The Hatpin

Brisbane’s newest independent community theatre Oz Theatricals is presenting the Queensland premiere of Peter Rutherford and James Millar’s darkly themed musical The Hatpin. An art-house piece, it’s a brave choice but one that paid off handsomely.

Set in Sydney in 1892 and based on a true story, director David Harrison has given this Dickensian tale an almost grand operafeel with a heightened sense of reality that underlines the horror of the plot - a young single mother who puts her baby into care with tragic results.

It’s not an easy night of musical theatre, but then the murdering of infants is not an easy subject.

Harrison has cast it with some of the top actors working on the local community theatre circuit. Lara Boyle played the distraught mother Amber with zealous conviction. Her second-act solo “Something Like Being a Mother” seared with emotion. Carly Skelton’s Harriet brought some earthy humour to a piece sorely in need of light relief and scored with the comic “Bad Fruit”.

The avarice driven Agatha was in good hands with Fiona Buchanan, likewise her partner-in-crime Charles nicely played with controlled evil by Chris Kellett. Particularly impressive was the teenaged Tyallah Bullock as the troubled Clara, a difficult role that she carried off with a skill well-beyond her years.

Good support came from Tristan Ham as the prosecutor, Valdemar Jakobsen as the judge, and Christopher Batkin as an uncooperative editor.

Only downside in this excellent production was Ruby Foster’s occasional drop-out sound, but maybe this was only a first-night glitch. A string-heavy 10-piece group was in good hands with Julie Whiting, whilst costumes by Erin Tribble were sombre but appropriate for the period.

Rutherford’s Sondheim-esque score, more chamber opera than anything, is unrelenting in its intensity but it’s the perfect musical landscape for this harrowing tale.

Peter Pinne