Return to the Dirt

Death is a funny thing; at least it is in Steve Pirie’s Return to the Dirt. The play follows the journey of Steve and his fiancé Claire who are returning to their hometown of Toowoomba to save money for their wedding. Having lived in Brisbane for some time, the trek back to their roots involves new jobs for both. In Steve’s case, he lands a role in the local funeral home where he meets some quirky characters and learns a lot about himself, life, and death along the way.

Steve is your classic fish out of water, coming from a creative, theatrical background to having to learn the ropes in the funeral home. He’s guided by the warm-hearted and cheeky Deb who frequently butts heads with the pedantic, ex-car salesman, middle-manager Greg. Meanwhile Claire is working as a substitute teacher while trying to plan and organise their wedding on her own.  

Despite being placed in a sombre setting the show is packed full of laugh out loud moments. At times the laughs come so thick and fast it can be easy to miss a little dialogue under the thunderous chortling. Many times – particularly in the first act - the cast must pause at length to allow the audience to compose themselves. After interval things take a turn for the serious, and we’re treated to truly heartfelt, painful, and meaningful moments. The laughs return toward the end, giving us all relief and an overall sense of joy at the thought-provoking conclusion.

Return to the Dirt beautifully achieves what any comedy of substance can, by bringing one of life’s ‘big scary monsters’ down to size so we can fear it a little less. In this case it’s the biggest and scariest of all – our mortality. The play also explores other hard subjects such as mental health, self-harm, suicide, the death of children, fractured families, the ways we express grief, and the difficulties of living up to demanding work schedules that see us neglecting our personal relationships. Pirie also confronts other failures of capitalism such as price gouging and upselling in the funeral industry, job insecurity, and housing unaffordability.

As a writer and performer Pirie is cast in the play as ‘The Playwright’, a kind of narrator character. He’s witty, likeable, and so bravely vulnerable. While the character of ‘Steve’ is sensitively and perfectly realised by Mitchell Bourke. Jeanette Cronin delivers an outstanding performance as Deb, the kind and hilarious co-worker of Steve. Chris Baz (Greg/Ensemble), Sophie Cox (Claire/Ensemble), Miyuki Lotz (Lucy/Jess/Ensemble) and Aara Afraz (Ellie) all deliver great supporting performances. Even some of the stage managers jump into some hilarious bit parts, with Yanni Dubbler dressed as a giant Christmas gift proving a crowd favourite.

Director and QT AD Lee Lewis has created an environment where her cast and crew are able to be free and shine. She’s paced things wonderfully and keeps the show visually interesting along with Renee Mulder’s flexible production design work and Ben Hughes’ flawless lighting. There is so much to love about this show, it definitely leaves one with a sense of pride, that work like this is being created and supported in Queensland. This is a distinctly Australian story told in our voice, with so much of that irreverent, dark, dry Australian sense of humour. It’s also jam packed full of meaning, love, sensitivity, and beauty. It reminds you of what is important in life and in death.

This world premiere production at Queensland Theatre is made possible by the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award, which is presented every two years. The award serves to foster the development of new Australian works for the stage. Winners are supported in the pre-production process, with the completed work appearing on the Queensland Theatre stage. In choosing Return to the Dirt Queensland Theatre and the Queensland Government should be commended for their support of such an outstanding work of art. Here’s hoping Pirie continues to write and entertain us with his brilliant brand of dark comedy for decades to come.

Kitty Goodall

Photographer: David Kelly

If themes discussed in this article are triggering for you, or someone you know needs support, please contact these organisations:

Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636

Headspace 03 9027 0100

Lifeline 13 11 14