John Patrick Shanley’s Danny and the Deep Blue Sea is, unfortunately, a rambling mess of chic that this production does little to shift away from.
New York, the Bronx in the 80s, Danny and Roberta find themselves meeting by chance in a small bar. Soon their inner traumas come to the surface in a whirlwind of rage and yearning for love. The traps these characters in a small unexplored world, reducing them to two dimensional characters, perpetuating the exhausting trope of “hurt people hurt people”.
It feels as if this work was written from a place of privilege, looking down its nose at people from a certain area and socioeconomic background, and not caring enough to dive deeper into the hows and whys that brought them to this point in time.
Nigel Turner-Carroll doesn’t just lean into the chic of the script, but rather, runs head first into it. The production lacks the push/pull of pace, an emotional underpinning that is more than shouting and harsh movements nor a reason as to why the audience is to care for such harsh characters robbed of empathy.
Jacqui Purvis and JK Kazzi perform Roberta and Danny – doing as best as they can to breathe life into this difficult script. Both Purvis and Kazzi give admirable performances however the moments when they shine are the parts of the production when they slip into their natural accents and moments of stillness and silence.
Bronx accents seem to slip into an indistinguishable Russian dialect and character work is relegated to yelling individuals very aware that they are in a manufactured world.
Poppy Townsend’s lighting design thankfully lifts the work, providing a grounding of time and place while punctuating moments of dramatic tension and harrowing despair.
It is always disappointing to see creatives work somehow miss the mark, but the overall take away from this production is what drew them to a script that lacked so much and delivered so little to the audience.
Danny and The Deep Blue Sea
The Old Fitz Theatre, 129 Dowling Street, Woolloomooloo
Season continues to 1 February 2026
Information and Bookings: www.oldfitztheatre.com.au
Image: JK Kazzi and Jacqui Purvis – photo by Tony Davison
Review: Gavin Roach