Written by Sam Grabiner. Presented by The Maybe Pile and FortyFiveDownstairs
Boys on the Verge of Tears reveals the deepest, darkest secrets shared within the walls of the men’s bathroom.
Reviewed by Carla Di Maggio
FortyFiveDownstairs, Melbourne
Until 30 March, 2025
Tickets: https://fortyfivedownstairs.com/event/boys-on-the-verge-of-tears/
Type: Contemporary play
If you liked: Gaslight, Love and Information
Content Warning: this production contains coarse language and references sexual assault, nudity, self harm, violence, drugs and alcohol.
Written in 2023, Sam Grabiner’s award winning play Boys on the Verge of Tears guides the audience through a series of vignettes set entirely in the bathroom. Actors grapple with presenting more than 40 characters in a space that shifts liminally; from the school boys’ bathroom to a grungy club bathroom. As the work evolves, we follow their experiences of growing up, we see a dad teaching his son how to use the toilet, boys becoming friends, violence, love and criticism.
The audience is seated on either side of the stage, which facilitates an intimate and thought-provoking theatre experience. The set up allows us to watch the other half of the audience react: cringing, burying heads in their hands while the on-stage action grew violent, and crying during the more tender moments of the play. Having other audience members in full view also reinforces the play’s meaning, as we dont just see how toxic masculinity plays out in the bathroom through the actors, but we also see the narrative across the faces of other audience members, giving us first-hand insight into how different audience members are moved and impacted by the work.
Getting to our seats, we are immediately confronted by an unwelcoming yet familiar setting of a disgusting bathroom: stained tiled walls, exposed plumbing, brick, and graffiti. It feels almost as if the set designer Ben Andrews, and scenic artist Louisa Fitzgerald, tore this bathroom straight out of a train station. The attention to detail is incredible.
Designed by Georgina Wolfe, the lighting lends itself to the ever-changing state of, and environment within the bathroom. Most of the play is bathed in fluorescent white light, seating the characters in uncomfortably bright, white light where no one can hide. One scene sees the lighting darken so the only light sources are from the toilet stalls and the pink flashing lights of a nightclub. Ethan Hunter‘s sound design heightens the realistic nature of the work, reinforcing the believability of the different settings on stage.
Boys on the Verge of Tears features an exceptional cast of players, all successfully managing the hefty task of switching between multiple characters. To name a few, Justin Hosking gives a standout performance, effortlessly switching from posh father to unruly schoolboy. Damon Baudin delivers a heartfelt performance in the play’s penultimate scene which is extremely memorable. Akeel Purmanund, who embodies a battered-up clubgoer, takes us on a beautiful journey from a horrific displays of violence to being open and vulnerable.
…the play invites audiences into a familiar yet also shocking world of the experience of being a man in today’s society
There are moments where the writing is slow, with monologues feeling long-winded as performers use different English accents to differentiate characters. At times the length of the monologues detract from the themes in the work, sometimes overpowering the symbolism and meaning with funny schoolboy banter. The work includes multiple scenes which depict both physical and verbal violence, and while this is shocking, challenging and thought-provokingly portrayed, it left me wanting some type of conclusion or explanation for the extraneous amount of violence we see on stage.
Sharing the deeply human and relateable experiences of young men navigating the tumultuous journey toward adulthood, the play invites audiences into a familiar yet also shocking world of the experience of being a man in today’s society. Exploring youth and toxic masculinity, recklessness, masculine facades, toughness, tenderness and peer pressure, Boys on the Verge of Tears Boys on the Verge of Tears provides intimate and powerful deep dive into manhood and the going ons within the walls of male bathrooms.
THEATRE THOUGHT: When we use public bathrooms, is there a particular way we perform? Does this change between venues?
Director: Keegan Bragg
Producer: Ben Andrews
Stage Manager: Ella Campbell
Lighting + Sound Operator: Zsuzsa Gaynor Mihaly
Set Design: Ben Andrews
Costume Design + Scenic Art: Louisa Fitzgerald
Lighting Design: Georgina Wolfe
Sound Design: Ethan Hunter
Drag Wig + Makeup Artist: Becky Silveira
Marketing: Bridie Pamment
Vocal / Accent Coach: Matt Furlani
Intimacy Coordinator: Tegan Crowley
Cast: Ben Walter, Karl Richmond, Justin Hosking, Damon Baudin, Akeel Purmanund
with: Pepe Wright, Avyakt Pawar, Smith Barling
