There’s beautiful work throughout Rumbleskin, from the script by playwright Ames May Nunn, to the performances from the cast, all supported by some wonderful design.
The action plays back and forth across the floor as various pieces shrink and transform as they’re pushed around. Sam Diamond’s set forms a curve seemingly upstage, but there are spaces further in, not like the stories that Rumbleskin weaves together one nestled inside another.
A pregnant teenager hitches a ride with a truck driver, desperate and determined to reach her destination. A popular young rodeo champion falls in love, but meets a horse with a brutal reputation leading a difficult choice.
A stranger moves into a small town struggling to feed itself after repeated crop failures, but his modern ways An aberrant preacher has convinced a small town God is the reason for their repeated crop failures.
When a stranger arrives and is able to use his knowledge of crop science to demonstrate relief is possible, he becomes a threat to the preacher’s control that must be extinguished.
What we come to learn across all three story threads is that what’s really being extinguished is the Rumble. The Rumble is twisted by the corrupt looking for a scapegoat to maintain their grip on power. The Rumble exists under the skin.
The Rumble is an authentic sense of being that may be dampened or hidden, but cannot be denied. Grief and tragedy cannot snuff it out. It shines a way forward, a sense brought to brilliant realisation by lighting designer, Giovanna Yate Gonzalez.
Whether anguished cries at a lake’s edge, the attainable gold in the floodlights of a rodeo stadium, or the plight of doomed love among a corn field, each scene has it’s own distinct and elegant quality.
The Rumble is a sound only some of us are blessed to hear. Composer, Jacob Diamond’s sonic glue holds these worlds together. Strumming and singing onto the stage, Jacob is joined by the company and we see the seams of the show, costume racks rolled into position as actors take their places.
Cassidy Dunn had ground to cover in the role of the Runaway, particularly towards the end of the play, but that ground was navigated wonderfully in a committed and passionate performance. Luke Wiltshire’s memorable and terrifying Preacher wasn’t some blunt cartoon villain clutching to authority, but something sharper and more insidious.
Ziggy Rednick’s turn as the Preacher’s Daughter was striking, their growing love for the stranger and ever more growing desperation was enthralling to watch. Michelle Perera had a lovely presence as both Rodeo Ruth and the Officer, shifting from earnest to informal and did not fail to entertain.
Sunanda Sachatrakul had a glorious turn as both the Stranger and the Trucker. Grounded yet playful, pragmatic yet heartfelt, theirs was a graceful performance that anchored many of the other pieces together. Director, Alonso Pineda, has taken a marvellous text and with his cast and crew woven an extraordinary show.
Rumbleskin
fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Performance: Friday 18 July 2025
Season continues to 27 July 2025
Information and Bookings: www.fortyfivedownstairs.com
Images: The Cast of Rumbleskin – photos by Kimberley Summer