Stalking the Bogeyman

There is no messing about with this play, as the publicity promises. The journalist David Holthouse walks into a spotlight to explain that 25 years after he was sexually assaulted as a boy – the ‘bogeyman’ has moved into his neighbourhood, giving him the long cherished opportunity to exact revenge.

The tight space of the Old Fitz works brilliantly for this intense drama. The assault took place in the basement of his home. The ladder reaching down into the square box room evokes a feeling of being trapped. 

The perpetrator was a teenager who was trusted by his entire family. It happens when their parents send them off together.

At first they are playing, then wrestling. Soon the young boy cries when the games become too rough. We don’t see the assault but we feel the power of the violation, of the loss of innocence.

David Holthouse remains trapped psychologically in the basement – unable to properly move on with his life. He can’t move on until he can confront the ‘bogeyman’. Despite the proliferation of harrowing accounts of child sex abuse in recent times this story is captivating.

The standard of acting is scintillating, with the men having the meatiest roles. Graeme McRae switches effortlessly between smooth calculating would-be killer to damaged child. Radek Jonak is ominous and vulnerable as the abuser. Alexander Palacio is most powerful as a terrifying drug dealer. A sharp and brooding lighting design adds to atmosphere.

There are nuanced insights into the issue of child abuse, such as how victims cope with meeting the perpetrator at different times in their life. Also, how parents cope and deal with the guilt that comes when they find out what happened.

David Holthouse lost innocence but the experience of hunting his rapist helps him regain his dignity.

David Spicer

Photographer: John Marmaras.