By Olivia Borgstroem
Photos courtesy of David Elijah
Trigger warning: This review includes mentions of strong themes, including sexual assault, death/murder, homophobia, bullying and violence.
Dear Diary,
I think that there is good in everyone, but St Hilda’s College Theatre Group’s impactful production of Heathers: The Musical was beyond good—it exceeded all my expectations and became one of my favourite teenage musical dramas. Under the direction of Isabella Reynolds and Eamonn Shorter, the cast delivered the dark, twisted sibling of traditional high school dramas, as the show follows Veronica Sawyer’s (Abbey Miller) tumultuous journey of self-discovery. After initially joining the popular and titular trio the Heathers (with Charlie Dohler as Heather Chandler, Jacinta Baker as Heather Duke and Georgie Macho as Heather McNamara) to avoid bullying, things quickly get out of hand when Veronica’s newfound boyfriend JD (Baxter Kay) murders three students in revenge.
Although framed through a comedic lens, with hilariously creative idioms such as “Fuck me gently with that chainsaw!”, “Pop your tampon” and “Have you had a tumour for breakfast?”, the show nevertheless tackles numerous emotional topics that remain relevant despite Heathers’ original cinematic release in 1988. The themes of American school shootings, bigotry towards the LGBTQIA+ community and survivors of sexual assault fighting to be heard still ring true today. However, despite the heaviness of these topics, St Hilda’s College Theatre Group addressed them respectfully yet comedically by further enhancing the absurdity of the show’s cartoonish storyline. For example, the funeral extravaganza ‘My Dead Gay Son’, performed by Kurt and Ram’s dads (Ben Wrobel and Hayden Prussner), featured serious buffoonery as the sunglass-clad ensemble bopped to the music with intense focus.
The plot was brought to life by the cast’s expressive and polished acting, embodying well-rounded characters that I found myself having a love-hate relationship with. Dohler’s stellar performance as the dead leader of the Heathers was reminiscent of the Joker, which was reinforced by her bright red lipstick, wicked smile, constant head tilting and wide staring eyes. Similarly, Dempsey Doyle’s whimsical, hippie rendition of Ms Fleming reminded me of Professor Trelawney—though, Trelawney would never have had the guts to call on audience members and improvise mid-performance.
Unfortunately, the production faced issues with uneven sound settings (which seems to have become a regular occurrence in the new Union House Theatre) where microphones appeared to be either completely turned off or had the volume turned up too high. This was somewhat rectified by the admirable enunciation and resonance of the cast, as well as by two screens displaying subtitles for the songs and dialogue. The accessibility of this feature would have been further improved if the text size had been larger, as the words were difficult to see from a distance.
The vocal performance was strong across the entire cast, with everyone comfortably singing within their individual vocal ranges and adopting an American accent when doing so. ‘Freeze Your Brain’ positively surprised me, with Kay expertly navigating between the emotional themes and ridiculous punchlines of the song. Similarly, Heather Duke’s transformation from the green Heather to her new, more confident red self was reflected in Baker’s vocals, going from backup singer to the centre of attention when rocking ‘Never Shut Up Again’.
The quick change during the song was smoothly executed, with Baker’s green blazer and plaid skirt ripped in half to reveal the red replacement underneath. The recognisable fiery red, green with envy and mellow yellow costumes of the Heathers, here designed by Katie Walker, perfectly replicated the original off-Broadway versions. JD’s industrial look immaculately embodied the ‘80s emo-fashion, with a black leather trench coat, plaid flannel and combat boots. I was glad to see such high-quality, accurate costumes, as the show’s cartoonish element of connecting each character’s personality to their attire is crucial to its mockery of stereotypical high school dramas.
The connection between the characters and the mise-en-scène was evident, with the backdrop being lit with the colour of the main character in each scene. Overall, the lighting (Theo Viney) throughout the show was exceptional, using spotlights in various scenes to create a soft focus and guide the audience’s gaze. This made the constant back-and-forth between Veronica and the jocks Ram (Will Munday) and Kurt (James Grosser) during ‘You’re Welcome’ easier to follow as well as impactful, where, for example, the single light on Miller highlighted how lonely and isolating sexual harassment and assault can be. Equally moving scene setting was done in both ‘Our Love Is God’ and ‘Seventeen’, where the light appeared to be filtered through a vine ceiling. This matched the song’s lyrics and the implied wedding setting, created by the teenage murderer-lovers Miller and Kay standing downstage face-to-face with their hands clasped.
Choreographer Alex Hughes and assistant Emily Wang splendidly expressed each character’s personality through individualised dance and body movements, from the sharp hip popping of the Heathers, to the slouched arm-crossing of Ram and Kurt. The fight scenes were remarkably well-executed, coordinating challenging slow motion and frozen scenes for the large ensemble. Kay, Munday and Grosser remained impressively still mid-fight during ‘Fight for Me’, despite standing in off-balance positions. The full width and depth of the stage was used throughout the show, utilising the talented cast to create a varied and exciting performance.
St Hilda’s College Theatre Group’s performance of Heathers: The Musical provided a dark, cartoonish take on current political issues through its elaborate costumes, genius lighting and skilled cast. While at times uncomfortably relatable and realistic, the show’s tomfoolery provided a safe space to laugh at the absurdity of social norms and structures. I left feeling empowered and inspired, with renewed faith that there is good in everyone.
St Hilda’s Theatre’s Heathers: The Musical ran September 1st to 3rd at the new Union House Theatre.
Olivia Borgstroem (they/them) is an Environmental Engineering student based in Naarm/Melbourne who likes to escape from the world of STEM by immersing themselves in all things theatre.
The Dialog 