging stage presence, and just needs to work on projecting to the back rows, as her voice is sometimes quiet. John Michael Narres is suitably bombastic, ridiculous and cruel as Hans Christian Anderson, and Nicholas Gledhill as a profane and pissed Dickens leans into the lampoon. I wish we could have had more of Emily Weare, who stole the scene with her crazed Norma-Desmond style Catherine Dickens.
Is A Very, Very, Very Dark Matter Worth Seeing in Sydney?
Stoneraven Theatre say that they don’t want to create comfortable theaetre, they want us to be disturbed and disrupted. This play certainly does slaughter many sacred cows using dark humour rather than didactic speeches. If you like your iconoclasm in the Monty Python vein, you’ll take to this journey to our post-colonial heart of darkness.
Tickets and Practical Info for A Very, Very, Very Dark Matter in Sydney 🎟️
By Martin McDonagh
Directed by Katherine Poulsen
Produced by: Stoneraven Theatre
Flightpath Theatre, Marrickville
Until 1 August 2026
Tickets: here
Directed by: Katherine Poulsen
Sound designer: Kyle Stephens
Lighting designer: Kyle Stephens
Set Design– David Marshall-Martin
Costume Design– Diana Hopwood
Marketing/ Videography– Othniel Mani
Stage Manager– Shannon Alison Watson
Cast: John Michael Narres, Suzan Mutesi, Nicholas Gledhill, Tsu Shan Chambers, Simon Lee, Jayden Shelley, Max Shaw, Ella Morris, Emily Weare, Angus Farrand, Noah Douglas, Isla Harris, Ruva Shoko, Harrison Collis Oates
