Written by Taylor Mac
HIR is a fearless and emotionally potent, macabre-humoured family drama
Reviewed by Juliana Payne
New Theatre, Newtown
Until August 2nd, 2025
Tickets: https://newtheatre.org.au/hir/
Type: Dark humour, domestic drama, satire
If you liked: The Coen Brothers, Thornton Wilder, August: Osage County
New Theatre’s Hir by Taylor Mac is a fearless and emotionally potent production that’s brought to life in a really funny and really dark manner. The text tries to tackle the chaos and complexity of identity, family, and shifting power dynamics all in one go and almost in one breath. It pretty well nearly makes it, and this production is solid show that is well worth experiencing.
Written in 2015, it’s a very contemporary plot. Hir begins with Isaac (Luke Visentin), a Marine returning home from war to find his family completely changed. His father, Arnold (Rowan Greaves) is ‘not all there’ anymore after having a stroke. Formerly the abusive family patriarch, Arnold is now being fed estrogen by his wife Paige (Jodine Muir) who dresses him in a nightie and garish make-up and makes him do chores as a form of revenge for a lifetime of patriarchal oppression. And to cap it all off, Isaac’s erstwhile sister Max is transgender and transitioning, and has a complex schedule of nouns and pronouns that they want everyone to adhere to. Trust me it’s hilarious!
Victor Kalka’s design for the cluttered and stained, low socioeconomic Californian house cleverly reflects the play’s themes of domestic disorder and societal collapse. It is the battlefield for old values and new identities. Structurally the action plays out like a traditional sitcom, with mother, father and two kids in the domestic setting. But the themes and characters completely subvert any expectation of the standard sitcom laughs or pratfalls. It’s rather like Peter Carey’s Bliss, where the main character thinks they’ve died and gone to hell, but really it’s just that they now can see reality for what it is. And Taylor Mac’s reality is a pretty savage takedown of the late capitalist system.
The play is provocative and poignant, and mostly hilariously funny. Muir is absolutely fabulous as Paige with her rapid-fire and yet somehow also clueless wit. She captures the emotional desperation that underlies her character’s manic energy. As the forgotten domestic woman reinventing herself as a radical feminist anarchist, Muir’s performance is comedic and tragic. “Come out here and explain your gender ambiguity to your brother.” She yells out to the trans sibling. The other cast members give solid performances and rise admirably to the challenge of Mac’s high-octane script. Ya just gotta see how she gets sweet revenge on her mean husband.
The direction is mostly tight and thoughtful, although could benefit from some more attention given to the rapid tonal shifts. From absurdist comedy to heart-wrenching confrontation there’s room for it to land a bit more effectively, as there is substantial shift between the first and second acts.
Even though it is located within the history of American theatre like Arthur Miller’s All My Sons or Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County, for an Australian audience, Hir still feels both vital and real. As our local culture suffers the same achingly familiar themes: the struggle between generations, the reckoning between men and women, returning war veterans who are both lauded and reviled, and the discomfort of change, the work remains timely and relevant. We all fight to define ourselves against inherited dysfunction and this production grapples with the complexity and contradictions and we all laugh our heads off in the meantime.
In short, this is community theatre at its best: ambitious, well executed, and unafraid to wrestle with the big questions. Well worth a trip to King St in Newtown.
Theatre Thought: Taylor Mac’s writing is informative of the transgender and genderqueer experience. What other pieces of theatre have paved the way to starting conversations around gender identity.
Director & Sound Designer: Patrick Howard
Set Designer: Victor Kalka
Lighting Designer: Holly Nesbitt
Costume Designer: Xan Hardman
Assistant Director: Olivia Xegas
Fight Choreographer: Diego Retamales
Puppetry Director: Spark Sanders Robinson
Stage Manager: Matilda Holton
Assistant Stage Manager: Bora Celebi
Cast: Rowan Greaves, Lola Kate Carlton, Jodine Muir, Luke Visentin
