English playwright Deborah Bruce’s drama Dixon and Daughters is a full frontal look at the topical subject of domestic violence and coercion, and how seemingly innocent people can be drawn into its insidious web.
It’s a terrible indictment of our society that in the week that the play opens at the Old Fitz Theatre, in NSW three people died from separate domestic violence incidents on one day.
Set in the Yorkshire town of Bradford, Dixon and Daughters takes place in the one domestic setting over two days, as it follows the family’s matriarch, Mary (Vanessa Downing), on her release after serving time for lying to the courts to protect her dead husband, Ray.
Hoping that time makes the heart fonder, her daughters gather at the house to welcome her home. There, Julie (Romney Hamilton), Mary’s eldest daughter and a newly recovering alcoholic, Bernie (Linda Nicholls-Gidley), the second daughter and the glue attempting to hold the family together, and her own university-aged daughter, Ella (Danette Potgieter), are walking on eggshells as Mary returns and immediately starts the recriminations against her own family.
Besides her obvious health issues, Julie is also hiding the scars from violent abuse by her partner. The family reunion is completed when the step daughter, who testified against her mother, appears and announces that she is no longer to be called Tina, but now goes by the name Briana (Sarah Jane Starr).
If this is not a toxic enough mix, Leigh (Rylea Eilis) shows up to the astonishment of all, except for Mary. It soon transpires that Leigh is an acquaintance from prison, and that she is there at Mary’s invitation.
Reclaiming her bedroom, Mary finds that things are not where they should be, and the recriminations against her daughters begin in earnest as she orders one from the home, and uses Leigh as a wedge to question the others. But Briana is there to expose the truth, and in her psycho babble speak she eventually brings it glaringly to the fore.
Bruce’s script is essentially a kitchen sink drama, but one that is more topical and impactful than most. Dixon and Daughters drills down in its examination and exposure of a deeply hidden secret that affects all family members, and one that is generational.
However, the script is also by nature somewhat prosaic, and often clumsy in its attempts to inject humour. Director, Kim Hardwick, has worked well to give the characters a humanity, despite the dark secret within the family, while her stage directions and business work well within the confines of the Old Fitz’s limited entrances and exits.
The cast is beautiful to watch for their range and believability as they navigate a secret and onstage family dynamics. Downing’s portrayal of a working class matriarch, proud to the point of instigating the destruction of her own family unit, is a master class of a performance that is also nuanced.
Romney Hamilton, who also doubles as producer, fills her role of Julie with empathy, touched with a dash of humour as she breaks her resolve. Starr’s role of Briana opens out the family unit and gives the play its conscience, while Eilis and Potgeiter as Leigh and Ella respectively, add a much needed tonality to the production.
Nicholls-Gidley, also credited as dialogue coach, rounds to this ensemble cast with a solid performance that anchors the family unit.
Along with the performances, Mia MacCormick’s set of an exposed and segmented working class home, while taking its cue from the London production, is its own character representing the many layers of the family’s relationships.
This Tiny Dog production of Dixon and Daughters is powerful theatre performed expertly, and not without touches of humour and resolution, while dealing with a topic that needs a lot of discussion and action.
Dixon and Daughters
Old Fitz Theatre, 129 Dowling Street, Woolloomooloo (Sydney)
Performance: Monday 20 September 2026
Season continues to 3 October 2026
Information and Bookings: www.oldfitztheatre.com.au
Images: Vanessa Downing, Linda Nicholls-Gidley, Romney Hamilton, Sarah Jane Starr, Danette Potgieter and Rylea Eilis photo by Campbell Parsons | Vanessa Downing – photo by Campbell Parsons | Sarah Jane Starr and Rylea Eilis – photo by Campbell Parsons | Romney Hamilton – photo by Campbell Parsons
Review: John Moyle