Reviewed by: Grace Dwyer

I’ve had the privilege of seeing two Four Letter Word shows this year – the student-led production company specialising in original musical works has demonstrated an impressive capacity to produce spectacularly grand shows with tight turnaround. Their Semester One production, Cancelled, was fun and flashy, with a large cast of memorable characters – but in A Matter of Family, co-directors and writers Ethan Francis-D’Amour and Maddy Saxton have not only doubled down on size, but complexity: including but not limited to a cast of twenty-four; a thirteen-piece band carrying an orchestral-sized score; and one of the most convoluted plots I’ve seen grace the Union Theatre.

A brief summary is slightly impossible, given the musical has twelve main characters and three acts, but the gist is this: set in the 1940s, three rivalling crime families are top of their respective industries – the Hallorans (hailing from Britain, hopped up on cocaine), the Morellis (Italian speakeasy owners) and the Cheungs (the Chinese family top of the weapons trade). [Spoilers incoming for the rest of this paragraph!] When Rayna Morelli (played charmingly by Madeleine Cheale) is found murdered, the families turn on each other and eventually spiral into bloody conflict that leaves no secret unrevealed and virtually no character alive.

Between the blood relatives is another family, the speakeasy girls. Their introductory number, ‘That’s What A Family Is For’, starts the show with a bang – and was a personal favourite. Hayley Francis D’Amour’s choreography got its necessary time in the spotlight, and the overall musicality of the show shone through the most in the speakeasy scenes, tied together by a dazzling lighting design (props to designer Zani Micallef and assistant Geneta Lo, who truly curated the production’s tone). Speakeasy girls Trinity (Nikita Mohar-Williams), Charity (Susan D’souza), Purity (Lauren Green), Vanity (Esther Mastrantuono) and Liberty (Emily Napolitano) deserve an extra round of applause for executing their songs’ harmonies and choreography perfectly. It may have even worked a little too well – the reveal that Vanity was hiding an entangled past was foreshadowed by Mastrantuono’s show-stopping voice. Make no mistake, A Matter of Family is not a one-note show as there was plenty of humour and tenderness in between – the intimate number ‘In My Arms Reach’ springs to mind, a ballad from the parents to their children.

The main families were all made up of extraordinary actors, and unfortunately cast size and word count do not allow me to delve into each one as much as I would like to. Personal standouts included Morelli patriarch Savino (Ali Samaei) and his right-hand man Giovanni (Mya Helou), actors who brought noticeable dramatic depth and a good sense of humour and chemistry. Finn Corr was excellent as spoiled brat Harley Halloran (probably the standout accent in the show, too). His hard-done-by sister, Hollie (Bronte Lemaire) had a chance to display great vocal chops in her ‘Mr Cellophane’-esque song, ‘Never The Joker, Only The Joke’ and a genuinely creepy descent into bloodthirsty madness in the third act. There was no weak link in any family, and it was clear to an audience member how much work had gone into developing a rapport between the cast members.

The world of the show was brought to life by a dedicated seven piece ensemble, who added life and movement to all their scenes and musical numbers. The stage never looked cluttered or static, a testament to some well thought out blocking and directing. The beautifully polished set design by Tim Augier and Shuo Ma depicted the three families’ houses on flats surrounding a central revolving set piece – transforming into a speakeasy, family dinner or funeral. Hair and makeup (designed by Shakiba Taven and assisted by Melanie Vuong) as well as costumes (designed by Ruoxi Yang) aesthetically elevated the production to another level, with artistically period-inspired design that was executed professionally. I was impressed by the amount of costume changes, too – many main characters rocked several fabulous outfits. On the technical side, nothing deterred the performance except some small mic balancing issues, that were quickly sorted out in the beginning of Act One (pretty good considering the aforementioned cast size and runtime).

While I appreciate the novelty of a three-act musical and the effort behind the connected storylines, I do think the show may have been more cohesive and ultimately easier to follow if several plot lines or scenes had been cut. Yan and Trinity’s relationship, while well acted, felt superfluous in the overarching narrative. Additionally, some character’s motivations and plans came across as muddled – in particular, Marianna’s double/triple-crossing act started to wash over me. In spite of these minor drawbacks (symptomatic of an ambitious writing team, which is nothing if not a commendable quality in a writer), the script delivered an engaging mystery and a fantastic portrayal of the families’ unravelling.

I have tried and failed to avoid using the word ‘impressive’– but there’s not many other worlds that can accurately capture my thoughts. Definitively, the most impressive element of the show was the score. Musical director Enje Hazia (and assistant musical director Joshua Mackie) should be unbelievably proud of themselves. Instrumentation and execution was flawless – a blending of classical orchestral jazz, cabaret and musical genres truly encapsulated all things glamorously mysterious. I’ve never enjoyed listening to an instrumental playoff so much, I would not have minded if scene changes took five minutes.

A Matter of Family deserved longer than a three-day stint at the Union Theatre, but it certainly made the most of its time there. Every single person involved in this production dedicated themselves completely, and the result was an outstanding show the likes of which we won’t see for a while – that is until Four Letter Word returns with a new and exciting production, hopefully sooner rather than later!

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Conflict of interest disclaimer: Grace Dwyer has some personal connections to cast and crew members of the production, but has endeavoured to provide her unbiased thoughts.

A Matter of Family played September 12th-14th 2024 at Union Theatre.

The Dialog is supported by Union House Theatre.